Changing Times Building Contractors LLC

We hired Mike Beugnies of Changing Times initially to do home management for our 2nd home. He then began finding several things to repair. Initially, we hired him for a small insulation job, which went ok, except that it took him 3 times as long to complete as promised, and then we later found panels of insulation missing, a shattered light bulb still in it's socket (which had clearly been recognized as the glass was not on the ground)-which posed a fire hazard, especially with the house not occupied full time. He promised to rectify these issues but never did. Despite this, we later hired Mike to do an excavation project around our house--regrading the land around the garage and improving drainage from around the foundation. He quoted us that the project would take 5-10 days. The project began at the end of Sept. When the end of Oct approached, I began to contact Mike more frequently to request info on the progress of the project (we were living across the country at the time) and he would frequently ignore my calls/emails/texts or answer and tell me it was almost done with specific details. Finally, we had a friend go and inspect the house. He found that no progress had been made since the initial digging in early October and there was significant damage done to the siding and frame of the house by the excavation equipment. I confronted Mike with this and he gave me a line of excuses, including stories of medical issues with his wife that did not make any logical sense (I'm a physician who frequently deals with the issues he was claiming existed and what he said was totally unbelievable). He stated that he lied to us because his foreman lied to him and that he'd fix the problem and get the job done in the next week. Well, the same pattern continued with nothing being done, Mike making excuses and soon it was May. I also found out that he had not been doing the home management that he was supposed to be doing either--boxes we'd had shipped to the house with items he was supposed to have used were buried in the snow when we visited in the winter, our hot tub had frozen, etc. etc. Finally, I asked Mike for a refund and decided to hire another company to fix the work. Other contractors in the area that Mike had rented equipment from told me that he didn't pay them for their services and that they were trying to track him down. An exact quote from one of the well-respected excavation companies in town is that Mike is "...a joke. He doesn't know what he's doing at all." Consistent with his prior behavior, Mike promised a refund but never delivered despite multiple phone calls and emails. I had to contact our credit card company and file a dispute to get a partial refund. I would have gladly paid twice as much to a competent person/company to avoid the headache of constant lies, needing to constantly try to track him down and get details and the frustration of now needing to correct the damages that he inflicted and incompetent work that he performed. Bottom line: The man is dishonest, immoral, incompetent and essentially a criminal.

We got 3 quotes to do the work and awarded the contract to Mike Beugnies of Changing Times Building Contractors llc on 9/25/10. Building work started on approx 10/10/10, by 10/15/10, Mr. Beugnies advised that there was a lot of water and additional drainage would be required. The cost of the project increased by $6,500. By approx 11/01/10, the foundations were complete and the slab was poured, then things started to slow down. By 11/16/10, all we had up was the framing for the walls. By the beginning of December we requested a meeting with Mr. Beugnies as we had seen little progress and we hadn't seen any builders on site. By mid-March 2011, the roof wasn't on the building and it wasn't until late March 2011 that the roof plywood was put on. The plywood roof was covered with tar paper, which blew off with the first wind. Then Mr. Beugnis proceeded to nail the torn pieces back on. It looked very unprofessional, and when I questioned it, I was told it was temporary. It ws never addressed. This was when we got a better look at the way the plywood was installed on the roof. It looked like not enough wood had been purchased and small strips (approx 6 inches wide) had been nailed on to the edges at the rear of the building. In order to protect the building, a large tarpaulin was draped over the structure, but it didn't cover the ends, so when it rains, the water drips through and has soaked the insulation installed underneath these areas. At the end of March I complained about the slab as it had heaved significantly, causing puddles to collect in either corner at the rear of the garage and because it hadn't been scored the slab cracked in random places. A drain had not been installed either. I asked an external company to review the work and they were not complementary. Basically, they advised the slab be removed and replaced. I questioned Mr. Beugnies if he had installed the 2 inch insulation under the slab, he said he had, but when I checked with the excavation company that helped lay the slab, they confirmed that Mike had requested they not install it. When I questioned Mr. Beugnies why he had told me he had installed the insulation, and not done so, he didn't provide an answer. Mr. Beugnies agreed to get the slab replaced by a reputable company, but never followed up. We had a request from the company Mr. Beugnies had rented a man lift from, to settle a bill that Mr. Beugnies had not paid. We could not help with that as we had already paid a significant amount of money to Mr. Beugnies. Mr. Beugnies last turned up for 1/2 a days work on 4/15/11, he then disappeared for 2 weeks, refusing to return phone calls or e-mails. As it stands today, after 7 months of building a 2 car garage, the roof is not complete and it’s of poor construction, so it needs replacement. We never saw the shingles. The concrete slab needs to be ripped up and re-laid. The electrics are not complete and the insulation has started to fall apart in areas, as to roof leaked into it during the recent rains. The sheet rock has not been installed, neither have the garage doors. We don’t even have the materials. We fired Mr. Beugnies 5/6/11.