Scott Austin Builder

unknown

This was a complete disaster. After 3 months work and close to $45,000 in bills this contractor had completed nothing he was asked to do and caused great damage to the structure. He got part of the walls insulated but he is unable to tell me exactly which are and which aren't. The attic and basement are left undone. Without my permission or knowledge he managed to cut a huge tunnel in the cement floor the full length of my garage and cut a hole in the foundation of the house, rip off the aluminum cladding on all the trim work, and rip out nearly every window in the house.(These were only 8 years old and were energy star rated). These were left on a heap as was all the concrete he destroyed and the rest of his debris. He was also caught substituting inferior products for what I asked for and, when called on this, he was found 2 days later to be using the same products instead of getting the ones I had originally requested that contained a warranty. In the process he re-wired the whole house and then told me he had done so! He left all the wires sticking out of the walls bare and the outlet boxes on the kitchen counter and considered this to be done! I was billed for the materials to "complete the wiring". He constantly was doing things I had not requested and had no knowledge of. He also could not remember what we had discussed so I began to write everything down in e-mails to him. This upset him greatly and he told me I should call him instead of writing things in e-mails. I told him I was doing that so we were both on the same page...but it didn't help. I live some distance away and could only visit once a week but always found he had done something not requested and had not finished what he was hired to do. I had to spend time trying to decide what to do to remedy what he had already torn apart without permission and finally decided enough was enough...there seemed to be no way he could stay on task. He did so much damage to what was a very nice house that it will now need to be destroyed and I am in the process of arranging that. Prior to this I had initially contacted him to build a new house. I gave him a plan I loved but he insisted there were things about it that were not good and he could make it better. Every design he drew was unacceptable and I told him I did not like them. Now that he has been relieved of his duties remodeling my tenant house he has added on to my bill another $7-$8,000 for the designs he drew which I did not like or did not ask for. He has also kept my original design which was complete in itself. After seeing him struggle trying to change my design I decided he probably was not the person to build a new house for me so gave him the tenant house insulation job so he would have something to do until he could find another project. What a mistake!!!!! If anyone would like a look at his work you are welcome to contact me and I will take you through the house.

Well planned and discussed, positive workers, easy to talk to. Very helpful.

The siding project got pushed back to mid/late October (instead of mid late September) before starting, which made it much more of a cold weather and snow issue, but they got the job done. Except for the later start, the process went "according to Hoyle." We're very happy with the results.

Scotty is a very down to earth and knowledgeable person. He was willing to discuss options and provided a very thorough job.