Terry Prince Genl Contractors LLC

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In the fall of 2012, we contracted Terry Prince Contracting, LLC to build us a retirement home in Allegany County, NY. We told Terry Prince from the very beginning this was to be a turnkey project with all painting/staining done so it would be move-in ready. Terry Prince tried to convince us a building permit was not needed. At our insistence he did get a permit but told us because he listed the structure as a "cabin" on the building permit, housing codes did not apply to it and our property tax would be less. Of course, this is incorrect. Through the spring of 2013, most of the construction seemed to move along well. A few issues came up along the way but we attributed most of them to Prince trying to remember everything rather than writing things down. Wrong doors, windows, and screens arrived on site than what we had requested. These were corrected and we moved on. It wasn’t until the last few weeks of the project in late May and early June that a variety of quality issues began to surface (outlined below) and at the same time, Prince and his electrical subcontractor began demanding direct payments from us. Mind you, this project was being done under a bank approved construction loan, which had been making progress payments along the way. We were down to the final payment, which would only be released by the bank upon completion of the project and a Certificate of Occupancy issued by the local building inspector. As it turned out, Terry Prince did not pay the electrician he hired for all the basic materials and installation labor of light fixtures, switches, receptacles, smoke detectors, even the power panel and grounding rods. Claimed these were "extra" electrical items, therefore we were responsible for payment. In an affidavit signed by the electrician, Prince only paid him for roughing in the electrical work. Our contract with Prince included installation of ALL electrical items. We had directly purchased nearly all of the light and fan fixtures to be installed. Near the end of the third week of June, Prince walked off the job without notice. He later stated that he did not think we had the funds to finish the project. On June 29, 2013 we met with Terry Prince to straighten out what would be owed to him through the end of the project less the final bank payment. We paid him $15,000 that day for legitimate extras he completed. With this payment, he agreed to return to work immediately after the July 4th holiday. He didn’t return. We met with him again on July 17 and he signed a note stating he would be done by July 31. Within a couple days, he sent an email saying he would not return without being pre-paid for the rest of the work. The amount he claimed was $3820. He also demanded that his electrical subcontractor be paid in full for unfinished work. Live wires were still sticking out at this point. Prince never returned to complete the project. In August, we got our attorney involved and despite further efforts, Prince refused to return. We terminated his contract for Breach of Contract among other reasons. He then placed a Mechanic's Lien on the property for about twice what would have been owed IF he had finished the job. After nearly a year of Prince changing lawyers a few times and missing court dates, the lien was vacated in State of New York Supreme Court, County of Erie. The order granted June 13, 2014 declared the lien "willfully exaggerated" in violation of the lien law. Below listed are items defective in workmanship; Basement: -Not enough cement originally ordered for cellar floor, more cement had to be ordered quickly. The additional cement did not bond well with original cement. This resulted in numerous cracks in the floor. Prince blamed the excavator. The excavator did not calculate the cement order, Prince did. -Water pipes not secured to walls. -No backwater valve installed as required by code. -Plumbing roughed in for cellar bathroom-too close to wall, no room for wallboard. Drywall: -The drywall finishing done by Prince’s subcontractor is terrible. Two inside corners in the great room are very wavy, not smooth and neat at a 90 degree angle. There are numerous rough spots that should have been re-coated and sanded again. Some of this was done. Prince refused to paint the repairs. Said he already painted once, wouldn't do it again. He placed the blame on his subcontractor and left it at that. - Many of the holes surrounding electrical boxes are too large. The cover plates fail to completely cover the holes. Bathroom: -The bathroom tile is very crooked and uneven. Grout lines don't match up. Gaps between tiles vary between 3/8 of an inch to 1/32 of an inch. The drywall surrounding the shower stall was done incorrectly so the bull-nose tile could not be installed. Again, Prince blamed his drywall subcontractor. The entire shower needs to be torn down and re-done. -The bathroom measures 5'x10'. In this space, 5 screws are popping out from the drywall. Exterior Doors: -All three exterior doors needed to be re-hung. They were all out of square so much that they were hitting the frame when closing. The patio door wouldn’t even latch. The rough frame opening actually needed to be corrected, as it was too tight and crooked to shim the door level and square. Prince blamed the poor fitment on “defective” doors. Said he'd order new doors. There was nothing wrong with the doors only their installation. We corrected them ourselves. Deck: -Did not secure all joist hangers. -Did not secure deck to structure with carriage bolts, only nails (inspector failed this). -When installing deck boards, railings, and steps, Prince did not take the time (A few seconds is all that was needed.) to look at the wood to make sure the best side was up, or the piece of wood discarded if there was not good side. Interior Doors: -Of the six interior doors, three need to be re-hung. They don't open and close properly because they don’t sit square in the doorframe. Knotty Pine Ceiling: -The mill end of numerous tongue-n-groove boards was not removed so they ramp-up at one end. -Boards were supposed to be sanded clean and clear sealed. Some boards were sanded, some not. -Clear sealant was applied over dirt. Some boards have no clear seal, and sap is dripping from them. Kitchen: -Window not installed properly. It's crooked. It slopes down by 3/8 of an inch over a 24-inch span. -After much back and forth, Prince rejected doing the installation of the cabinets and countertops. We had an outside contractor install them. Interior Trim: -Numerous pieces of trim around doors and floors were cut too long. The pieces wood was forced into place, causing it to bow out and leave large gaps between the trim and the wall. Bedrooms: -The closets received only a primer coat of paint. Prince claims "Most people like it that way. The white paint makes it easier to see in the closet."

We hired Terry Prince Contracting to add an addition onto the back of our house it was a 10x14 foot addition, also hired him to add a french drain system in our backyard as we would get pools of water whenever it would rain hard. We also decided since we were having all the work done to add new vinyl siding to our whole house. The initial frame work of the addition as well as the foundation I believe were done well however, things started to go down hill fast from there. Many of the new dry wall sections still had clumps of dry wall that hadn't been sanded off. He didn't insulate our water pipes in the attic that he had to run for our new bathroom, He didn't have inspectors come in and OK the work. It wasn't til it started to rain hard that we realized he not done the drain in the backyard correctly. He put a pipe in the ground but never covered it with gravel so all the pipes got clogged with mud(which we had to have redone completely). His time table of when he said he was going to be there and when he actually would show up was never correct. We also had him run a new electric box and he never labeled them for us. This was a train wreck from the start. contractor did pull strings to get a hot water tank in.. that was a plus.