Unmasking Construction Scams: Homeowner Stories

Mikki Paradis and Jessica Abreu host an episode of Chicks in Construction about recurring homeowner scams where contractors fail inspections and try to charge homeowners to fix their own mistakes. They share a South Carolina story in which a homeowner hires “Travis” from Facebook to convert two closets into a half bath for $12,000 in three weeks, pays a $4,000 deposit, then gets hit with extra charges after failed plumbing and electrical inspections, including $1,500 and $800 fixes. After five weeks and $6,500 spent, the homeowner discovers Travis isn’t licensed, can’t provide receipts, and abandons the job. A licensed contractor finishes for $4,500, bringing the total to over $18,000 and four months. They emphasize verifying local requirements, licenses, and insurance, and promote their North Carolina “Pours and Plans” contractor-vetting events.

00:00 Drywall Ethics Cold Open

00:20 Podcast Intro Banter

00:53 Spicy Comment Clapback

02:25 Brain Fog And Tab Chaos

04:29 Vitamin Dealer And Birthdays

07:32 Contractor Scams Explained

13:14 Inspections And Who Pays

19:28 Seniors Panel And Aging Talk

23:03 Horror Story Begins Facebook Hire

24:10 Bathroom Reno Red Flags

27:02 Ask Questions Always

27:36 Confidence Isnt Competence

28:11 Permits And Failed Plumbing

29:13 Paying For Mistakes

32:20 Electrical Code Fail

34:37 New Crews On Site

36:17 Toilet Flange Explained

38:30 License Check Fallout

40:46 Receipts And Ghosting

42:08 Real Contractor Cleanup

43:27 Facebook Referrals Risk

45:22 Pores And Plans Events

51:28 Vet License And Insurance

54:02 Wrap Up And Share Stories

Creators and Guests

Host

Jessica Abreu

As a social media expert, Jessica has a knack for identifying what makes each business unique and translating that into powerful, engaging content that resonates with clients and customers. From crafting tailored strategies and managing accounts to recording on-site content and boosting engagement, Jessica and her team handle it all so their clients can focus on what they do best.

Host

Mikki Paradis

President & CEO at PDI Drywall Inc. Mikki founded her first construction company, PDI Drywall Inc, in 2005 while she was still a student at NC State. After growing PDI into a multimillion dollar company, she has become an accomplished entrepreneur, speaker, and advocate for innovation in business and leadership. With a passion for empowering others, she has built a reputation as a forward-thinking professional dedicated to driving growth and fostering meaningful connections. Known for her dynamic energy and ability to inspire, Mikki is deeply committed to creating positive change in her industry and beyond. Whether through her entrepreneurial ventures or speaking engagements, she consistently challenges the status quo and encourages others to reach their full potential.

What is Chicks in Construction?

You plan your renovation with excitement, trust your contractor, and hope for the best...until things start going sideways. That’s when most homeowners realize they didn’t know what they didn’t know.

From permits that were never pulled to “contractors” who ghost after demo day, the construction world can feel like a maze of hidden costs and shady shortcuts. Too many homeowners end up confused, overwhelmed, and out of a lot of money.

The Chicks in Construction Podcast is here to change that. Hosted by Mikki Paradis, a licensed general contractor with 20+ years of experience, and Jess Abreu, a homeowner turned construction content creator, this show breaks down real renovation horror stories and teaches you how to protect your time, money, and home.

After building a multimillion-dollar drywall business and helping countless homeowners recover from construction nightmares, Mikki is on a mission to make sure you go into your next project informed, not blindsided. And Jess brings the perspective of someone who’s been in your shoes and now knows exactly what questions to ask.

Submit Your Construction Horror Story: https://chicksinconstruction.com/

46 - Chicks in Construction
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Mikki: [00:00:00] So in my 21 years of being a drywall contractor, I have never gotten away with screwing up somebody's drywall and then getting them to pay me to fix it.

Ever. Not once. Mm-hmm. Now, to be perfectly honest, I've never tried because that's unethical

Well, hello and welcome back to another episode of Chicks in Construction. I'm your host, Mickey, and this is my illustrious co-host.

Jessica: I'm Jessica,

Mikki: and listen, this is the podcast where you guys write in and you share your stories about the horrible experiences that you have with contractors and you share with us.

So then we can share with the world, and so hopefully other people can learn from your mistake because as we have discussed, learning the hard way is what?

Jessica: Overrated.

Mikki: It's overrated. We didn't even practice that. That's how good we are at this.

Jessica: We're professional now. Gross.

Mikki: Podcasts, you know how it lives in my head, rent free.

The comments that when we were, when we were hating on [00:01:00] people, waking up one day and deciding that they were contractors, and I was like, guys, that's not how that works. Somebody left a very spicy comment that I think I've mentioned before. Yeah. About how, well you guys just woke up one day and decided you were podcasters.

How did that work for you? And I'm like, well, so far pretty good. I sound good. But that does live in my head, rent free. Like I'm just like, he is right. Technically the guy was not wrong. I mean, was he rude? Yeah. Do. Do I wonder you kiss your mother thou mouth. I do. I do. But also I'm like, solid burn. Two things can be true at the same time.

They can be.

Jessica: They can be, yeah. But the difference is like contractors are messing up people's home and costing people thousands of dogs. Yeah.

Mikki: You could just scroll

Jessica: past.

Mikki: Yeah. Like we're not killing anybody with our podcast. Like if you don't think we're professional, that's. Fine. I mean, I'm a drywall contractor.

Heck, just as many, many companies. This is our first podcast, podcast, podcast go around. Mm-hmm. So, I mean, you're not fully wrong, but I'm also not gonna be the reason your house burns down. [00:02:00] You see how those are not the same thing, you know? But what I know, I'm just a drywall contractor and the podcaster, brand new podcaster, new day.

397. I actually don't know how many days we're into our second year. So we're somewhere. Yeah, we have 365 solid days under the belt. Come at me, bro. Or don't, I mean, it's dealer's choice. What were we gonna talk about? Like, I gotta like, I don't know what's happening. I am forgetting the, the, forget these.

Maybe I've got the early onset. 'cause I'm just like, holy shit. I don't all for like two weeks. I've

Jessica: been like, wait, you forgetting everything.

Mikki: Why did I walk in here? Mm-hmm. What was I just saying? It's getting bad.

Jessica: Yeah. You know what it is?

Mikki: What?

Jessica: You have too much on your mind too.

Mikki: Because she's not wrong.

Jessica: It's like when you have so many things going on, your brain is like, do I really need to know this now? Delete. We'll just put Delete what? Delete.

Mikki: Delete.

Jessica: You have too many files opening your brain. It's like the tabs. No. Close, close, close, close. [00:03:00]

Mikki: That actually does track. You should see my computer, the amount of tabs that I have opened.

It's a crime. It's criminal.

Jessica: Yeah. They're so small. I'm like, I wonder what this one is.

Mikki: Oh, a hundred percent. I'm like, wait,

Jessica: is that where my

Mikki: QuickBooks is? Where are you? QuickBooks. And

Jessica: they get mad because it takes you 10 minutes to find what you are doing. Oh my

Mikki: God, it's so bad.

Jessica: But I can't close any of 'em because

Mikki: I might need it.

Right. I know I'm gonna need it a hundred percent. And people are like, you can just reopen it, can you? You don't understand the whole purpose of all the tabs being open is, 'cause I can't remember what tab I need. I gotta leave 'em all open. I don't know when the memory's gonna come back and it comes very quickly and then it's gone Just as quick.

Yeah.

Jessica: Or sometimes I'll be looking through my tabs to be like, oh, I forgot I have to do this.

Mikki: Yes. Somebody, I think I was like with a friend who was like very techie and I opened up the internet on my phone and they were like, you have over a hundred internet tabs opened on your phone. And I was like, I don't know.

Like I just pressed the button. That's not a really a button. I just [00:04:00] pressed the glass and then magically the internet opens.

Jessica: Yeah. And opens

Mikki: a new thing time. And then I search for the thing. I don't, I dunno if there's other tabs open, like gimme a break. Can do the best I can.

Jessica: Yeah, I have, I have 62 and I know that only because when I got here you looked, I need to open up and see something and it's like you have 62 tabs.

I wonder. Wonder if I need all of those.

Mikki: Don't tab shame me. I have them all open. I have tabs open from last year. I'm sure. Listen, I'm doing the best I can. We try. That's right. I need, and Jess needs to sell me a vitamin that will help my brain focus.

Jessica: I have a few of those.

Mikki: She does i'll, I text Jess. Jess is my vitamin dealer.

I'll be like, Hey Jess, I'm having this problem. You have a vitamin for that? She's like, I do. I lowered it for you and send it to your house. And then I Venmo her money. That's how that works.

Jessica: Yeah,

Mikki: true. Vitamin dealer status.

Jessica: Yep. I'm a dealer.

Mikki: Dealer of good things, guys. It's all legal. Don't come for Jess, don't call anybody.

It's all above board. So I had [00:05:00] my birthday party celebration over the weekend. It was delightful. Yay. I am, it is my, the anniversary of my 25th birthday. That is how I love it. We call birthdays. Mm-hmm. It's just the anniversary of my 25th

Jessica: birthday. It's funny. Said 25. 'cause that's how old I feel too.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: Hundred forever. Ever. 25.

Mikki: I'm like, oh, this is great. Yeah. I'm 25 still. Um. And I look still 25. Listen, shut. Shut up. Sh shush it. Do you just go with it? Like go with it? Um, but I will say, so my, one of my really good friends, she's from Honduras, and um, she told her mom, who I've known for a really long time that, that she was coming to my birthday party and she said, you tell Mickey, I said her.

She eats years. And I was like, Norma, what does that, what does that mean? And she was like, basically she was calling you a vampire. And I was like, it's twice times, two times from Central Americans who think I'm a vampire. I feel seen.

Jessica: Mm-hmm.

Mikki: That's all that matters is that people think that I [00:06:00] am clearly doing something nefarious to stay young looking.

I love it. I know I'm here for it a hundred percent.

Jessica: And then Brad

Mikki: had his birthday, right?

Jessica: He did have his birthday.

Mikki: You've got a lot of Tauruses in your life. You've got Brad, you've got me, you've got Bailey. There's a lot of us.

Jessica: What does that mean?

Mikki: I don't know. You clearly like very spicy people. Oh.

Because Tauruses are always a little bit ready to fight.

Jessica: That's funny because in like with Brad and I, I'm usually the one right to fight.

Mikki: You are pretty spicy in comparison to Brad. Yes. I don't know how he's a true Taurus, it seems like. I

Jessica: don't think he is,

Mikki: but I like TAUs are the first one to be like, okay, okay, I'm gonna knock them teeth right out your mouth, just right out.

Jessica: Mm. And

Mikki: sadly we're not allowed to do that anymore. But I will say I have a, I have a list for when the purge is allowed. You know who you are with survival, the fittest. I'm coming for you one day. One

Jessica: day it will be legal.

Mikki: Now listen, I also know [00:07:00] flip side to that, I am on a lot of people's lists, the list, but my whole thing is.

Who got the crowbar will. Do you have what it takes? Do you have what it takes to come For me in the purge? Mm-hmm. Because I've done Bin Planet. Listen, I grew up in Florida. Your life is like every day. The purge In Florida, you may survive it, you may not. You don't know. You don't know. You're just out here.

It's a hope and a prayer. Hope and a prayer. So now that we've talked about that, living our, we're just living the dream guys. I will say today's home and our horror story. I have noticed that they, every story seems so similar, and it's one of those things where it's like, I'm gonna repeat it over and over again, that they all seem similar because nobody's calling this stuff out, right?

Like the amount of people that are getting hustled by this hustle. Is because nobody's talking about, Hey, [00:08:00] this isn't normal. Hey, this isn't how this goes. It's like

Jessica: when all those people fell for the scam where like you were the princess and your prince was in

Mikki: Yeah, the Nigerian

Default_2026-04-27_1: prince.

Jessica: Prince. He was, he was waiting for you.

And if you just sent him a little bit of money, you would get right.

Mikki: You would get,

Jessica: and then once people talked about it, now we know.

Mikki: Right? So once everybody started joking about how the Nigerian prince is never gonna send you that money back, we all realized, oh wait. I'm not coming into a large sum of money.

Mm-hmm.

Jessica: I'm not a princess. Wa wa

Mikki: I'll tell you, um, several of my family members are still waiting for their check. Like, and it's because you're just like, who seriously still falls for that? And I'm like, you wouldn't be surprised, um, because. What, what are we doing? Like what really? I got a, somebody reached out to me, somebody added me or tried, I don't know, whatever they call it on LinkedIn.

Like it's a friend, it's not really a friend request, it's like a network connection. They wanna,

Jessica: yeah, they wanted to [00:09:00] connect with you.

Mikki: So they wanted to connect with me on LinkedIn and I was like, okay. And so this guy was like, Hey, I have this, something I like to discuss with you. Um, what's the best way to reach you now, this is the first time this had happened.

So I was like, I thought it was like actually something and I was like, ah, here's my email. So he sends me an email and it's. This whole thing, it's, it's the same script, Nigerian Prince, except for they took the Nigerian prince out. 'cause apparently people, he wasn't talking anymore, people about that too much.

And now it is an Italian benefactor with my same last name.

Jessica: Oh.

Mikki: And so this guy claimed to be his attorney.

Jessica: Nice.

Mikki: He's a state attorney. Mm-hmm. This guy has the same last name as me.

Jessica: Oh.

Mikki: So if I would just agree to spend, send him $1,300 to pay for the Italian estate attorney tax, he would. He would just forward me like 1.8 million.

I was like,

Jessica: I was like, how about you send me the 1300

Mikki: from that

Jessica: 1.8

Mikki: million and then I'll re [00:10:00] I'll around? Yes,

Jessica: yes, yes. Or you can just. Now keep that 1300 out of that,

Mikki: right? Just like you pay it. You can use my name and then just send me the money when you make it happen. It didn't, didn't happen that way, but I'm just like, really?

Like you're, we're doing this. We're doing, we're still doing this. And on LinkedIn. On

Default_2026-04-27_1: LinkedIn.

Jessica: You think people would be smart there? You would think one would assume. One would assume, but that's the problem.

Mikki: Yeah, that's the problem. And so like, guys, that's why we're here. Because even though it seems like these stories repeat themselves, they do.

Mm-hmm. Because. This scam and the scams that contractors have been running has been working for literal decades. Because nobody's talking about this openly. No, nobody's calling it out. Mm-hmm. And I will say, when we do call it out and we hit on somebody's way that they're jet generating revenue, and their income stream is scamming people over, they get very mad.

Jessica: They do.

Mikki: They get very upset. Sit [00:11:00] with us.

Jessica: Feel a little spicy.

Mikki: They get spicy 'cause they're, you know, like, and I, I can't, I can't say this enough. You guys, if somebody is getting upset at us for saying, Hey, hey homeowner, when you enter into a contract with a professional builder and they fail an inspection, it is never your financial responsibility to pay for the failed work.

If a builder gets upset about that,

Jessica: hmm.

Mikki: What any like, and I've talked to you 'cause like backstory for you guys. If you're just, if you're listening or you know, this is the first time watching or listening, we had somebody come for us hard in the comments on an Instagram post. And this woman just, I mean, she was so triggered, she lost her dag on mind to the point where she went back to all of our posts and was harassing our, our, our community.

Like she was just going right.

Jessica: She was going after, after

Mikki: everybody that

Jessica: left a

Mikki: comment. Everybody,

Jessica: everybody,

Mikki: like anybody who agreed with us, I mean, it was just wild in these streets.

Jessica: And she was from [00:12:00] Florida.

Mikki: She was,

Default_2026-04-27_1: I

Jessica: mean.

Mikki: Ah. I've said what I've said y'all. I've said what I've said about Florida, if you live there, it's not a you thing, it's a state thing.

Don't, yeah, don't get it twisted. And we're not hating on you. I'm just like the state in and of itself. I don't know. There's something in the water. So

Jessica: alligators.

Mikki: It

Jessica: is

Mikki: alligators. Brain eating, amoebas. Like that's the whole thing. 'cause it's so hot there year round. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. In like the, the natural spring water.

No ma'am. No, Alyssa. So my niece who moved here, she's very excited about summer because we get to go in the lakes and I was, she was like, so you guys don't have, you guys don't have brain eating amebas? We do. And I was like, not as prevalent as Florida does. I haven't, like I knew a couple years ago there was something in Falls Lake.

Jessica: I don't know, I just, I'm not taking my kids to the little lakes. Ponds here to go swimming? No, we will go to the ocean where it's safe.

Mikki: Listen, [00:13:00] I don't think we would notice if I got a brain eating in me, but let's just be honest. Okay. Let's just call a spade a spade, if you will. Now, that was a side quest from what we were explaining, but

Jessica: we're gonna land the plane.

Mikki: We are gonna land the plane. When people get upset about us calling them out, when it does make them very upset, I think it's really important for you guys to notice that if somebody gets upset for us saying, Hey, homeowners don't pay for the same thing twice.

Default_2026-04-27_1: Mm-hmm.

Mikki: Why is that so upsetting for you? And sadly, a lot of the homeowner horror stories that we've been getting are, are really based around.

Hired somebody. Didn't check their license, didn't check their credentials. We went under contract, they did work. Now, I will say it makes my, my soul happy to hear that these shady contractors are getting inspections. Like that's great. I don't know who's getting applying for the permits, but. They're getting inspections.

Mm-hmm. They failed the inspection because they don't know what they're doing, and then they turn around to the [00:14:00] homeowner and they say, Hey, this is gonna cost $3,000 to fix. Mm-hmm. You know who it's gonna cost, Mike? It's gonna cost you $3,000 to fix.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki: Because if they did not install the shower pan that they were contracted to install, they didn't install it correctly.

Guess whose problem? That's not you the homeowner. Mm-hmm. That's. That's Mike, the contractor. That's his fault. That's Sam, the general contractor that doesn't have a license. That's his fault. Yeah. It's not your fault.

Jessica: It's not your

Mikki: fault and you're not paying for it. That was the thing that pissed that lady off so bad.

And like here's I, I, I've said this before and I'll say it again. Inspectors are not construction gods. So if an inspector comes into your house and fails you for something that is not a legitimate code requirement, and I'm not gonna lie, some inspectors get a little big for the britches. It happens.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki: I've

Jessica: had, I've had a, that power.

Mikki: Yeah. I've had a little dancer, two with an inspector. And Hector's best friend or [00:15:00] nephew is, well, best friend and nephew is A-H-V-A-C contractor. And we, we got together over the weekend and we were talking about just like crazy inspection stories. It happens. Mm-hmm. We're an inspector.

Especially now, there's all these new young people coming into the industry and there's not enough people that have enough knowledge and sense to train them, so they're just like putting random, unexperienced people out there in the streets.

Jessica: Great.

Mikki: It's great. It's seems like it's gonna work out real well.

Are just thrilled. So I'm not saying that a, that an inspector can't say that you need to do something that is ridiculous. It happens. Mm-hmm. But any good contractor can then say, okay, inspector. Show me in the code book where it calls for that. And this is the point that my, my husband's best friend was saying, he called the the inspector.

The inspector was like, this is the hill I'm gonna die on. You have to do it. So he called the inspector's boss and was like, Hey. Um, and of course, like a good [00:16:00] contractor knows all the inspectors. Mm-hmm. And knows who to call. And it has good relationships with inspectors. And he went to the guy and said, Hey, listen, I'm not trying to.

You don't stir up crap or anything, but this requirement isn't actually to code and I can't get your inspector to pass it. Look at it differently. Can you help me? Of course. If it's not in the code book, an inspector cannot enforce their opinion. Mm. Now, some might say that interpretation of the code book is that it's an interpretation and yes and no.

Like construction isn't a law. We don't have a supreme Court. Why? Because black is black and blue is blue, and green is green. Like the interpretation is like this isn't, this isn't a serious, it's

Jessica: like black and white. It's not really gray. It

Mikki: pretty much just says, this is how you do it.

Jessica: Mm-hmm.

Mikki: And if you did it right.

Then you're good. And if you didn't,

Jessica: then go do it

Mikki: again. Go do it again. Do it the [00:17:00] right way. And if the inspector's being ridiculous, then talk to the inspector's boss. 'cause that's, the inspectors don't get to determine that you have to spend an extra $10,000 because they said so. That's not how that works.

Mm. And I do wanna be fair to some contractors. There are some, and I have. Drywall doesn't even get inspected, y'all. It should, but it doesn't. So I don't even have to deal with inspectors. Have I had inspectors that came out and said something absolutely ridiculous that I had to fight back on and be like, that's not in the code.

Yeah, and we won because if it's not in the code and is mm-hmm. Inspector is one, inexperienced or two just giving you a hard time. There are ways to get around that now. Some things aren't worth it, and it's just easier. But that's it. That's the general contractor's choice. It is not your financial obligation because they did it wrong to pay for it twice.

Mm-hmm. And if you wanna get mad and butt hurt in the comments and start coming for [00:18:00] people's throat and say that I need a facelift one, nobody believes you look at this face, and two, you got blocked. So I'm just saying think about your life choices. And so that's kind of the theme. Of, of, of today's homeowner horror story.

And listen, I am so grateful. We have been getting more people sending in their homeowner horror stories. And while I hate that there are so many people with these homeowner horror stories out there, I am so grateful that you guys are sharing with with us. Mm-hmm. Because. You know, we have $25,000. $25,000.

Jessica: Wow. Woo.

Mikki: I wish we had $25,000. We're gonna try to turn that into $25,000, but we have 25,000 subscribers, so there's 25,000 people who are watching our content. And these stories are getting out there. And like what kind of brings like. Joy to my soul is the idea of like young people watching the podcast going out, buying their first house, and kind of just coming into it knowing that, mm-hmm.

Oh no, we don't do that. Like I'm not, because [00:19:00] one of the number one things that people say is, I didn't know that this wasn't. How it went. Right. I didn't know that. I wasn't supposed to just pay that amount of money.

Jessica: Right.

Mikki: I didn't know. Fill in the blank. Mm-hmm. Now you know, and by you sharing your stories, which you can do at going to chicks and construction.com, you are helping other people learn from your very unfortunate situation and from you getting totally bamboozled or taken advantage of by a general contractor.

And we don't want that to happen to you. It's funny because I went, I don't think I told you this the last time I went to this event where it was like, I was on a panel and I was talking, it was like for seniors.

Jessica: Okay.

Mikki: Um, how to avoid, you know, having bad experiences with contractors, which I was like, this is literally my Super Bowl.

Mm-hmm. So I was talking to people before the event started, and again, it was for seniors. I don't know what that means. Like what age do you I thought it was like 65. It could be 55. I don't know. [00:20:00] I'm talking about this lady. I said something about for seniors and she goes, excuse me, I am not a senior. And I was like,

Jessica: lookie.

Mikki: Okay. I mean, you're here. How did you find out about it? You know, like, and like

Jessica: you're

Mikki: my senior. The team was older than me by some years, but it was just so funny. I was like, are we doing this now? Like,

Jessica: yeah,

Mikki: like when I moved, came to an event for seniors. I assumed you were in the category. Yeah, she was spicy though.

I was like, all right lady, you probably don't even need this event because I imagine you don't get taken advantage by anybody. Seeing as to how you won't even admit

Jessica: that

Mikki: you're a senior. Senior, which I love that for her. Yeah. Like, listen, I'm gonna be the same way. People are gonna be like, you're a senior citizen, and I'm gonna be like, no, I'm not.

Jessica: I'm still, I'm still 25.

Mikki: This is the 87th anniversary, my 25th birthday, dear. I'm not gonna lie, I don't wanna live that long, but. With my luck, I will,

Jessica: [00:21:00] oh, I wanna live as long as I am healthy and can still move my body, eat by myself and wipe my own butt.

Mikki: Oh yeah, those are great. That's, that's the three. If

Jessica: I can't do those things,

Mikki: take me

Jessica: to

Mikki: Canada, just.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki: Yeah. I'm saying just have a party.

Jessica: Yeah. I'm,

Mikki: I don't want bankrupt from my family either. Like if, listen, I've told he a million times, like if what? I get the dementia, listen, I get everybody's like, but they don't know because they don't know who they're anymore. And I'm like, that's the point. You better take me for me.

Jessica: Oh my gosh. Yeah. I read a, I read a book years ago, I don't remember. It was something, something Alice remembering Alice or Forgetful Alice or something. And it's so sad. It's a. Fictional, but based on, yeah, and like she wrote herself an email and like every morning she would wake up and was like, if you can't remember these things, then there's like pills that you can take to like.

And, but no, the sad part is that [00:22:00] she reads the email, doesn't remember the things, and then goes to go get the pills and forgets what she's doing. Oh, yeah. So she never, so she just keeps, she never, she keeps reading

Mikki: the email over

Jessica: and over. Yeah. And then like one day, like she goes into her house 'cause she has to go to the bathroom.

Yeah. And all the doors are closed and she can't remember which door is the bathroom. Oh God. Then she ends up going, I was like, oh, this is not,

Mikki: I do not wanna be this.

Jessica: And I'm sorry for anybody who is dealing with that.

Mikki: Yeah, that is, I'm really sorry. I have, we've, I've had a lot of clients and friends that have had parents that were, like, we, we had this one, I'll never forget it.

Um, she forgot to, to chew her own food. Like, so she was in a facility where they would have to like chew, help her chew, and I was like, no. No, no. That is when we go to one of those states that lets you choose your own adventure.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki: Absolutely not. I know this took a weird turn, guys. I'm sorry. Yeah,

Jessica: sorry.

It went a little dark.

Mikki: It got dark there. It's, these are the times. It's dark dates. You

Jessica: never know what you're gonna get.

Mikki: I'm telling you, this is really just around the fact that I can't [00:23:00] remember anything and here we are again. I don't know. We're getting scared.

Jessica: Let's start with the homeowner horror story.

Mikki: So guys, on that note, let's. Tell you a story.

Jessica: So this story is coming to us from South Carolina.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: So here we go. So we've got this utility closet in linen closet side by side in the hallway.

Mikki: Yes. I was envisioning it. I was like, all right, I see it in my mind.

Jessica: Yep. I'm like, I wouldn't know because I don't have closets in my house.

Mikki: True.

Jessica: It's, it's terrible. I don't know who built my house, but

Mikki: closets are a commodity.

Jessica: A linen closet is a necessity. Yes. It's, um, been saying for two years we should knock out the wall between them and make a half bath. Just a toilet and a sink. A guest bathroom.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: I found this guy on Facebook. Oh.

Famous Last words.

Mikki: I know.

Jessica: Famous last words.

Mikki: I know. We need to figure out a way to like, make this not cool. I don't know how, but we need to be like, don't. You did not find the guy on Facebook. That's the last move

Jessica: that, yeah, the last resort. Although I have [00:24:00] had luck. Oh.

Mikki: Jess was like, well,

Jessica: well, but no, don't,

Mikki: Jess is how people have gotten into the situation.

Jessica: Yes, I am. I'm the problem. Someone in a local home improvement group recommended him, said he did their kitchen backsplash. Good price showed up on time.

Mikki: Okay. So we went from tile. To turning closets into bathrooms,

Jessica: so it seems like a little bit of a stretch.

Mikki: Yeah, I feel like that's, again, in my mind, because I'm in construction, I know that literally anybody can do a tile backsplash, literally anybody.

You could find a guy in the parking lot at Lowe's to do it. You could find a, you know, channel on YouTube that could show you how to do it. Tile is not a high stake situation. Creating a bathroom

Jessica: with plumbing

Mikki: that has to have draining and waistline connections and all the things that come with toilets [00:25:00] that's a whole nother ballgame.

So just like you would probably not let the person who checks out your groceries. Do surgery on you. We do need to understand that there's a very big difference between I can style tile and, and install tile. Not style. Style, like style. Install it too. But I like, and I, I, I don't like, I wanna be so careful as like, not kind, like shame homeowners.

Like, this is not your fault, right? Like, I get it. Like, they're in construction. You think, all right. Construction is construction. Unfortunately, it's really not so. Just because somebody can do tile work, that's great. And that is a really amazing skill to have. It's great. It's great, but that does not mean they know how to install plumbing.

Jessica: Mm.

Mikki: So we'll just call that red flag number one. Sorry.

Jessica: Sorry

Mikki: about that.

Jessica: Um, good price showed up on time. His name was Travis. Oh. There you go.

Mikki: Well, [00:26:00] just forgot to change his name. So his name was Travis.

Jessica: Be on the lookout. I messaged him. He came out the next day, looked at the closet, said, yeah, no problem.

Mikki: Of course he did.

Jessica: Quoted me 12 k said it take three weeks. Started taking down. Started talking about waistlines and vent stacks and something about the tarp. Arm distance. The trap arm. All of these

Mikki: distance? Yeah. Was it trap

Jessica: or tarp? It says trap, but maybe he meant tarp.

Mikki: No, no trap. You said tarp.

Jessica: Oh, sorry. I have,

Mikki: but I was like, what?

The tar arm. You mean? Trap arm? I could see that

Jessica: it's Monday.

Mikki: Yeah, it is.

Jessica: The Monday is, I'm doing the best I can. I'm gonna make this font a little larger

Mikki: and Jess is like, on that note, zoom in.

Jessica: Thank God phones do that. Facts. I'm getting old your eyes though. I don't actually need to do that, but

Mikki: I do.

Jessica: I don't know why like that really makes it work better.

Such

Mikki: a apparently. I don't know. I just [00:27:00] zoom all the way in.

Jessica: You zoom all the way in. All right. Yeah. So all those things that he's talking about, I have no idea. I'm like,

Mikki: yeah.

Jessica: Be like, okay, sure. Sounds good.

Mikki: Yeah. Which is super common. It seems like this is like the new trend. It's like we're just gonna use words, words, words, so that you think I know what I'm talking about.

Mm-hmm. Which, I mean, I guess in some worlds that works, but it seems like every home or horror story we're getting is like they were saying words, I didn't know what they were talking about.

Jessica: Right. And it's okay to ask them questions?

Mikki: Yes, it is.

Jessica: Okay. I nodded along like I knew what any of that meant.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: That's fair. He seems confident, so I figured he knew what he was doing.

Mikki: And what does that trigger guys second red flag. We don't give people work based on the fact that they seem confident. Confidence is great. It's great. Yes, I think it's important to have confidence. I literally talk all over the world about the importance of having confidence, but it's not.

Something that signifies someone's ability to do a [00:28:00] project. It's great that they're confident, but we still have to check literally everything else.

Jessica: Everything. Yeah. Guys, we don't have to check names

Mikki: no matter what. No matter what.

Jessica: I gave him a $4,000 deposit. He said he starts the following Monday, they knocked out the wall between the closets that first week, opening it right up.

Then they started running. Plumbing, had to cut the floor, run new drain lines, tie into the existing stack. That's what Travis told me anyway. Travis. Travis.

Mikki: I mean, that all actually is correct. I mean, it sounds correct. Sounds whether did it correctly? I don't know. Like

Jessica: Well, they did because the plumbing inspection failed.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: So he doesn't talk about. Getting permits. But I bet you that he had, well, if there was an

Mikki: inspection then there

Jessica: were,

Mikki: I

Jessica: wonder Yes. If it wasn't Travis doing, I bet you he had the homeowner do it and the homeowner didn't even realize that that was like something that was a red flag.

Mikki: Well, I think that's interesting 'cause it's like you think they would've mentioned the fact that they had to go get the permits.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki: So I wonder if good old Travis, I mean, again, I love that [00:29:00] they're getting permits. This is great. Like I feel like we're making a step in the right direction.

Jessica: Slight progress. Slight little bit.

Mikki: Yeah. That's great. Mm-hmm. And the inspector's like, Hey, this is wrong. Mm-hmm. So did he turn around and tell the guy he had to pay for it?

Jessica: Inspector said the vent wasn't right size and the drain slope was wrong. Travis said the inspector was nitpicking, said it would've worked fine, but that he fix it to make the guy happy. That fix cost me $1,500.

Mikki: Nope. Nope. Mm-hmm. Okay. Just, I mean, listen, walk me through this. You are hired to do a job.

Let's just say I hired Jess to do my social media. She posts something that is not correct on my timeline or on my socials, or she you know, promotes an event that isn't for me, like just something she doesn't do her job correctly. Then in order to fix it, she comes to me and tells me I need to [00:30:00] pay her money to fix the mistake that she made.

Does that sound like I would pay that money?

Jessica: No.

Mikki: No, I would not. Like Jess would be lucky that I didn't fire her. Now, obviously she would never do that and I would never fire her, but. Try to put this situation of, I was hired to do a job, we did the job, it didn't pass inspection. Now it's the homeowner's responsibility to pay for it.

Somebody make it make sense to me? Mm-hmm. Please, in the comments on our social media, you make sense. You the contractor that are, that are, sell me on this idea. Explain to me why that's the homeowner's problem. Mm-hmm. How is that not something you, as the homeowner, were you as the contractor worked into your.

There could be a problem with the inspector. So I'm gonna put a little contingency in here. Like, how is it the homeowner's problem?

Jessica: I mean,

Mikki: it's not, that's the thing. It's not, it's absolutely not. Mm-hmm. But sell me on it, especially since all y'all [00:31:00] get triggered by us telling people that it's not the homeowner's responsibility to pay for this mistake.

So tell me why, why is it the homeowner's responsibility in your mind for them to pay for it? Mm. Again, I know we've had some spicy comments about 20 years of experience and what in drywall, you assholes? I've been a drywall contractor for 21 years plus. 21 years plus. So in my 21 years of being a drywall contractor, I have never gotten away with screwing up somebody's drywall and then getting them to pay me to fix it.

Ever. Not once. Mm-hmm. Now, to be perfectly honest, I've never tried because that's unethical

Jessica: and 'cause you are a professional.

Mikki: Because I do this for a living,

Jessica: a common man scam artist.

Mikki: But I'm just like somebody,

Jessica: subpar contractor.

Mikki: Make it make sense. Like make, help me. Don't sense. Understand how it is the homeowner's responsibility.

Jessica: They're never gonna.

Mikki: I mean, you could try.

Jessica: You can try.

Mikki: I'm [00:32:00] here for a good time.

Jessica: We'll read it.

Mikki: Yeah, we'll read it. You write it in. Explain to us if you go to World and look world com and explain to us how it is the homeowner's responsibility to pay for a failed inspection cost. We'll read it. We sure will.

We'll, sure will. We'll give you a fair shake. You heard it here first, folks.

Jessica: All right, so the reinspection passed. They framed out the walls, ran electrical. The inspection failed. Again, something about an outlet being too close to the sink, GFCI protection or whatever, another $800 to move the outlet and put in the right kind, what I think,

Mikki: first of all, 800

Jessica: for an outlet.

I feel like they're using, they're, they're doing it on purpose to get more money out of the guy.

Mikki: I dunno if it's like straight up, just like. On purpose scamming, or if it's we are really this bad at it.

Jessica: I mean,

Mikki: but like,

Jessica: either way.

Mikki: First of all, I am [00:33:00] a, as we have just recently discussed, a drywall contract.

So the fact that I know that you have to have A-G-F-C-I within six feet of a sink. And a water source and a powder room is probably not longer than six feet. So that outlet, which is probably right by the, the sink. Right. The sink, mm-hmm. Doesn't, that's, that is not the inspector's being picky, that's literally in the code book.

So like. Listen, if y'all are already in this situation and a general contractor is coming back to you saying, Hey, we failed this inspection, and you have to just look up the building code because if it was in the building code the whole time, like with that GFCI, that has dumb been the building code.

That is not new. It is not new. No. So if it was in the building code at the time that you signed your contract, it is for sure not your financial responsibility to pay for it.

Jessica: Not at all

Mikki: what fight come fight [00:34:00] me. I don't know. Like just I'm here for it.

Jessica: Cups

Mikki: knife, hand strike. No, I'm just kidding. That's the, that's the one I know.

I'll

Jessica: you

Mikki: the jug

Jessica: cat. Yeah,

Mikki: I did learn that in college. Thank you very much.

Jessica: You're, I mean, the fact that you still remember.

Mikki: I know. That's impressive.

Jessica: It is.

Mikki: I don't know what I had for breakfast this morning, but I do know about that knife hand strike.

Jessica: Oh no. Okay, so we're five weeks in now. Oh, on a three week project.

Mikki: Five weeks, three week, gone it. That tracks. That tracks

Jessica: and I'm at almost $6,500 before we've even put up walls.

Mikki: Damn.

Jessica: Mm. Then one day I'm working from home and two guys show up I've never seen before. Love that. I asked who they were and they said that Travis sent them to do the tile. I texted Travis asking why he didn't tell me different people were coming.

He said, that's his tile crew. That's normal. I mean,

Mikki: it's not un-normal. Like again, most general contractors don't [00:35:00] self perform anything, so they're kind of like, I explained this to my group of seniors, not seniors, that a general contractor in today's day and age is essentially like a conductor of an orchestra.

Like can they play all the instruments? Probably do they know? They organize all of the things that need to happen in your house. They make sure all of it happens. That's what they're doing. So it's not wildly uncommon for like when a new task starts for a new crew to show up. Yeah. That's not super, that's not a red flag.

I wouldn't say

Jessica: no. 'cause I feel like when I've had work done in my house, I mean, I wish I knew this podcast existed because I would've saved myself so many headaches. There was different people to come and do all the different

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: Things.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: And some of the, the same people that should not have been doing the different things.

Mikki: Yeah. And I could see where it's like if, if you're in the middle of the same phase, I think we had a homeowner write in and they said their problem with it was they were still in the framing phase and every day and new people would come and it seemed [00:36:00] like they didn't know what the other people had completed.

I could see how that would be concerning. Mm-hmm. But like if you've transitioned from the plumbing to now we're doing tile, it's normal that somebody else shows up. It

Jessica: could be. Yeah. Um.

Mikki: In this case it might not be. We're about to get

Jessica: to that part. We're about to find out. I'm they tiled. The floor looked okay to me, but the toilet, then the toilet wouldn't sit flat.

Something about the floor not being level or the. Flange

Mikki: the toilet flange.

Jessica: I had you Google what that was. I would've had you Google what it was too. Yeah, I have no idea. Height being wrong. What part of the toilet is that? Okay,

Mikki: just to be clear, um, there was not a toilet in the closet that was turned into a bathroom.

So if the toilet flange was not the right height, guess whose fault it was? The

Jessica: contractors, Travis,

Mikki: it was Travis's fault. It's not like it was an existing [00:37:00] bathroom that they just came in to like renovate and, oh, whoops, we did it. Or you know, oh, oh, this, this toilet existing was not the right height.

Mm-hmm. No, you put the toilet in. If the flange, 'cause the flange is a thing that goes, so you're. You have your waste pipe from the toilet and you have fresh water coming up here and you have your waste pipe here. And the flange is what sits around it kinda like is the buffer between your toilet and the floor.

Okay. So like, um, on the toilet. So the toilet flange kind of. It's wider than the pipe. And on top of the flange sits like your, they call, it's like a wax ring. And that basically keeps like weird, it's like waterproofs it and it keeps like weird smells from coming through. And so like all of that together makes the toilet flange situation so.

Brand new toilet, brand new plumbing. If there's a problem with the flange, it's not the floor's fault, it's the installer of the plumbing's fault.

Jessica: Yeah. [00:38:00] Or they ever put the floor in. Yeah.

Mikki: I mean, there's a lot of things there, but it's not, it's not the homeowner's problem. Mm-hmm.

Jessica: All right.

Mikki: I guess how much this cost,

Jessica: Travis said they have to remove some tiles and reset the flange.

Mikki: Okay, Travis, I'm, you put it in wrong, so let me know. Do how much that costs you, Travis. Yeah, I guess this is probably gonna go the other way though.

Jessica: Wait, mal much? I'm getting frustrated at this point.

Mikki: Oh, okay. Okay, good.

Jessica: Every week it is something else. I'm also

Mikki: frustrated.

Jessica: I started Googling bathroom plumbing codes, just trying to understand what was going on.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah. That's when I saw something about contractor licenses. Looked up the rules for South Carolina. Anything over $500.

Mikki: Yeah. South Carolina needs a license plan. They're like, we ain't, if it costs more than 500 bucks, you need a license, which I'm just

Jessica: like that.

I think everything,

Mikki: they're like, you need a license? Mm-hmm. Full stop.

Jessica: [00:39:00] Yeah. Went to the state website, searched for Travis. Nothing. Searched his business name, nothing called him. Asked about his license, long pause.

Mikki: It's always the same name.

Jessica: Then he said he was working with a licensed plumber. That he was just doing the general work.

I said, I need to see the plumber's license number. He said he'd get it to me.

Mikki: Let me guess. Lemme guess. Lemme guess. And then he never called me back and he never answered the phone again. Am I close?

Jessica: Yeah. Never did

Mikki: Jesus.

Jessica: Surprise, surprise, surprise.

Mikki: Yeah. I mean. What? Mm-hmm. I don't, I, I'm trying to like, in my mind, like devil's advocate it, but I'm just like, you are taking what was a closet and turning it into a bathroom and you [00:40:00] don't have a license or think you need one.

I bet he didn't have insurance either.

Jessica: Probably not

Mikki: like you. I don't think a story gets into that, but it's like if somebody doesn't think it's important to have the right things in place when installing something that could flood your home, like think about that. Putting in a bathroom where there was.

Snatch One means that if that work was done incorrectly, you could be minding your own D on business. You could be on vacation and something could go horribly wrong

Jessica: and the toilet's in your living room

Mikki: and all of a suddenly you have a massive water event. Mm-hmm. Then you can't live in your house anymore because Travis didn't think it was that important.

Mm-hmm. To have a license. No, y'all, we ain't doing that.

Jessica: Nope.

Mikki: Now,

Jessica: so I told him to stop work until I could speak with the plumber he was working with.

Mikki: Oh wait, let me guess. This is where he talks about his contract. You can't do that.

Jessica: He said, I still owed him for the materials he'd already bought. [00:41:00] Started listing off stuff.

Drywall, tile, vanity. I said, show me the receipts.

Mikki: Okay, good. That's what I'm talking about. Mm-hmm. Show me the, show me the receipts.

Jessica: Mm-hmm. He couldn't produce half of them. We went back and forth for about a week,

Mikki: and then he stopped answering the phone.

Jessica: How did you know?

Mikki: I don't know. It feels like we've done this before

Jessica: and then he stopped responding

Mikki: is exactly what he

Default_2026-04-27_1: wrote.

Mikki: Like my dog, Frankie. Mm-hmm.

Jessica: Um, he just stopped responding. Didn't finish the drywall, didn't install the vanity. Or redo the toilet I had or already paid for. Just left, which is probably a godsend. Yeah. I mean, I know it's annoying. I know, but at the end of the day, yeah, it probably saved your house.

Mikki: Yeah.

Like you are $6,500 into this.

Jessica: Mm-hmm.

Mikki: What? What should have been was quoted at $12,000. Yeah. So it's like, honestly, this person is better off [00:42:00] figuring this out at $6,500 than half of the people that have written in.

Jessica: Right.

Mikki: So, which is crazy. $6,500 is a lot of money.

Jessica: . , I had to hire an actual licensed contractor to finish it. He looked at the plumbing work and said it was mostly okay, but sloppy. He, that contractor was just being nice. He was like, oh,

Mikki: I'm

Jessica: sure I don't want to piss you off more than you probably already are.

Mikki: And that's the thing.

Jessica: Or make them feel bad

Mikki: thing like it. It's one of those things where it's like at some point, like if it's not helpful to be like, yeah, this is the worst thing I've ever seen. Just don't say it. Just don't say

Jessica: it. Like the homeowner knows they already feel bad.

Mikki: Yeah. They already feel bamboozled and like I should have known better.

It's like sometimes just don't rub salt in the wound.

Jessica: Mm-hmm. Um, had to redo some of the tile work because it wasn't waterproof the right way behind where the sink was going.

Mikki: Okay.

Jessica: Final quote to finish was $4,500.

Mikki: Dude.

Jessica: Total cost for the half bath. That was supposed to be $12,000 ended up being over [00:43:00] 18,000.

Mikki: Oh, no. So it sounds like they didn't pay them in full. And then, then, oh, I'm

Jessica: sorry. And it took four months instead of three weeks. Shit, four months. I can't, four

Mikki: months.

Jessica: I mean, thank goodness. It's just. You know, an extra bathroom that they wanted.

Mikki: Yeah. It wasn't like their main bathroom,

Jessica: but imagine having people come and go or not go and the stuff

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: Everywhere in your house for four months. Um, and that's,

Mikki: dude,

Jessica: that's where it ends.

Mikki: I'm so sorry that that happened. So, so I think some of, obviously, listen, I'm not saying that there's not great contractors that. Get shared on a Facebook group. I'm not saying that there's not. I'm sure that there are. I'm sure it happens every day.

Mm-hmm. I'm sure somebody shares a contact on Facebook and they have a great experience. What I can tell you is a worth of two years worth of doing this podcast, almost every single homeowner horror story. Mentions how they source their horrible contractor on Facebook. [00:44:00] Now listen, I'm not a statistician.

A statistician, whatever that word is. I'm clearly not it 'cause I don't know how to say the word, but I'm telling you I don't like those odds.

Jessica: No,

Mikki: I just don't like the odds of it. Like I 'cause just will source. People like we joke, but she, she will source people on Facebook. I do, but she doesn't leave it there.

Jessica: No.

Mikki: So she's like, that's the jumping off point. Mm-hmm. And I like, so I think it's important to understand the degree of difficulty here, right? Like, I work in construction, I'm there every day. I know people in every single industry, people that I trust. Mm-hmm. So when I need somebody to help me with something, I have this plethora of people to call.

Jessica: Right.

Mikki: So to me it might. Seem very easy to find somebody to, to, to do work in my house. Mm-hmm. But I understand that for like the average homeowner, you just have absolutely nowhere to start. You don't know. 'cause like Angie's List is like not, not a thing anymore. Yeah. It used to be a thing. It's not a thing anymore.

Like it's pay to play, so you can't trust the people that you find there. So it's like, well, where the heck do I [00:45:00] find a good contractor? And I will tell you this. If

Jessica: you're in the Raleigh area.

Mikki: If you're in the Raleigh area, we have started a thing and like, honestly, I didn't even mean to lead into this, but like we're gonna do, it was waiting.

Jessica: I was like,

Mikki: we're do it. We're just gonna do it

Jessica: here. We're

Mikki: so, because this has been something that we've heard so many times, it just became something we realized. At least in our area, it's something that we can address. So we started a thing called Pores and plans. Mm-hmm. And like pores, like a little bit of beverage.

Like a little beverage moment.

Jessica: Yes.

Mikki: And plans, like the construction plans you have for your house? Mm-hmm. We are holding events. We're gonna do a couple a year. Where we source our contractors that we know and we trust and we have vetted them and we put them through this whole process, which we are still currently developing.

But the whole point is if you come to our Pores and Plans event, you can con like, connect with really great contractors. Contractors that we have vetted, contractors that have agreed to certain terms. Like we're kind of, we're still working on that. So like it's in the hands of the [00:46:00] lawyers?

Jessica: Yes. They will have licenses.

They

Mikki: will have

Jessica: licenses. They will have insurance. They

Mikki: will have insurance.

Jessica: They will not scam you.

Mikki: And they like one of the things that I have to say, well, that's what they gonna sign. We have obviously, we can't control everybody's behavior. Right? No. I mean, I try to scare the bejesus outta people and I feel like 85% of the time I'm pretty, I'm pretty good at that.

Mm-hmm. I'm a little unstable. Everybody knows it. They don't know what I'm gonna do. Who knows what Mickey's gonna do. I do keep a crowbar and my car for such events. However, we still can't control everybody's behavior. But the thought process is these people are agreeing. Mm-hmm. To. Act in a certain way.

They're agreeing to act ethically. They're agreeing to follow the law. They're agreeing to write really detailed contracts. They're agreeing to the things that we talk about on the show every single time. Mm-hmm. And the hope is that people can show up to our events. And they can find really great contractors that they can trust and have really great experiences because finding somebody on Facebook [00:47:00] is not the deal you think it's gonna be.

And what was really interesting, we already had one event and it was kind of like a, a starter event, like a launch, a soft launch, baby launch, if you will. Mm-hmm. And. One, our wallaby windows, Ashley, from Wallaby Windows came to the event. Mm-hmm. And so did my neighbor and my neighbor's windows are original to his house.

Oh, wow. So he knew that he needed new windows. So just on a little soft launch

Jessica: mm-hmm.

Mikki: Ashley got a window contract for

Jessica: like, it's amazing.

Mikki: A really, it was a great place for her. My, the homeowner was really thrilled. Mm-hmm. But what was really cool. Was he is, he followed the instructions that we said to get in multiple bids.

So he had Ashley come out and then he had another like large in window installer come out. Yep. The price was really similar, but when they dug into like apple's flat for apple's comparison

Jessica: mm-hmm.

Mikki: They did not have the labor for the [00:48:00] windows in the price. So I think there were the

Jessica: other, the other company?

Yeah,

Mikki: the other company. The other company. Not Ashley. So I think the initial price was $11,000. That was from Ashley. It was like Windows Labor turnkey. Mm-hmm. These people came in at 11,000, but when they really dug through. The contract. Mm-hmm. It was for the windows only, and the lead, first of all, who does that?

Shady people. Shady people. Who's gonna put in those windows? So they're just buying the windows and maybe we put 'em in, maybe we don't. How much are you gonna, like, what? So. That is why we're doing this event.

Jessica: Mm.

Mikki: Because there are contractors out there who will literally give you a quote to buy Windows but not install them,

Jessica: and you assume that it's going to include the installation because who else would be putting them in,

Mikki: right?

If you don't know about Windows. How would you be able to install them?

Jessica: They're gonna want Brad to do it.

Mikki: God, could you like Honestly, we, I'll say I have [00:49:00] installed my own windows, not because it was a joy, because I couldn't afford to have somebody install 'em. We was broke.

Jessica: Oh no. I wouldn't even,

Mikki: mm-hmm.

Yeah, because Hector's Hector, he's a freaking Superman. He can do these things, but like the average Absolutely not. No. Like, what is wrong with people? So the whole point. Of why we're doing pores and plans is to connect. I kind of like liken it to like speed dating, but for contractors. So we're gonna have like little pamphlets in advance.

You're gonna be able to see who's gonna be there. So you can pick, okay, I need a contractor for this. I need a contractor for that. These are projects that I have upcoming. Mm-hmm. And they have the contractors there. So when you come, we're gonna have a like a little educational piece. To help everybody understand how con construction works a little bit better.

And then we're gonna do contractor speed dating. So you can go and you can meet contractors and you can get a feel for like, this is how we work. Mm-hmm. This is what we value. This is, you know, us as a company and boom

Jessica: Oh well, enjoying a [00:50:00] great pour of something. If it's in the

Mikki: morning, it'll be

Jessica: beverage coffee.

Fa, if it's in the evenings, it'll be some kind of cocktail, maybe a

Mikki: cocktail moment. You know what I'm saying? So that is why be enjoyable, why we're doing it now, sadly, so far, we can only do that in the state that we live in, which is in North Carolina. Um, but who knows, guys, I don't know this, this might be such a high demand thing that we take this baby international, I don't know.

Wait, I just went from. North Carolina to International.

Jessica: International. Maybe we go

Mikki: national. Maybe we go national first and then see what the vibe check is. You know, like regional. You know, regional, regional,

Jessica: regional to

Mikki: national, regional, national, international. I, I'll

Jessica: get there.

Mikki: Listen,

Jessica: statewide.

Mikki: Big dreams.

Big dreams here.

Jessica: Yeah. We don't dream small.

Mikki: So check out, um, take a look. We we're gonna have some promotional, like honestly, we're, we are just in the starting phase. We're in the baby phase. We want you to guys to know about it. 'cause we want you guys to get a bit excited about it. I know we have a Facebook page.

For pores and plans, we

Jessica: do

Mikki: We are working on the website currently, but we're going to be able to, [00:51:00] if you go to our pores and plans and you request to follow us there when we get ready to launch, we will send out notifications if we, eventually we'll have an email list where you can get signed up so you can find out what's happening again.

And we're not there yet, but we're trying, we're

Jessica: getting there. We're getting there. We're

Mikki: working on it. So, yeah, like Facebook is not the place that we wanna source people. Check out your local poison plans. Um, but. We definitely want you guys to no matter what, right? Like, doesn't matter where you source somebody, so you found 'em on Facebook.

All right. Then we're immediately checking whether they're licensed.

Jessica: Mm-hmm.

Mikki: We're, we're starting off before you even start a project. Let's say whatever it is, whatever it is you wanna do, you are gonna do your own research to find out what the requirements are in your county because they're different from not just state to state, but county to county.

Mm-hmm. It can be very different from like your neighbor if they live on the, on the [00:52:00] county line, you, they could literally have different requirements than you do. So before you even. Dart. I think the move is to find out what the rules are for you locally, so that way you know, okay, this person to do this project does need to have a license.

All right, so everybody that I talk to, the question I'm gonna ask is, can you send me your license? We're not signing anything without confirming that they have a license to do the work that they're supposed to do, and. We're gonna get crazy with confirming that they have insurance to cover the specific work that they are doing, because that's been a thing.

It has multiple people have tried to collect from the, from the contractor's insurance company and been come back with, oh, sorry, they were operating outside of what they were insured for. So we can't help you. So those are the the basic things, one, checking what the rules are in your area. Two, making sure they have a license, and three, making sure that they have the insurance to cover what it is that they're gonna [00:53:00] perform in your home.

Jessica: Right. And when they send you the license, I mean, they only need to send you the license number. You go look that up yourself.

Mikki: Yeah. You had double check it.

Jessica: Do not just be like, oh, here's a pretty piece of paper with the license number on it. No.

Mikki: I'll tell you, this brings me a lot of joy. We have talked about, on the show multiple occasions about a local contractor who was mis misrepresenting herself as a licensed general contractor.

Jessica: Mm.

Mikki: And we talked about it on the show. Yes. That she actively had a license that she showed on her website. There was a, there was a link that you could click on her website to get to. To show the license that if you had looked up, the license would show you was not valid. Mm-hmm. But she was actively pushing it on her website.

We've talked about it on the show so many times.

Jessica: It's gone.

Mikki: It's gone. Bye-bye. You are welcome. Why? Because it was illegal. Mm-hmm. It's not 'cause like big flex out here. It's not 'cause like she cares about what the chicks in construction say. She doesn't or she wouldn't be doing what she does. But you talk about things enough.

And it stops [00:54:00] happening. Mm-hmm. So that is what we're trying to do with this podcast. So if you have a story, we are so, so sorry that you had a story. Mm-hmm. But now you can share it with us so that hopefully other people will not have the same experience. Chicks and construction.com is where you can share that story.

And Jess, where can they find us on the socials?

Jessica: All right. On Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram is at Chickson Construction Podcast on TikTok. It's at Chickson Construction.

Mikki: Alright guys, we appreciate you and we'll see you on the next one. Bye.