Michael Anderson Builders

My first red flag should have been when the bank notified me that they would not be able to go forward approving Michael Anderson Builders for the job because he did not provide proof of insurance or bond. The contractor came to me and asked for a $2000.00 deposit so he could renew his insurance and get the job. At the end of the job, he would not return the deposit. When the work started it seemed as though things might go well, but in the third week of construction and inspector came and shut the job down because the Contractor did not pull the general permits for the job. The sub contractor for the roof pulled his permits, the reason for the initial roofing inspection, but the general contractor did not pull any permits for his work. According to the contract the general contractor signed, the contract stated that all permits would be pulled prior to the commencement of work. This would be the second of many problems with the general contractor. Because he under bid the permit portion of the job, he forced us into paying the permit fees. He worked on a neighbors property for about a month while our project stood still. This was another violation of the contract, the job being stagnant for 30 days or more. Then we had to pay for plans, which at this point my wife and I decided to make some alterations to the interior since we had to PAY for plans and permits. Michael Anderson Builders, Mike Anderson contacted an Architect to draw up the plans. My wife and I gave the contractor a sketch of how we wanted the kitchen and living area to look, door positions and windows. From our position this information was never given to the Architect, the initial plans came in close to what we wanted but not accurate. The Michael Anderson kept assuring us that he would get the plans fixed before the final inspection, this did not happen. The decision to alter the plans was made because the mold people told us that there was mold in the kitchen, which was suppose to be kept in tact. When the kitchen was being demo'ed I ask to be shown where the mold was found. There was no mold visible in the kitchen, just some water damage. We later on found this was a tactic of the General Contractor to escalate costs and make more money on change orders. To remove the additional mold in the kitchen he wanted $10,000.00 which ended up to be $3,500.00 when we communicated directly with the sub contractor doing the mold remediation. This continued with Solar Tubes we wanted to install and other items I ended up finishing myself, a very high initial bid, then an agreement for 1/3 to 1/4 of the original estimate. There was a considerable amount of work the contractor did that I had to fix during the construction. Windows that were installed did not close properly and doors would not shut, walls were not square and vertical and a pony wall was not secured properly, it wobbled all over, the contractor said it would be good when drywall was installed, I thought not and sheared it up myself with plywood, something he would not do. He altered a gas line that leaked, and I had to fix, the list goes on. The constant comment we got from the contractor was, "It worked when I left yesterday". We constantly had to stand over Mike Anderson to make sure most things were done properly, and some things did slip through our initial inspections. During the installation of a shear wall, the contractor nailed 2 & 1/2 inch long nails into 3/8 plywood and 1 1/2 wood mounted to the exterior of the house. The addition of these materials would indicate 1 and 7/8 thus knocking the stucco off the house in about 20 different places. Because the tar paper was now compromised, he refused to fix the tar paper which could leave the house susceptible to water or moisture. He refused to properly fix many of his mistakes. Michael Anderson Builders was suppose to get a termite clearance report before installing drywall into the property which he did not do and subsequently covered up termite damage he was suppose to repair, he was paid in full for these repairs but did not do them. Some of the sub contractors he hired did a very decent job, but others were barely acceptable. He did not monitor some of his sub very well at all, especially the drywall and texture people. These people broke electrical items, sprayed everything and in areas they were not suppose to, this over spray ended up costing us more money and time delays. Comment here is, if the job passes an inspection, according to the California State License Board, it has to be accepted. When the job was about 2/3 finished, the contractor came to us and told us he was loosing money. To get him to finish, my wife and I pulled back and paid for a couple items he bid on, reducing his costs totaling about $8,000.00. He still did not complete all the items he signed up to do. Towards the end we received letters in the mail of none payment from two subcontractors the Michael Anderson had the responsibility to pay, since we had paid him. It took us nearly two weeks to get Michael Anderson to pay this over due bill. Near the end the contractor asked us to pay him directly instead of going through the bank which was the channel that was suppose to be followed. He wanted us to deceive our bank and inspector to get paid, something we refused to do. He then told us if we did not pay him in 4 days he would keep our deposit, file a lien and lawsuit which he did. We had a mediation clause in the contract that he did not follow, and his lien was removed after we sent him documentation that his lien was illegal due to lien releases he signed. This is a contractor that has only his best interests at heart, and does not really care about the people paying his wages, "building on integrity" was not displayed on this job. He also did not complete our neighbors job in conversations we had with them. Many items that he promised he would complete or fix, were never done. He did not come close to deliver on half of his promises. When he left the job, Mike Anderson left our yard in a mess, with material and debris all over our house. The over spray from painting the eves of the house were never painted properly, it looked like some kid with a spray can painted the eves and then down the house. This experience left me NOT wanting to use another contractor ever again, but realize in every apple cart there are a few that will leave a bad taste in your mouth. One major item I learned from my experience here, is when you sign a contract with a contractor, make sure it is formatted properly. Every page should have both signatures on it. If it is a 4 page document, pages should be labeled 1 of 4, then 2 of 4 and so on. Inspect your contractors work before you allow him to call for an inspection, and know your contract inside and out. If you don't like his contract, do the research, visit the CSLB and make your own, and don't have two contradictory contracts. This will only muddy the water in arbitration or court. Make your contractor sign a lien release before he starts, if he won't, find another, and learn the rights relating to arbitration and mediation, something we did not understand fully. If your contractor sues you because he is unwilling to finish the job he started, know, at least in California you CAN refuse a subpoena if you have a mediation or arbitration clause in your contract. This will help you forgo the problems you will have in Small Claims court. 15 minutes is not enough time to have a commissioner understand what happened over months of construction in small claims court. This job was suppose to take 3 months, it ended up to be 6.