One horror story is when a contractor took a large deposit for a home renovation project and then disappeared without doing any work. Another is that some contractors use sub - standard materials even though they were contracted to use high - quality ones. And there are also cases where contractors completely misjudge the time required for a project, leading to long delays.
There was a contractor who was contracted to build a small addition to a house. They didn't follow the building plans accurately. The dimensions were all off, and the new addition didn't match up with the existing structure properly. The contractor tried to pass it off as a minor issue, but it was a major problem. The homeowners had to spend a lot of time and money to get it corrected. They had to hire an engineer to come up with a new plan to fix the mess the contractor had made.
Check references thoroughly. Ask for at least three references from previous clients and actually call them. If a contractor is hesitant to provide references, that's a red flag.
A contractor was tasked with laying new tiles in a bathroom. He got the pattern all wrong and ended up with a design that looked like a crazy maze. It was so bad that the homeowner decided to keep it as a joke and tell everyone who visited about it.
One common horror story is contractors disappearing in the middle of the job. They take your deposit and then stop showing up, leaving you with an unfinished project. Another is shoddy workmanship, like walls not being straight or floors being uneven. And cost overruns are also a big problem. They start with one price but keep adding extra costs as the project goes on without proper justification.
One horror story I have is when a contractor promised to finish a kitchen renovation in two weeks. After two weeks, only half of the cabinets were installed. They kept giving excuses like supply issues but it turned out they took on too many projects at once. We had to live without a functioning kitchen for months in the end.
One common problem is contractors not finishing the job on time. Another is using low - quality materials. Also, contractors might overcharge for the work.
In a contractor job horror story I know, a contractor was hired to paint a house. They did a very sloppy job. There were paint drips everywhere, and they didn't properly prep the surfaces so the paint started to peel off quickly. The contractor also overcharged for the job. They said it was due to unexpected expenses, but it was clear they were just trying to make more money. The homeowner had to hire another contractor to redo the whole painting job.
There was a contractor we hired for building a small patio. He seemed very professional at first. He started the work but used really cheap materials instead of the ones we agreed on. When we confronted him, he got really defensive and started yelling. It was a nightmare. We ended up having to pay someone else to fix the shoddy work he did.