I was hired by Don Smith to do a drywall repair job at 231 Brethren Church drive in Jonesborough, Tenn. On January 7th. I was doing the job as contracted and was paid in full ($1,800.00). He even complimented us on doing such an outstanding job in record time.
Then he contracted us to repair the crown molding downstairs (that had been poorly installed by the owner) and paint 2 rooms (living room and office). Gave another compliment on a great job.
Then he contracted me to repair the rest of the crown molding in the house and paint the remaining rooms. Said we were doing such a great job that he was going to use us on other jobs that he had going.
Then he set a deadline on when the work must be done. After that he paid me a portion of what I was owed which was $2,000.00.
Then he kept adding extra stuff for me to do (paint the stairwell leading into the garage, remove entrance door and install new one, stain and poly new door, tear out a water stained area in the bathroom ceiling and repair it, paint both garage doors, paint the baseboard molding-that was being installed, and paint the shoe molding, that originally was to be stained to match the new hardwood floors, etc, etc, etc, and told me to charge him for it.
Well, then he brought in some other people to install the baseboard molding and they destroyed my painting job (I have photos of before, during and after) with their airhoses and hand prints all over the newly painted walls. They were cutting baseboard molding using a miter saw without a dust collector two feet away from a freshly polyurethane coated door! They ran their airhoses all through the house (that had freshly painted walls) instead of bringing the compressor to the room they were working in. Their hoses destroyed the corners and baseboard that had been freshly painted-it was still wet with paint!
I told Don that his crew was killing me and my job and tried to inform him of what was going on, but all he had to say was—fix it. How do you repair an inside corner where two pieces of baseboard molding meet that has a one inch gap? I know how, but I was contracted to paint-not go behind his crew of trim installers with a can of wood putty or a miter saw to recut it and replace with a new one, or go behind them and reset every nail because they had the air pressure set too low on their compressor's regulator - I just wish I could post these pictures of their work and let you decide for yourself.
I can't say enough about their shoddy craftsmanship. Don't use them! Don't work for him—he won't pay you in full!
I tried to informed the home owners of this and they didn't want to hear any negative feedback on why their house was not finished. I can't blame them for that. They asked me to leave and they said that they would take this issue up with Don. I left and called Don and told him what happened and he started blaming me and my crew for this. I told him that I wanted paid for what I did and he said he would pay me for materials that I bought and that is all. He paid me the money I had invested in materials ($616.34) and I told him I would see him court to collect the rest of it.
I am in the process of filing a Lien against him, but what gets me is, I have to file the Lien against the property owners also and they are really nice people. They haven't done anything in this, but yet they have to be dragged into court also.
I would really like to set down with someone to show them these photos of what his crew did to this house. They really screwed up this persons house and they are trying to blame me for it. But, like I said, I have photos to prove what I say is true. The baseboard molding and shoe molding was installed by ametuers instead of professionals. I have been in the home improvements industry for over 25 years and I have seen some shoddy work in my time, but this is flat out unacceptable. He calls himself a so-called "professional", yeah right. If anyone lives in the East Tennessee area, please take caution when ever thinking about using Don Smith for any type of remodeling or repairs.
He owes me more than $2,000.00 for everything I did and he refuses to pay me. I am taking him to court and going through the processes of filing a Lien. I have already contacted an attorney and paid my retainer. I have sent him one notice of intent to file a Lien and am getting ready to send the second and final notice.
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