Chicks in Construction

In this episode of Chicks in Construction, Mikki and Jessica unpack another homeowner renovation nightmare — this time from Florida — involving an unlicensed contractor, endless delays, disappearing cabinets, surprise costs, and complete chaos inside a family home for nearly eight months. What started as an exciting kitchen renovation quickly spiraled into stress, financial anxiety, strangers showing up unannounced, and a growing realization that the contractor they trusted was never legitimate in the first place. Along the way, Mikki and Jessica go on several hilarious side quests involving jury duty scams, true crime energy, sketchy contractors, and why homeowners must verify licenses, insurance, permits, and registrations before any renovation begins. The episode is equal parts comedy, cautionary tale, and practical education for homeowners trying to avoid becoming the next construction horror story.

00:00 – The emotional reality of living through a renovation nightmare
00:45 – What Chicks in Construction is all about for new listeners
02:00 – Why shady contractors get angry when homeowners ask for permits
03:00 – Mikki’s “particular set of skills” rant begins
05:00 – Jury duty scams and fake warrants explained
08:00 – Mikki gets an actual jury summons and is way too excited about it
11:00 – Jessica explains how she got dismissed from jury duty instantly
12:00 – The insane burglar lawsuit story
15:00 – Bartending, over-serving, and legal liability stories
18:00 – Why listeners should keep submitting homeowner horror stories
20:00 – Callie the “non-consensual licker” dog side quest
23:00 – Today’s homeowner horror story begins: the Florida kitchen renovation
26:00 – “We thought we were doing something exciting for our family.”
30:00 – The contractor confidently claims he’s licensed
32:00 – The kitchen demolition begins and everything falls apart
33:00 – The homeowner discovers the cabinets were never ordered on time
35:00 – Delays, missing materials, and mounting frustration
36:00 – Random workers begin showing up without warning
38:00 – Why homeowners need communication and safety protocols during renovations
40:00 – The renovation budget spirals out of control
41:00 – Eight months without a functioning kitchen
42:00 – The homeowner discovers the contractor was never licensed
44:00 – Mikki explains why shady contractors hate permit conversations
45:00 – Why homeowners must independently verify licenses and insurance
48:00 – The hosts discuss possible delay scams and hidden costs
49:00 – Liquidated damages explained in large construction projects
51:00 – Why legitimate contractors don’t profit from delays
52:00 – Insurance verification and contractor credential checks
53:00 – The dangers of renovations completed without permits
54:00 – Why unpermitted work can hurt your home’s resale value
55:00 – Final lessons for homeowners before starting renovations

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/

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Jessica: [00:00:00] What I actually remember is crying in my garage one night, eating cold takeout while surrounded by boxes of appliances that should've- Aw

already been installed weeks earlier.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: I remember feeling anxious every time another random truck pulled into the driveway. I remember watching money disappear while someone kept looking me in the eye and promised me, promising me we were almost there.

Mikki: Well, hello, and welcome back to another episode of Chicks in Construction.

I'm your host, Nikki Paradise, and this is my amazing cohost.

Jessica: I'm Jessica Abram.

Mikki: And listen, I just wanna let you guys know, we are highly caffeinated. Joe made us cappuccinos, which I feel like by the end of this show he's gonna regret.

Jessica: A lot.

Mikki: We were dragging, we were dragging this morning. And he was like, "Hold on, these ladies need some caffeine."

He's not wrong. No. But I don't know if that's gonna make things better or worse, my friends. So I just, I'm warning you right now, [00:01:00] buckle up. That's right. Now, I'm starting to get better at explaining what the podcast is before we get 75 minutes into the podcast. And so if you are new here, first of all, welcome.

We're glad you're here. Get a little snack. This is a good time. We're here for some laughs. We're here for s- for some stories, a little true crime moment, construction edition. So we started this podcast for the purpose of helping homeowners navigate the world of construction and home renovations and new roofs and, you know, whatever it is that you wanna do in your home.

When you have to deal with a contractor, we want you to have better experiences. So many people that we know have had these, have these wild stories of really terrible construction experiences. And I, we were a little bit tired of it. We were like, "Listen, what can we do?" You know, just doing the Lord's work out here, helping you guys know what is normal and what is not in construction.

And I'm not gonna lie to you guys right now, [00:02:00] we get, we, mostly me, get a lot of heat for that. A lot of people are very upset that we are encouraging you all to follow the law in your state- Mm-hmm ... and get permits. This is the, the latest thing that has set the shady contractors on TikTok off. They're very upset that we are, are instructing our audience to follow the state and local guidelines and laws in your area, and get things like permits.

Jessica: And inspections.

Mikki: And inspect- how dare we?

Jessica: I mean- Who

Mikki: do we think we

Jessica: are? I mean, how long have you even been in business?

Mikki: I mean, look at her. She looks like she works in an office somewhere. Oh my God. I

Jessica: love that you go from that to, like, your little southern belle.

Mikki: I do have, I switch. I go between.

Jessica: Mm.

Mikki: I have m- many masks.

[00:03:00] Remember that when you're writing nasty comments about me online. You have

Jessica: many identities.

Mikki: I will find you. I do have a particular set of skills. They are mostly involving drywall. But let me just throw this out there. Just throw it out. Mm. I'm just, this is a little warning. Little warning Have you ever seen the movie Cesario?

Probably not

Jessica: You're not, you're not really asking me.

Mikki: I'm not, but you should probably check it out. The opening scene, it's a movie about, so a Cesario is a hitman in Spanish, and, um- Okay ... it's a big thing. The cartels employ many a Cesario. And, um, opening scene of this movie, they're in a house in Texas.

Jessica: Okay.

Mikki: And inside all the drywall

Jessica: Our people?

Mikki: Our human bodies- Mm ... wrapped in 3M plastic. It has to be. Don't ask me how I know what the th- what the plastic was.

Jessica: It has to be a certain-

Mikki: I'm just guessing. I'm just guessing ...

Jessica: a certain thickness, right?

Mikki: Seven, seven mil. But I've thought about it a lot. I'm [00:04:00] not gonna lie to you guys.

I'm not gonna lie. I've thought about it. Yeah. I know how to make the bodies go, "Where did they go?" So think about that as you're keyboard-warrioring it up like this, and you're just, like, going to town about how I don't look like I know anything. I know enough. I know enough.

Jessica: I know enough to be dangerous.

Mikki: That's right. I also know how to operate a backhoe, Billy, and I also know when the concrete's coming. Mm. I'm just saying. Choose wisely. I'm clearly unstable. Okay? N- no one's ever accused me of being stable in my life. So I'm just saying-

Jessica: Watch it ...

Mikki: you've been warned. Oh my

Jessica: gosh. No, the-

Mikki: YouTube's gonna have a blast with that.

They're

Jessica: gonna go, "I'm sorry,

Mikki: but this is a-" They're gonna go, "Nope, you cannot promote this video." Sorry.

Jessica: That sounded a [00:05:00] little serious.

Mikki: Before things got weird by me making it weird, we were talking about scams. Mm. Pretty much our show is just about scams. All the scams. But it's amazing how many kinds of scams there are.

Mm-hmm. Joe was sharing with us, Joe is our studio god if you, if you didn't know. He also made us this amazing coffee, so he's a studio god/barista. Barista. He sometimes laughs at our joke. Now that we're caffeinated, he's laughing more, so I feel like we've stepped it up. We're on the right

Jessica: path.

Mikki: We've stepped it up.

Mm-hmm. Um, he was sharing with us a story, and this is actually apparently going around the towns lately. Mm. Where somebody called him and said that he had missed his jury duty summons, and there was a warrant out for his arrest.

Jessica: Yep.

Mikki: And they knew a lot. Like, they knew which, which sha- They told him to go to the sheriff's station to turn himself in.

Now, listen, I don't, as much as I talk about doing crimes, [00:06:00] which I, I do talk, I mean, we just talked about doing some crimes earlier. Yeah. Like, a minute- But you don't

Jessica: actually do

Mikki: them ... a minute and a half ago. I've never done a crime. '

Jessica: Cause you don't look good in orange.

Mikki: I don't. I look terrible in orange.

It's not in my color palette. I'm not a summer, you guys. I'm a winter. I'm not an orange. But as much as I don't know about how, how the law enforcement works, I don't think they call you.

Jessica: No,

Mikki: this is just, I'm just spitballing here. Listen, if you know how this works, please comment below how it works when you have a warrant.

Um, you know, maybe use, like, a spam account, 'cause you don't want people to know that, like, you've been in jail. But- Or maybe you're a police officer. I don't know. I'm just protecting your privacy, because I care. Yes. I'm so-

Jessica: There's cr- text here in a minute.

Mikki: Yeah. In a minute.

Jessica: Not

Mikki: in the cafe yet. Zoom. Zoom.

Yeah, we're singing. We're bee-bop-a-doo-bopping all around. [00:07:00]

Jessica: Anyway. Um,

Mikki: I just don't think they call. Yeah. I, I don't know. Like, I, again, I've, I've, I'll let you guys know if I ever get in enough trouble where I do have a little run-in with, with the law.

Jessica: Mm-hmm.

Mikki: But from what I understand, they- They come to your house

come to your house to serve you a warrant. Mm-hmm. Especially if it's, like, not a criminal warrant. Um, like, I mean, not, it's like you haven't done a major crime. It's like, "Oh, you're accused of doing this." They come, and they serve you the warrant, and they say, "You have to come to court on this date." Yeah, they don't call and- Yeah, they don't call and warn you that the sheriff is looking for you.

Yeah. It kind of defeats the purpose-

Jessica: Yeah, 'cause then you could run away ...

Mikki: of, yeah, of like, "Hey, turn yourself in." So th- you know, but this is a thing that's happening. Joe mentioned it, but I've also heard of several other people who have had people call and say, "Hey, you missed your jury duty summons." which hilariously, so last week I went to a conference in Tampa for construction.

Shockingly, I was the only woman there, but I was [00:08:00] also the most fun, thank you very much. Mm-hmm. Real- I brought the vibe up. I was told that. I didn't just assume. I was told- Told ... that I brought the vibe-

Jessica: I mean, I get

Mikki: that ... up, which I do. I am a vibe bringer. I do bring the vibes and the funny jokes that not everybody thinks are funny.

Some people do.

Jessica: And the inappropriate jokes. I

Mikki: do. I, I say a lot of curse words. So what's funny is I don't curse on the podcast. I don't know why. My body just won't allow it, but in real life, Sailor, Sailor lives in this mouth. Mm-hmm. Like, the things, the, the amount of F-bombs that I drop in inappropriate settings, it could be its own TV show Like I say the F-bomb at the doctor's office, at the dentist's office, at the banker's office.

I just want everybody to know that I curse like an absolute sailor. Crap, I forgot where I was going with that. Oh, we were talking about scams, and I side-noted. Sorry. That's fine. I'm gonna, I'm gonna need several more cups of cappuccino. So [00:09:00] yeah, I don't... I, oh, yes, I was telling you I was at, I went to my conference.

I came back and I received a jury summons.

Jessica: Ooh.

Mikki: And most people would be very upset about this. Not this one. Put me on a jury. And then you'll get to see what it's like. You don't even understand the amount of rage that lives in my body for the injustices.

Jessica: But you would have to be quiet the entire time you're sitting there.

How would you even handle

Mikki: that? I would immediately get put in criminal contempt. The judge would be like, "Miss Paradise." And I'd be like, "Say it again." And then I'd be in jail. Like, I would go in the clink. I would finally get my dream of two hots and a cot, maybe a snacking in between. Jess will put money on my book, which I read about that in a book.

That, the, something called your book.

Jessica: Yeah. Your freedom in prison. Your common area.

Mikki: Yeah, yeah. I'm glad it all worked out. Anyway, I was thrilled. And so I open it up and I go, "Oh, a [00:10:00] jury summons." And Hector goes, "Yeah, aren't people supposed to be upset about that?" And I was like, "Everybody's going to jail."

Jessica: So when do you have to go to?

Mikki: It's in June. Yeah. You're, you're gonna... You know what? I'm gonna

Jessica: be away.

Mikki: Thank, thank God I wasn't go- I didn't go on the cruise, 'cause it was, it was when you, during the cruise. And during j- J- June 15th. Well, you

Jessica: mean, you can say that you're on vacation.

Mikki: Can you?

Jessica: Yeah. I mean,

Mikki: just

Jessica: throw that

Mikki: in. Oh, I mean, I guess that tracks.

I guess you don't, they don't just throw you in the clink. Apparently, that's a scam. So yeah, so we want you guys to be aware of the jury summons scam that is happening. Mm-hmm. Mine was an actual jury summons, which I am delighted to be able to serve on the jury. I don't think it's ever gonna happen, let's just be honest.

I think I'm going to al- always be immediately dismissed. 'Cause my ability to be impartial is questionable.

Jessica: Mm-hmm.

Mikki: Did it involve the state of Florida? Everybody's going to jail. Did it [00:11:00] involve dudes in construction named Chuck who has a truck? He's going to jail. I'm going to sway the jury- Mm-hmm ... to 100% go my direction.

And listen, if you're into having somebody, hiring somebody to be on a jury to go your direction, I'm available. No, I'm just kidding. That, that's illegal. All right. No, that's not a

Jessica: crime that I'm going to do.

Mikki: It's not. That's not a crime to me that's worth it, but it does depend on the amount of money you're willing to pay.

Jess is like, "Stop it."

Jessica: Stop it.

Mikki: Sorry. Sorry, I'm not sorry. No, I am a little bit sorry. Anyway,

Jessica: I got jury duty, I got summoned two or three times when I was living in Massachusetts.

Mikki: Mm.

Jessica: And one time- Ooh ... I got to-

Mikki: Guilty.

Jessica: Well, I got into the courtroom where they were, they brought the guy out who was, like- Doing

Mikki: crimes

Jessica: a- arrested, yes. And he was arrested for doing harms to a child. Uh-oh. And

Mikki: my [00:12:00] blood

Jessica: pressure went woo.

Mikki: Your vein was po- My vein was popping for you. Mm.

Jessica: And so they, they have to ask each of you, like, "Can you be impartial?" I was like, "No, he's guilty." Yeah. And they're like, "Well, you..." And I go,

Mikki: And they're

Jessica: like, "Did you arrest him?

Is there a reason why you arrested him?" And-

Mikki: Yeah. Jess is like, "Is, is this a trial?" She's

Jessica: like, "Nah." I, I have children. He's guilty. Guilty as sin. I can see it all over his face.

Mikki: He looks

Jessica: like

Mikki: a creeper. And they're like, "

Jessica: Thank you, ma'am, for your time. You are dismissed." And I was like, "Oh."

Mikki: You're like, "Oh, no." See, listen-

Jessica: But then like every- I was like, as I'm going out, I was like, "He's guilty."

"We know he's guilty." Jess was

Mikki: going

Jessica: Yeah. Yeah, but that's as far as I, as I've gotten. My, my friend got on one that, it was a wild case. A burglar was suing the homeowner because when he-

Mikki: Absolutely

Jessica: not ... oh my, because he fell in the [00:13:00] skylight and-

Mikki: No, I heard of that story ...

Jessica: and when, and when he fell, he hurt himself.

And he fell in the skylight. Yeah.

Mikki: I literally can- the audacity. Audacity. See, au- yeah, we need to insert that, like, the meme of two girls flying in a plane searching for where men get the audacity, because I still have not found where they get it from. Where is this source of audacity? I

Jessica: mean, isn't that, that wild?

I was like, "Hmm." When?

Mikki: I'm gonna be honest with you, okay? I think we all know I'm not right. So let, let's just preface what I'm about to say with the knowledge that I'm- With the

Jessica: lawyer that's gonna come out of your mouth now ...

Mikki: slightly to a lot off. I feel like if that were to ever happen to me, that would, like, like somebody who s- who tried to br- rob my house- Mm-hmm

is suing me for falling through a window and hurting themselves- Mm-hmm ... that's gonna be the straw that breaks the camel's back. I'm gonna lose it. Mm-hmm. I'm gonna end up on the news. I'm gonna be an [00:14:00] orange. It's, I'm, I don't know what I'm gonna do.

Jessica: Yep.

Mikki: But I'm gonna lose it. That's gonna be it.

Jessica: Like, I just, that's just so-

Mikki: I just,

Jessica: there's- What, what l- and, like, that scummy lawyer, because obviously he had to have had, get a lawyer, okay?

Somebody was like, "

Mikki: Hey, I got an idea. Let, let me see how much

Jessica: money we can get out of this person." Like, you tried to rob them, and that didn't work out so well, so let's get them this way. Let's get the money no matter what.

Mikki: Literally, that story, that's so wild that you knew somebody on that jury. Yeah. That story has kept me up at night.

Jessica: Mm.

Mikki: Just laying in bed thinking, "You've gotta be freaking kidding me." I, I just can't. I ca- I cannot imagine that homeowner. Like, I cannot even imagine.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki: Who- I

Jessica: mean, I mean, there's- Blood

Mikki: pressure. Calm down. Calm down. Yep.

Jessica: I had another friend that was on one for this guy got, like, went to multiple bars in a night, right?

Mm-hmm. Got a drink here, got a drink here, got a drink there.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: And then [00:15:00] at some point electrocuted himself. Not, like, badly, but like-

Mikki: Little zigzag, little zig ...

Jessica: little, little, and ended up, like, part of his body is d- d- didn't work right anymore. Oh. Like-

Mikki: Like he gave himself a stroke.

Jessica: Yeah. Okay. And he was suing all the places that he went and got a drink.

And I was like, mm. What? What?

Mikki: What? What?

Jessica: Like, I

Mikki: understand

Jessica: that- What? ... like, restaurants and bartenders are not supposed to... Like, they cannot over-serve you.

Mikki: Right. I get that. But you

Jessica: have to be completely-

Mikki: Blitzed. You know what's wild to me is, so- Because then they

Jessica: get mad at you when they

Mikki: don't serve you ... I took that very seriously.

Mm-hmm. So I bartended all through college, and I took that very seriously because there, there is legal precedent, precedent that- Yeah ... if you over-serve somebody and they go commit crimes, you could somehow be involved in it. So that was one of the things, though I was not here for the one or the two when it came to that.

Mm. It was like, if you, if you slurred your words, I was not serving you. Nope.

Jessica: [00:16:00] Sorry.

Mikki: So I worked at this little dive bar in downtown Raleigh. It was my senior year, and it was run by this lady who d- honestly didn't know where, where the sky was and the Earth was. Like, she was just like, "I don't know. I'm just here."

So this dude, and this was, like, this bar that all of the kids of, like, the uber wealthy in Raleigh, like the inner belt line folk- Mm-hmm ... their kids would come to this bar and would do straight up crimes because this was like a, a hole in the wall. Nobody expected, like, Raleigh's elite kids to be- Mm ... in the bathroom doing lines of illegal- Everything

drugs off the literal toilet seat.

Jessica: Ew.

Mikki: Right, right hand to God. Right hand to the Lord. Ugh. So this kid could not say words, could not say actual words. Mm-hmm. Comes up and orders a wobbadoo wobbadoo, and I was like, "We don't serve a wobbadoo wobbadoo." "

Jessica: You want some water?"

Mikki: I w- I was like- "We'll get a water"

"Sir, you need an IV." [00:17:00] So I s- I s- get the- Bouncer ... security guy, and I'm like, "Hey, man, he's toast." He somehow pulls it together to argue to the, to the lady who was running the bar that he was allowed to be there. She lets him back in. Other bartenders are serving him, and I was like, "Not this one." I was like, "You can go to anybody else, but I'm not serving you alcohol 'cause I'm not going to be legally responsible- Yeah

if you go do crimes later. You can't say words." Like, maybe every five minutes you have a moment of lucidity, but, like, absolutely not on my watch. Nope. So that, but that,

Jessica: mm,

Mikki: y'all.

Jessica: Yep, every single, every, but to, like, sue every single

Mikki: one- This is why I'm excited to be on a jury. Like, you're gonna sue somebody for something ridiculous?

It's crazy. I'm gonna award damages to them for you suing them. Don't, don't you even. Don't you even. So I'm just, I don't think that I'm gonna be invited on a jury. Exactly. Especially after this goes live. They're gonna be able to find my opinions about things, and it's gonna be like, "Thank you, ma'am, but no."

They're gonna be like, "Is this [00:18:00] you?" Yes, it is.

Jessica: Yes, it is. Sorry for everything that I said. I'm

Mikki: not sorry, though. I'm not. No. I'm not gonna do crimes, but I'm not sorry. Speaking of not sorry- Mm-hmm ... we have a homeowner horror story for you, and I am extremely grateful to our amazing audience- Mm-hmm ... for writing in and sharing their stories with us, because it helps us help other people not have these same experiences.

Yes. Sadly, so many stories are similar, but listen, just because, like let's say I'm, we're, we're sharing a story with you and it sounds exactly like your story.

Jessica: Share

Mikki: it. And you're like, "Oh, I'm not gonna share it 'cause they've already had that story." Nah, girl. Mm-mm. Nah, man. You just go ahead and write in.

You go to chicksinconstruction.com. You scroll down a little bit, there's a little form. You don't even have to send us an email. It sends it right from the website. Mm-hmm. Share your story with us even if it is word for word the exact same experience you had. And it seems redundant and it seems repetitive, but the moral of the story is this is [00:19:00] happening to so many people.

The more you share your story, the more we can say, "Hey, listen, we've collected 16 stories thus far that are exactly the same." Th- that's a pattern. Mm-hmm. We want the audience to have as much exposure to the same story over and over again because it helps them to remember when they find themselves in that situation, like, "Oh, I heard about this.

The, the same thing happened."

Jessica: And like not everybody is like, has come in when we first started.

Mikki: Right.

Jessica: Because like, let's be honest, we were in Mickey's basement. We were in my basement. And the best quality maybe wasn't-

Mikki: It was not, it was not studio god level. I mean, come on.

Jessica: Listen, we have come a long way.

Mikki: We had to put a baby gate up so Optimus Prime didn't like storm into the basement to like mess things up and then bark and leave. And so Callie couldn't come lick our ankles.

Jessica: He would look at me and be like, "Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah." He'd be like, "Oh, there's Jo. She's here. She's here."

Mikki: Yeah, Callie's a non-consensual licker, so she doesn't, she doesn't ask for consent.[00:20:00]

She just- She does. She sniper licks you. Mm. So- And she does

Jessica: not

Mikki: stop. She does not stop. Mm-mm. It's a can't stop, won't stop situation. She wants to taste the rainbow. She wants to know what every human being tastes like. So when we take her, 'cause Hunter's obsessed with her.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki: So Callie is my only competition.

That's the only one coming in between me

and my man is Callie. She's a pocket bully. I'll send a picture to Jo so she, you can share. She's got the little little overbite so she's got the little teeth and she's freaking adorable. So I do have some serious competition, but he takes her with him everywhere.

Mm-hmm. And we'll go to Lowe's for a Saturday, Saturday morning Lowe's run. There's Callie in her little rainbow harness living her best life, and he goes up and down the hallways. As she walks by strangers on the street, she licks their ankles I don't know how many times somebody- she has scared the absolute bejesus out of somebody-

who was diligently looking at the wattage of a [00:21:00] light bulb, and Callie went, huh, like just a sniper kiss as she walked by. S- non-consensual. She was like, "I'm gonna taste your ankle right now,

Jessica: like it or not." She'll just apologize to everybody on your behalf.

Mikki: But every, oh, every time. I say, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry.

She's a non-consensual licker." And people are like- People laugh ... they do, they think it's so funny. It helps that she's so cute.

Jessica: Mm-hmm.

Mikki: So, like, she gets away with a lot of shit- ... 'cause she is so cute. It's incredible. So, like, they'll be, like, outraged, and then they'll see her little teeth, her little jaw, and they're like, "Oh, that's okay.

Aw, she's so cute." Um-

Jessica: But I have to say you apologized too, so

Mikki: that helped I

Jessica: do.

Mikki: I'm like, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry." And they're like, "Oh, it's okay. She's so sweet." Yeah, she's so sweet until she's standing on your chest in the morning looking you dead in the eye. She does do that. She also sleeps on my pillow.

Ugh, this dog.

Jessica: This is why I don't have pets.

Mikki: Oh, she, yeah, she'll like, she starts at the bottom of the bed like a normal dog, and you wake up in the morning, I have to sleep with eye shades on, 'cause like obviously I'm ridiculous, and it's, it's a great way to block out the world. So I sleep with eye [00:22:00] shades on, and I also sleep with nighttime earph- earbuds in, because Hector snores like he's sawing actual logs- All the time

in the forest. So I got my, and I, I'm like in my cocoon, my luxurious sateen cocoon, and I, I'll pick up the eye, and there's Callie, head on my pillow, passed out. Passed out. Just... She

Jessica: doesn't even smell her when she comes

Mikki: near you. I, I, I don't know. Clearly I'm in the sleep zone, and I wake up, and I'm just like, "This ho.

What?" She's not sleeping on Hector's pillow.

Jessica: No.

Mikki: My pillow. Mm. She

Jessica: likes

Mikki: it. Now mind you, we had a queen-sized bed when we got Callie. Callie demanded to be on the bed to the point where we had to get a king-sized bed. So not only did we get or spend thousands of dollars on a new mattress and new sheets and a new bed frame, she can't even, like, sleep on the bed like a normal dog.

No, she has to have her head on my pillow, this close from my face, 'cause Callie. Listen, [00:23:00] when you're a pocket bully, you do what you want. She's got tiny little T-Rex arms. She's adorable. She's also evil. You can be two things at the same time.

Jessica: Both things can be true.

Mikki: Adorable and evil at the same time.

That's Callie. So we're gonna get into our homeowner horror story that was thankfully and beautifully sent to us from- Mm-hmm ... potentially a subscriber. If not, I hope you did subscribe. Yeah. But here we go. We're gonna get into it. Jess is gonna read it.

Jessica: So this is coming to us from Florida.

Mikki: Oh.

Jessica: Mickey's

Mikki: favorite

Jessica: state.

Mikki: My favorite state. Listen, I don't hate the people, I just hate the state, okay? If you... I was just in Tampa. It was actually quite lovely.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki: I've never been to Tampa like that, like, where I was, like, really there there.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki: It's kinda cute. I was like, "Oh, I could see why people would wanna live here." Yeah. I mean, and- I did get propositioned by a man again.

I don't know why I give vibes of I pay for sex, but I don't. Guys, I don't. I don't. I don't. I just don't have [00:24:00] that op- you know, that thing in my life. If I, if I need it, I got a guy at home. I, I know where to source it. I don't have to pay for it. But I have on multiple times been propositioned by a male prostitute, one in LA and now one in Tampa.

Jessica: It's so weird.

Mikki: It's weird, but I must give

Jessica: I

Mikki: have to pay for it. Is it

Jessica: because you were

Mikki: walking with guys? I don't know, 'cause I was, this time I was... When in LA, I was just minding my own daggone business in downtown LA, walking from a Pilates studio back to my hotel, and he propositioned me, and I was very confused 'cause it was the first time it happened.

Second time it happened, I was like, "Are you kidding me right now? This happened to me again?" This is the face of apparently somebody who's interested in a little extra paid-for spanky time, and I'm just- You guys, I can't stress this enough. Absolutely no.

Jessica: No.

Mikki: There's a lot of things I'll pay for but that's-

Jessica: That is not it

Mikki: not one of them.

Jessica: Anything you pay for is terrible. Do you get a refund?

Mikki: Right, I'm like what's your refund policy, [00:25:00] sir?"

Jessica: Are, are there outcomes that are?

Mikki: Right, like what, what's the guaranteed outcome here? I didn't even think about that.

Jessica: We need contracts.

Mikki: I was just immediately offended. Like, I was just like, "Do I look like somebody who pays for sex?

How dare you?" I just, I- Rude ... I took it as an insult to my looks, which, 'cause I'm a vain, vain lady.

Jessica: I don't think that was it. It's gotta be something, because-

Mikki: I

Jessica: must,

Mikki: I must give a, a unique opinion ... maybe

Jessica: I knew you were the only pretty girl that was walking by-

Mikki: Thank you, Jess. Jess

Jessica: loves me ... in that amount of time that they were there on the street.

Mikki: Sorry, we went on another tangent. We're,

Jessica: we're getting- We're gonna land the

Mikki: plane. We're getting-

Jessica: Sorry about that ... back to the story. Back to the story.

Mikki: Back to the story.

Jessica: To start with the story.

Mikki: We're gonna start it now for real.

Jessica: Coming to us from Florida.

Mikki: Yay, Florida.

Jessica: Okay. We thought we were doing something exciting for our family.

Mikki: Mm-hmm.

Jessica: That's the [00:26:00] part that still gets me. Mm. This kitchen renovation was supposed to be one of those things you look back on and say, "

Mikki: Remember when we redid the kitchen?" Aw. No, that's not how it ends, though.

Jessica: I had ideas saved on my phone for over a year.

Mikki: Mm.

Jessica: We budgeted carefully. We talked about it nonstop.

Ugh. I was genuinely excited. I was like, "Oh, I feel

Mikki: that." You know what's interesting is like thus far not a single person that has, had, had a horrible story is like, "I just have copious amounts of money to spend on things." Like, everybody who ends up getting scammed is somebody who like worked so hard for this money.

For this. Mm-hmm. Like, it's never just like, "Oh, I make a million dollars a year and could care less how much I spend on my kitchen renovation." Right. It's always like-

Jessica: And I wonder if is that- ... I

Mikki: sold a kidney for this kitchen renovation

Jessica: I wonder if it's, um, I mean, we'll have to do some research, but I [00:27:00] wonder if that's because the people who have a lot of money are getting the higher-

Mikki: Maybe

because

Jessica: they're like- And we're wrong about

Mikki: them ... "

Jessica: Well, I'll spend-" Yeah ... X dollars. It doesn't, that part doesn't matter to me-

Mikki: Yeah, the cost isn't

Jessica: a

Mikki: thing ...

Jessica: where other people-

Mikki: I don't

Jessica: know ... like me

Mikki: Same. I mean, listen-

Jessica: We have to go-

Mikki: Obviously, in construction it's a different thing, because my entire family, we could build an entire house and then still keep it within our family.

So that's not... But, like, don't get it twisted. We get, we find ourselves in the same situation of trying to avoid getting taken advantage of- Mm-hmm ... in a lot of other areas. So it's not like we're immune to it, it's just, like, for me specifically, it's not construction. It's

Jessica: not construction. But, like- It's a different area

Mikki: listen, don't get me started on trying to go buy a car. Don't even get me started.

Jessica: Oh, you should have Brad help you. He's amazing at that.

Mikki: I can see Brad being really... He has this face of like, "Try me. Try me." He does. His face reads, "Try me."

Jessica: Oh.

Mikki: He showed up for his birthday party Jess threw him a surprise. You should have seen the [00:28:00] look on this guy's face.

I thought he was gonna fight us all. I was like, "Brad, is this just your, the face that you're having right now? Like, what is it with your face?" He's, he was so confused.

Jessica: He was like, "Wait, why are there other people here?" He's like, "I

Mikki: have friends?" She's like, "No, but Jess does."

Jessica: That night he's like, "You know what?"

I was like, "Did you have fun?" He's like, "Yeah, it was great." He's like, "I really like the place. Everybody, like, it was great-" Yeah ... "seeing everybody." He's like, "But it did make me realize something." And I was like, "Oh, what?" He's like, "I don't have any of my own friends." It

Mikki: was all Jess's friends.

Jessica: And I was like, "Well, I tried to invite some of them."

So guys are impossible.

Mikki: Yeah, this is true.

Jessica: They don't... Like, Brad doesn't hang out with guys outside of playing sports.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: So they're all in these group chats that I tried-

Mikki: Really?

Jessica: Yeah, they're in this, they're, they have this what- WhatsApp.

Mikki: A bro, a bro WhatsApp for the bros?

Jessica: A bro WhatsApp, yes. And he has, he's in two of them.

Wow. One for a Sunday game and one for a Thursday game. [00:29:00] Oh. And so I tried, like, sneaking into his phone and, like, taking- Oh, gee ... pictures of... But then he had told me that there was these, a few guys that, like, he didn't really care for. Oh. So then I'm like-

Mikki: That's shit ... "It's too much. It's too much work."

Jessica: Ah. So I remembered- So

Mikki: maybe he got invited.

Jessica: Two, I remember two names of guys that he liked, but one of them, it's a nickname, so he wasn't saved into the phone that way. Oh. And, like, I didn't know. One guy I did invite, but he couldn't come. And I was like, "Well, will you, will you tell other people?"

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: And he's like, "Yeah, sure." Good news. I don't know if he ever did.

I bet he probably didn't.

Mikki: He probably did not.

Jessica: Because

Mikki: he's like, "Hey, guys, Brad's having a

Jessica: surprise party." Well, Brad didn't, well, he definitely didn't do that 'cause Brad had no idea.

Mikki: The man was shooketh.

Jessica: Yeah,

Mikki: it was great. His face, I thought he was gonna fight us all. It was great. That was amazing. Brad is the best person to take with you to go buy a car because he's gonna scare the crap out of that car salesman, and I'm here for it.

Jessica: Yeah. And we both-

Mikki: That was a weird side, side quest ... side quest. Sorry. But listen, [00:30:00] we're coming back to it.

Jessica: We're gonna land this plane. But

Mikki: we did land it.

Jessica: Yeah, we did. We're

Mikki: sitting,

Jessica: we're sitting. So now when I think about it, I just feel angry.

Mikki: Oh, I hate that. That happens on so many of these stories where it's like a bad memory.

Jessica: Mm-hmm.

Mikki: Oof. And these all start the same way, too.

Jessica: The contractor we hired told us he was licensed. He said it casually, confidently, like there was no reason for us to question it. He showed us photos of past work, talked about projects all over Florida, and acted like he had been doing this forever.

Mikki: Forever.

Jessica: We trusted him. Looking back, I hate how easy it was for us to trust him.

Mikki: Everybody feels the same way.

Jessica: And, and I mean, just because somebody tells you that they're licensed does not mean that they are. You have to- You have to ... go and check it.

Mikki: And like, y'all, I- Mm-hmm ... I, [00:31:00] I, I'm like, we need to make a T-shirt.

We need something. We need to make merch. Joe has a lot of really good merch ideas, but I'm not gonna go on another side quest on that. You're just gonna find out about it later. But we need to make it where it doesn't matter. Like, somebody can be the kindest person, and they can be, they can seem- Mm-hmm

so confident, and they can know all the words, and they can say all the things, and you have no idea what it means. And it makes you think, "Oh, of course this person knows what they're talking about." That does not eq- like, equal I don't need to check their- Mm-hmm ... their credentials. It should just be of course you're going to check their credentials.

Of course you're going to check their licensing. Yes. Of course you're gonna check and make sure that they're, they don't have any judgments against them. Of course you're gonna check and make sure that in the state that you're in, they are registered with the secretary of state. There are so many things that, like, of course you're gonna do that, no matter how kind they were.

Yeah. No matter how confident they were, no matter the experience you had, you're going to check. [00:32:00] Check,

Jessica: 100%. And I

Mikki: hate that for her because she knows now, but she didn't know going into it. Yeah. That's why we're sharing this with you and why we want you to share your stories with us.

Jessica: Yes, and if you know somebody that's going to be doing renovation, share this with them so that

Mikki: they don't make those mistakes.

I know it sounds like a shameless plug, y'all, but, a shameless plug, not a shameless plug. But you, you get it. Words. Words are hard. But honestly, the amount of people who write in and say, "I had no, I wish I had seen this podcast before I started my renovation," the amount of people. So if you have a friend who's like, "Hey, I'm gonna renovate my kitchen," hey, let me send you this podcast.

Mm-hmm. You need to watch it. You need to get, get all the stories so that when you're going through it, you know what to know, and you know what to avoid.

Jessica: Mm-hmm.

Mikki: Continue.

Jessica: There we go. The first few weeks were mostly demolition, which I expected to be chaotic.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: The cabinets came out, the flooring was removed.

And our house immediately fell upside down.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: Dust was everywhere. I kept telling myself it would be worth it [00:33:00] in the end. I thought once the hard part w- was over, the things would start coming together.

Mikki: Mm.

Jessica: Nothing seemed organized. Nothing happened when it said it would. I would ask about the cabinets and get vague answers every time.

"They're on their way. The supplier is behind. We should have them next week." And these are all what the contractor's saying- Air quotes ... with, with

Mikki: the quote-unquotes. Ugh, I hate where this is going.

Jessica: Weeks kept passing with an empty kitchen and no cabinets in sight. I finally called the cabinet company myself one afternoon after getting frustrated enough to stop believing what I was being told.

The woman on the phone looked up our order and told me they had only recently received it.

Mikki: Oh my God. I'm like, "Calm down."

Jessica: The veins.

Mikki: The vein in my forehead, I'm like, she wants to pop, but I'm like- [00:34:00] Yeah, but this is a secondhand story. You're

Jessica: fine. I remember just standing there in my driveway staring at my phone.

Our kitchen had already been torn apart for over a month. Boy. And he had not even ordered the cabinets when he said they

Mikki: would. I did one kitchen renovation before I decided I did not like doing renovations. We ordered the cabinets before we e- Like, we went under contract, and the first thing we did was order those cabinets.

Yeah. We did not demo anything until we had a delivery date, and, like, that was my first legitimate k- kitchen renovation, and I knew that. Right. Come on.

Jessica: Yeah. You don't, like... 'Cause they can take a while. It's

Mikki: Chuck and his truck. He's out here- Mm-hmm ... just doing the most in his truck.

Jessica: Yep, so that moment changed everything for me.

Oh,

Mikki: yeah.

Jessica: I stopped feeling stressed- Mm ... and [00:35:00] started feeling angry.

Mikki: I was about to say rage. Mm-hmm. Is that where we're going?

Jessica: I'd be like, "Give me a sledgehammer." For real. But we're gonna get to something. Yeah. The delays kept piling up after that. Countertops were measured incorrectly, so they had to come back out and redo templates.

Appliances arrived too early and sat in our dining room for weeks-

Mikki: Fun ...

Jessica: still wrapped in plastic because the kitchen was nowhere near ready for them.

Mikki: Wow. Love that.

Jessica: Lighting had to be reordered Because someone forgot a part of the order.

Mikki: Oh my

Jessica: God. I don't know what part, um, but that, that sounds-

Mikki: That sounds-

Jessica: Bad

Mikki: it sounds not great.

Jessica: Yeah. Every mistake created another delay- Mm ... and every delay somehow cost us more money. What?

Mikki: What?

Jessica: What? I cannot even explain how exhausting it is watching your savings disappear while someone keeps telling you that everything is, and I quote, in air quotes, [00:36:00] "Almost done."

Mikki: Hmm. Okay.

I'm, I'm, I'm reserving my thoughts here I can see- I'm reserving.

I can

Jessica: see-

Mikki: Look at me reserving ...

Jessica: I can see all the bubbles coming up. People were constantly showing up at my house without warning.

Mikki: Mm-hmm.

Jessica: One morning, I was home by myself drinking my coffee-

Mikki: Minding her own doggone business ...

Jessica: as one does. As one does. And if I'm drinking my coffee in the morning- Don't

probably in the bathroom-

Mikki: You wait until I'm done with that first cup. Mm-hmm. Or if I've had a wa- a gluten-free waffle.

Jessica: Yes.

Mikki: Okay? If I've- If I haven't had my gluten-free waffle yet, don't even make eye contact with me.

Jessica: It's inappropriate. When I saw a man walking through our side yard toward the back door.

Oh. He kept looking at the house, and it scared me badly enough that I locked myself in the bathroom.

Mikki: Oh my

Jessica: God. But he knocked repeatedly on the door, and when I went to see what he wanted, after calling my husband to be on the [00:37:00] phone with me-

Mikki: Oh, yeah ... he said- That's my pride. Act tough. He's like, "Huh? Who?

What me? Me?"

Jessica: He said he was here to work on plumbing. Nobody told me he was coming. Ugh. Nobody texted me. Nobody asked if someone was going to be home. But, like, why is somebody walking through your side yard to the back door instead of just knocking on the front... I mean, if you, if you come to my house- I mean, it depends-

if you try to ring my

Mikki: doorbell- Yeah ... I mean,

Jessica: it does not work.

Mikki: That, and, like, I think it depends on, like, if, if the, if the GC, I'm assuming who's not a licensed general contractor- True ... gave them the instruction to just go around back- Yeah ... I can kind of see that. But, like, the not communicating that just a random dude is gonna sh- I, I think this is the luxury of being a man.

Mm-hmm. Is, like, you don't think about how scary it is for a random dude to just show up at your house, because you're the apex predator of the species. Like- Right ...

Jessica: you're

Mikki: [00:38:00] not scared of anything, because what are they gonna do? You're a dude. So I just think a lot of men don't understand, like, "Hey, th- this woman could be home by herself.

I should give her a heads-up that somebody- That she hasn't met ... she hasn't met yet- Mm-hmm ... is coming to her house." That's why a lot of, of, like, trade contractors, like the HVAC company we use has an app- Hmm ... that, 'cause we schedule our cleanings every season. So every season they come out and they kind of service the unit to make sure that, like, when it's gonna change from cool to the heater- Yeah

it, it will turn on And they send me a text and says, "Hey, the technician Joah is on his way. Here's a picture of him." Even though it's my family, so I know all the people that work at the

Jessica: company. Yeah. But it's a blessing to know who they

Mikki: are. But if it wasn't, then I know, and then I have a picture of who they are.

So like, if I am very nervous about people coming to my home, I can look and say, "Okay, this is him. Okay, so this is legit."

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki: So they do that because a lot of people have had bad experiences, [00:39:00] and they want them to feel comfortable with the service technician.

Jessica: You don't know if that was a random person in your

Mikki: house.

Yeah. So it's like you've got that, and then you've got this dude who's like, "Well, maybe she's home. Maybe she's not. Who knows?"

Jessica: Like- Like I'm knocking on the door ...

Mikki: what if you had a doctor's appointment? I mean, that just feels like it, really bad communication. Really bad.

Jessica: Yeah, I would definitely like to know who's coming to my house and when.

And like, I like to know their name.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: And like, I want them to sh- like tell me who they are before. I don't say like, "Oh, so you're Joe from-" Right ... blah, blah, blah. I let them tell me who they are. Yeah, yeah. So I'm, I mean, it's just common

Mikki: courtesy. 'Cause we out here trying to not get murdered in our houses.

Call it what you will. I watch

Jessica: enough Law & Order:

Mikki: SVU. We've seen way too many shows about how this goes down.

Jessica: Yes. And

Mikki: all women do. Like, why is that our like pastime is like, why is my favorite podcast My Favorite Murder?

Jessica: So that we don't get murdered. I'm

Mikki: not trying to be a statistic.

Jessica: Right.

Mikki: And [00:40:00] that's why your new favorite podcast is Tricks of Construction, because you don't wanna be a statistic.

Mm-hmm. Dun, dun, dun. 'Cause

Jessica: learning the hard way is

Mikki: overrated.

Jessica: Overrated. Okay. So that became normal.

Mikki: Um.

Jessica: All these random people.

Mikki: Oh, I hate that.

Jessica: Random trucks would pull up, strangers would walk into my house, and half the time I had no idea who they were-

Mikki: Yeah ...

Jessica: or what they were there to do.

Mikki: Oh.

Jessica: It felt chaotic and uncomfortable.

Yeah. This was my home. There were days I generally did not feel safe because I had no clue- Oh, I hate that ... who was supposed to be there.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: The budget also completely spiraled out of control. Every week there was another excuse for why something cost more than expected. Materials had gone up, something had to be reordered.

Excuse me. Something was forgotten. Every conversation somehow ended up with us having to pay more money.

Mikki: Mm.

Jessica: We had a real budget. [00:41:00] We were careful. We did not walk into this expecting some luxury dream renovation-

Mikki: Right ...

Jessica: with unlimited money.

Mikki: Okay.

Jessica: We planned this down to the dollar because we are a normal family.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: Watching the numbers keep climbing while the project barely moved forward- Mm ... made me physically sick.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: I mean, it makes me sick for her. I

Mikki: know.

Jessica: I can just, like my anxiety

Mikki: is just

Jessica: like-

Mikki: Yeah, it's building. She's a good writer, 'cause like as she's going I'm like, "Oh, God, what's gonna happen next?"

Jessica: I know.

Mikki: Even though we know.

Jessica: We know. We, we've, we've seen this-

Mikki: Yeah ...

Jessica: episode.

Mikki: We don't have to have read this email in its entirety to know how this is gonna

Jessica: go. We know how it's gonna go, unfortunately.

Mikki: Yeah. It really s- That's why we have the podcast. Yeah.

Jessica: The renovation was supposed to take three months. It took almost eight.

What? Eight months of dust in every room. Ugh. Eight months of washing dishes in the bathroom sink. That's ridiculous. Eight months of takeout and paper plates and feeling [00:42:00] like our home was permanently under construction.

Mikki: Oof.

Jessica: Every time we think, we thought we were finally getting close to the end, something else went wrong I found out he was not licensed at the end of the project.

Mikki: Oh, man.

Jessica: A friend asked me one day if I had looked him up through the state licensing site. What kind of friend is this that didn't tell you this before?

Mikki: Right. I mean, listen, maybe she came into the game late. Like, you met her at a networking event and became besties, and then she's like, "Oh, by the way, have you seen Chicks in Construction podcast?"

Is this what... Who knows?

Jessica: I mean, thankfully- Shame on us.

Mikki: I'm

Jessica: sorry.

Mikki: Yeah, I mean, I mean, I guess better late than never.

Jessica: Yep. But it's also one of those things where, like, if I know how to do something, I expect-

Mikki: Yeah ...

Jessica: most people to know how to do it.

Mikki: Yeah. Yeah.

Jessica: And it's, it's not that way. And then, like, sometimes you don't wanna tell somebody what to do because you don't want them to seem...

You don't want- You

Mikki: don't wanna seem like you're [00:43:00] condescending- Right ... or you don't wanna seem like, oh, l- let me not... 'Cause I say all the time, like, when I'm talking to people, I'm like, "Listen, stop me if you've heard this one." Yeah. Like, if you know this, like, let, let me not tell you something you already know.

But I'll say things like, "Hey, you probably already know this, but..."

Jessica: But.

Mikki: So that's kind of how, like, w- when I don't wanna be, come across as condescending, which you know is rare. I do like a condescending moment. But if it's something that I actually care about- Sure ... I'll try to be like, "You probably already know this, but, you know, here's my experience."

Mm-hmm. Try like that. Mm-hmm. But yeah, I get it, where you kinda just feel like this isn't my business. Right. But y'all, we gotta be looking out for each other when it comes to this stuff because this, these stories- Are- ... are wild in these streets.

Jessica: And there's too many of them.

Mikki: Yeah, there's too many, and they're all the same.

And, and part of... This is why, like, you guys have got to go to the comments section on our TikTok. It is wild on, like, the, the amount of people that are [00:44:00] so upset for us calling these scams out- Mm-hmm ... is amazing. And these aren't people who watch the podcast, so they're never, they're not here with us right now, okay?

They're not in this conversation. They're not in this conversation. They see our reels that I swear to you the TikTok algorithm rage-based them with, and it makes them so angry that we're like- ... hey, you need permits. Hey, you need to check licensing. Hey, you don't pay for rework when somebody fails an inspection.

These are the things that make these scammers, it makes their blood pressure boil because they have been getting away with it- For so long ... for a millennia. Like, nobody is out here talking about this stuff, and we are, because we want this stuff to stop happening to homeowners.

Jessica: Mm-hmm.

Mikki: And I'm sorry if you're mad that we're instructing people to follow the local laws

Jessica: Mm-mm.

Mikki: What? What? What? Really?

Jessica: Maybe look inward.

Mikki: Yeah, maybe take, maybe take like a mindfulness class. Mm. I don't know. Sorry, side quest. [00:45:00]

Jessica: We're side questing. It's okay. So when the friend asked, "Check the licensing site," I honestly thought she meant reviews at first. Oh. I searched his name while sitting on my couch, expecting to find his information immediately.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: Nothing came up.

Mikki: Interesting, yeah.

Jessica: I searched again thinking I spelled something wrong. I even searched his business name and still found nothing. The man stood in my house and told me he was licensed.

Mikki: The audacity. The audacity, if you will.

Jessica: He put it on paperwork. He talked constantly like he was a legitimate contractor running a real business.

I think that might be meaning confidently, but either way.

Mikki: Mm. Constantly

Jessica: and confidently. Constantly and confidently. The entire thing was a lie.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: That is the part I still cannot get over. We allowed him to finish because by the time we figured it out, there was minimal work left to do. Yeah. And I [00:46:00] just wanted it done and didn't wanna have to find someone else.

Mikki: Oh, yeah.

Jessica: People act like homeowners should somehow know how to catch these things immediately- Yeah,

Mikki: yeah ...

Jessica: but most of us are just trying to hire someone we think we can trust.

Mikki: Yes. Preach, woman, preach.

Jessica: Yep. We are not construction experts. I know.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: No, ma'am. I get it. Not a construction expert. Um, we are families trying to improve our homes.

Mm-hmm. There are so many stories like this in Florida, and it feels like nothing actually happens to these people.

Mikki: Yes.

Jessica: They drag projects out for months, cost families thousands of extra dollars, completely disrupt people's lives- Yeah ... and then move on to the next homeowner.

Mikki: Yeah. And there's very infrequently any consequences.

Jessica: Hardly ever.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: Meanwhile, we are left dealing with the stress, the financial burden, and the anger long after they have left.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: People come over now and compliment the kitchen all the time. Mm. [00:47:00] They say how beautiful it turned out.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: I smile because I don't even know what else to do.

Mikki: Yeah. Aw.

Jessica: What I actually remember is crying in my garage one night, eating cold takeout while surrounded by boxes of appliances that should've- Aw

already been installed weeks earlier.

Mikki: Yeah.

Yeah.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: The way that you wrote this- Yes ... is just-

Mikki: Ma'am ...

Jessica: amazing. You're a chef's

Mikki: kiss.

Jessica: Yes. I just love... Like, I'm sorry that this happened to you- Yes, I am sorry ... but I love the way that you wrote this story. You're good. You're a good writer. Like, I feel all

Mikki: your- You're, I'm in it. Mm. Like, I'm just like these

Jessica: Like, I'm mad for you.

Mikki: Seriously, we're gonna go to Florida and find this guy and his, probably his [00:48:00] name is Chuck.

Jessica: I've

Mikki: been coming for Chucks lately.

Jessica: Yeah. We're attacking

Mikki: their Chucks. Dude, I have so many questions and, and part of, like- W- we were kind of on the fence. Like, should we respond back to people and ask like follow-up questions?

Because if they are asking to re- remain anonymous, we don't wanna like violate that privacy thing. Mm-hmm. One of my biggest question is why did ... 'Cause they didn't, like, they didn't move out of their house for the renovation. Mm-hmm. So why did every time there was a delay it cost more money? I don't know.

And so that's when I'm kinda like, okay, I wonder what the scam is there. Like-

Jessica: Yeah, she also didn't give, like, a budget or, like,

Mikki: a cost or anything. Oh, yeah. She didn't give us numbers. And I will say, when you are so delightfully because you want people to learn from your experience sharing your stories, these are really important details.

Like, how, how did they hit you up for the extra money? What was the pitch? [00:49:00] What was the, you know, their claim why you were responsible for additional costs? Because, so in, in my world of construction, there's something called liquidated damages. So when a general contractor, 'cause we, I specialize in new construction multi-family, so apartment complexes and things like that.

And I'm not the general contractor, I'm the drywall and paint contractor, so I'm contracted directly with the general contractor, and the general contractor is contracted directly with the owner. So it's a little bit of a different setup. But in the con- like, the owner's contract with the general contractor, there is a, a, a clause for liquidated damages.

Which basically says if you haven't completed the construction by this date and we are not able to rent those apartments to get the money- Mm-hmm ... for, for the unit, you have to pay us per day. Whoa. And that is a hell of a motivator for a general contractor. Right. Because at [00:50:00] this date you're paying ... And there was a job w- that I

It wasn't, we weren't, we weren't on it, but we knew the drywaller on the job, and the thing was an absolute shit show from day one. Um, and they ended up paying, it was like $10,000 a day to that owner because they could not get their crap together. That is an amazing- Mm-hmm ... way to keep a general contractor moving if they are contractually obligated to pay money to you.

Now, I don't think that's a thing- I think you do have a good point ... you can pull in residential, but listen, it's worth a shot like.

Jessica: You're like, "Listen, um, if you don't-"

Mikki: And it's not, like, and the point is it, in an arena of construction where everybody involved knows what they're doing- Mm-hmm ... the general contractor does not get away with charging the owner for delays.

In fact, on many occasion- Mm-hmm ... the [00:51:00] owner charges the general contractor for delays. So, like, when I say I don't understand what the pitch is for how they ended up paying extra for the delay, in my world, the general contractor pays extra for delays. Yeah.

Jessica: I wonder if it was, like, they- It was delayed because, like, they didn't order it, and now they're, like, trying to expedite shipping.

Mikki: Oh, I wonder, yeah. So, you know,

Jessica: it's-

Mikki: And that's, these are really great things to put in, put in your notes, like when you, when you do write in at- That's true ... chixintheconstruction.com. It's, it's helpful for us, 'cause it's helpful for... But I mean, listen, w- this is a, a wonderfully written story, so we are really grateful for that.

Mm-hmm. Um, so it's really the same things as we always tell you guys. Number one, you want it in writing what their, what their license number is, what their company name is, who is the owner of the company, so that you can go independ- in- independently check all of that. You're also checking their insurance to make sure that they are insured [00:52:00] for the very specific job that they're doing.

That's another thing that we get a lot of stories of. Yeah. People try to recover the costs of the, the in- the faulty work from the contractor's insurance company, only to find out that they weren't actually insured to do that specific kind of work. So when you get a certificate of insurance, that's great, but call them and be like, "Hey, I just wanna check on this insured to make sure that they are indeed insured to do my bathroom renovation."

Right. Making sure, like... And it seems like a lot of work, guys, and, and I'm not gonna lie to you, it is. Checking to see if they are registered with your state, if they're registered, their company is registered in your state with the secretary of state. Yeah, it, it's a laundry list of things that you need to do.

But doing that work up front prevents you from having to try to find an attorney or try to find another contractor to finish the work, because these people weren't legitimate. Right. And they didn't get inspections. And here's, here's a thing to note. So one of [00:53:00] our recent Instagram or TikTok, it's really very rage bait-y for shady contractors, one of them was about getting permits.

Jessica: Mm.

Mikki: And oh my God, today, my God, today, this pissed people off so bad. How dare we tell people to get permits to do work? I know so many people that do great work, and they never pull the permit. Here's, here's the thing. This obviously changes depending on your state. But in the state of North Carolina, they have in, registered with the state what your floor plan, plan layout is, how many bathrooms, how many bedrooms, all of these things So if you go and you change, you convert a ba- a bedrooms to a bathroom, or you make a pretty major structural change, and you do not get permits, guess what?

You can't sell that house with that upgrade. You can't factor in. So let's say that [00:54:00] I, maybe I did, maybe I didn't, turned a ba- a bedroom into a bathroom. If I were to go and sell my house, I could not say, "This is a four-bedroom, a bathroom house." I could only sell it as what it was on the deed, what that permitted structure was built as.

Mm-hmm. So when people come in the comment section and are just throwing all the shade on us for telling you guys to get permits, think about the fact that they are instructing you to do something, to spend money in your home, not getting a permit, so that when you go to sell it, you cannot be compensated for that upgrade.

Jessica: Yep.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: Which happened to us.

Mikki: Yeah. Yeah. Like- If

Jessica: I, if I sell my

Mikki: house,

Jessica: I

Mikki: cannot

Jessica: sell it ... this is

Mikki: extremely common. Okay. And this is why we instruct you guys to research before you do anything in your town, before you do anything to your house, going online and researching, "Hey, I wanna do this, that, or the other to my house.

What are the things I need to know? Do I need permits? Do I need, like, does this person need to be [00:55:00] licensed in, in, in the state, in the county that we're in?" That, I cannot stress to you enough, is the best thing you can do for yourself, is understanding before you get into it what your requirements are. And listen, if you maybe didn't do that and you had a bad experience, we would love it if you'd go to chicksinconstruction.com and share your story with us so that we can help others not have your experience, because learning the hard way is overrated.

Overrated. And the, you know, guys, we're so sorry that this has, is happening to so many people. Mm-hmm. But your stories real do, really do make a difference. And also liking and subscribing, it, it helps. I mean, obviously it's helping us to our dream of early retirement. Let's not lie. Yeah. But it's also helping other people be exposed to our content.

Mm-hmm. And the more people that see this and they hear it, it, you know, besides the rage baiter ones, um, we want you to know what is normal and what is not normal. What is normal. Mm-hmm. And [00:56:00] we want you to go on our socials, and we want you to see all of these comments, because we want you to know who these shady contractors are.

Yeah. So Jess, where can they find all of the spicy comments on all of our socials?

Jessica: On Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, it's @ChicksInConstructionPodcast. On TikTok, it's @ChicksInConstruction.

Mikki: So guys, we encourage you to check it out, we encourage you to write us a story, and we encourage you to see all the spicy comments of all the men that we have pissed off by existing.

I know. How dare we? All right, guys. We love you, and we'll see you next time. Bye! Bye! I

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