Contractor Horror Story: The Countertop Nightmare

In this episode of Chicks in Construction, Mikki and Jessica dive into one of the hottest debates in the construction world right now: who should pay when a contractor fails an inspection? Mikki shares a wild personal story involving a fence contractor, disappearing work crews, and an explosive confrontation that proves shady contractors can target anyone — even experienced construction professionals. The conversation then shifts into a homeowner horror story from Connecticut involving a simple countertop replacement that spirals into a four-month nightmare involving delays, disappearing contractors, leaking sinks, surprise charges, and an unlicensed handyman posing as a legitimate contractor. Along the way, the hosts unpack contractor licensing, inspection failures, how homeowners can protect themselves, and why doing even a little research before a remodel can save thousands of dollars and endless frustration. This episode is equal parts hilarious, educational, and cautionary tale for every homeowner considering a renovation project.

00:00 – Mikki’s opening rant about failed inspections and contractor responsibility
00:45 – What the podcast is all about for new listeners
03:00 – Mikki’s insane fence contractor story begins
05:00 – The contractor repeatedly no-shows after demoing the fence
07:00 – Mikki fires the contractor… and he comes back anyway
08:30 – The confrontation escalates fast
10:00 – “Keep talking.” — Mikki pulls out the Southern energy
12:00 – Why shady contractors target homeowners they think won’t push back
13:00 – The controversial debate about contractors charging for failed inspections
16:00 – Why inspectors can sometimes be inconsistent or wrong
18:00 – The reality of code interpretation and inspector relationships
20:00 – Why experienced contractors build strong relationships with inspectors
22:00 – Mikki explains why homeowners should NEVER pay for a contractor’s learning curve
24:00 – Today’s homeowner horror story begins: “I just wanted new countertops.”
26:00 – The homeowner hires “a guy who knows a guy”
28:00 – Large deposits, disappearing contractors, and mounting delays
31:00 – The countertops finally arrive… with a terrible seam
34:00 – The leaking undermount sink disaster begins
36:00 – The contractor demands MORE money to fix his own mistake
37:00 – The homeowner discovers the contractor isn’t licensed
39:00 – The contractor disappears completely
40:00 – A real licensed contractor steps in to fix the mess
42:00 – “I should have known better.” — Why homeowners blame themselves
43:00 – Mikki explains how homeowners can better protect themselves
44:00 – Using AI and online tools to research contractors and permits
45:00 – Why multiple bids and contracts matter
47:00 – Final lessons from the story and how listeners can submit their own horror stories

Submit your homeowner horror story:
www.chicksinconstruction.com

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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/

Chicks in Construction - 47
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Mikki: [00:00:00] However, it is your job as a contractor to know what is to code and what is not to code. And if you do something that an inspector finds that is not to code, I don't care.

It is not the homeowner's responsibility financially. Mm-hmm. I, I will die on this hill.

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

Jessica: I am Jessica Abram.

Mikki: So listen, I realize that, uh, you know, the pod is ever-evolving.

Jessica: Ever-evolving.

Mikki: Ever-evolving. And apparently one thing that most people do is when they start each episode, they give a little synopsis of what this is about for the, for the newcomers. Yeah. Apparently that's a pro tip.

There we go.

Jessica: I

Mikki: think it's just everybody knows that except for me. So to give you a recap of what this podcast is for, basically it is our mission in life to help homeowners have better experiences [00:01:00] when they are dealing with contractors. And it could be a general contractor with a, like, a renovation, or it could be you need a new roof, or you need to switch out a toilet, or some, some, some shenanigans like this.

We want to be able to arm you all with as much knowledge as, as we can- Mm-hmm ... so that when you have to engage with general contractors or tradespeople of any sort, you kinda just have a better understanding of, like, what's normal and what's not normal. And we do that by reading what we call homeowner horror stories, which are stories that are submitted by you, by our illustrious, beautiful, amazing audience that we love.

Thank you for subscribing. No, really, thank you for subscribing. Um, so, so you guys write in and, and share your stories of what happened. Mm-hmm. And then me and Jess, mostly Jess, reads the story, and then I react- And I- Horribly ... I ridi- I'm ridiculous. I take it too far sometimes. That's pre- what I'm well known for, just a little too much, being a little too [00:02:00] much.

So that is, that is what we do. This is what we do on the podcast. And, uh, and then we, we start this first, first section is c- for the chicky chat, #chickychat. Yes, I did. I did just do that, just so you know. Oh, and for you who are listening, I did the hashtag sign with my fingers because I'm old. Uh, so I just wanted everybody to know.

Yeah. Also, we have these amazing new cups. I'm very proud of our- us for having cups now with our logo on them. Um, we had them made because we are doing a giveaway that we have to... We announced it already, but we have to pick the winner. We do. And we got a cup for part of the merch that our winner is getting, so one very lucky- This-

winner is- Is getting this

Joe Woolworth: beautiful cup ...

Mikki: gonna get this beautiful insulated 30-some plus ounce cup. Whoa, look at Jess. She's doing good. I

Jessica: had to have my Vanna moment.

Mikki: V- oh, I was about to say Vera, but that's, that's different. It's Vanna. It's Vanna. Vera Wang makes wedding dresses. [00:03:00] And has a line at Kohl's.

I don't know. I don't know. Where do you know these things? I don't know. The amount of knowledge that is, the useless knowledge that lives in here is vast.

Jessica: Wow.

Mikki: It is vast. So there's a story that I've been meaning to tell for some time now.

Jessica: Okay.

Mikki: And I was like, "Oh, I really, I'm gonna make sure that we talk about this on the show," because the point is, I want everybody to know that, one, this stuff happens to everybody no matter how much experience and knowledge you have, 'cause that's one of the things that when people write in- Mm-hmm

they talk, because it's like they almost feel a little ashamed. Mm. Like, "Oh, I should've known." Actually, you shouldn't have. Like, if somebody doesn't, doesn't tell you how the construction world works, why would you know about the shenanigans that happen inside?

Joe Woolworth: Right. It's like going to the doctor- Right ...

Mikki: and

Joe Woolworth: expecting yourself to tell them-

Jessica: Right

"This is the diagnosis I have. This is the medication I need." Right. "This is the so-" it's,

Mikki: yeah. No, that's not how this works. So, sorry, taking a [00:04:00] sip. Um, so I think it's important that we, you guys understand the, number one, contractors, uh, do not care whe- whether you claim to have construction knowledge or not They, if they gonna scam, they gonna scam.

So- Mm-hmm ... as we have discussed, my fence has been crashed into twice now. Um, and hopefully we won't make it to thrice, but listen, the level of ridiculousness that finds me is high. So, and the first time that it got a car ran through it, um, it was actually, like the angle of the car was a little bit different, so they took out more fence panels than they did- Mm

this time. And so more of the fence had to be demolished and redone, and it was during COVID. It was hard to find anybody that, like, was, like, gonna get out of bed-

Jessica: Right ...

Mikki: for anything. To come fix

Jessica: something.

Mikki: So my neighbor at the time, which he has since moved out, um, had a friend, a buddy. He had a buddy- Mm, air quotes

that did fences. Yeah, I know. Air quotes

Jessica: around buddy.

Mikki: I'm like, [00:05:00] okay. Um, so I reach out to him. I'm like, "Hey, here's the fence situation." He comes out, gives me a quote of, like, eight grand, which is pretty spicy. It's pretty spicy, but I was like, you know, he was the only guy that, that I could even get to come out.

Mm-hmm. So it was just like, all right, I guess we're going with this guy. So there was never a contract, which in this case benefited me, but it wouldn't have if things had gotten further, um, 'cause if we were under contract and I had had some obligation to whatever, whatever. I don't know how that would've gone, but we just agreed on a price, and it was like he, he told me which day he was gonna start, and that day came and went.

Mm. And then the next day he was gonna start, that day came and went. And so I think we got to about the fifth day, and finally he shows up and he did some demo. And I'm not... Like, it's funny, in some of the stories, the way they talk about, "Oh, he did two and a half hours of work and then left," that hits me right in my [00:06:00] soul because that's exactly what this dude did.

Yeah. Like, apparently I was annoying him enough to where he thought coming up and showing up and doing two hours of work would have- Was suffice ... appeased me. No. Yeah. Mm-mm. You piece of human trash. What would have appeased me is my damn fence being fixed, complete, whole thing. How much

Jessica: did you give him at this point?

Mikki: So beauty of the, the, the no contract thing and, like, I guess the neighbor thing, nothing. I hadn't paid him anything. Oh, okay. He had ordered materials allegedly, but they had n- not been delivered. Oh. So about, so he comes and does about two hours of work, which made the gap in my fence even larger because he demolished a bunch of panels, and at the time we did not have the invisible fence.

So- Mm ... I was even more stressed out about... And Hector was, like, working out of town, so I was there by myself. I was even more stressed out about the fence being down.

Jessica: Right.

Mikki: So [00:07:00] he demos even more of the fence, so there's less of, you know, more of my house exposed, and does not come back for another five days.

So finally on the fifth day, I sent him a text and I was like, "Hey, dude, I don't know what the hell you're doing." And I said, "hell." "I don't know what the hell you're doing, but, uh, you're either gonna show up or you're not, and I need to know which one it's gonna be." And he responds to me and he says, "Excuse me.

You don't speak to me like that."

Joe Woolworth: Oh,

Jessica: okay. Yeah. Well, how do I speak to you when you're not showing up?

Mikki: I said, "Okay, we're done here." Mm-hmm. I said, "Here's the deal. If you find the word hell to be offensive-" "... I'm really gonna rock your world." "That is my least offensive word in my repertoire." Yeah. "I have a vast-"

Jessica: Vocabulary

Mikki: dictionary and vocabulary of the curse words, and I am a wordsmith, if you will. My ability [00:08:00] to weave together curse words and insults and offensive things is Olympic gold. Olympic gold level over here, okay? If it was an Olympic sport, I would have several gold medals. So if you find 'I don't know what the hell' to be offensive, we should stop working right now."

And that's what I told him. Mm-hmm. "We- we're, we're done here. Um, I will pay you for the two and a half hours of demo work that you did, but don't come back to my house."

Jessica: Right.

Mikki: Now, at the time I was f- hilariously at my lawyer's office dealing with another bit of shenanigans, 'cause I'm not here to play, y'all.

I'm just not. The one or the two, as we know. Um, I come home and he's on my, on n- on not my property. He's on my neighbor's property demoing more of the fence.

Jessica: Of your fence?

Mikki: My fence. So I go in my house. I get my gun, [00:09:00] 'cause we in North Cac, y'all. This is the South. I will shoot you. You just need to know. Like, the F around and find out, be hi, pew, pew, pew.

Like, what was the, what was the Looney Tunes guy? The one- Oh, yeah. The li- The Yosemite Sam? I will Yosemite Sam you straight to meet the Lord. We just need to be clear about this. So I go get my gun, I put it in my pocket. I'm just, I'm not gonna brandish my weapon, but if I need to shoot you, I will. So I go up to him and I was like, "Dude, what, what are you doing?"

And I did use a much more offensive word-

Jessica: Oh, I'm sure- ... than hell ... that you used. It

Mikki: had, it started with an F. So-

Jessica: It rhymes with

Mikki: duck ... really, I really... Yeah. Rhymes with duck. I will j- I will just tell my iPhone I'm never s- I'm never typing duck. It's never duck. No. Thank you for trying to correct me, though.

It's never duck. So I go up to him and I'm like, "What the duck are you doing?" And he's, "I'm finishing this job." "What? [00:10:00] You're doing w- I just fired you. I have it in text message."

Jessica: The hell you

Mikki: are. "No, you're not finishing the job." Mm-mm. "Yes, I am. I've already ordered the materials." I said, "Sir, they haven't been delivered.

Go to your material supplier and cancel the order." Mm-hmm. "That's not how it works." Actually- Um ... that's exactly how it works. If the materials have not been delivered and they were not special order, it was just basic, it was basic fence posts- Yeah ... then, um, yeah, g- go cancel the order 'cause you're not doing this work.

And if you proceed to take down my fence, I will call the police and have you removed, and then have you arrested for damaging my property- Right ... as you were fired before you came back to my property, trespassed on my property, and damaged more of the fence. That's

Jessica: crazy.

Mikki: This dude is three and a half inches from my face screaming.

I take my gun out and I'm holding it on the side, and I was like, "Keep talking." Mm.

Jessica: Mm-hmm. And

Mikki: he shut right up. Isn't that wild? [00:11:00]

Jessica: Yeah. It's amazing.

Mikki: He just shut right up. He just, he was yappy, yappy, yapping- Did he make you- ... like a little Yorkshire terrier and all of a sudden he wasn't talking anymore. Mm.

Isn't that wild? Mm. Huh. I don't know how. So listen, y'all, the point is people are crazy. Mm. I am. So was the fence guy. Those two crazies met and they were like oil and water. I was like, I try to find the right kind of crazy that matches with my crazy. We were a mismatched crazy. Mm-hmm. So for all the contractors out there, don't mess around with, with the Southern ladies.

I feel like South Carolina does d- fills that gap of, like, when you mess around with a South Carolinian woman-

Jessica: Yeah ...

Mikki: you will end up on the news.

Jessica: You will end up on the news.

Mikki: Because the, South Carolina is our most written-in state, um, for the homeowner horror stories. So I'm just saying don't mess with the, with the, with the Southern ladies.

We know. Mm. We be packing. Mm-hmm. We know how to match it with our outfit, [00:12:00] too. Don't get, don't, don't get it twisted Okay.

I just think it's the reality is that a contractor that's gonna be shady is gonna be shady no matter what. Mm-hmm. I will say, I will say, I don't think he would have done any of that if he were dealing with Hector. Mm. I think that the, the, the... He felt like he could intimidate me.

He felt like he could, he could use, like, his size and he was standing three and a half inches from my face. He wasn't aware at the time I was packing heat. Um, but he did learn. Mm. However, not everybody feels comfortable with that, so I just think it's something to understand is that it do- it just happens to everybody a- and some of us are a little bit more versed in, um, you know, what level we gonna F around and what level they gonna find out.

You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? So I just wanted to let you all know, you know? Hold on, I'm gonna take a sip. Let them all know. I hope you're hydrating. [00:13:00] Okay? I hope you're hydrating. And if you aren't, let me know about this cup. Let me know. So with that said, we're gonna get into today's story.

This isn't a super long one, so this might be a shorter episode. You might like that. I don't know. You let us know. We'll find out. Or don't. I, I will say, I was telling Jess, I was like, "We gotta talk about the comments." Something... Again, a lot of this content is very triggering.

Jessica: For people- For people ... who are being shady.

Mikki: Yes. Mm-hmm. And I think for people who feel like what we're saying is about them. Mm. And sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. So we posted a reel about, from our last episode, about inspections, and this is, this is a very hot topic right now because almost all of our homeowner horror stories involve a, a contractor who- Got it, like, w- knew enough to get inspections, even though I think they were all unlicensed.

Uh, but they [00:14:00] knew enough that they needed to get inspections, got inspections, failed the inspections, and then turned around and forced the homeowner to pay. And what I'm saying is absolutely not.

Jessica: No.

Mikki: Absolutely not, never ever is that your financial responsibility. I can't even think of a s- situation, unless you gun to the head told this contractor you wanted them to do something a certain way and the contractor told you, "This is not to code.

It will not pass inspection." You were like, "Do it anyway." I don't know why I'm being so violent with, like, weapons today, but listen, I'm-

Jessica: I think it's 'cause Hector's in his villain era- Hector- ... and you're just like- ...

Mikki: is in his villain era ...

Jessica: you're just-

Mikki: And I have, I've been dealing with Hector starting miniature fires all over town in multiple jurisdictions, and that's normally my job, so I'm real, I'm real thrown off.

Yeah. Feeling real

Joe Woolworth: violent in my soul.

Mikki: So unless, yeah, like, unless a homeowner insists with all their [00:15:00] insisting that you do it the wrong way, then it is their financial responsibility. Mm-hmm. However, it is your job as a contractor to know what is to code and what is not to code. And if you do something that an inspector finds that is not to code, I don't care.

It is not the homeowner's responsibility financially. Mm-hmm. I, I will die on this hill. So this is very upsetting to mostly men on Instagram.

Jessica: Shocking.

Mikki: I'm just like, why is the algorithm serving you the chicks in construction- 'Cause they're in the- ... unless you're searching for weird things?

Jessica: Oh. Uh. It's probably just because they're in construction.

I don't know. So, like, it just pops up. I have...

Mikki: If you've ever searched, like, women in construction, it's like a whole OnlyFans subset. I'm just saying. We have other options if the podcast doesn't work [00:16:00]

Jessica: out. We're keeping our options open.

Mikki: That's right.

Jessica: We might make more money.

Mikki: We'll let you... We would make a lot more money.

Since we don't make any money yet, it would be a lot. It's a lot. So these dudes get very upset, and they, and, and they're, they're trying to explain themselves. And here's my thing. I'm not saying that inspectors can't be total dicks. They can. They absolutely can be. And can they cause you a massive amount of stress?

Yes. I was just talking this weekend with a really good friend of ours who owns an HVAC company, and I was telling him about this, and I was, and he was like, "Oh, inspectors can be the worst." And he was giving me story after story. And it was extremely stressful. Mm. And I'm not, I'm not saying that it's not.

And there have- I'm sure it happens 100 times a day where an inspector tells, fails an inspection and tells the general contractor it was for this [00:17:00] reason, and that reason is dead ass wrong. Dead ass. Yeah. Okay? It happens. But when you are a competent general contractor and you value the relationship building side of things-

Jessica: Mm-hmm

Mikki: every legitimate contractor that I know has very good relationships with inspectors and with inspect- like, the, the, the head inspector, because they've been working with inspectors so long. They were working with this one dude, and now he's the head of inspections. Mm-hmm. Now, they don't deal with him anymore.

They deal with his minions. And yes, as we know, a minion can sometimes not know something. And, and he was telling me story after story after story where they failed him on something, and it was just wrong. It, it was- Yeah ... not accurate. So I don't wanna say that the inspector's always right. Can't stress this enough.

That's not accurate. Inspectors, uh, are, can be new to- They're- ... construction. Yeah, they're human.

Jessica: They're

Mikki: still learning. They- They could be

Jessica: having a bad day, wanna take it out on you. Yes,

Mikki: 100%. And one [00:18:00] thing that this one guy said, and it was, he started it out talking sideways out of his daggone mouth, and it made me real spicy mad, but he had a point.

Uh, inspectors can, and I've seen this happen spec- uh, p- particularly in multifamily construction, it can be really catastrophic, but an inspector will wait to tell you you've done something wrong until the very end when it is extremely expensive to re- repair it. Now, do we know that the inspector waited?

No. But if you don't have a good relationship with an inspector, they can do some shady stuff. And I've s- So,

Jessica: like, you just kept moving forward- Yeah ...

Mikki: with the project? So they kept passing inspection, passing inspection, passing inspection, and then on the, on the final or close to the final, "Oh, by the way, that has to be such and such, and it's not.

I [00:19:00] remember seeing it, and it wasn't done that way." But they already passed, so why- "So you need to go back and fix it." Until you have the final and the c- the, the CO, the certificate of occupancy, they can come back at any point and say, "Hey." Ah. And one thing that is very obnoxious- Hmm ... and this is like the something that the guy pointed out as well, is that one inspector can come and be like, "Yeah, no, that's fine."

And pass it, and then another inspector can come and see what that inspector passed and say, "No, that's not right. I'm gonna fail it," uh, even though it, it was already passed. So, like, I don't wanna f- So

Jessica: are there gray areas?

Mikki: It's a, it's interpretation of the code. It's a lot like law. Like, it's like- Mm-hmm

"Oh, I interpret this code to mean this." Ah. "And I interpret this code to mean this." And so where it comes down to is, like, the, the general contractor ... And, and n- and this is another thing that somebody has made, like, a comment, somebody's made in comments. There is, oh, as we say in the South, many ways to skin a cat.

Now, I've never skinned a [00:20:00] cat, but in the, as the saying goes, there's a lot of different ways that you can do things. And so what one contractor thinks is getting you to from A to B, another contractor can say, "This is how you get from A to B." Mm-hmm. And then you can go online and find 52 different ways to get from A to B.

Jessica: Yep.

Mikki: And they could all be right, but ju- y- somebody could be used to seeing things done one way, and so they could turn around and say, "No, this is the only way to do it." And that's where, one, having relationships with your inspectors- Mm-hmm ... is important. Having spent the time to build that relationship.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki: And I also find that when inspectors know that they're working with somebody who is experienced- Mm-hmm ... they are much more willing to kinda negotiate these points. So in the, in the ex- situation with my friend who has an HVAC company, he has really ... He's just [00:21:00] really freaking good at what he does, and he's been very intentional to build these relationships with these inspectors.

So, and he doesn't come to them over everything. If something's really small and it's, like, a $10 difference, he'll just fix it. Mm-hmm. Just like, "Okay, we'll do it that way." But when something's big and it doesn't make any sense and it's gonna be expensive, he'll go to that inspector and be like, "Hey, listen, I was just looking at the code.

This is what it says. Are you sure about what, you know- What

Jessica: you failed ...

Mikki: what you failed us on?" Mm-hmm. And he, like, in the examples he gave me over the weekend, one time the person was like, "Oh, crap, you're right. That's not right." Hm. "I'm sorry. I'll go and, and change the inspection to pass." The other one was like, "Nope, I'm gonna die on this hill."

And he was like, "Okay. Well, I'm gonna have to go to your boss." And that's something that he does with, like, very rarely because he knows that, like, if he gets that person in trouble, they could- Mm ... turn around and fail him on another inspection. So I don't wanna make it seem like it's not nuanced, right?

Like, it is. And for those of you who see these [00:22:00] shorts, 'cause I know those dudes are not watching this podcast. But they see the shorts. They'll be real triggered. They get real triggered. And I, I'd wanna, I wanna make it clear, I'm not saying it's not nuanced. I'm not saying it's not. But if, if you can't defend to the code something that you did- To the point where it's indefensible, then this is a learning moment for you, not an, not the expectation of the homeowner to pay for you to learn how to interpret the code.

And so that's the thing that I want all homeowners to know is that if the inspector can defend their interpretation of the code to the point where even their boss feels like, "Yeah, no, they're right," then it's not that, you know, the inspector's being ridiculous. It's that your contractor didn't have enough experience- Mm-hmm

to know that like, yes, there's a lot of different ways [00:23:00] you can skin a cat, but an inspector's looking for some very specific things. So this is how we're gonna do it, because I know this inspector, and I know what they're looking for. Mm-hmm. That's your lesson to learn at your expense, not the homeowner's.

And I would love, let's just open it up. If you're a general contractor and you had a situation where an inspector was dead wrong, and you defended it all the way up, and they still sided with them, I would love for you to share that with us. I would love for you to prove me wrong. Um, there seems to be a lot of people that are very upset about this topic, so prove me wrong.

Yeah. Share your story. Go to chicksinconstruction.com and share your story with us so that we can offer that to the audience. The other perspective. The whole point is education, right? So we wanna know. I can't see a world in where it makes sense where you turn around and charge a homeowner-

Jessica: No ...

Mikki: for a failed inspection.[00:24:00]

Because I know as a, as a tradesperson, I if I did something that caused them to fail their inspection- Yeah ... and it was indefensible-

Jessica: Mm-hmm ...

Mikki: but per code, I'm gonna go fix that, and I know I'm not getting paid to do it. Right. It's a big deal when a general contractor fails an inspection. It matters. So if you're the reason why somebody failed an inspection, you know you're going back and you're fixing it, and you're not getting paid.

Jessica: Right.

Mikki: Yeah. It's just one of those things.

Jessica: It's just one of those things.

Mikki: So I, yeah, I wanted to touch on that 'cause it's a real touchy subject. There's a lot of dudes on Instagram.

Jessica: Mm-hmm. And

Mikki: there was one chick, we had to block her 'cause she immediately came for our faces and wardrobe, which rude. Look at this face.

But yeah, so sorry, dudes.

Jessica: There we go.

Mikki: Stay hydrated out there, though.

Jessica: Yes. Gotta stay hydrated.

Mikki: Check out our cups. There's nowhere to check them out yet, but hey, if you're interested, let us know down below. Mm-hmm. Um, all right, so we're gonna get into our homeowner [00:25:00] horror story, and listen, I started reading this and I was like, "What?"

It gets, it goes from zero to a hundred very quickly.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki: It does. So

Jessica: this, it came to us from, we're gonna call her Maeve, 'cause she has a nice old lady name. She

Mikki: does.

Jessica: Old lady name.

Mikki: I'm sure she's a delight, but-

Jessica: Yes ...

Mikki: Maeve.

Jessica: And she's in Connecticut.

Mikki: Which I was surprised. I was like, "This sounds like a real South Carolina story."

Jessica: But nope, it comes from Connecticut. So she says, "I wanted new countertops. That was it. The laminate ones we had were from 1987."

Mikki: Nice.

Jessica: I can just picture them.

Mikki: I can, honestly. I

Jessica: can picture them.

Mikki: I'm imagining, like, a wood trim- Mm-hmm ... with, like, the brown f- like, Formica. I wanted to say formaldehyde, but I was like- No

well, that's a harder word. Why is that where your brain's going? So- But- ... picture it.

Jessica: Yes. "And [00:26:00] they looked it. Chipped edges, that ugly brown color- ... burn marks from where my husband set a hot plate down years ago. I wanted quartz. Nice and clean-" Yes ... "white with little gray veins running through it." Ooh, I

Mikki: can see it.

It looks good.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki: It's great. It looks like Carrara marble- But- ... but we can't afford that, so we're going with manmade ... Carrara. Which I support.

Jessica: Yes. Um, "I wanted to replace the backsplash with subway tile and get a new sink and faucet." Oh,

Mikki: yes. "

Jessica: The cabinets were fine, I just wanted to freshen things up."

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: "My neighbor's son said he knew a guy who did kitchen work. His name was Mike."

Mikki: Mike.

Jessica: Mm. We can't just know a guy.

Mikki: Yeah, I mean-

Jessica: Yeah ...

Mikki: doesn't seem to go well. "

Jessica: He came over on a Tuesday afternoon, looked at everything, took some measurements with his tape measurer, started talking about under mount sinks and something called a waterfall edge."

Mikki: Ooh, I do love [00:27:00] a waterfall edge. "

Jessica: And how the backsplash would need to be done before the counters went in or maybe after." Mm, definitely after. "I couldn't really follow what he was saying." Okay.

Joe Woolworth: Fair enough. "

Jessica: He used a lot of words I didn't know."

Mikki: Words, words, words, and some

Jessica: numbers.

Mikki: And some numbers. That's my favorite phrase.

Jessica: A lot of words I didn't know, and he said them fast, like I should understand."

Mikki: Ugh. I feel like this is becoming a red flag.

Jessica: The speed talker

Mikki: Slowly happening It's

Jessica: like, I imagine, like, the auctioneer, "And we're going to do your countertops-" I mean, I imag- "... and then we're going to do your..."

Mikki: Which I did that over the, or last week I, I did an auction at a nonprofit and it was a dream come true.

That

Jessica: was so fun.

Mikki: Jess was

Jessica: there. Yeah. He quoted me $17,500- ... said it would take four weeks.

Mikki: Good- for a countertop? Well, and a backsplash.

Jessica: Backsplash, and a sink, and a faucet.

Mikki: Okay. Uh- Yeah ... I guess that's all right. I mean, it depends. Quartz can be spicy priced. [00:28:00] But I don't know, I had quartz installed in the Youngsville house, and it's a big kitchen, and they were real- it was a really nice quartz, and it was, like, five grand.

Hm.

Jessica: So I don't

Mikki: know. I mean, that was a couple years ago, so I guess

Jessica: inflation.

Mikki: I mean, this is Connecticut. Oh, okay. Let's remember where we are. Connecticut.

Jessica: We are, we are in the North. Yeah. Everything is

Mikki: at least twice. Little bit spicier price. Okay, okay. All right. At least. 17,000, I'll allow it. Hm.

Jessica: I had 25,000 saved up, so it seemed reasonable.

Mikki: Perfect.

Jessica: L- left me some cushion in case anything came up. He said he needed 7,000 up front for materials. The quartz had to be ordered special- Hm ... the tile too, so I wrote him a check.

Mikki: Okay. I mean-

Jessica: Makes sense ...

Mikki: that doesn't sound wild. I mean, 'cause we've talked about, like, some things do have to be ordered.

Yeah.

Jessica: Mm-hmm.

Mikki: And I think specialty quartz kind of falls in that category. Category. Like, if it's not builder grade.

Jessica: Yeah. Ugh. So.

Mikki: Okay. All right. So I'm f- Mm ... I'm tracking so far.

Jessica: He said he want to start the following Monday. [00:29:00] He did. Showed up with two younger guys. They ripped out my old countertops in about three hours.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: Just pried them right off

Mikki: All right, yes ... and

Jessica: carried them off to the trailer.

Mikki: Yeah. Good. Okay. We're getting somewhere.

Jessica: Then they took off the backsplash.

Mikki: Okay.

Jessica: That part was loud. Yeah, yeah. Like, I can just imagine this little, they like, ah.

Mikki: Yeah. Yeah,

Jessica: yeah. Lots of hammering and chunks of drywall coming off with the old tile.

The kitchen was a mess.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: But I figured that's what happens during construction.

Mikki: She's right.

Jessica: . They left that day and said they'd be back Wednesday to start the backsplash.

Mikki: Backsplash going in before countertops, very bad idea. Very bad idea. Yeah,

Jessica: it's like, don't you need to know where the countertop

Mikki: is or? You need to know... Yes. Yes, 100%. I- The countertops have always been in. I mean, I've seen people do stuff in a weird order, but I feel like this is a recipe for disaster, which I didn't read to the end, so I feel like it's gonna lead to that.

We're about to find out.

Jessica: Wednesday came and went and nobody showed up.

Mikki: [00:30:00] Shocker.

Jessica: I called Mike. Mike. He said there was a delay in the tile delivery. It should be there Friday. Friday, nobody showed up.

Mikki: Oh.

Jessica: I called again. He said his tile guy was on another job and he'd be at my house Monday for sure.

Mikki: Please.

Jessica: For sure, for sure.

Mikki: Please show up Monday.

Jessica: Monday, two different guys showed up. Okay. Not the ones from the first day, which we've talked about.

Mikki: Yeah. Totally

Jessica: normal. Different people. Yeah. Different people are gonna demo-

Mikki: Yeah, yeah, a demo guy- ... demo your skill ... is not gonna also do tile, and if he does, you should be scared.

Like, I, I'm just saying, like a tile guy that, uh- That's a

Jessica: finesse.

Mikki: Yeah, it's, it- if he has time to do demo, there he has... there's bigger problems. Yes.

Jessica: I asked where the guys were, and they just shrugged and said Mike sent them to do the tile. They worked for two days getting the backsplash up. It looks nice.

Mikki: Aw, yay.

Jessica: I was relieved something was actually getting done.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: Then Mike called and said the countertop [00:31:00] fabricator needed another $3,200 because- What? ... the layout of my kitchen required more material than he thought. Something about the way the pieces would have to be cut. He said this happens sometimes.

I didn't really understand, but I already torn up my kitchen, so I gave him another check for $3,200. Mm. Mm. I don't- Two weeks went by ... I don't

Mikki: love it. Yeah, it did.

Jessica: No countertops. I was washing dishes in my bathroom sink, eating takeout every night because I couldn't cook. Mm. I called Mike every other day.

The counters were being fabricated. There was a backup at the shop. They'd be ready next week. Next week turned into the week after. Oh my

Mikki: gosh. So- Listen, you could literally make those slabs and them be ready in this amount of time. They're like- Like lies that your mother told you ... mm.

Jessica: So he [00:32:00] definitely had an order

Mikki: in front of him.

Yeah, yeah, no.

Jessica: The countertops finally showed up six weeks after they started.

Mikki: G- well, to be fair, she doesn't say when this all happened, and I will say if it was during COVID, it could have taken-

Jessica: It could have ...

Mikki: it could have, I don't know. This was, COVID made everything real weird in construction. So depending on the timeline, but that's sus.

Yeah. At least they showed up. At

Jessica: least they showed up. Two guys came with these huge slabs of quartz on a truck. They carry them in and started setting them up- Mm-hmm ... on top of the cabinets. It took them most of the day. When they were done, it looked beautiful, exactly what I wanted.

Mikki: Yay.

Jessica: Then I noticed the seam.

Mm-hmm. Right in the middle of the main counter section- Mm-hmm ... there was this line where two pieces met You could feel it with your finger.

Mikki: Oh, [00:33:00] no.

Jessica: It wasn't smooth. I asked the guys about it, and they said, "That's normal. That's just how seams are." But I looked at quartz countertops on my friend's house, and I couldn't seem, see her seam at all.

Mikki: So we keeping up with the Joneses, and Jones says, "No seams."

Joe Woolworth: No. We ain't having that.

Jessica: This one was so obvious, so I called Mike. He said sometimes seams show more depending on the pattern of the stone, that it was fine. I said it didn't look fine to me.

Mikki: Yes, girl. Get it.

Jessica: He said if I wanted them to redo it with a different layout- Oh

to hide the seam better, it would cost another $4,800 because they have to order new material.

Mikki: No. No.

Jessica: I was so tired of the whole thing, I just said forget it. I'd live with the seam. That would drive me crazy. Oh, yeah. I would not be living with no seam.

Mikki: Yeah, yeah. Mm.

Jessica: Then they installed the sink.

Mikki: Oh, God.

Jessica: [00:34:00] Mm.

The undermount one Mike had talked about. They got it in and turned on the water to test it. It leaked. Of

Mikki: course it did.

Jessica: Water dripping down the inside of the cabinet underneath. One of the guys said something about the clips not being tight enough. They messed with it for a while, and it seemed to stop, so they left.

Of

Mikki: course they did.

Jessica: The next morning, I ran the faucet to wash my hands. Water everywhere- Oh,

Mikki: no ...

Jessica: inside the cabinet again. I call Mike.

Mikki: How'd that go?

Jessica: He said his plumber would come fix it. Plumber showed up three days later. Good God.

Mikki: Not hours,

Jessica: days.

Mikki: Ugh.

Jessica: Took the sink out, resealed it, and put it back. Said it was good now.

It still leaked.

Mikki: Oh my God.

Jessica: Not as bad, but there was definitely water dripping. Like, what did this plumber do? Mike came over [00:35:00] himself this time, looked at it, and said the hole they cut in the quartz for the sink was slightly too big. The sink was shifting when the water ran. Is that a thing? I don't even know.

Mikki: That's a new one. Now, I, I could see that, like, if they cut the hole too big, but a, like a p- when you install an undermount sink, you, plumbers use like a, a, a kind of ca- a silicone caulking, and it's like heavy duty. It's like real, real- Mm-hmm ... real thick. So I'm just like even if it was shifting, and it, like, allows for the sh- the, some movement.

Mm. I mean, your sink should not be moving. But, like, houses move. It just, like, as houses settle- Mm-hmm ... there's contraction, there's, there's expansion, summer, winter. It's, there's science. Words, words, words. But it- That's why silicone has like, it's like a, it's, uh, has a little ab- ability to move. So that doesn't make any sense.

It's like they didn't improperly, they didn't properly install it- They did something ... is how it sounds. But I mean, I wasn't there.

Jessica: Yeah. He said they have to take the [00:36:00] counter back off, take it to the shop, fill the hole, and recut it. That would be $2,100.

Mikki: N- no.

Jessica: I

Mikki: lost it. Good. Good.

Jessica: I told him this was his mistake, not mine.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: Why should I pay to fix something his people did wrong? He said the template must have been off by a fraction and these things happen in fabrication, that it wasn't anybody's fault, just one of those things. I'm using air quotes for just one of those things.

Mikki: Like- Okay ...

Jessica: it's crazy.

Mikki: No, yeah.

Jessica: Mm-mm. I said I wasn't paying to fix his screw-up.

He got quiet. Then he said if I wasn't going to pay for the repair, he couldn't really do anything else. The job was basically done except for this one issue. I asked what about the faucet. They hadn't even installed the faucet yet. He said the faucet couldn't go in until the sink was secure, secured properly.

I don't know how she's washing her hands if she doesn't have a faucet.

Mikki: That's what I'm just like, "Wait, what? How are they using water at all?" [00:37:00] Maybe the old faucet? I'm sups, sups confused.

Jessica: Yeah. I had the kitchen and the new counters and the backsplash and no working sink. I couldn't wash dishes. I couldn't fill a pot of water.

I was still using my bathroom sink for everything. My daughter came over that weekend. She's the one who told me to look up whether Mike was even licensed.

Mikki: He's not.

Jessica: I didn't know contractors need licenses.

Mikki: Aw.

Jessica: I thought that was just doctors and lawyers. She pulled out- That's fair ... her phone and went to some Connecticut state website, started searching for his name.

Nothing came up. She searched his business name, and shocking, nothing came up.

Mikki: Ah.

Jessica: She said in Connecticut any contractor doing work over $200 needs to have what's called a home improvement contractor license.

Mikki: Hmm.

Jessica: You can look it right there, right up on the state website. I felt sick. Mm. I paid this man over $14,000 and he wasn't even supposed to be doing [00:38:00] that kind of work I called him Monday morning, asked him directly if he had a contractor's license.

He stuttered around for about a minute, like- Of course

Mikki: he did ... ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba. Babadoo, babadoo, babadoo. Mm-hmm. Wabadoo, wabadoo.

Jessica: Said he did mostly handyman work, smaller jobs, that he didn't need a license for what he was doing. I said, "The website says anything over $200 requires license." Like, how are you...

Even if you're a handyman. He

Mikki: knows.

Jessica: Yep. He said that was- Mm ... for bigger jobs, full remodels, not upgrades like mine.

Mikki: $200 is $200. Like, what does he mean, bigger jobs? Yeah. Uh, m- we're not... It's not like a conversion from yen to US currency. It's $200. It's $200. That's not bigger jobs, smaller jobs. $200. I, I...

Jessica: I said my job was 10K.

Mikki: I mean, it wa- it was, like... Didn't it start at 17?

Jessica: That's not... Yeah. I said, "My job was over 10K."

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: That's not a [00:39:00] small job. He said I was making a big deal out of nothing.

Mikki: Oh, of course you were.

Jessica: That the work was done. It looked good.

Mikki: It wasn't done improperly. I- She couldn't use her sink.

Jessica: I just needed to pay for the sink fix and we'd wrap everything up.

Mikki: Listen, this is how people die.

Jessica: Yeah. I said I wanted to see his license number. He said he didn't have it on him. I said to email it me. He said he would. He didn't. So he must've kept saying that he does have it. Never got an email. I texted him- Shocking ... the next day, no response. Day after that, same thing.

Mikki: Lady, you are never gonna hear from this man.

Jessica: Mm-mm. I called and it went straight to voicemail. I drove by the address on his business card. Oh,

Mikki: let me guess. Let me guess. Is this, like, an apartment complex?

Jessica: Uh-uh. It was the UPS Store mailbox.

Mikki: Shay day.

Jessica: Yeah. I had a linking, a leaking sink and no faucet installed.

I paid him $15,500 and he disappeared.

Mikki: Oh, shiza.

Jessica: My daughter [00:40:00] helped me find a licensed contractor. She checked three times that he was actually- Aw ... in the state database before I even called him. He came out and looked at everything, said the backsplash work was decent, the counters were okay except for that seam and the sinkhole being cut wrong.

He said he could fix the sink issue and install the faucet and make sure everything was sealed properly. His quote was $3,800.

Mikki: Oh my God. Yeah. What are y'all doing in Connecticut? I- Rolling around in your-

Jessica: Money ...

Mikki: bo- your, like, Scrooge McDuck-level s- vaults of cash?

Jessica: Yes.

Mikki: Jesus. It's

Jessica: expensive up there. I mean,

Mikki: my God.

Jessica: Whatever it is down here, it is always more up there. $3,800

Mikki: to install a sink, a faucet? Good grief. And to

Jessica: fix the counters.

Mikki: Okay. How did... Did they... Did she say how they fixed the counters?

Jessica: Let's see. I had to buy a new faucet. Mike never actually ordered one. Of course

Mikki: he didn't

Jessica: The new [00:41:00] contractor fixed everything in three days.

The sink doesn't leak anymore. The faucets work. The kitchen is usable again. Total cost for countertops, backs- backsplash, sink, and faucet that should have been 17,500, it ended up costing me $19,300. Ugh. Took four months instead of four weeks. Oh my God. I spent two months washing dishes in my bathroom. Mm.

I filed a complaint with the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.

Mikki: Good i- that's a good idea.

Jessica: They said they'd investigate, but the woman on the phone told me that recovering money from an unlicensed contractor- Yeah ... is difficult. She said I could try small claims court, but finding him to serve the papers would be the hard part since his business address is fake.

Mikki: The UPS store. Mm. I'm

Jessica: 68 years old. Oh, I was right, too.

Mikki: Aw. Really. But listen, that's not a senior citizen. 'Cause as I've told- No ... in the last episode, I got yelled at by a senior citizen for calling her a senior citizen.

Jessica: I worked as a school secretary for 35 years. I saved that money carefully. [00:42:00] Oh, I hate that.

I just wanted nice countertops. I didn't know about contractor licenses or state database or any of this. Mm. I trusted someone my neighbor's son recommended. I thought that was enough.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: It makes me so angry, I can barely talk about it without my blood pressure going up.

Mikki: Girl.

Jessica: Listen, we don't want your blood pressure- Right here

Mikki: going up. Yeah.

Jessica: Listen.

Mikki: Not at your age. I'm just kidding. Yeah. 68 is not that old. Not that old. You're

Jessica: not a- Especially

Mikki: as we're

Joe Woolworth: getting closer

Mikki: to it ... you're not a senior citizen.

Jessica: That man looked me right in the eye-

Mikki: As one does ...

Jessica: and took my money, knowing he had no business doing that work.

Mikki: Yeah.

Jessica: Mm. Knowing I was an older woman who didn't understand construction, he saw me as an easy target.

My daughter keeps t- saying that it's not my fault, but it feels like it is.

Mikki: Hm.

Jessica: I should have known better. I should have asked more questions. I should have looked him up before I handed over that $7,000 [00:43:00] deposit.

Mikki: listen. That's why we have the podcast, y'all.

Because there's just, I mean, there's so much in this that, that sucks, right? 'Cause it's like, how are you supposed to know what is a normal price? How you know is you get multiple bids.

Jessica: Multiple.

Mikki: So, like, this is, this is the thing, is this is really about you... L- we, we wanna trust people, and I get that. Mm-hmm.

Like, it's, this, it really is human nature to just be like, "Oh, of course, why would you screw me over? Why would you not, not be on the up and up?" But when it comes to, like, doing projects in your house, and honestly, let's just be honest, when it comes to anything we're doing where we're dealing with other people that we don't know, we do have to do a, a pretty good amount of due diligence.

So number one is getting multiple quotes. I did this, this interesting thing using AI I think this one, one was in ChatGPT in particular, and I said, "Hey, I'm, uh, I live in this county in this state, um, and I wanna do this project. Can you [00:44:00] tell me everything that I need to know? Like, do I need permits? Do I need...

Like, what are the rules in North Carolina- Mm-hmm ... in my county regarding this?" And y'all, the list that it gave me was so comprehensive. Mm. Um, I cannot suggest it more that we start kind of leaning into the resources that we have and, and finding out the things that we need to do beforehand. Getting at least three quotes, but we would love for you to get four, is the move.

Knowing what is kind of like, l- let me get a little, little acquainted with, with what the process is gonna look like. Not so that you can tell your, your contractor how to do their job, but so that you're tracking with what's happening, and you're knowing, like, okay- Mm-hmm ... this is this, this is the process.

Like, you know, if you had done a little bit of research, I'm just... Like, this is not shame, I'm not victim blaming, but doing a little research would help you understand, okay, I, this per- we do need to have a license. There needs to be some [00:45:00] sort of, like, licensure- Mm-hmm ... asking for that. Not moving forward with anybody that's not giving you licensing.

And again, in this case, she didn't have a contract. Now, I get it because it seems really small. I didn't even g- do a contract for my fence the first time. But in this case, she would've known what his rules are and the processes if he had had a contract that was substantial. So it's on your end demanding that the contract be substantial.

Mm-hmm. Doing your research to make sure you know what the rules are in your area, what specific things you need to know when it comes to the type of project that you're doing. Doing that kind of research is really, really important. And then u- understanding as much as you can if, like, the, the, like...

$7,000 seems like a lot f- because I think, like, the, even the granite companies don't require 100% payment. It just, I guess it depends, like, on the stone manufacturer. [00:46:00] Um, we had to put a deposit down for our stone, but it wasn't so unique that they wouldn't be able to resell it if somebody-

Jessica: That's what

Mikki: I- Like, if I backed out- Right

they would keep my, my 20% deposit, and they would be able to resell it, so it would be a win-win for them. So it wasn't like it was something so unique that they would never be able to resell it.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki: So I- learning, like, what is industry standard in the, the thing that you're trying to do. So when it com- somebody comes back and says, "Oh, I have to order, you know, this stone, and we have to pay in full for the stone," do you?

'Cause I know it, it's different from place to place. Like, we bought cabinets from somebody that we had to pay for them in full. Like, in order for them to start manufacturing them, we had to pay for them in full. Oh. Okay So knowing what's normal, I think would help a lot of homeowners. Like, doing that research before, even if it seems like a really small project.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki: Doing that research before I think is really, really important.

Jessica: Anytime you do research before a project, or anything that you do-

Mikki: Yeah ...

Jessica: it [00:47:00] always turns out in your benefit.

Mikki: I think so. That,

Jessica: that five or 10 minutes is really going to save you a lot of headache.

Mikki: Yeah. For sure. Mm-hmm. So guys, I hate that this, this happened, and I'm sure you all have your own stories, which as horrible as they are, and as much as it makes the vein in your forehead pop because your blood pressure's through the roof just thinking about it- Mm-hmm

those stories when you share them at chicksinconstruction.com, they help so much to help us educate people so that, you know, other people don't make the same mistake. Because as we have discussed, learning the hard way is overrated. So if you would go to chicksinconstruction.com and share your stories with us, then they will be shared with our 27,000 almost sub- 29,000 29,000 subscribers.

I've clearly got my finger on the pulse. So we appreciate you, we love you. Please like and subscribe, um, as many of you are doing. We wanna keep that going. Um, because eventually we wanna be influencers. Why we say

Jessica: that? I

Mikki: just want people to give me free things. [00:48:00] I don't know, there's something wrong with me, but you all know that by now.

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

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

Mikki: Look at us getting so professional at this. Mm. Just kidding. All right, we