Bathroom Dreams to Nightmares: A Renovation Story

In this episode of 'Chicks in Construction,' hosts Mikki Paradis and Jessica Abreu share a gripping homeowner horror story submitted by a listener. The episode details Amanda's journey of being scammed by an unlicensed contractor who left her with a gutted, half-finished bathroom and nearly $90,000 poorer. The hosts discuss the importance of contractor research, recognizing red flags, and the emotional and financial toll of such experiences. Tune in to learn valuable lessons in avoiding contractor scams and ensure your renovation projects stay on track.

00:00 Emotional Breakdown in the Bathroom
00:48 Introduction to Chicks in Construction
01:29 Engaging with the Audience
02:51 Dealing with Online Criticism
07:46 Homeowner Horror Story: The Florida Bathroom Renovation
21:24 Waterproofing Woes
22:57 Inspection Failures and Financial Strain
25:31 Standing Up to the Contractor
27:24 Discovering the Deception
32:58 Legal and Emotional Aftermath
41:25 Lessons Learned and Final Thoughts




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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/

35 Chicks in Construction
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Jessica: [00:00:00] I sat in that empty bathroom and just cried. I am a successful business woman. I run a company with over 30 employees. Damn girl. I negotiate six figure deals. Regularly and I got completely scammed on my own bathroom renovation.

I was devastated and completely embarrassed. Now I,

Mikki : yeah,

Jessica: like

Mikki : I get that. I would feel the same way.

Jessica: Right. I mean, and it's not your fault. Like you just don't know what you

Mikki : Dunno. You don't know what you don't know.

Jessica: Yep. Because you are the professional in that setting.

Mikki : Right.

Jessica: And you have integrity and you do things a certain way.

So you expect

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: That people are gonna be doing the things. Yeah. Their way. Well, hello and welcome back to another episode of Chicks in Construction. I am your host, Mickey Paradise, and this is my illustrious co-host.

Hi, I'm Jessica Abra.

Mikki : So y'all, we have homeowner horror story for you. [00:01:00] Mm-hmm. And, and again, I really think, you know, the pot is evolving. We're, we're figuring things out as we go, and I think I'm really leaning into like the, the true crime of it all. The. The, the, the

Jessica: stories that make the news that are just so awful.

Like you just don't even believe it could happen.

Mikki : Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. And so part of what we always want, so our last episode, we did one that was in the news today is gonna be a homeowner submitted homeowner story. Mm-hmm. But one of the things we were talking about was we wanna open it up and we're gonna, I gotta talk to the web guy 'cause I don't know how, if we need to change the whole platform, but.

If you have a story of somebody that you know mm-hmm. Went through a homeowner horror story, would you please free, feel free to share that as well. It doesn't necessarily have to be your homeowner horror story, um, because one of our, our studio, God, Joe, pointed out that. Sometimes when you're not in [00:02:00] it mm-hmm.

You kind of see a lot of the details a little bit more clearly 'cause it's not actively happening to you and you're not just kind of like, you know, living in the PTSD of it. All

Jessica: right.

Mikki : So if you happen to know of a story and a lot of the stories that we have shared, um. Well, some of, not a lot of, but some of the stories we've shared were like, somebody said, Hey, have you heard about this story?

So if you know of a crazy story in your town or just that you've heard of, share it with us. You can go to our website and leave it in the home in our horror story platform, or you can leave a comment under any of our. Posts. We do read the comments.

Jessica: We do

Mikki : not joyfully sometimes, but we do read the comments.

Jessica: So if you crying with his bags of tissue next to me, that's fine. I'm not offended.

Mikki : I just read them and I'm like. People are unwell like that. That's like, so like, and I was telling Jess this, y'all, I've been in construction for 20 years. I've, I've been a female in construction since I was [00:03:00] 22 years old. So more than 20 years actually.

Um, there's not much that you can say that can hurt my feelings like. I won't lie to your face like some of these comments, I'm like, wow. Like, so there's like a whole 10 seconds where I'm like, burn. And then I just immediately wonder how unwell are you? Like. Do you maybe need to see somebody, like somebody got so triggered by one of our reels talking about the importance of being a licensed general contractor.

Oh yeah. That's funny. I mean, this dude went for it. Like he shot his shot. He was like, whoa, I'm gonna leave a comment. And he did. And I, I read the comment and he was. So upset that we were encouraging people to get licensed general contractors. That I was like, so I feel like what you're saying is you're not licensed and you just want everybody to think we are the problem.[00:04:00]

Okay.

Jessica: No, you are the problem, sir. You're

Mikki : the whole problem, sir. You

Jessica: are the whole problem.

Mikki : Yeah. Yeah. So listen, I don't. The, the, the name of the podcast is Chicks in Construction. Um, I don't know, like, I don't like, we're not saying that this podcast is not for men. The podcast is here to help homeowners, and men are homeowners too.

So we're not saying that, but I'm just saying if you're a dude and you don't like our content. Maybe it's not for you. I don't

Jessica: It's okay. You can just keep

Mikki : scrolling. Yeah, you can just keep scrolling. You don't have to be offended to the core of your being by our content. Like you can just, you can just keep going.

So I don't, I don't know if you know that's available to you. It is. But if

Jessica: you do like our content, like and subscribe.

Mikki : Yeah. Yeah. And maybe it's free. Maybe leave a nice comment. I mean, I dunno, it's a crazy concept, but sometimes it's nice to hear nice things, [00:05:00] you know? Um, mostly, and I will say, I. Jess does not care.

Like she doesn't even pay attention to the comments. I do feel like especially certain nasty ones need to be like responded to just because, listen, let's just be real. I like a little, I like a little,

Jessica: yeah.

Mikki : Beat down moment. Like, if you come for me, I'm gonna come right back for you. Jessica Careless, she's got kids, she's doing things.

I just have these dogs.

Jessica: Yeah. She tells me about the comments. I was like, oh, I haven't seen, I didn't, Jess is like, what? 'cause I check them like once a week.

Mikki : She, she is like checking the analytics. She's making sure we're, we're like making progress. She doesn't care about the comments. I'm the one who's like, can you believe?

And it's really just. Shocking to me that people feel like, and it's, it's so funny because I was talking to my sister about this and she was like, Mickey, it is the internet. And I was like, mm-hmm. Yeah, no. Let me tell you, there's different levels. Like there is the reality that we all know that people on the internet are [00:06:00] horrible.

Jessica: Yes.

Mikki : And then there is when people on the internet are being horrible about you, where you're like, oh no, that

Jessica: it's

Mikki : a little different.

Jessica: It does. And I think like I've just. Not that like I have like 'cause. It's not having thick skin, it's just, I don't know you. Right? So I could care less what your opinion of me is, unless it's great, then

Mikki : love it.

Like thank you.

Jessica: But if you don't, then you're like, oh, okay, that's you. And I'm gonna stay over here living my best life because I don't know you and your opinion doesn't affect me.

Mikki : And also maybe seek therapy. I'm just throwing that like if you get. So triggered by two women who have a podcast about construction that it makes you livid and you're unwell.

I don't think commenting on our podcast is gonna help you, but I do think maybe some medication. I'm not a doctor, but I do think maybe some medication, or at least some talk [00:07:00] therapy, some talk. Be helpful.

Jessica: We're very sorry for whatever your mother

Mikki : for really we're sorry for whatever your mother or father did to you that made you so unwell, but just just so we're clear, it wasn't us.

It

Jessica: wasn't us.

Mikki : We did not break you.

Jessica: So please stop trying to break us.

Mikki : So please just don't come from me. Like, listen, I've done the therapy. My healing journey is complete. Now I just choose violence. So, you know, do what you want,

Joe : but

Mikki : you

Joe : have a gold for bar.

Mikki : I'm villain error. So I'm just saying like, you make your life choices.

Jessica: Yeah. There we go.

Mikki : I will, I will do the same.

Joe : I did do finger guns right there.

Mikki : So

Joe : I just,

Mikki : I just want you to know if you're listening, I was like, I'm mourning you.

Jessica: So living the dream, this homeowner car story comes from your favorite state of Florida. I know.

Mikki : Saw that and I was like,

Joe : clearly she did not see the podcast that I said I did not like the state of Florida.

Jessica: That's all right.

Mikki : Do I really have to clear? I grew up in Florida. Okay. [00:08:00] So when I say that I am not a fan, it comes from a. Spicy deja vu of growing up. Poor AF in a state where it's like the number one tourist destination in the country and you broke like, so Liz, I just have my issues with the state of Florida and also Florida Man is a thing.

Jessica: I mean, I like when people tell you to like, put in your birthday or like a special day to you and then type in. Um, Florida and then like some, like, stupid guy or like, like stupid news. Stupid news,

Mikki : stupid news, stupid news, Florida stupid news

Jessica: on

Mikki : a spec special day

Jessica: always. And whatever date it is, there's always something.

And it's, it is pretty, it's pretty funny. I mean, and like you can just put in any date. It doesn't have to be something special to you. It's just

Mikki : right. And also, just to be clear to anybody who's watching, if you live in the state of Florida, I want you to know I'm not coming for you. I don't think you are a problem.[00:09:00]

I just don't like the state of Florida. It's not a person thing, it's a state thing.

Jessica: It'll be fine. I mean, we still, sorry about, so we're very happy that I'm gonna call her Amanda.

Mikki : Thank you Amanda from Florida. We appreciate you sharing your home. That's really on our horror story because we don't share, I don't share for homeowners, we don't share names.

Jessica: Um, so this is a sad one. I mean, they're all sad and terrible.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: But, um,

Mikki : this one, she was. I I'm reading it going, man, she had the right budget. She did a lot of stuff right. She did a

Jessica: lot of things right and then, and then it just went wrong. So she says, I've been in my house for about three years and honestly, the master bathroom was the one thing I've been dreaming about, reading, doing since I moved in.

I wanted something gorgeous, a spacious walk-in shower. It's beautiful tile. A dual vanity. Ooh. So I actually have counter space. Nice fixtures. Mm. I wanted this one space in my home to [00:10:00] feel luxurious.

Mikki : Yes.

Jessica: And I'm reading it and I'm like, same.

Mikki : She's like, yes, queen. Preach.

Jessica: Same. I would love to have a bathroom that,

Mikki : that feels like you're at a spa.

Oh

Jessica: yeah. Like it. This has aromatherapy in it. Oh. So it always smells good.

Mikki : Oh, it's got them fancy tiles. Mm-hmm. You got a soaking tub. Don

Jessica: can do the tub. Don't fancy

Mikki : fixtures. Oh, I can't live without a

Jessica: tub. I know you can't.

Joe : Cannot,

Jessica: but, and one that like my children don't. Ever have to use?

I just have, not for kids. One space for me. Just one. No.

Mikki : This is where Jess hides from her children

Jessica: and eat all the snacks that they can't have. No, that's not, that's not true. All of my snacks, they can't have, 'cause I have all the gluten-free ones. Yeah. They're

Mikki : like, no mom, we want the gluten

Jessica: They, they want the gluten and.

The gluten-free snacks are crazy expensive. I'm like, you know, you're not, you don't appreciate it. You can't. Mm-hmm. Cheese gluten are over there. My, these are mine. Um, so she set aside $75,000 for the [00:11:00] project,

Mikki : which is a great budget. It's like she's on it. I'm like, yes, for a luxurious bathroom. She's was like, I understand the assignment.

I need to have this amount of money. Yes.

Jessica: Now would I personally spend so many $5,000 on my bathroom? Not. At this point in my life,

Mikki : we, we do need you to like and subscribe so that Jess can do a $75,000.

Jessica: I mean, this is after

Mikki : renovation.

Jessica: This is what I need in my life. Um, no, my kitchen would be first.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: Fair. I spend way more time in my kitchen than my bathroom, so

Mikki : I spend more time in my bathroom than my kitchen.

Jessica: Yeah,

Mikki : because I don't cook, but I do like a bath.

Jessica: Yeah, but you don't have little people that require you to

Mikki : cook? No, no. That's just me

Jessica: and Hector. They, they always want food. Like the first question out of their mouth when I picked 'em up from school is, what are we having for dinner?

I'm like, I don't know.

Mikki : You are like, I have not thought that far.

Jessica: Um, food,

Mikki : food. It'll be great.

Jessica: They hate when I say food too. I'm like, well, what else are you going to eat? It's gonna be food anyway. Um, I did my research on material, spent hours on Pinterest and how she did her research [00:12:00] exactly what I wanted.

The one thing, I love it. I didn't research how to find a legitimate contractor. That's where everything went wrong.

Mikki : Sadly, she has not, had not seen the chicks in construction prior to this renovation,

Jessica: and that's what you need to do. You are here, so you are going to save yourself. A headache.

Mikki : Bingo.

Jessica: So I found we're gonna call him Mark through a neighbor's recommendation.

Well, sort of. Their cousin had used him for some kitchen work, said he was affordable and did good work. I should have asked more questions. Mm,

Mikki : yeah. Always.

Jessica: And like somebody's cousin who's did some work somewhere, it's not even a bathroom. It was in the kitchen. Yeah. When I met Mark, he seemed nice enough, showed me photos of previous jobs on his phone.

Mikki : Okay.

Jessica: Gave me a quote that was right in my budget range. When I asked about his license, he told me, and I swear he said it so [00:13:00] confidently, that with

Mikki : his whole chest, you guys, whole chest, he just peacocks right up.

Jessica: You know, those

Mikki : are my peacock feathers in taste. If you're, if you're listening and not watching, I whi my, did my arms like peacock feathers.

Jessica: Um. Confidently that in our state contractors don't need to be licensed for jobs under $40,000. And that since he was not doing all the work and I was going to order the materials, we were good to go.

Mikki : Pause that. That is ev look. So I knew a lady who was a general contractor. She was not licensed. And that was her claim to fame?

Jessica: Yes.

Mikki : Oh, they buy the materials. Are the materials don't count towards the cost? Yes, it does. Sorry, I got really intense there with the microphone. Yes, it does. Mm-hmm. The total cost, I think the only thing, and this this hits the general contractor is the cost of the land. [00:14:00] Like if you were building a whole house from scratch, the cost of the land doesn't factor into the total amount,

Jessica: but you're still still gonna be way over.

Mikki : You're gonna be way over $40,000. And that's the reason why they take that out there. That's. The only thing that doesn't factor in is the cost of the land. Mm-hmm. All the expenses, the cabinets, all the materials, all the sub, all the sub subcontractors, all subcontractor labor, everything. It's not, it's not the profit.

It's not like if you profit less than 40 K, you don't have to have a license. That is not true.

Jessica: No.

Mikki : Lies. Lies absolutely lies.

Jessica: Yes. So if you are having work done and the project, the whole thing, everything, not just what this one person is doing is over four. You need a licensed contractor. I believed him.

Aw. God, I can't believe how naive I was. I'm still kicking myself for not doing more research about. About him prior to hiring him

Mikki : that and what the requirements actually were in Florida. Mm-hmm. Because listen, I'm not gonna lie to you. In my mind, Florida's one of those states, like Texas, like Texas doesn't have a licensing [00:15:00] board for general contractors.

You don't need a license. Now they do have permitting requirements, but I'm like, that's the wild West. If you don't have to have a license, like anybody can just wake up and be a general contractor, which happens everywhere. But it's okay in Texas. So part of me is like, well. Florida's probably fine, but a little Google research.

And you would've found out that that's not true.

Jessica: That is not true. And as a homeowner like you, you expect the professional that you're hiring to know the details. Yeah. And not lie to you about it. And we

Mikki : wanna trust people. And that is, we do, that's part of our problem.

Jessica: We believe that people are inherently good.

Yeah. And that is not

Mikki : so much

Jessica: always,

Mikki : sometimes. Not always.

Jessica: Not always, not always. Um, he told me that I should pull the permits myself as the homeowner because it would save on fees and speed up the process

Mikki : more like it would keep him out of trouble.

Jessica: Mm-hmm. But I love how he spun it so that Right.

Because if somebody

Mikki : you money

Jessica: and [00:16:00] time, so like if I'm a homeowner and I want something done quickly and like for, you know, being frugal Fanny,

Mikki : So in, in, in, in North Carolina, it's $40,000.

If the project exceeds $40,000 in the state of North Carolina, you have to have a permit or you have to have a, yeah, you have to have inspections and you have to have a license. In the state of Florida, it's $2,500.

Jessica: That's everything.

Mikki : Everything costs more than $2,500. Yeah, so anytime you do anything in the state of Florida, you have to have a licensed general contractor

Jessica: for the love

Mikki : problem solved.

That doesn't even cover handyman. That doesn't even cover handyman.

Jessica: You can't even get, like

Mikki : we've done drywall repairs that cause more than that

Jessica: craziness. Um, so yes, as a homeowner, like I would think like, oh, like he's trying to do me a stall. He, he's trying save

Mikki : me money, you

Jessica: know, so you might think

Mikki : he's trying to get me to do his job for him and then charge me for it.

Jessica: So don't do that. Don't ever, if somebody says, oh, go pull the permit. No. The answer is no.

Mikki : That's your job. That's what I'm paying you [00:17:00] for.

Jessica: Yes. Um, he said, he walked me through everything, that it was totally normal. So that's what I did. I went down to the permitting office, filled out all the paperwork, paid the fees.

I was actually kind of my proud, proud of myself for being so hands-on.

Mikki : I, I get that. Mm-hmm. Because you are filling yourself. Look, I did the, I didn't even know how this worked. I didn't know where this building was, but look at me now. I just got a permit

Jessica: like, look

Default_2026-02-09_2: at.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: I got my, and I, it's, that's not a bad feeling to have.

Right, right. It just sucks that.

Mikki : It does not

Jessica: turn out well. You didn't, you, you don't need to have that feeling. That

Mikki : high went quickly down.

Jessica: Mm-hmm. Demo started in early March and for the first week everything seemed fine. That's always how it happens. The first week is demo

Mikki : is fine, it's, that's when the problems start.

Jessica: I mean, anybody can take a sledgehammer to something. They gutted everything in the bathroom, the tub vanity tile down to the studs. It looked like a construction zone.

Mikki : Because it's, it was [00:18:00] expected to be what?

Jessica: Um, but that's what I expected. So

Mikki : she, she

Jessica: knew, she knew

Mikki : she was getting there.

Jessica: She, she was like, I still didn't like the way it looked though.

That's how when I read it, I'm like, I just don't like it. The plumber came and did his work, moving pipes and changing things. Honestly, I have no idea exactly what he did, which is something else. I wonder if I should have been more hands on during the actual work and knowing exactly what they were doing and why.

Then came the plumbing inspection. It failed. Mm.

Mikki : Oh man.

Jessica: Mark called me at work super casual about it,

Mikki : super casual,

Jessica: super

Mikki : ca,

Jessica: like big deal. No big deal. So the inspector was being knit, picky. So he's trying to say that the inspector is doing is taking his job Too serious. Oh, he's

Mikki : always overkill it.

Jessica: He's like, oh no, we don't.

This is, this is too much. It's fine. Um, nitpicky about the shower pan slope [00:19:00] and some of the plumbing connections. So what is a shower pan Slope. Okay, because I read that and I'm like, I don't know, like those are some words. This are words. Words. Words.

Mikki : .

In a shower, you've got your shower. So you can either have like a, like a manufactured shower pan. It's like an insert.

Jessica: Okay.

Mikki : That goes in and it, it, you know, it's part of like the waterproofing part, or it could be tile. Mm-hmm. But in order. All plumbing works off of gravity. Mm-hmm. So in order to keep your IT so that your shower pan doesn't have standing water, which can cause major problems.

It can cause problems in showers like that are tiled or showers that are pans because eventually everything fails when water just sits there for too long. What they do is they go in on the floor. Before they put the pan in or before they put the, the tile in. Mm-hmm. And they use like a thin set concrete to build up a slope.

And it's minor. It's like a minor slope. Mm. But they build it up so that it encourages the water using gravity, gravity to go into [00:20:00] the drain. Nice. And when that fails is when, like if you have standing water in your shower? Mm-hmm. Every time you take a shower and you turn the water off and it just sits there until like it evaporates, you have an issue with the slope of your shower pan.

Hmm. So that inspector was actually really looking out.

Jessica: Yeah. Um, so I. The nit pickiness? Yes. So Mark said it happens all the time. No big deal. They fix it and call for reinspection. The fix would be $1,200.

Mikki : Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. And she's paying.

Jessica: Yep.

Mikki : Absolutely not. Flag on the play. That was faulty work.

They did not do it right.

Jessica: So they,

Mikki : she came for it. They failed inspection. That's not her problem. That's Mark's problem. Mm-hmm.

Jessica: So she says, I didn't love it. But I figured these things happen in construction, right? Mm-hmm. I paid him. They supposedly fixed it. We moved on two weeks later, the framing and waterproofing inspection.

Failed again. [00:21:00]

Mikki : Oh God.

Jessica: This time it was the waterproofing membrane. In the shower she put question mark. She's like me. So membrane, is that what it is?

Mikki : Yeah. Yeah. They can be called a membrane. So like, it's essentially like all showers nowadays have some sort of waterproofing. So like hydro bronc. Mm-hmm. The company that we did the first podcast episode with, they make an entire shower system.

Mm-hmm. Because the problem with. Water in general is mold. And when things get wet enough, and it, and especially if it's a product that's not waterproof mm-hmm. Or water resistant, it gets wet enough and you're, you have mold, you have rot, you have decay, you have issues, and they can just get crazy. So nowadays when you put in a new shower mm-hmm.

You have, you have. It, it's, it's a waterproof system. So it's like a membrane. It's, it is. And there's different ways you can do it. Like, so you can use a product like Hydro Block, which is a completely waterproof product. It gets taped. You put the tile on. Yeah, it kind of works that way. [00:22:00] Or you can use a backer board.

So it's like a concrete type of, of a drywall ish. Okay. Like it's a board you put up and then on top of that you waterproof the entire thing. So it can be like different colors, but they're always like really bright, wild colors, like. Purple or red and make

Jessica: sure you can see it.

Mikki : They, yeah, and they, they like cover the entire board.

They use special tape and they make it completely waterproof so that if the tile fails or if the insert fails, it's not gonna then cause that product to rot.

Jessica: Got it.

Mikki : So it's kind of like a fail safe for if something fails in the shower. Hmm.

Jessica: Okay, so that failed.

Mikki : Failed,

Jessica: which is like if your fail safe is failing, that's,

Mikki : that's the real problem.

The fail safe has failed.

Jessica: Mm-hmm. The inspector said it wasn't installed to code that there were gaps in improper overlaps. That would definitely lead to water damage. Yeah. And mold.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: I started to panic a little.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: I was living with my family at this point because only. [00:23:00] This was her only bathroom and it was completely torn apart.

And now we are looking at another delay and another $2,500 to rip out. And the waterproofing.

Mikki : Oh, you guys, no. No. Okay. Here, there's a couple things here. One, I'm like trying to keep an eye on the time. One if, if a builder fails an inspection, that is faulty work. That is not, it's not inspectors being picky because here's the thing, if it was an inspector being picky, then you could go back to the inspector and say, okay, show me.

Why this is necessary. Mm-hmm. And if it was the inspector being picky, then the inspector would come out and say, well, it's not necessarily necessary, but it's my, it's the way I wanna see it done. Mm-hmm. And you have room to push back. But if the inspector is saying, this is not to code under no point is that your financial responsibility, that's his financial responsibility.

Mm-hmm. So I cannot stress this much as much as, as, as I feel incredibly bad for this [00:24:00] homeowner. The answer to that would've should have been absolutely no. And probably if she had said absolutely no, when the plumbing was a problem mm-hmm. He probably would've walked.

Jessica: Yep. Yeah. 'cause she doesn't say how much money she gave him upfront.

Mikki : Yeah. She doesn't say what her deposit was.

Jessica: No. Probably because she did that part wasn't an issue. Wasn't

Mikki : the issue. It was everything else.

Jessica: So that's when. This happened and he had to redo the waterproofing. That's when she started asking questions. Mark got a little defensive, told me that inspectors in our city were just harder than other places, and that this was all normal stuff.

He promised me the reinstall would be perfect. I paid the $2,500. Mm, because what else was I going to do? The project was already torn apart. And I needed to get back into my house.

Joe : Yeah.

Jessica: So,

Mikki : mm-hmm. I feel like this is such a, like a reoccurring theme. These GCs get you in a bind where you don't have, like, they, they're, you feel like you don't options in their mind.

They're like, what is she gonna [00:25:00] do? Not pay it? What is she gonna do? Just not have her bathroom. Yeah. She'll pay it. Mm-hmm. And that's what happened.

Jessica: And that's, that is what happened. But here's the thing, I'm not someone who just accept things at face value. Good job in my business life. So I don't know why I was doing it with this renovation that weekend.

I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about ma, what Mark had said about not needing a license about these failed inspections and how much extra money I already spent.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: So I did what I should have done from the beginning. I actually looked up the contractor lacing sing laws. Turns out Mark lied to me.

Shocker. Shocker. I mean, mark, we can say that because like we're reading this, you know?

Mikki : Right. To be fair, Monday morning quarterback. So, Amanda,

Jessica: it's

Mikki : just, so Amanda, if you're watching this, we know your name's on Amanda. You know who you are. Don't feel bad. Mm-hmm. This every [00:26:00] homeowner horror story is the same.

People don't, they find themselves in this situation. Mm-hmm. They didn't think to check until they did. And like they only think to check 'cause things are going bad. Yep. And then they realize, oh crap. So listen, you don't know what you don't know now, you know.

Jessica: Yes. And now hopefully you watching will know that you need to check before you hire

Mikki : them before, before you sign anything.

Jessica: Mm-hmm. Um, he had completely lied. It is not based on the work of the con that the contractor is doing, but the entire job, there's a state database where you can look up licensed contractors. I searched his name, I searched his business name. Every variation I could think of because like at this point I can imagine like panic.

You're

Mikki : panic like, wait, I'm not spelling it right.

Joe : Please. Like, it has to be, don't,

Mikki : you're like the cat on the keyboard like. Some numbers, please.

Jessica: Nothing. Oh,

Joe : [00:27:00] yeah.

Jessica: He wasn't licensed at all, which I assumed once I learned the rules, then I went down an absolute rabbit hole. Oh. Oh. I looked up what licensed contractors are required to do, what permits they're supposed to pull, what kind of insurance they need to carry.

Mm. I found form after form of people talking about. How if a contractor tells you to pull your own premise, that's a red flag. Yes. Yes ma'am. It is.

Mikki : Yes, ma'am.

Jessica: How inspectors don't usually fail, how Inspections don't usually fail multiple times.

Mikki : Yep.

Jessica: If the work is done correctly the first time, how. I might not even be how, I might not even be protected by any kind of contractor insurance if something went wrong because he wasn't legitimate,

Default_2026-02-09_2: right?

Jessica: I felt sick. I already paid him about $48,000 at this point. The initial deposit, the drawers for each phase of the [00:28:00] work and those two. Fix it. Payments.

Mikki : Mm.

Jessica: On Monday morning I called Mark. No, she's good. She waited till Monday morning. I mean, oh. I would be calling

Mikki : right then. Weekend. You are getting a spicy email.

Jessica: No, no. We won't call, call you and be like, what Mark? Um. I was shaking, but I kept my voice steady, the same voice I use when I'm negotiating a bad deal in my business. I told him I'd done some research that I knew he needed to be a, he needed to be licensed regardless of the project cost and that I wanted to see proof of his contractor's license and insurance.

The silence on the other end of the phone was deafening because he thought, he thought he was gonna get away with all this shitty stuff. Yeah.

Mikki : Mark

Jessica: thought he sudden he

Default_2026-02-09_2: found

Mikki : him a dumb one.

Jessica: Mm-hmm. All of a sudden now she's,

Mikki : now she's taking the power back.

Jessica: Yep. Then he started backtracking, [00:29:00] saying, God, he was working under a licensed contractor and that he was a project manager.

Mikki : Wow.

Jessica: That there was some misunderstanding. I now see now she got smart.

Mikki : Yeah. Now she's asking questions in the moment.

Jessica: Yep. Because like some people would be like, oh, okay. Yeah. But no.

Mikki : Oh, mark, you a liar.

Jessica: I asked for the name and license number of the contractor that he is working under. He said he'd get it to me.

He never did. Oh my God. I told him I wanted to pause the project until I could verify everything.

Mikki : Yes, queen.

Jessica: He lost it because I can just imagine him like, mm. Oh, he started yelling about how I signed a contract, how he had a cruise schedule, how he couldn't just, how I couldn't just stop paying him.

Mikki : Oh, is that right?

You were lying about contracts and licensing. But I'm the problem. Okay, sir.

Jessica: Yeah, let, why don't you mansplain that to me again?

Mikki : [00:30:00] Gaslight me a little bit more.

Jessica: No.

Mikki : Apparently this is, this is for you, Amanda, in the state of Florida. If you, if somebody says that they're licensed and they're not, and you find out that they're not licensed, then that contract is actually Nolan Void because you misrepresented yourself and you misrepresented the facts.

So. He

Jessica: continue on, you could stop paying him, but I think he has to honor it. I mean, not that you want a shady contractor, right,

Mikki : right.

Jessica: Um, but proud of you, Amanda.

Mikki : We're very proud of you.

Jessica: I stood my ground,

Mikki : get a girl.

Jessica: Mm-hmm. And said I need a documentation of his license before any more work could happen and any more money changed.

Hands

Mikki : get a girl.

Jessica: Oh, now, now this guy's gotta be just like he's

Mikki : gonna lose it.

Jessica: His mm-hmm.

Mikki : Because Florida, man,

Jessica: the next day I went to the house to check on things, the job site was cleared out.

Mikki : Oh no.

Jessica: All of his tools. All of his guys, [00:31:00] everything gone. Just my gutted bathroom and a half finished shower that had already failed two inspections.

What's crazy is that she spent $48,000 for, that's crazy.

Joe : Yeah. Way overbuild

Jessica: shout. Shower, shower. Shower. That's not even for

Mikki : demo. And a shower. And some plumbing. And a shower. That failed twice.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki : That she paid for the repair work too.

Jessica: Yeah. So really like what did you,

Mikki : what do my God, today,

Jessica: I'm assuming maybe it also includes some materials that maybe just she's not

Mikki : maybe

Jessica: talking about.

Um, I tried calling him probably 20 times over the next week. Nothing. He was like, I'll

Mikki : show you.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki : Amanda,

Jessica: finally, his number was disconnected. That's such a, that's such a toddler move. Or like, like. Oh, you can't call me anymore. I'm gonna disconnect my number. I'm gonna change it on you. Do

Mikki : you know how long I've had my phone, my phone number?

Like my whole life?

Jessica: Oh,

Mikki : I've had friends from college 20 years ago. Call me and be like, is your same number? [00:32:00] Yeah.

Jessica: No, no. See, I have changed my number a few times because bad boyfriends.

Mikki : Oh, that's a actor. So

Jessica: yeah.

Mikki : Hector will find me no matter where I am, so that's fine. He's like Liam Neeson.

Jessica: He'll find me.

He'll find you as long as Callie's with him

Mikki : as long as he is got Callie in the Callie Casita.

Jessica: I sat in that empty bathroom and just cried. I am a successful business woman. I run a company with over 30 employees. Damn girl. I negotiate six figure deals. Regularly and I got completely scammed on my own bathroom renovation.

I was devastated and completely embarrassed. Now I,

Mikki : yeah,

Jessica: like

Mikki : I get that. I would feel the same way.

Jessica: Right. I mean, and it's not your fault. Like you just don't know what you

Mikki : Dunno. You don't know what you don't know.

Jessica: Yep. Because you are the professional in that setting.

Mikki : Right.

Jessica: And you have integrity and you do things a certain way.

[00:33:00] So you expect

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: That people are gonna be doing the things. Yeah. Their way. I had to hire a lawyer and even figure out how, what my options were. Turns out suing an unlicensed contractor is possible, but recovering money is another story entirely.

Mikki : Yes.

Jessica: There again, what would you say? You can't get blood a

Mikki : rock outta a rock,

Jessica: especially if they've disappeared.

Mikki : Oh,

Jessica: my lawyer told me I might spend more on legal fees than I ever recover.

Mikki : Yep.

Jessica: Then I had to find an actual. Licensed contractor to assess the damage and finish the job. The first one I brought in took one look at the shower and shook his head. The waterproofing that Mark's crew had fixed after the failed inspection was still wrong.

Mikki : Oh my God.

Jessica: It would all have to be ripped out and redone again. Oh, the plumbing had issues beyond what the first inspector caught. Even some of the framing wasn't up to code the licensed contractor. I eventually hired. [00:34:00] She hired a woman.

Mikki : Oh.

Jessica: Um, and she says, yes. I specifically sought out a woman-owned business this time, gave me a quote.

It should fix and complete everything. $31,500. That put me at almost $80,000 total, and I still had to account for the materials I already purchased that had been damaged or installed incorrectly and needed replacing. MM, all in my $75,000 bathroom, cost me about $90,000 and took nine months instead of the three.

The market promised

Mikki : nine months. Because

Jessica: he just disappeared.

Mikki : Wow. That that poor woman,

Jessica: that's a long time to be living with your,

Mikki : and you only, that's the only bathroom you have.

Jessica: Yeah. So she said she had to go live with her family. I can't imagine having to live with my family for nine months. I

Mikki : would sooner choose death.

Jessica: Nine months of staying with my sister. I've showering. Oh, I have

Mikki : no do with my sister, but

Jessica: I've showering at the gym before work of constantly explaining to clients why I was [00:35:00] taking meetings for my sister's dining room instead of my home office. Oh my God. But you wanna know the worst part.

Mikki : Yes,

Jessica: the absolute worst part.

It wasn't even the money or the time it was feeling so stupid. Mm. I kept asking myself how I let this happen. How did I not do my due diligence? How did I just trust someone because they seemed nice and had a smooth story? My therapist. Yeah. I started seeing a therapist during all this because the stress I support you.

Stress was unreal. And she told me that these people are professional carne artists. Yeah. They know exactly what to say.

Mikki : Yeah,

Jessica: exactly. How to seem trustworthy. Exactly how to exploit people's lack of knowledge about construction. It's not my fault. But it still felt like it was.

Mikki : Yeah. Yeah. The

Jessica: bathroom is gorgeous now, by the way.

Mikki : Get a girl.

Jessica: Yes. Get

Mikki : it.

Jessica: So, um, the. [00:36:00] We're gonna call her the, the, I guess I can use the real contractor's name. Yeah. Now I can use that.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: Amanda, which is what I called our homeowner, which,

Mikki : so it's double Amanda. Even Amanda, the homeowner's name is not Amanda.

Jessica: Amanda and her team did an incredible job. The tile work was flawless.

The shower is a dream. The dual vanity is exactly what I wanted.

Mikki : Yay. But

Jessica: every time I walk in there, I think about what it costs me. Mm. Not just in money, but the peace of mind, the stress that affected my work and my health. For months, I filed a complaint with the state contractor licensing board, but they told me that there's not much they can do since He'st licensed.

Mikki : He's not licensed Yeah.

Jessica: In the first place. And they can't revoke a license if he didn't have one.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: So there's. You can't do anything.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: Um, I filed a police report

Mikki : Good for

Jessica: fraud.

Mikki : Good.

Jessica: And it's apparently under investigation, but the detective pretty much told me not to hold my breath.

Mikki : Ugh.

Jessica: I mean, I'm guessing that this guy just probably like, [00:37:00] I mean, even if, did he use his real name?

I mean, like

Mikki : serious. I mean

Jessica: they, I, he probably did, but if he disconnected his phone, who knows if he moved?

Mikki : That's is shady, like.

Joe : Mm. Under no circumstance, like again,

Jessica: I would go after this person, like you found him from somebody's cousin that used to

Mikki : be like, I'd be like, I mean, be all you can. I'll meet your cousin outside my guy.

But then to be fair, like if they, maybe they had a good experience and he was, because I've had that happen to me where. Yeah, I worked with somebody and they were fine, and then I recommended them to somebody else and they were the absolute disaster. And it's like, wait, what? And you feel so responsible, but it's like one, and this is where that level of research and I mm-hmm.

I will, we have, we will beat this into you guys over and over and over again. How do you. Try how, how can you do everything you can to not have these experiences? Mm-hmm. And it is about the research. It is about knowing [00:38:00] what the requirements are in your area, what the re like what is your licensing board, what is their requirements?

What is, what are the requirements for permits? How does that work? How does inspections work? Knowing all of that before you go into it. Mm-hmm. But then also like that's. Step one is just like get the 1 0 1, get the basic information of like how things go. Then when you're getting quotes from people, you are not just how, like you're not just using Google reviews.

You're not just using people you found on Facebook. You are deep diving on them. You are looking to see if they have any judgments against them. You're looking to see how many companies they've had in their name. You're looking to. Have they? Because like one of the last homeowner horror story we did, this guy screwed this dude over over hundreds of thousands of dollars, gets his license back, starts another general con contracting company under another name and just keeps doing business.

So researching. Mm-hmm. Okay. How many companies has this person owned? How many [00:39:00] companies has this person been assigned to On the Secretary of State's department.

Jessica: Right.

Mikki : And then the other piece that I'm really leaning towards when you are negotiating your contract with these people is making them sign an affidavit that they have no judgements against them, that they have never been sued, that they have never filed for bankruptcy, that they have never screwed anybody over because while, yep.

If they're gonna lie, they're gonna lie. Right. But them signing that paper gives you added coverage. It makes things about being, so this is now a criminal act because you lied. Mm-hmm. This is a formal document that you didn't just violate the contract, you lied in the contract, you lied, you signed this.

Mm-hmm. And you lied. And that's criminal. Well, in some states it depends on the state that you're in, but, so really guys, the knowing what you're, knowing, what the rules are before you get started.

Jessica: Game to you, you

Mikki : gotta start there. Mm-hmm. But then once you start getting quotes, [00:40:00] obviously we say get three.

The best number is four. But at a, at a minimum, three quotes and every single person you are considering doing business with, you are, you are doing crazy. W crazy amounts of research on

Jessica: yes, you're going down the rabbit hole

Mikki : on them. Rabbit hole. Mm-hmm. You're going down the black hole. You're doing a deep dive.

I say go, I say Go Gone, girl on them. But I think Gone Girl is something different. I don't think I was using that correctly, but. Whatever it is. Do that

Jessica: you're, yeah, you

Mikki : go hard.

Jessica: You wanna know

Mikki : every single

Jessica: thing

Mikki : about that. You, that can find everything on that boy that you met that one time at that restaurant.

Like, be that friend for yourself. Yes. Do that for you.

Jessica: And there's nothing wrong with that.

Mikki : There's nothing wrong with that.

Jessica: Um, so here I am, $15,000 over budget. Oh, six months behind schedule with a beautiful bathroom and a very expensive lesson.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: Now I tell everyone I know. Always, always, always. All caps.

Mikki : All caps.

Jessica: Verify [00:41:00] a contractor's license yourself. Don't take their word for it. Look it up in the state database. Yes, yes. Ask for proof of insurance.

Mikki : Yes.

Jessica: Get references and actually call them. Never pull permits yourself unless you absolutely know what you are doing.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: And if something feels off, trust your gut.

I just wish I'd known all that 10 months ago. I hope this gets shared and helps someone.

Mikki : Yes, girl. Mm-hmm. Thank you for sharing and we honestly hope this helps everybody with that's watching. Mm-hmm. And if you have a story, whether it's your story or you know of a story or you know of something that was on the news that you saw mm-hmm.

Please go to chicks in construction.com and share that story with us because we, it is our goal in life to share as many stories so that people can understand. All of the ways that things can go wrong, so we can help you understand the red flag. So you don't have to learn the hard way because learning the hard way is overrated.

Is overrated, overrated. [00:42:00] So chicks in construction.com, you can find that, that how to reach us there. And then where can they find us on the socials?

Jessica: So LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. Were at Chicks Chickson Construction Podcast on TikTok. We're at Chickson Construction.

Mikki : Yay. All right guys, we'll see you on the next one.

Bye bye.