The Cost of Trust: Lessons from Homeowner Nightmares

On the Chicks in Construction podcast, hosts Mikki Paradis and Jessica Abreu clarify that locking up a contractor’s tools is technically illegal despite past comments. Mikki shares her 200-pound dog Prime’s costly physical therapy and daily driveway walks. They then cover a Florida homeowner horror story involving a contractor operating under Environmental Kindness LLC (later Fortress Fencing Crew LLC) who botched retaining walls, French drains, sod, and fencing, demanded additional payments, caused property damage, and failed to fix issues; one homeowner paid $13,400 for faulty work and $35,000 to rebuild correctly, while another paid over $12,000 amid delays, missing scope items, mismatched materials, driveway and yard damage, and unprofessional behavior. The hosts warn that BBB is not a government bureau, stress getting multiple detailed bids, verifying licenses and insurance coverage for the specific scope, and researching contractors’ prior LLCs.

00:00 Contractor Accountability Rant

00:29 Podcast Intro and Legal Disclaimer

01:23 Tool Lockup Debate

02:38 Possession Proverb Myth

04:20 Prime Dog PT Costs

06:56 Spicy Comments and TikTok

10:59 Horror Story Setup Florida

17:19 BBB Ratings Reality Check

18:13 Retaining Wall Failure Details

23:23 New LLC Name Warning

23:46 Insurance Scope Lesson

26:39 Homeowner Lessons Learned

28:22 Deposits and Upfront Costs

29:10 Quote Seems Too Low

31:42 Delays and Surprise Add Ons

34:20 Incomplete Work and Extra Payment

36:28 Rock Delivery and Ghosting

Submit your homeowner horror story:
www.chicksinconstruction.com

Follow on Social Media:
www.instagram.com/chicksinconstructionpodcast
www.facebook.com/chicksinconstructionpodcast
www.linkedin.com/company/chicksinconstructionpodcast
www.youtube.com/@ChicksInConstruction

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38:05 Property Damage and Excuses

46:38 Commercial vs Residential Chaos

52:16 How to Vet Contractors

57:30 Final Warnings and Wrap Up

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/

41 - Chicks In Construction
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Mikki : [00:00:00] What is, are we taking crazy pills? That is not how this works.

Jessica: No,

Mikki : you damaged it. You fix it. Full stop. Full period. Full stop. All caps, italic, underlined, both. Like absolutely not. No.

And you didn't do the job you came to do. Mm-hmm. You did a partial job that you came to do and then created. 75 more jobs. Absolutely not. This gaslighting of homeowners. It has absolutely gotta stop. Well, hello and welcome back to another episode of the Chicks in Construction podcast. I'm your host, Mickey Paradise, and this is my illustrious co-host.

Jessica: I am Jessica a.

Mikki : So listen guys, I am must start it off by, by letting you guys know legally.

That on the last podcast, I may have given some bad advice. Now I did preface it 97,000 times with the fact that I'm not either a doctor or a lawyer. So I feel like if you took my advice after all of those warnings. [00:01:00] Maybe we weren't paying all the attention, but I'm just letting you know, I'm clearing the space.

Technically, I, because we were talking about a homeowner horror story, and, and this is how it goes on everyone, right? Um, the contractor starts to ghost them or they fire, like there's some interaction and the next thing I know, they go to the house and the contractor's tools are gone.

Jessica: Everything's gone.

Mikki : And I had said what I would do. Me personally,

Jessica: but we're not going to do that. The, this type,

Mikki : the, the type who likes a little F round and find out, um, I would lock their tools up so they couldn't get them back. That's what I said I would do. And what I have to clarify,

Jessica: don't touch it,

Mikki : don't do

Jessica: that.

Mikki : Um, technically that's illegal.

Now listen, I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be honest. Would I still do it? Yes, I would. I surely would because again, it's just, it's levels, right? Like what, how high is your tolerance for the find out part? Mm-hmm. [00:02:00] Of the F around Now I do love a good F around

Jessica: you do love a good F round.

Mikki : I do not love a good find out.

Jessica: No,

Mikki : I'm gonna be honest. It's not my, that's not my favorite. It's the, the first part is my favorite part. The last part is not,

Jessica: no.

Mikki : My favorite

Jessica: part. You like when they find out?

Mikki : I do. I like when other people find out 'cause

Jessica: they've ed around.

Mikki : Right. And you get to give them, I don't to be on the receiving end of

Jessica: the find out

Mikki : of the find out.

Um, but, you know, listen, it happens a lot more than, than I like to admit. So for like the sake of legality, we did wanna let you guys know it's not recommended. I'm very disappointed in this though. I'm gonna be honest. Like, um, I don't know how you grew up, but in my house mm-hmm. Um, my parents whew. They were the people that exist in the world that know nothing but act like they know a lot.

Hmm. So, like my dad, who was also a contractor, [00:03:00] um. His favorite phrase was possession is nine tenths of the law. I don't even know if that's real. Like I don't, I have, I haven't even Googled it. Like, I'm just like, well, God said possession is nine tenths of the law. So naturally that is what it's, it's gotta be right.

But like both my parents are like the type of people who have no. Right to say the things that come outta their mouth, but they say it with their whole chest. I wonder where I get it from, you know, genetics,

Jessica: so, so it is a common proverb, not an actual legal statue, meaning that the person in physical possession of an object has a significant advantage in disputes because they are presumed the owner.

The burden of proof lies on the person trying to take it away. But that is,

Mikki : it's a proverb.

Jessica: Mm-hmm.

Mikki : Grew all my whole life thinking that's actually the law.

Jessica: It's

Mikki : not

Default_2026-04-08_1: a

Jessica: defense in criminal law. It's not a defense guys. So don't

Mikki : do it. So don't do it. Don't listen. Listen.

Jessica: And we learned something new.

Mikki : We learned something new [00:04:00] every day, don't we?

We do. So there's that guys. Sorry about that. Sorry about that. Um,

Jessica: oh man. Good times.

Mikki : I'm not, again, can't stress this enough. I'm not saying I wouldn't do it, but I'm saying you shouldn't. You shouldn't. Was that, I think that was the only thing we had to clarify. Yeah. Yeah. I think that was the only thing. Um, we were discussing what we're gonna chicky chat about today and I was like, oh, let me tell you about Optimist Prime, my 200 pound dog's physical therapy.

Jessica: So what is he going to physical therapy for?

Mikki : So. During Christmas, he, I was noticing he was having a hard time kind of getting up and down, which is a big deal for a big dog because once they lose mobility, like there's, it's not like smaller dogs where you can kind of like pick 'em up and

Jessica: Yeah, no, you're not picking up at 200

Mikki : pounds, 200 pounders, like once they can't move around, like it drastically reduces their life expectancy.

So I started noticing, he was like sitting down really slow and I was like, alright. [00:05:00] You know, that I think could cost like $3,000 just to figure out that he needed physical therapy.

Jessica: Oh my God. This is why I don't have animals.

Mikki : Right. Listen a hundred percent. Like I love my dogs and obviously we'll do anything to, for them to have like the best care, but when the bill comes in, you're just like.

So could you maybe donate plasma? Like

Jessica: could you, could you become a therapy

Mikki : dog? He's So I'm just like, um, sir. Blood's plasma's in there because like, so our vet, we go to, um, CareFirst, which is like a, a very, very fancy vet, but I've tried all the vets and I just keep coming back to them.

Jessica: Mm-hmm.

Mikki : But when Callie had her little fun moment as a puppy and ate some metal bobbins, which go in a sewing machine.

Jessica: Oh.

Mikki : She just found 'em and decided to chomp on him. That was 50 plus thousand dollars surgery. She was a puppy too. Like she was, it was for reals. [00:06:00] We go in to see her and she's connected to a plasma drip and the, the vet was like very impressed. She was actually the first dog to have emergency surgery at their new facility

Jessica: with a plasma,

Mikki : and I was like, do I get a discount?

She's like, no. I was like, what about a plaque? Can I get a plaque?

Jessica: I mean, I feel like at that price point, right?

Mikki : Like, I'm funding this, so at what point do we get a plaque? But yeah, she's like, oh yes, she's connected to a plasma drip. And I'm like, that's gonna cost a fortune. It did. So I'm over here looking at Prime going, dude, you 200 pounds there.

There's a lot of plasma in there. Yeah. Can I get a little bit, can we, can we, can I borrow my vet bill?

Jessica: Do they get.

Mikki : I don't know

Jessica: because like how do you get plasma for a dog?

Mikki : I would think it's donations, but again, I don't Google anything. I just let it sit around in my mind and come up with ideas about things and then say them with my whole chest.

Oh, one of the, one of the comments. On one of the [00:07:00] shorts. It was like we, we were talking about how like you can't wake up one day and just become a, a contractor. And somebody was like, well, some would say you can't wake up one day and just become a podcaster, but here you are. And I was like, I was like, you know, that's a sick burn.

Jessica: Hmm.

Mikki : Like. I'm not even mad at it. I, my, this is my whole point, like, if you're gonna come with a spicy comment, make it a good one. Yeah. Because that was fire. I was like, Touche, my sir. Touche.

Jessica: But being a podcaster, you don't need any,

Mikki : right. Like, I'm not gonna burn your house down as a contractor. Right.

Default_2026-04-08_1: Your

Jessica: house isn't gonna fall over.

Right. Like, you

Mikki : know, I'm not gonna kill anybody being a podcast. We're

Jessica: not gonna cost you thousands of dollars. It might cost you a little bit of your time from watching, but like Yeah. You laughed.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: You had to have laughed.

Mikki : Something, something encouraged you to write that spicy comment. So you're welcome.

And honestly thank you because that was, I have the algorithm, that was the spice level that I'm here for. Like, I like a sassy comment, the [00:08:00] derogatory ones. I'm gonna show them to your mom. Just, I just want you to know I'm gonna find your mom and I'm gonna send it to her. 'cause I want her to know, you know, what's coming outta your mouth.

This

Jessica: is how she raised you. But

Mikki : the spicy, funny ones, I'm here for it. I just wanna know. I like it. I was like, that's, that's, I was like that. Sick, burn. Sick. I was like, so

Jessica: here we are.

Mikki : I'm loving that. Yeah. But so prime's on his physical therapy journey.

Jessica: Mm.

Mikki : To the tune of like another three grand. It's fine.

I'll just, I'll also donate plasma. Um, and we have to go for two 10 minute walks every day. And Prime will not leave our property because he have the invisible fence. And even when I take the collar off, he's like, mm-hmm. Prime's level of eon and find out is very low. Is low, low. He's like, oh, no, no, no, mom.

So my neighbor text me the other day. She's like, what are you doing? We walk up and down the driveway. For 10 minutes. Now, to be fair, tho those of you who don't know my driveway is a little [00:09:00] bit of death trap slash labyrinth slash

Jessica: yeah. It's not

Mikki : experience. Um,

Jessica: it's rough to drive up and down. It's not, yeah,

Mikki : it's like, so you have the new part and then once you get past the new part then you're just offroading and parts of the road literally come off.

So it's great. So me and Prime just walk up and down the driveway for 10 minutes, twice a day. Fitness is our passion. I just want you to know.

Jessica: Mm.

Mikki : We're on a fitness journey. We're here for

Jessica: it. At least it goes up so they can

Mikki : go down. Yeah. We get a little uphill. Downhill. Downhill. So I feel like we're working the quads.

Mm-hmm. We're work. We're working all the muscle groups. Yeah. Prime. Like I have to force him. I. For he goes up and down once on his own. The rest of the times absolutely not. I have to be like, prime, come on. The other day I played the I Tiger put him on. Tiger on. Yeah, he's on a leash because if he wasn't on a leash he'd be like, absolutely not.

Jessica: He'd just lay down and be

Mikki : like, be like, I'll be here. Let me know how this walk goes. Okay. Fitness is your passion, not mine. So I played [00:10:00] the eye of the tiger thinking I could like get him to like get off, pumped up like Rocky. It did not work. I don't know what will. But that's what, right. But like he also has to lose weight.

Hmm. I don't know. We're one of the best we can.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki : So if you're ever driving around, you see some lady who's walking up and down her driveway with her 200 pound dog. That's me. You found me.

Jessica: We're doing physical therapy.

Mikki : Yeah, we're doing, it's great. And creeping my neighbor's out because we're like, what are you doing walking your dog on a leash on your driveway?

Are

Jessica: you watching me?

Mikki : I know

Jessica: Why. Why?

Mikki : Why are you stalking me? Creeper? No, it's actually my fun neighbor that I do like, and I think his desk is like, right. It lines up with a window he can see and he's just coming and going. He's, what's happening? She just keeps walking up and down the driveway and I'm like, haven't you figured out at this point then I'm a weirdo?

And he is like, oh, good point.

Jessica: Yeah, we knew things.

Mikki : So [00:11:00] listen guys, we have a doozy of a homeowner horror story and I gotta say, submit it on the talk. Mm-hmm. Um, just did send this to me in like screenshots of it because I don't have TikTok, because I love. A conspiracy theory and there'd be a rabbit hole.

And I love to fake protect myself from said conspiracy theories. Mm. So I'm like, I don't have TikTok. 'cause I don't want Chyna knowing my comings and goings and Chelsea's like my sister. Sorry. Side note. My sister is like Mickey. Don't you have every other social media platform with your location services turned on?

Yes, I do. So you just don't want T TikTok to

Jessica: TikTok to also

Mikki : know your

Jessica: comings and goings because you acknowledge that

Mikki : every other social media platform

Jessica: and any

Mikki : other knows you're coming and. Alexa, we have Alexa. We have a Google the Nest that has a microphone in it. So like if Hector and I are laying in bed at night talking [00:12:00] about something, I could look on my phone and there will be an advertisement for it.

It's

Jessica: amazing.

Mikki : It's creepier than creepy gets, but, but the line I draw. Is TikTok. TikTok.

Jessica: So our TikTok,

Mikki : but Jess doesn't have that line.

Jessica: I don't, um,

Mikki : she's like, I don't participate in Mickey's crazy. So

Jessica: no. But I don't also scroll TikTok as much as I scroll everything else. And I think it's because I just like the other,

Mikki : yeah.

Hector's addicted to the talk,

Jessica: is he? Well, he likes all of our videos, so it's

Mikki : great. Yeah, he does. He seniors, like he goes, he goes, babe, look. You're on TikTok.

Jessica: You're like, I know. He

Mikki : gets so excited. Look there. You're,

Jessica: you're famous. Or famous? I'm

Mikki : famous to him.

Jessica: Yeah. That's all that matters a

Mikki : hundred percent.

Jessica: Mm-hmm. So what's great is that on TikTok, we've been getting a lot of engagement, so thank you everybody who is commenting there. Yes. And so this one woman. Um, was telling me her story and like she just wrote a little snippet [00:13:00] and I was like, can you tell me all the tea? Jess is like,

Mikki : I need the tea and I need it hot.

Mm. So pour that tea and pour it. Ping hot.

Jessica: Yes. So she sent me screenshots because she's actually sent this to the Better Business Bureau.

Mikki : Oh yeah. Um, I feel like I, mm, I love that she sent it to the Better, better Business Bureau. Mm-hmm. Because. It is a thing that exists, but I think people mistakenly think that the Better Business Bureau is something that it's not.

Mm-hmm. So, ironically, I was watching this YouTube, it was like a podcast series. It. They were talking about this lady in South Carolina who owns a little boutique shop. And then I will tell you, this made me so angry. Mm-hmm. Because this lady scammed people outta like $40,000 worth of like money for children's clothes and was arrested so far.

And it said it's happened this year. She's been arrested. [00:14:00] 14 times what for like 40 to $60,000 worth. She's not fraudulent charges. Well, she will be in jail because the woman has the chair. Just be racking up on her. But I'm like, so lemme get this, let, let, lemme see how, if I have this right. Okay. The finger and all the directions you can scam.

South Carolina moms out of $40,000 worth of onesies and get arrested. But you can't, you can scam people at hundreds of thousands of dollars. Like that story in Charlotte.

Jessica: Right.

Mikki : And you just out here wild in these streets.

Jessica: It's crazy.

Mikki : No arrests, no investigations, nothing onesies. That is where we draw the line, an entire house.

Oh, it's fine, fine. I don't even get that. Like I really think it's a matter of. The thing is like the, the, the, the lady in South Carolina, it was like, um, accepting money. Like [00:15:00] with fraudulent intention.

Jessica: Yeah. She knew she wasn't

Mikki : gonna get it. It's the same thing for these houses. Mm-hmm. So I feel like the thing is that these moms weren't having it.

Right. Like they, how did she get arrested in four 14 different times? 'cause she did business in 14 different counties and those moms made reports and they wore those South Carolina police stations out until they investigated them. Mm-hmm. And, and made it happen, but I'm just like, I'm looking at this story like the injustice of it.

You can screw people out of $40,000 worth of onesies, and you go in jail, but you can screw people out hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Jessica: That's a bunch of different people,

Mikki : right? It's a, it was a ton of, like the average transaction was like a hundred dollars.

Jessica: It's a

Mikki : lot

Jessica: of people.

Mikki : It is a lot of people.

Jessica: That's probably why I got,

Mikki : and maybe it's the amount of people. I don't know what it, I just think it's like the squeaky wheel gets the grease and those women mm-hmm. Were not having it. Mm-hmm. Which I respect [00:16:00] if you're one of those moms tip my hat. But I'm like, okay, we need to like start an advocacy group for all these homeowners

Jessica: that have horrible,

Mikki : seriously experiences.

Insane. I mean, I guess technically that's what the pot is, but I'm like, we're getting there. Maybe we need to like get a little legal arm going. Anyway. Sidetrack. Sorry,

Jessica: squirrel. All right, so this comes from Florida.

Mikki : My favorite state,

Jessica: favorite state. All right, so in the name of the company was, is I think they renamed themselves Environmental Kindness, LLC.

Mikki : I read that and I was like, what a strange name. Yeah. Environmental kindness.

Jessica: So, so this person, actually, this company went under a different name too, I think so We have two. Things about them?

Mikki : Yeah. Oh,

Jessica: because the same lady, so the woman who messaged me, her issue, there's actually a Facebook [00:17:00] page where another person commented and said like, they had this issue with them.

Oh my. So she sent me screenshots of that story too.

Mikki : My gosh.

Jessica: So it's

Mikki : multiple people.

Jessica: It's multiple people.

Mikki : Oof. It's crazy.

Jessica: Um, so she says, I retain, so this is not right to us. This was the complaint to the Better Business Bureau.

Mikki : Oh. Side note. Just what I was to finish that, to land that plane. Yep. The Better Business Bureau is a thing people pay for.

It's like Angie's List. Ah. So like I can pay to have a good rating on Better Business Bureau. Now obviously you have a bunch of people write complaints that might it. Mm-hmm. But I could also pay them more money to ignore the bad complaints.

Jessica: Oh, interesting.

Mikki : So like I just. The point of that very long and drawn out story was, don't put as many eggs in the basket of the Better Business Bureau.

Mm-hmm. As, as you would think. 'cause it's not an actual bureau, it's a company that makes money.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki : Sorry about that.

Jessica: So she had, she had told me that she was trying to go through like the. A [00:18:00] contractor. Yeah. And like that wasn't working, so she's like, she got somebody else to fix it and now she is, you know?

Yeah. Just trying to make sure that this company doesn't keep doing it. Doing it, doing, yes.

Mikki : It. So then they're on the show. Watch out.

Jessica: There we go. So she says, I retained environmental kindness to build a retainer wall, install french drains, and build a fence around my yard in 9 20 22, the wall failed and started to erode very soon after its construction, and it was very noticeable that the construction of it was incorrect.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: Brad said he would reconstruct this wall.

Mikki : Not Brad,

Jessica: different Brad, not my bread. Different Brad.

Mikki : But this bread should also not be touching things.

Jessica: Don't touch it. Um, he said that he would reconstruct this wall, which he has not. I have spent $850 to serve him requesting a refund in proof of insurance.

Ooh, his insurance has stated he is working outside the scope of coverage [00:19:00] that so that it is denied. Mm. He failed to rebuild this wall and has since dissolved his LLC.

Mikki : Which that's what we tell people to check on. How many invented a new one? Have they have they had under their name?

Jessica: Yep. You have. Then you can't be looking for that.

Mikki : The other thing too is, I don't know about Florida, but I know in the state of North Carolina, any retaining wall over a three foot height has to be inspected.

Jessica: Oh, interesting.

Mikki : And you have to have an engineering, like a, like a structural engineer. Mm-hmm. Draw how it needs, sorry, sorry about that. Draw how it needs to be built and then you have to have it inspected to make sure that it's built that way because, and it seems like in her case, it was a retaining wall for like.

To even out her backyard. But a lot of times retaining walls are structural because they're holding the soil, the

Jessica: Yeah. To make sure it's not gonna go

Mikki : anywhere. Yeah. So like the house doesn't fall, like just slip, slew, slew down the hill.

Jessica: Yeah. We don't want that.

Mikki : We don't want that y So if you're getting, having a retaining work done and the wall is higher than three feet, [00:20:00] I would say even if your state doesn't require it.

You should require there to at least be a structural engineer involved. But honestly, I would also get the, the inspections involved as well. 'cause that is a high failure point that could cause a lot of problems for your property. Yeah.

Jessica: Water is not something to

Mikki : Yeah. No.

Jessica: Around

Mikki : find that out. And the erosion, like there's so much, 'cause we do a lot, we don't do a lot of retaining walls, but our projects always have a retaining wall.

Mm-hmm. And they're a big deal. They're a much bigger deal than people think.

Jessica: Yeah.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: Ooh. That's not good.

He has failed to refund me $13,400 for faulty work to which I am paying a loan on. Oh man. This is absolutely disgusting to rip off someone like this.

I have since. Had the wall rebuilt by someone that actually knows what they are doing, and it was $35,000 to fix. They stated he used cheap hardware. Hardware, did not anchor the post deep enough, [00:21:00] did not design it properly, and the fences were installed. Don't even open correctly, so we put a fence there too.

Oh, the fences don't open. Right. It's great. It's great. The French drains were secured with tape. Okay. Instead of a simple coupling that's actually attached to the downspout.

Mikki : Oh. Like, oh, wow.

Jessica: I was like, I don't think in my head just because like, I don't know what simple coupling is. I just think about things being held together with tape and water involved.

Right? And I know that that's not going to end well. Just

Mikki : like you don't have to be neuroscientist to know. That's not how that goes.

Jessica: That's, that doesn't work

Mikki : like Jesus.

Jessica: Um, I was like, that's,

Mikki : it's pretty hard to mess up a French drain.

Jessica: I mean, it's crazy. I'm requesting a refund is unethical of a business owner to operate like this, and you cannot legally dissolve an LLC without settling your debt.[00:22:00]

Which I didn't know.

Mikki : I didn't know.

Jessica: . His insurance has taken since September of 2023 to communicate the denial, and he never provided proof of insurance or the limits.

His LLC wasn't even active at the time of service and wasn't renewed until 9 26 20 22.

Mikki : Oh my goodness.

Jessica: So that is her story and, um. Then she sent me pictures of somebody else's poor home, which I'll, I'll give to Joe so that we can put them up.

Mikki : Put them up so you guys can see.

Jessica: So you can see

Mikki : hands on, interactive experience.

Jessica: So this one is. From, it's the same company or same person, different company name. Ooh. So this came from, so the same lady that sent it on TikTok sent me this woman's story as story. So it's the same area in Florida. The update is first the. [00:23:00] The individual has closed his previous business that jacked up my property and now operates under the Fortress Fencing crew, LLC.

Be careful who you hire. Ooh. So, okay. So he was under the first one, the environmental kindness. Okay. Now his new company is the Fortress Fencing Crew. LLC.

Mikki : Okay. Let's just put, put a pause in that. Um, listen, I know that a lot of contractors beyond here hustling, right? Like mm-hmm. Especially when work is a little slow and you need some more projects, somebody comes to you and asks you to do something that's not necessarily in your wheelhouse.

It's really hard to turn away work when you need it. But the idea that somebody could build a fence app appro appropriately, and then somebody could also. Build a retaining wall. Now, I'm not saying they're completely in different scopes. They are in the land work kind of umbrella. Okay? But the skillset that you have to set a fence [00:24:00] post and the skillset you have to structurally design and build.

A retaining walling wall, wall are very different skill sets. Mm-hmm. So when, when somebody comes to you and says, oh, I can do all these things, okay, but what is your main job? And here's the most important thing for the homeowner. Mm-hmm. What are you insured to do? Because this has happened on. Several of our podcast of our stories where they try to get compensation from, from the damage of the work through the person's insurance company and their insurance company says no.

Mm-hmm. That's not they. They were not insured for that. And that's something that you guys have to understand. Just because somebody has insurance does not mean that they are insured to do the work. On your house. They, they all insurance. All construction insurance is segment segmented by, by your scope of work.

So, you know, we, we are insured for drywall installation and paint installation because that's what we do. If I were to take [00:25:00] up. Doing trim work or doing fencing or any other thing, doing flooring work, you would have to get insurance. I would have to get additional insurance to cover that, that scope of an of of work.

Okay? So if somebody says, oh, we're a fence company, but we can also do your retaining wall, okay, send me over your insurance certificate. I'm gonna call my insurance guy and make sure this covers. Retaining walls.

Jessica: So will it say it on the certificate or they actually

Mikki : have to call it? Probably won't. They have to call.

You'll have to call. Okay. Because like, I don't think on my, on my certificate of insurance, it clearly states we are only insured for drywall and paint. So I, it, I could see for like the homeowner would be. Would think, oh, okay, I have their C. Mm-hmm. Like you think, oh, I did everything right. I got the certificate of insurance.

They were insured only to find out, oh no, they're, they're insured did install fences. They're not insured to do retaining walls.

Jessica: Interesting.

Mikki : Yeah. So that's something to keep in mind, guys.

Jessica: Always check. Um, okay. And then there was another update. The retaining [00:26:00] wall has begun to wash out from the rain and so have the rock areas by the brick wall and the steps.

Still no contact to resolve the issues, and now we get into the story.

Mikki : Alright,

Jessica: now that I have calmed down from the entire experience, I

Mikki : totally

Jessica: get that. I wanted to share my experience with environmental kindness and allow everyone that decides to use them, make their own opinions with a few lessons learned.

As a takeaway one, always dig into the contract and ask questions.

Mikki : Oh, you guys, two. It's like she watches the podcast.

Jessica: I know. Don't trust people when they say they're going to start and end a project at a specific time.

Mikki : Mm.

Jessica: I mean,

Mikki : it depends like.

Jessica: Trust these people. I

Mikki : don't, don't trust these people at all.

But like we've talked about, like Nicole, who we've had on the show several times, and we've talked about on the show several times, like she has, she does kitchen and bathroom remodels. That's all she does. Mm-hmm. And she has like a formula [00:27:00] and she builds in and she, she says like, I can do this in this amount of days.

And she always hits that date. But that's because she is an absolute expert in what she does. Very Right. Specifically to kitchens and baths. Mm-hmm. So like if somebody were saying, Hey, build me a house, she could not have given you an accurate No. Timeline on that. So I don't think somebody saying this is how long it's gonna take is necessarily a red flag.

But I think when you first get that gut feeling of, okay, well they said this is gonna be done in two weeks and we're a week in and they haven't even showed up, you gotta listen to that gut a hundred percent, right? A hundred percent.

Jessica: Number three, never trust people by making. Oh my making a full payment that they will care to come back and complete the project.

They say they will.

Mikki : No,

Jessica: definitely don't do that. Not a full payment ever. Never.

Mikki : Yeah. I mean, we don believe in the chicks and constructions say, I don't, the 20% is the [00:28:00] most amount of deposit I will pay. But to be perfectly honest, when it comes to trade work like that, unless they have to buy a very expensive piece of equipment, like an HVAC unit or something like that.

'cause like. Those are, those are pricey. They're expensive. Mm-hmm. And they have to be bought in advance. I get all that. But for landscape work, no. I, if you don't have the money to go buy rocks and dirt to start my project so we can get to a point where I feel comfortable paying you 20% or whatever, then you probably just need to find a different landscape guy.

Jessica: A hundred percent.

So I reached out to Environmental Con Environmental Kindness for a quote to get the drainage in my backyard under control to include leveling and laying sod rebuild and exist. Sting retaining wall to include, backfill, any rock dirt needed, build a step from the upper level of the yard to the lower, remove the back fence, [00:29:00] and put French drains in in multiple locations.

He came on the 7th of April so that we can discuss my vision and exactly.

, what I wanted done in the backyard. I promptly received a quote on the 8th of April for $9,950.

Mikki : Okay, put a, so that is not enough. That is so a retaining wall, I mean it obviously depends on the size of the retaining wall. Mm-hmm. And it depends on the size of your yard. But land work requires equipment. It requires a lot of stuff involved in that. And I would say they were probably quite low. I don't know if she says what it cost her to get it fixed in this, but I would imagine eventually it's quite a

Jessica: bit.

Mikki : Because it's it, she should have paid probably twice that much amount, so

Jessica: Yeah. For all the work that she want. Right. And my fence is not cheap either.

Mikki : Fence. Oh no. I, as we know, a car drove through my fence the other day and I just spent seven grand putting it [00:30:00] back up. So like. My fence, and it wasn't even a full offense, it was a partial offense and it cost $7,000.

So like, yeah, $9,000 for all that work. Plus fence work is not enough. And here's the thing, I know that that would be hard for you as a homeowner to gauge. Mm-hmm. Like how do I know if that's too much or too little? Getting multiple quotes,

Jessica: four.

Mikki : At least because that gives you that wi wiggle room of like, okay, this was high, this was low, this one's in the middle, so which one is right?

That fourth one comes in and is like, okay. Here's where, where normal is. So if you had had multiple quotes, she would've known, okay, this one was 9,000, the other one was 35 mm something, something the math ain't math in as the kids say, no,

Jessica: it is not.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: Um, to complete the entire backyard project with a scheduled date to begin on the 8th of May, time came and went and went.

May 8th came and went,

Mikki : oh wow.

Jessica: He didn't begin the project and would [00:31:00] sporadically show up to the house the next couple of weeks and work for an hour or two. Oh, while insisting that the project would be completed soon, meeting the couple of weeks timeline was that was initially quoted. When I would ask specific things that were not being done, I was told it would cost extra.

Mikki : Mm-hmm.

Jessica: Because it's always gonna cost extra right. When you get the low bids. Right. Because they gotta actually make some money for the work that they actually have to do, or they're just scamming you and trying to get the most out of you. For which I. Did end up paying $750 to remove the back fence because he didn't put it in the quote,

Mikki : and that's where I'm assuming she did not have a really good contract.

Mm-hmm. Because when you get a quote, it should be everything should be line item. There should be a line for this is the cost to remove the fence. This is the cost to work on the side. This is the cost for the French drains. This is the cost for the retaining [00:32:00] wall. Everything should be broken down When somebody gives you an estimate and it's like $11,000 for this.

No, no, no. It needs to be, this is mine items, what each one of them costs. And I will say when we were getting the quotes for the fence, 'cause like the insurance company said we needed to get three quotes. Mm-hmm. I got one that was like $8,000 to fix your fence. And then the other two that I got were literally broken down to like, this is the cost to remove the old fence.

This is the cost to haul away the trash. This is the cost. To mm-hmm. For the materials, for the new fence, this is the labor for the new fence. This is the cost to like haul away the old fence. They literally broke everything out. Put everything down. So like, yeah. It, it kind of shows that level of professionalism mm-hmm.

When somebody really takes the time to go in and that way, you know, if they've included the, the removal of the fence. Because when they provide you a really detailed estimate, then you can go, okay, well where's, where in this price is the cost to remove the fence so you don't get hit with it later? So that's, those [00:33:00] things are important.

Yes.

Jessica: Which stinks that he added it to, to yours, um, to remove the back fence because he didn't put it in the quote, even though he said it would be easier to lay the sod and do the project. Yes, I did pay for that too. Fast forward to June 6th, so a month

Default_2026-04-08_1: later.

Mikki : And they're already a month later, so it was April, they started in May.

Now it's June. June. Mm-hmm. Oy.

Jessica: He wanted his payment for a project that was incomplete. By this, I mean, the sod was not finished in the backyard. He told me he underestimated the amount needed and would bring more the next day, which he didn't until the last day of the entire fiasco. The gap between the original wall and the new wall.

Which was placed more than a foot from each other was not filled. Creating a hazard for my dogs, the adults, and kids.

Mikki : Hmm.

Jessica: The rock that needed to be backfilled in the original area and placed around the [00:34:00] drains and tree were not there.. There was a large pile of dirt by the corner of the fence that was never filled after they dug the area for the new retaining wall.

When I mentioned all of this to him, the response that it. Was that it was not part of the original quote. No.

Mikki : I mean, what?

Jessica: Oh, it gets worse.

Mikki : Jesus.

Jessica: After which he quoted me another $1,500 on the 14th of June to finish the job with rock and Dirt delivery.

Mikki : Oh my God, today.

Jessica: Not sure how, it wasn't part of the original quote because it was discussed multiple times. So here we are. I ended up paying the additional funds to finish the project during the time that the project sat there incomplete.

There were multiple days where it rained heavily.

Mikki : Oh no.

Jessica: We got all washed out resulting and wash out. Oh. From the upper rock area. [00:35:00] Under the build step and into the sod, as well as wash out at the wall drainage area. Come June 15th, Jesus rock is delivered to my driveway During the delivery, he told me that he would be back the next day to get it into the backyard and bring dirt, the delivered rock.

Doesn't match the original rock that was in the backyard.

Mikki : Boy,

Jessica: when discussed with him, he said he would make it work and bring additional rock that would match. He didn't come back that Friday and the rock sat in the middle of my driveway. Ooh, for over a week.

Mikki : Fun. Who needs to use their driveway.

Jessica: I mean, it's optional.

That's fun. Kick rocks. The kids were picking them up and throwing them. That's fun.

Mikki : Right through the window. Just kidding. We had that

Jessica: hitting all the cars during that time. He ignored my messages and phone calls about when the project was going to be completed and when he was coming back. Shocker. [00:36:00] Mm-hmm.

When I finally got ahold of him, a week later, he told me he would be there the next day. He showed up for a day or two for, for about 45 minutes, and he didn't get anywhere completed. I continued to ask him for the next two days, and the story was the same. I'll be there at 6 45 and get it done today.

Yet he didn't come and get it done for one reason or another. He then has dirt delivered and dumped in the middle of the road.

Mikki : Oh,

Jessica: because the driveway is full of rocks, full of rocks. So now I gotta put it. Love

Mikki : that

Jessica: and put it in the road.

Mikki : Totally fine.

Jessica: Then shows at four hours later to get it into the backyard, which now has partial saw lying.

Laying down from the first attempt of a project, he ends up taking the fence down, which he told me he would replace with new boards to get the dirt and rock into the backyard.

Mikki : Yikes.

Jessica: Drives through the front yard and the neighbor's backyard.

Mikki : Oh. [00:37:00]

Jessica: Destroying all the existing grass and creating large trenches and damaging my driveway with his equipment.

Mikki : Oh my God.

Jessica: Right. I I can feel her blood pressure just, ooh.

Mikki : I don't know if my veins popping, but I'm, I'm on the, the cuffs. You're

Jessica: both there. Mm-hmm. With the cops end up being called to the house because the dirt covering the entire wasn't covering the entire lane of a road.

Mikki : I like that. What happened to my neighborhood?

I was funny 'cause I was listening. I was reading the story when you sent it to me and I was like, this reminds me of my one neighbor. Um, they have been. Getting a pool installed for a year.

Jessica: Oh my God.

Mikki : And they have had, so they first had this pile get their

Jessica: horror story

Mikki : right. I'm like, I'm gonna go to their door and be like, Hey, um, you don't know me 'cause you live in the mini mansion and I just live in a regular house, but I have this podcast.

They have had. This dirt, like first it was piled in the street and I, it was, it was on the main road where all the mansions are and I was like, you know, these people are [00:38:00] not having it.

Jessica: That

Mikki : dirt is ruin my card appeal. These people have so much money that when there is a pothole, the city is out there the next day because these people be paying them taxes.

Mm-hmm. So the cops definitely came and they, like a week later, they had to move the dirt in, but they have had a dirt mound in their front yard. For a year, and I'm just like, who is doing your pool so I can make sure I never do it? We never use them. Mm-hmm. I mean, listen, I don't really see a pool in my future, but just in case.

Jessica: I just wanna keep my options open,

Mikki : right? Like, I just wanna make sure if like, you know, if the money does strike with me, I have options for a pool.

Jessica: You need to get a lot of trees. You and your arborist husband would be taking

Mikki : for

Jessica: real.

Mikki : Hector would be like, because can I finally kill all the trees? No.

Hector?

Jessica: No.

Mikki : Alright. Sorry. Sidetrack.

Jessica: No. Side Quest. Um, he once again reassures me that it will be gone that day. [00:39:00] Long story short, it wasn't

Mikki : shocker,

Jessica: I mean, who didn't see that coming. He ends up coming the next day to get more dirt and rock where it needs to go. After that's complete, he replaces some of the fence boards with new and uses half of the old ones.

As the chaos continues, he ends up. Puncturing and scratching my Florida room, metal wall and my fence boards while cutting down fence posts. When I asked him if he planned on fixing it, because it's now damage, the comment I got was he doesn't do work with metal and what did I want him to do about it?

Mikki : What? I'm sorry. What did I want you to do? I want you to fix it.

Default_2026-04-08_1: Or,

Jessica: or case I want to fix

Mikki : it, right? Like I don't even wanna be involved in the fix. No, like my Florida room. Which I don't have one, but my [00:40:00] Florida room was fine before you showed up and now it is, is damaged so you gonna fix it. Mm-hmm. Because that's not even my job.

Jessica: No.

Mikki : Like it's not even like, like worst case scenario, I'd be like, give me the money to fix it. But the reality is no, this is now your problem. You fix it. In this case, that guy wasn't gonna do that 'cause he's pretty much trash but. Like mm-hmm. A, a, a professional contractor would come to you and be like, oh my gosh, we're so sorry.

I have a buddy who's gonna come out and look at it. We're gonna get it fixed. Please don't worry about it. That's on us.

Jessica: Mm-hmm.

Mikki : A hundred percent

Jessica: yes. Because usually high quality contractors will know guys in the. Or Oh yeah. In the other trace that would be like, listen, I made a boo boo.

Mikki : Oh, a hundred percent.

Like, can you come

Jessica: help me out?

Mikki : Our, our favorite HVAC contractor we've worked with them on so many projects. I don't know how many times this dude has called Hector and be like, Hey man, what are you doing? And Hector's like, you know, working, why? One of my techs just stepped [00:41:00] through the ceiling. Oh.

Somebody's ceiling in the attic, can you go out and fix that drive? But the point is, this guy is calling his resources mm-hmm. To have somebody go out and fix what his guy it was. It's never the homeowner's problem. No. That your people damage their property.

Jessica: Rude.

Mikki : It is

Jessica: so rude. It is so rude.

Mikki : Outrageous.

Jessica: What do you want me to do about it?

Mikki : What do you want me to do? I don't know. Your job

Jessica: at the time. Why I asked him to fix it. It ends up not being fixed. The solution for the damage to my front yard and the neighbor's yard was an attempt to flatten it out and put some sod in the area. When I looked at the work, I told him that the sod was not covering the entire area as damaged, and it was lumpy.

He told me it's more than most people would do

Mikki : what?

Jessica: And that he's done the job. He was going to do what?

Mikki : Absolutely not

Jessica: this.

Mikki : [00:42:00] What is, are we taking crazy pills? That is not how this works.

Jessica: No,

Mikki : you damaged it. You fix it. Full stop. Full period. Full stop. All caps, italic, underlined, both. Like absolutely not. No.

And you didn't do the job you came to do. Mm-hmm. You did a partial job that you came to do and then created. 75 more jobs. Absolutely not. This gaslighting of homeowners. It has absolutely gotta stop. Mm-hmm. Like the treating people like you are the problem. And like, you know, it's your problem now lady, go fix it.

Absolutely not. No. And the sucky part is this is only happening to her because he's a shady contractor. Right. So like he is not gonna make it right regardless. And that sucks. 'cause once you are in it. There's the, the getting out part is the worst part. It's like once you've hired the, the crappy contractor mm-hmm.

And you're in the thick of like, they're in in inappropriate work.

Jessica: It's awful.

Mikki : Now you have to dig your way out [00:43:00] because they're so unprofessional. They're absolutely not gonna be part of it. And that is the worst part. That's why doing that research, getting multiple quotes, knowing that somebody's way too low because the thing is right.

A lot of people are like, oh, well, you know, I wanna get it done, but I'm on a, on a budget, so the lowest number, like I went with it 'cause that's what I could afford. Here's the thing, if somebody is doing work for that low, they are not making money. And when somebody is not making money, they don't have the resources to fix something.

If they broke it. No problem. And it's just one of those, we say it all the time, you can't get blood out of a rock. If somebody is low, a low performing contractor and they're, you know, charging you the least amount of money. 'cause it just, he just trying to pay some bills. They don't have room for error. So when he messed up the salt, like when he says it's more than most people would do.

No, it's not. No, but it's more than he wanted to do. Mm-hmm. Because what he wanted was to walk away and leave this lady holding the bag, which I feel like he [00:44:00] eventually did anyway. But yeah, absolutely not guys. Mm-hmm. Absolutely not.

Jessica: And just like his whole attitude, like was he this way?

Mikki : Like, like he's God's gift to her.

Like, you're lucky I'm even here. Do you Don't? Absolutely not.

Jessica: Mm-hmm. No. At this rate, I no longer wanted to deal with him. Gave I don't blame any girl and gave him the remaining

Mikki : Oh, you did not, did you honey? What did, how much did she give him?

Jessica: She and deal with him and gave him the remaining money I owed him totaling over $12,000.

So I don't think it was 12,000 at that point.

Mikki : Okay. Yeah.

Jessica: But, but which is the total amount that she has given him is $12,000 To put a bow on the process, a couple of weeks. To put a bow on the process, a couple of week project took almost two months, yikes, to complete, during which he would unplug my refrigerator on the back porch without even asking each day and leave it [00:45:00] unplugged when he left.

Why? It's so weird.

Mikki : That is weird.

Jessica: There were constantly tools to include a machete,

Mikki : oh,

Jessica: nails, hammers, et cetera. Wood and trash that he had not picked up from the yard each day so the animals would try to eat it.

Mikki : This guy sounds like a commercial guy. Like there is a vast difference. Between commercial and residential, and one of them is residential.

People have to deal with homeowners. Mm-hmm. So they ha understand if I don't pick this trash up mm-hmm. Somebody gonna call me and I'm gonna hear about it. Yeah. In commercial, wild in these streets, just throw the trash. Literally, I've seen dudes just literally walking through a building, eating a snack and just throw the trash for the snack down on the ground and keep walking.

Like, how about, oh my

Jessica: God,

Mikki : the other day I'm in, I'm in a apartment complex. With the, it is finished. The only thing it doesn't have is the flooring. This guy is chewing the, that has like the chew the

Jessica: tobacco

Mikki : spits inside the building on the floor. And I [00:46:00] looked at him like, I, my, my mouth must have been like on the ground.

And he goes, what? The carpet's not in? And I'm like, no, you n oo. But somebody has to put the freaking carpet down. Like this is a building on your DNA. Yeah, I'm gonna take that DNA, commit a murder and pin you for it. Just kidding. I'm not gonna do that at all. That's

Jessica: also illegal.

Mikki : But I'm just saying it's possible.

It just so like, commercial dudes wild in these streets because like, we don't have homeowners. Right. So, and I'm not even gonna tell you the stories of some of stuff. Maybe can, some of my guys have done like what this is, I'm gonna tell you this story. I said I wasn't, I'm gonna tell you. So we were on this project, it was a four story building.

Mm-hmm. To be fair to my guys. Right. It's a four story building. The only bathroom is you have to get off your stilts, which is a whole thing. Go down four stairs, go into the porta potty to go to the bathroom. I wish I could say. That none of my guys ever opted to not do that and to urinate in inappropriate places, [00:47:00] but they do.

So this one job, um, I am in there and the framer comes up and he has a two by four that has like nails sticking out of it. And he's like, I'm gonna beat your guys to death. And I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That's normally my job. Going on.

Jessica: I mean, you don't have my permission to do that.

Mikki : He brags like, absolutely not.

I'll do it. You can't do it. What happened? He was like, your guys, he was like, I just watched them. Pee out the window into my cooler. So he was, his guys were working on like the other side of the building. My guys

Jessica: could aim.

Mikki : Cannot be bothered. We're on the fourth floor. They're in their stilts. They're not here for it.

Pee out the window into the guy's cooler.

Jessica: Do you think they were aiming for it?

Mikki : I, it feels like it. Like what are, what are the chances? What

Jessica: are they are?

Mikki : Statistical probability. My friend feel low, so I had to buy him a Yeti. That was a very expensive day for me.

Jessica: But like

Mikki : I, I talked him out of killing my guys with the Yeti, but like that's commercial guides for you.

Mm-hmm. So this [00:48:00] guy gives I do commercial

Jessica: work. At least get out the window.

Mikki : Right.

Jessica: They did do it in the window. They were not gonna do it on the

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: Lore. Yeah.

Mikki : Yeah. Yeah,

Jessica: and we'll give him a little bit of credit. Give him a little bit of credit, and like the aim,

Mikki : like, wow, look at you. You should be in it.

You should be in the Olympics for something. There's

Jessica: an Olympics. Like that's always guys like, let's see how far I can get it.

Mikki : Oh my God,

Jessica: when my son was little, he was probably six or seven years old, and I, he didn't lock the bathroom door, so I didn't know he was in there. I opened the door and he was. So far away from the toilet.

Mikki : You're like, sons.

Jessica: And I was like, so I startled him because

Mikki : he's,

Jessica: I opened the door. He's like, oh,

Mikki : whoa.

Jessica: I was like, what are you doing? And he's like going potty. I was like, mm-hmm. Why so far away live that? Why are you this far away from the toilet? Well, I wanted to see how far I could be and still get it in.

Mikki : Oh God.

Jessica: I was like, I will tell you how far you can be before you get it in

Mikki : standing [00:49:00] above the toilet.

Jessica: That is it. There's no, there was no prizes and so then all the rugs, I just took them. I just,

Mikki : the thing is that girls don't have to deal with like Absolutely not. Absolutely not.

Jessica: Although my, my youngest daughter did try to sit on the toilet facing the other way.

Mikki : Love that. For her

Jessica: to see when she was little, to see if like it's, it still worked that way.

Mikki : Is it the same? Does it go, eh, I wonder how that went.

Jessica: I was like, this is, this is my life,

Mikki : mom life. Hashtag, sorry. Side quest.

Jessica: Sorry.

Mikki : I just wanted to clear that up. The difference between commercial, residential, 'cause there is a difference.

Jessica: There is a difference.

Mikki : And commercial people, I'm gonna tell we ain't trained right. We, we, we don't have that home training. We, they do wild

Jessica: stuff. There's no politeness.

Mikki : There's not. It's just like, whatever, we're here to do a job and this is giving that. So, sorry.

Jessica: This guy just seems like a douche canoe.

Mikki : He does seem like a douche canoe.

Jessica: Um, yes. Mistakes on my part were made that I will never make again. But a business that tells you that they know what they're doing. Should [00:50:00] know what they're doing.

Mikki : They should know what they're doing. She's right.

Jessica: So that is it. And she sent me pictures too and like, did you see this sod like that? I did that.

Like I, I mean, I.

Mikki : It's

Jessica: pretty wild. Well, well, it's just, that's, that's not how

Mikki : that, I like the, I like the three dead pieces. He's like, it looks good from my house. What are you talking about, ma'am?

Jessica: What? What is that?

Mikki : He's like, it's better than most would do. Most people

Jessica: do. Um, how about now? How

Mikki : about, do you wanna get sued?

Because that's what's gonna happen.

Jessica: Yeah, no, this is just, I mean, it's just bad all around. So I'll stick those pictures up there too. Um,

Mikki : yeah,

Jessica: so yeah, so same company, two different ladies writing it all

Mikki : and what's interesting, very similar scopes of work. So it's not like this guy, just like they,

Jessica: he, they

Mikki : present.

Yeah. He sounds like he does retaining walls. I mean, not, well,

Jessica: do not hire,

Mikki : yeah. I wouldn't hire him to save my life, but. It seems like he is operating outside of his scope on multiple jobs [00:51:00] and doing work that he doesn't know how to do on multiple jobs. And that really sinks. And I know that in, um, I know that in Florida you have to have, um, a.

A, a GC license to do certain work. So again, even if something doesn't require a general contractor, like I could see how this woman would think, oh, well it's worked to my yard. Why would they need to have a license? So I could see where people mm-hmm. Would like not think to check on that. And in a lot of cases you might not need that, but you still have the ability to check to, first of all.

And like, listen, I, I thank this lady so much for writing in because these stories help everybody. Thank you. So I don't wanna thank you at all. Make it seem like she did anything wrong. Right. Like we should be able to trust that the people that we're hiring are gonna do the job mm-hmm. That we hire them to do.

Unfortunately, the whole reason we have this podcast they know is because that's not exactly what happens.

Jessica: Nope. And we can all Monday morning quarterback and say,

Mikki : you know, right. Be like, no. But for the purpose of like everybody else. I think a first [00:52:00] mistake was not getting multiple bids and I technically, I'm not sure that she did or didn't, 'cause she didn't mention it, but I feel like if she had, she would've known that his price was really under what it should have been.

Um, the second piece is looking into somebody and seeing, have they, do they have judgments against them? Have they had multiple companies? Because if this dude in between these two stories has already dissolved the company and started a new one, I guarantee you it's not the first time he's done it. So.

Checking to see if somebody has had multiple companies under their name. The timeframe between them, if they sound similar, 'cause that's a really common thing, somebody gets in trouble under their current LLC and then goes and starts another LLC. With just a few words changed. Mm-hmm. So it seems like they're operating under the same, it's the same business.

Right. So they don't have to change their marketing, they don't have to change their website. Yeah. They don't have to change any of that.

Jessica: Or in this case, he completely changed it because he knew that he was doing shady work. Yeah. And his, that. The first business name was [00:53:00] so bad, and like people were like, no, absolutely not.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: So either way you gotta, you gotta watch, you gotta be watching 'em. It's,

Mikki : it's definitely a red flag when somebody has multiple companies. Mm-hmm. That, that do the same thing. Like, to be perfectly honest with you guys, I've, my drywall company, which is registered. I have my general contracting company, which is registered.

Um, we have the podcast, which is registered. Those are three businesses that are technically, oh, and I have a consulting company which is registered. Those are four different companies all under my name, right? Mm-hmm. But they all do different things. So to, to give you a little bit of distinction, if you, oh, look, somebody up and they have four companies under their name.

They're all in different industries. That is not necessarily a red flag, but if you have somebody that has had six different companies that all do the same thing or sound like they do the same thing. Mm-hmm. That's something to make you take, take pause,

Jessica: or at least ask. Them. Like, why do you have three landscaping companies?[00:54:00]

Mikki : Yeah. I'm gonna be honest, liars gonna lie. So like, you can ask them and they could give you an answer and you could just try to suss it out to whether like, oh, this seems like a legitimate answer, or, you know, maybe not. Mm-hmm. But that, that, doing the research. I really think makes all the difference. In this case, I think she would've saved herself a lot of headache, um, by having the, a second quote, and she ended up paying $35,000 Right.

For it to be replaced.

Jessica: So the fir Yeah, so the first story,

Mikki : oh, that was the first story.

Jessica: Yeah. So it was the same company, two different stories. Okay. So the first one ended up having to pay $35,000 to have the retaining wall fixed correctly. So.

Mikki : And like, listen, that's probably what it should have been. She probably paid $5,000 for demo.

Mm-hmm. Like they, she probably paid extra money for them to undo what he did. But it probably was initially a $30,000 job. Right. It probably was that she thought, oh, $10,000, great. Love that amount. And that's where getting multiple bids would've helped her to understand, oh, this is [00:55:00] way under. Mm-hmm. And understanding that, you know, a, a qualified contractor in whatever field.

Is going, they're, they're going to be within a range. So like, you know, our work, we bid with different general contractors and I'll have a GC come back to me and say, Hey, you were right in the middle. So if they got 10 quotes from different drywall contractors, I'm right in the middle. That means that my pricing is.

On the same mm-hmm. Field or same lane as all of my competitors. If somebody's crazy high, they're obviously not gonna take it. But if somebody's crazy low, a, a qualified general contractor's also not gonna take that either because they know this person's probably gonna walk off the job. So that's where it really is important to get multiple quotes.

And I feel like if this lady had, she may have had a different experience. Yeah. But I absolutely hate that she spent. They've, both of them, spent of them, all of that money.

Jessica: Mm-hmm. And like these are only, like, there's in that Facebook group that was shared where they shared their stories. Yeah. There was other [00:56:00] people who had smaller and mm-hmm.

And other things. This was just the,

Mikki : the two people,

Jessica: the two that were

Mikki : sharing word, the, the full tea.

Jessica: The full, full cup of tea. Don't hire them.

Mikki : Yeah.

Jessica: So if you're in Florida,

Mikki : yes,

Jessica: beware.

Mikki : Watch out for these guys and listen, we really appreciate you guys writing your stories and whether it's on TikTok, whether it's on our [e-mail], you can go, you just scroll down a little bit and there's a form that you can fill out that will.

Help us be able to share your story and just the reality is, this is how we get the word out. This is how we build this educational platform. You share your stories and we can share them with others so they know what to look out for. We obviously wanna make it so eventually nobody's writing stories in because everybody's watching the podcast and they're getting great advice and not getting screwed over by contractors.

Mm-hmm. But until then. Please go are and share your story. We appreciate you. Um, we also have grown quite a bit with our [00:57:00] audience, so we thank you guys so much for liking and subscribing. Um, please do that either here on YouTube or on any, um, we do audio as well, so if you listen to podcasts, like on your phone or when you're driving, you can check us out on whatever your favorite platform for podcasts to listen to is.

So we appreciate you and just where can they find us on the socials?

Jessica: On LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram is at Chickson Construction Podcast on TikTok is at Chickson Construction.

Mikki : All right, guys. Thank you so much and we'll see you next time. Bye.