Hopper Construction

I will begin with the positives of my experience with Robert Cox (DBA Hopper Construction). Robert seems like a knowledgable man with substantial experience in construction and building work. His quoted prices to me were very reasonable, even cheap. He was willing to charge me less on a number of items on this job knowing that I was on a tight budget. The tuck pointing of my foundation turned out very good. I have no complaints about the quality of that work. Also, the majority of the tuck pointing on my front brick wall is of a good quality. Problems arose initially due to the length of time the project was taking. The job was started on August 20, 2012. I was moving out of the house shortly thereafter and a family was moving in midway through September as tenants. Robert and I discussed the project schedule and 4-6 weeks was the agreed upon timetable. Robert did say that weather and other delays could potentially add 2 weeks to that. The end of October (over 8 weeks) came and went and the job was far from finished. As the price was very low, I felt I could stand to wait longer for things to finish. However, I was frustrated that the project was past due and Robert did not make an effort to acknowledge that we had agreed on a shorter schedule or to apologize for the delay, except to blame weather and a holdup from a utility company. The work continued at a slow pace. I was reducing my tenants rent at this point because they were living in a construction zone and had been told that the work would be complete by now. Robert had a larger project which was on hold when he started mine and this had now taken priority. I was never made aware that any other job would be given priority over mine. Just as my job was getting close to completion (early December at this point!), we discovered that additional work was necessary. The small roof covering the front door of the house (which had not been replaced) was going to need to be torn down and rebuilt. There was a pause in work as I had to secure a new permit from the city. Robert initially told me his men could begin the project within a day or two of the permit being issued. I then received a voice mail from him telling me that he wasn't sure when they'd be able to get back to my project. I called him back and left a message stating that I really needed to speak with him so that we could establish a clear schedule for the remainder of the job. After 2 days went by without hearing from him, I contracted someone else to finish the job. There were still portions of the original contracted job that Robert had not finished. Masonry work, purchasing and installing railing on the front porch, and a final cleanup. 2 brick pillars had been rebuilt as a part of the new porch. The pillars were incomplete and were both aesthetically and contractually wrong. Our contract had stated that the pillars would be built on the foundation of the porch and NOT on the concrete pad itself. The pad would be poured around the bases of the pillars. This is not how they were in fact built. The concrete pad was poured first and the brick pillars sit on top of it. Thankfully, it doesn't appear to be a structural problem at this point, but the work was done in direct contradiction to how Robert himself outlined it in our contract. Again, I was not told of this change. The pillars themselves are extremely unattractive. They have inconsistant gaps in the brickwork (some of the spaces between bricks are nearly twice as large as others), and excess mortar was never cleaned off. In addition, they were not built at the proper width on 2 sides leaving an extra wide overhang where the pillars meet the limestone caps. There is also a gap where the top step meets the concrete pad of the porch. Water is able to roll off of the porch and fall back under the pad and behind the steps. The retaining wall appears to have been built poorly on one side and is leaning out toward the front yard. The front section of the wall may need to be taken down and relaid to ensure that the top of the wall is level and rain fall doesn't force it to bow further. At this point, I had paid Robert $200 more than our original contract stated. Additional charges on construction projects are common. There were other charges that were unpaid at this point (some labor and the retaining wall, which was not listed on our original contract). However, since our contract was for completed and quality work and a portion of the job was unfinished (costing me significantly more money to bring in a new contractor), the project was extremely late, and additionally some of the work was of poor quality, I felt as though we were even. Robert sent me a final invoice for over $3700, well over a third of our original contracted amount (again, paid at this point). The invoice was very unclear and failed to show how the money I had already paid had been applied toward the contracted $9000. There were additional charges that I had never been made aware of and some descriptions of labor that as listed, were ridiculous: 26 hours of labor (13 each by 2 men) to rake dirt over a small yard. When I told Robert how I felt and the complaints I had and that I thought we were even, he stormed away and said he would simply have a lien put on the property. I later wrote an email again laying out my complaints and telling him that I still thought we could work out a solution. That was almost 2 weeks ago and I haven't heard from him. I have spoken to many people about this and feel that my position is very, very reasonable. I don't believe that Robert is a devious person who intended to extend the project as long as he did, nor that he intended for some of the work to be of a low quality. My sense is that poor business management and client relations are the main cause of this outcome. Once the other client's larger job was resumed, my project became a low priority and simply wasn't handled properly. The extremely large final invoice and stubborn refusal to discuss it are simply the marks of further unprofessionalism.

1.The contractor was helpful in suggesting ways to approach the project and stay within my budget. 2. The contractor has very good knowledgable of how to do things. His crew were conscientious and skilled in building and installing according to the plan. 3. The contractor chose talented and reliable subcontractors. There were few delays because of the subcontractor work. 4. The contractor chose a knowledgable and affordable architect to review the plans and make drawings needed for permit application. 5. The contractor kept in touch with me throughout the job making suggestions, explaining things, took me shopping to find fixtures, flooring, kitchen tile, doors, windows, and other materials. 6. The contractor built in regular increments based on work completed and upcoming work. 7. The contractor was forthright about some mistakes made by workman and was open to negotiation in regards to offsets. 8. The contractors laborers were reliable, honest, and seemed to enjoy their work.

Mr, Cox submitted an ourageously high bid for replacing the roof on my garage, When he discovered I had obtained other bids from reputable contractors, he offered to replace the roof at a normal price, then replaced only half.

It has been horrible. We have been under contract since 4/30/2008, and the job is still not complete.