Eagles Nest Construction, LLC

I am writing this letter in response to the complaint that was received by you In March The complaint was written and sent to you from Ms [redacted] concerning a kitchen remodel that Eagles Nest Construction was in contract with here to provide I first want to take this opportunity to thank you for bringing this to my attention I have earned my living in the residential construction industry all of my life It is the sole way that I exist and am able to pay my mortgage, insurance, utilities, food and anything else that my family consumes, so it is very important to me that this is addressed immediately This is the first time that I have even had a complaint lodged against me or my company with the Revdex.com, and as you well know, the Revdex.com is a very useful tool when choosing who you trust to perform work in your home I have read the complaint and I vehemently deny all of the allegations and the course of events that Ms [redacted] says took place The start date of the contract is accurate but all of which follows in her complaint from that point forward is untrue From the beginning Ms [redacted] knew the size of my company (me and one or two helpers) and the limitations of my small shop which resides in my garage She was also aware of the quality that we produced for this was not the first project that Eagles Nest Construction had completed for her She was aware that we also were not the fastest in the industry for time and time again I have counseled my clients, that speed has no relevance on quality, on the contrary it is the very thing that inhibits quality Also from the beginning I knew the expectations that I would be held to by Ms [redacted] , also because I was well aware of the expectations that I would need to meet I was aware of how clean the job site needed to be and how, what and where debris and trash needed to be disposed of Ms [redacted] alleges that directly after the contract signing and exchange of funds that the first delay occurred On the contrary, I can and will provide receipts from the lumber yard from where the material was purchased and affidavits from the men that worked with me that will prove that work started immediately In fact, for the first three weeks, work progressed faster than my expectations It was only after the cabinets were assembled, ready for finish that the problems began I have been building and installing cabinets built in my shop for over twenty five years Before that, I was taught by a master cabinet maker the techniques, sequences and course of events that should be adhered to in order to insure a smooth project with a well built custom cabinet After the cabinets were complete, I gave a sample of the wood, Hard Rock Maple, and a sample of the plywood, also Maple, to Ms [redacted] , so that she could take the stain to her local [redacted] so that she and the experts in stain color could work together to achieve the exact color she was looking for This procedure was taught to me some thirty years ago and remains the most effective way to accurately achieve exactly what color the clients wants by taking me out of the middle In fact, all stain choices must be approved by the client, because once cabinets are stained, there is no easy way to reverse the color choices Ms [redacted] ’ writes in her complaint that she was rushed to make a decision on stain colors I contend that Ms [redacted] had spent months deciding what colors that she had envisioned for her kitchen In fact, I had a clear understanding of what color that she wanted because she was trying to get very close to the hardwood flooring that she was being installed by us Ms [redacted] does not say anything in her complaint about the hardwood flooring installation that was part of the contract It is important for two reasonsOne, in asking for $to be returned to her she does not mention this aspect of the project Two, she was instructed to take a piece of the flooring with her (that was also provided by me) to [redacted] so that they would have an idea of what they were trying to achieve It was one week later that I received the color selection This too I can substantiate with the check that was written to me the day I dropped off the wood samples and the date she gave me her selection which I received by text I had told Ms [redacted] that once she and the [redacted] Technician achieved the color match that she desired, that they would save the formula in their system and I would go to my local [redacted] and purchase the custom blend that they had mixed In her text, one week later, she opined that the color she had selected was a stock color no mixing or tinting required This was the cause of the first week off delay The second delay was caused when the weather in the last of October, first of November turned unusually, extremely cold During this period, in Lancaster Ohio, the weather turned bitterly cold with temperatures dropping to minus fifteen degrees below zero With this extreme, rare event, it became impossible to heat my garage up to the temperature needed to apply stain After more than several days of this condition, I moved the cabinets to a different location that was insulated and heated to continue thus avoiding any further delays This was done at my expense to try to move forward as opposed to waiting on the weather to turn warmer In Ms [redacted] ’ complaint, I believe that this is the period in which she alleges that I refused to work because my children were visiting from out of state This is totally untrue but is in line with her unreasonable expectation that I and anyone that works with me should work seven days a week including Thanksgiving and Christmas in order to complete her job The third delay happened during this same time frame After moving the cabinets to a heated area, I began staining The procedure is a simple one A pre staining Min Wax product is applied and allowed to soak into the wood to avoid uneven stainingThen a single coat of the stain that has been selected is applied and allowed to dry The third application is a sealer which closes the pores of the wood which raises the grain and seals the pores of the wood allowing the lacquer to remain on the surface The raised wood grain is then sanded with grit sandpaper to achieve a smooth finish and finally a coat or two of lacquer is applied as a final finish All of this should have taken less than a week The problem encountered was that after the pretreatment and the first coat of the stain that she had selected were allowed to dry the color of the cabinets was PINK! Knowing that this was not the color that she wanted I applied a second coat to achieve a darker color The second coat took almost a week to dry causing another delay After the second coat dried it was still not the color that I thought she was looking for I was at this point that I asked her to come down and bring the sample of wood that [redacted] had stained for her to see if I was close to achieving a match Much to my surprise, it was at this point that Ms [redacted] told me that she had not stained the sample of wood because she did not want to spend the $for the quart of stain Rather she had chosen a sample color off of a wall chart! To make matters worse, the wood on the chart that she selected from was pine NOT MAPLE as provided to her to ensure a match It was here that I informed her that we had a major problem She did come down and see the stain that was on the cabinets and agreed that it was not the color that she had anticipated I believed and stated to her that the best was to move forward was to strip the cabinets and start over with the proper colored stain but this would have to be in a change order and would cost additional money for the extra work that was needed to achieve a quality finish It was there and then that our relationship turned sour She was unwilling to pay anything extra and began an internet search to prove that staining Hard Rock Maple was not a good idea when using a dark color In fact she left a copy of a blog that she had read stating something to this affect My response to this part of her complaint is made in several points Number one, the internet can be used to validate both sides of any argument that you would choose to debate Secondly, there are thousands of examples of dark stained Hard Rock Maple cabinets able to be viewed on the internet thus disproving this part of her complaint Three, I wanted to use Soft Maple, which is still a very hard wood, but it was Ms [redacted] that chose to use Hard Rock Maple in lieu of Soft Maple for its hardness Finally, this became a moot point when I took a sample of her hardwood and a sample of unstained Hard Rock Maple to [redacted] and told them to match it which they did perfectly At this point, with a miserable attitude, Ms [redacted] began to complain and interfere with the men that I had working on her job site installing flooring and drywall so that the cabinets could be installed when they were finished It is true, that once the existing drywall kitchen ceiling was removed, we found wires and structural issues that needed to be corrected before we moved forward It is not true that I told her $and then charged $ To be accurate, my statement was that the change order was going to cost between $and $depending on how long it took to complete the work Change Orders are paid in advance and are separate from the contract The reason that she did not receive a receipt is because the work was still ongoing at the time that we were asked to stop work Daily, my men would go and try to complete the work outlined in the contract and nightly Ms [redacted] would come in after we had left and make a list of complaints of what my men had done wrong She complained that they did not cover her stove and now there was a scratch I have pictures of the stove covered and when confronted with those pictures she opined “Oh, I forgot to tell you that the scratch was actually a piece of food that had dried of the stove” She complained that we did not sweep up our mess at the end of the day and that she had spent hours coming behind my men cleaning up and had left the pile in the basement The pile that was left is ridiculous It was the size of a Plum with 90% of it consisting of dog hair and dust I took a picture of “the huge pile” before I placed it in the trash can so that it could be put into perspective if it became an issue later She complained that we had not cleaned all of the debris out of her garage causing her to almost fall when entering it in the evening When burned the cardboard that she had sent in a picture via text, referencing the problem debris and removed the remaining countertop material (my truck will only hold so much debris in a day) thus eliminating the debris that she had pointed out in her text Then she complained that we had burned boxes that she wanted to keep on purposeThen she complained that we had burned the countertop in her burn pile all of which was and is untrue As stated in the beginning of this response, I had a very clear understanding of what we could burn and what we couldn’t from the first remodel that we had completed successfully If there were remains of something in that burn pile that should not have been in there, then it was placed there by someone else I totally deny that my men or I threw anything away on purpose or placed items in the burn pile that we shouldn’t have This was and remains an attempt to direct attention from the real issue which was the negligence of not following my procedure for choosing the stain color The result of this daily torment was my men refusing to go to her job for fear that they would be blamed for something else, thus causing more delay in having to find and hire new subcontractors Her bankruptcy statements are also undeniably false There were discussions of how hard times had become since but not related to her job Yes things were tight on her job, especially with the delays that we had incurred and the time that had been spent on her staining issue that she was unwilling to pay for I suggest that times have been tough for every mom and pop residential construction business all across this country Everyone involved in construction, period, have been negatively impacted by the mortgage crisis This comment has no place in this forum and is irrelevant to the contract, the scope of work and the root cause of our separation Finally after hiring new men, we managed to get cabinets installed The finish wasn’t as good as I would have liked but I was unwilling to do $of additional work for a problem not caused by me Arrangements were made to install the granite counter tops and I installed the sink and faucets It is untrue that I missed meeting with the granite people I was in constant contact with them so that things would run smoothly While installing the appliance there became an issue in trying to get the faucet to sit tightly against the granite This wasn’t anything that I had done or was to blame for The holes that were drilled into the granite to accept the faucets were drilled to closely and would not allow the locking washers to tighten without hitting the sink It was necessary for the granite installers to address this problem Of course, this became the next topic of negative texting barrages berating me and questioning my ability as a plumber Demanding that I hire a plumber on a Friday night to come and fix my mistake I refusedI also refuse to become combative via texting to further deteriorate our relationship By Wednesday of the following week the problem became resolved Ms [redacted] hired a plumber and he experienced the same difficulty that I did thus leading to the granite people to come out and resolve the problem The final straw was when Ms [redacted] demanded her key back resulting in our inability to gain access to the job site I at her request sent the key via certified mail to her address For three and a half weeks I did not get a phone call, email or text from Ms [redacted] Our ability to keep a schedule or earn a living was completely shut down I focused on other work in order to earn a living and pay the bills At the end of the three and a half weeks I received and email much to my surprise, asking me when I was going to return to her jobsite I responded and stated that I believe that our existing contract had been violated by her and that it was necessary to develop a new contract with a new completion date and scope I believe that Ms [redacted] violated the contract provisions by one, interfering with my men resulting in them refusing to go back on her jobSecond by interfering with the sequences and techniques to be controlled solely by the contractor Finally and most importantly, by refusing and denying access to the project thus eliminating my ability to move forward In closing, it is completely unfair to complain that we took too long and not mention the reasons for delays described in this response Ms [redacted] behaved in such a manner as to make working with her virtually impossible Her demand for a refund of $is also exaggerated If I were to agree to such a demand it would mean that she would have paid me slightly over $for all of the work we performedThis too is unacceptable; she simply is looking for something for nothing Ms [redacted] has questions my ability and my level of skill which is disappointing and insulting Homes that my company has built have been featured in at least five different Log Home Magazines thru out the years All of which had cabinets in them that we designed, built and finished by us From my perspective it has been a long time since Ms [redacted] focused on completing her job but rather in destroying my ability to earn a living It is sad and disappointing to have come to this junction with any client At years of age, I have lived my life in this industry believing that no one has a monopoly on the truth I have always thought it better, when issues arise, to sit at the table with your client, each giving something in order to come to the middle and find a path forward This technique has proved most difficult with Ms [redacted] She has told me more than once in her texts that is her way or no way In the end she has achieved at least one of those ways if not both I want to again thank you for bringing this to my attention and giving me the opportunity to respond and answer these allegations that have been leveled against me I hope that my response gives some clarity from a different perspective of actually what happened I have pictures, emails and texts that will support every statement that I have made in this narrative I also will be more than willing to provide you with notarized statements from the men that worked on her job as to the accuracy of my rebuttal If there is any way that I can provide further assistance or information to help you in this matter I will be more than willing to do so Please contact me at you convenience if there is anything else that you need

I am writing this letter in response to the complaint that was received by you In March 2015.  The complaint was written and sent to you from Ms. [redacted] concerning a kitchen remodel that Eagles Nest Construction was in contract with here to provide.  I first want to take this...

opportunity to thank you for bringing this to my attention.  I have earned my living in the residential construction industry all of my life.  It is the sole way that I exist and am able to pay my mortgage, insurance, utilities, food and anything else that my family consumes, so it is very important to me that this is addressed immediately.  This is the first time that I have even had a complaint lodged against me or my company with the Revdex.com, and as you well know, the Revdex.com is a very useful tool when choosing who you trust to perform work in your home.  I have read the complaint and I vehemently deny all of the allegations and the course of events that Ms. [redacted] says took place.  The start date of the contract is accurate but all of which follows in her complaint from that point forward is untrue.  From the beginning Ms. [redacted] knew the size of my company (me and one or two helpers) and the limitations of my small shop which resides in my garage.  She was also aware of the quality that we produced for this was not the first project that Eagles Nest Construction had completed for her.  She was aware that we also were not the fastest in the industry for time and time again I have counseled my clients, that speed has no relevance on quality, on the contrary it is the very thing that inhibits quality.  Also from the beginning I knew the expectations that I would be held to by Ms. [redacted], also because I was well aware of the expectations that I would need to meet.  I was aware of how clean the job site needed to be and how, what and where debris and trash needed to be disposed of.  Ms. [redacted] alleges that directly after the contract signing and exchange of funds that the first delay occurred.  On the contrary, I can and will provide receipts from the lumber yard from where the material was purchased and affidavits from the men that worked with me that will prove that work started immediately.  In fact, for the first three weeks, work progressed faster than my expectations.  It was only after the cabinets were assembled, ready for finish that the problems began.  I have been building and installing cabinets built in my shop for over twenty five years.  Before that, I was taught by a master cabinet maker the techniques, sequences and course of events that should be adhered to in order to insure a smooth project with a well built custom cabinet.    After the cabinets were complete, I gave a sample of the wood, Hard Rock Maple, and a sample of the plywood, also Maple, to Ms. [redacted], so that she could take the stain to her local [redacted] so that she and the experts in stain color could work together to achieve the exact color she was looking for.  This procedure was taught to me some thirty years ago and remains the most effective way to accurately achieve exactly what color the clients wants by taking me out of the middle.  In fact, all stain choices must be approved by the client, because once cabinets are stained, there is no easy way to reverse the color choices.  Ms. [redacted]’ writes in her complaint that she was rushed to make a decision on stain colors.  I contend that Ms. [redacted] had spent months deciding what colors that she had envisioned for her kitchen.  In fact, I had a clear understanding of what color that she wanted because she was trying to get very close to the hardwood flooring that she was being installed by us.  Ms. [redacted] does not say anything in her complaint about the hardwood flooring installation that was part of the contract.  It is important for two reasons. One, in asking for $8000.00 to be returned to her she does not mention this aspect of the project.  Two, she was instructed to take a piece of the flooring with her (that was also provided by me) to [redacted] so that they would have an idea of what they were trying to achieve.  It was one week later that I received the color selection.  This too I can substantiate with the check that was written to me the day I dropped off the wood samples and the date she gave me her selection which I received by text.  I had told Ms. [redacted] that once she and the [redacted] Technician achieved the color match that she desired, that they would save the formula in their system and I would go to my local [redacted] and purchase the custom blend that they had mixed.  In her text, one week later, she opined that the color she had selected was a stock color no mixing or tinting required.  This was the cause of the first week off delay.   The second delay was caused when the weather in the last of October, first of November turned unusually, extremely cold.  During this period, in Lancaster Ohio, the weather turned bitterly cold with temperatures dropping to minus fifteen degrees below zero.  With this extreme, rare event, it became impossible to heat my garage up to the temperature needed to apply stain.  After more than several days of this condition, I moved the cabinets to a different location that was insulated and heated to continue thus avoiding any further delays.  This was done at my expense to try to move forward as opposed to waiting on the weather to turn warmer.   In Ms. [redacted]’ complaint, I believe that this is the period in which she alleges that I refused to work because my children were visiting from out of state.  This is totally untrue but is in line with her unreasonable expectation that I and anyone that works with me should work seven days a week including Thanksgiving and Christmas in order to complete her job.  The third delay happened during this same time frame.  After moving the cabinets to a heated area, I began staining.  The procedure is a simple one.  A pre staining Min Wax product is applied and allowed to soak into the wood to avoid uneven staining. Then a single coat of the stain that has been selected is applied and allowed to dry.  The third application is a sealer which closes the pores of the wood which raises the grain and seals the pores of the wood allowing the lacquer to remain on the surface.   The raised wood grain is then sanded with 300 grit sandpaper to achieve a smooth finish and finally a coat or two of lacquer is applied as a final finish.  All of this should have taken less than a week.  The problem encountered was that after the pretreatment and the first coat of the stain that she had selected were allowed to dry the color of the cabinets was PINK!  Knowing that this was not the color that she wanted I applied a second coat to achieve a darker color.  The second coat took almost a week to dry causing another delay.  After the second coat dried it was still not the color that I thought she was looking for.  I was at this point that I asked her to come down and bring the sample of wood that [redacted] had stained for her to see if I was close to achieving a match.  Much to my surprise, it was at this point that Ms. [redacted] told me that she had not stained the sample of wood because she did not want to spend the $15 for the quart of stain.  Rather she had chosen a sample color off of a wall chart!  To make matters worse, the wood on the chart that she selected from was pine NOT MAPLE as provided to her to ensure a match.  It was here that I informed her that we had a major problem.  She did come down and see the stain that was on the cabinets and agreed that it was not the color that she had anticipated.  I believed and stated to her that the best was to move forward was to strip the cabinets and start over with the proper colored stain but this would have to be in a change order and would cost additional money for the extra work that was needed to achieve a quality finish.  It was there and then that our relationship turned sour.  She was unwilling to pay anything extra and began an internet search to prove that staining Hard Rock Maple was not a good idea when using a dark color.  In fact she left a copy of a blog that she had read stating something to this affect.  My response to this part of her complaint is made in several points.  Number one, the internet can be used to validate both sides of any argument that you would choose to debate.  Secondly, there are thousands of examples of dark stained Hard Rock Maple cabinets able to be viewed on the internet thus disproving this part of her complaint.  Three, I wanted to use Soft Maple, which is still a very hard wood, but it was Ms. [redacted] that chose to use Hard Rock Maple in lieu of Soft Maple for its hardness.  Finally, this became a moot point when I took a sample of her hardwood and a sample of unstained Hard Rock Maple to [redacted] and told them to match it which they did perfectly.   At this point, with a miserable attitude, Ms. [redacted] began to complain and interfere with the men that I had working on her job site installing flooring and drywall so that the cabinets could be installed when they were finished.  It is true, that once the existing drywall kitchen ceiling was removed, we found wires and structural issues that needed to be corrected before we moved forward.  It is not true that I told her $700 and then charged $800.  To be accurate, my statement was that the change order was going to cost between $700 and $800 depending on how long it took to complete the work.  Change Orders are paid in advance and are separate from the contract.  The reason that she did not receive a receipt is because the work was still ongoing at the time that we were asked to stop work.  Daily, my men would go and try to complete the work outlined in the contract and nightly Ms. [redacted] would come in after we had left and make a list of complaints of what my men had done wrong.  She complained that they did not cover her stove and now there was a scratch.  I have pictures of the stove covered and when confronted with those pictures she opined “Oh, I forgot to tell you that the scratch was actually a piece of food that had dried of the stove”.   She complained that we did not sweep up our mess at the end of the day and that she had spent hours coming behind my men cleaning up and had left the pile in the basement.  The pile that was left is ridiculous.  It was the size of a Plum with 90% of it consisting of dog hair and dust.  I took a picture of “the huge pile” before I placed it in the trash can so that it could be put into perspective if it became an issue later.  She complained that we had not cleaned all of the debris out of her garage causing her to almost fall when entering it in the evening.  When burned the cardboard that she had sent in a picture via text, referencing the problem debris and removed the remaining countertop material (my truck will only hold so much debris in a day) thus eliminating the debris that she had pointed out in her text.  Then she complained that we had burned boxes that she wanted to keep on purpose. Then she complained that we had burned the countertop in her burn pile all of which was and is untrue.  As stated in the beginning of this response, I had a very clear understanding of what we could burn and what we couldn’t from the first remodel that we had completed successfully.  If there were remains of something in that burn pile that should not have been in there, then it was placed there by someone else.  I totally deny that my men or I threw anything away on purpose or placed items in the burn pile that we shouldn’t have.  This was and remains an attempt to direct attention from the real issue which was the negligence of not following my procedure for choosing the stain color.  The result of this daily torment was my men refusing to go to her job for fear that they would be blamed for something else, thus causing more delay in having to find and hire new subcontractors.  Her bankruptcy statements are also undeniably false.  There were discussions of how hard times had become since 2008 but not related to her job.  Yes things were tight on her job, especially with the delays that we had incurred and the time that had been spent on her staining issue that she was unwilling to pay for.  I suggest that times have been tough for every mom and pop residential construction business all across this country.  Everyone involved in construction, period, have been negatively impacted by the mortgage crisis.  This comment has no place in this forum and is irrelevant to the contract, the scope of work and the root cause of our separation.  Finally after hiring new men, we managed to get cabinets installed.  The finish wasn’t as good as I would have liked but I was unwilling to do $4000 of additional work for a problem not caused by me.  Arrangements were made to install the granite counter tops and I installed the sink and faucets.  It is untrue that I missed meeting with the granite people.  I was in constant contact with them so that things would run smoothly.  While installing the appliance there became an issue in trying to get the faucet to sit tightly against the granite.  This wasn’t anything that I had done or was to blame for.  The holes that were drilled into the granite to accept the faucets were drilled to closely and would not allow the locking washers to tighten without hitting the sink.  It was necessary for the granite installers to address this problem.  Of course, this became the next topic of negative texting barrages berating me and questioning my ability as a plumber.  Demanding that I hire a plumber on a Friday night to come and fix my mistake.  I refused. I also refuse to become combative via texting to further deteriorate our relationship.  By Wednesday of the following week the problem became resolved.  Ms. [redacted] hired a plumber and he experienced the same difficulty that I did thus leading to the granite people to come out and resolve the problem.   The final straw was when Ms. [redacted] demanded her key back resulting in our inability to gain access to the job site.  I at her request sent the key via certified mail to her address.  For three and a half weeks I did not get a phone call, email or text from Ms. [redacted].  Our ability to keep a schedule or earn a living was completely shut down.  I focused on other work in order to earn a living and pay the bills.  At the end of the three and a half weeks I received and email much to my surprise, asking me when I was going to return to her jobsite.  I responded and stated that I believe that our existing contract had been violated by her and that it was necessary to develop a new contract with a new completion date and scope.  I believe that Ms. [redacted] violated the contract provisions by one, interfering with my men resulting in them refusing to go back on her job. Second by interfering with the sequences and techniques to be controlled solely by the contractor.  Finally and most importantly, by refusing and denying access to the project thus eliminating my ability to move forward.  In closing, it is completely unfair to complain that we took too long and not mention the reasons for delays described in this response.  Ms. [redacted] behaved in such a manner as to make working with her virtually impossible.  Her demand for a refund of $8000 is also exaggerated.  If I were to agree to such a demand it would mean that she would have paid me slightly over $2000 for all of the work we performed. This too is unacceptable; she simply is looking for something for nothing.  Ms. [redacted] has questions my ability and my level of skill which is disappointing and insulting.  Homes that my company has built have been featured in at least five different Log Home Magazines thru out the years.  All of which had cabinets in them that we designed, built and finished by us.  From my perspective it has been a long time since Ms. [redacted] focused on completing her job but rather in destroying my ability to earn a living.  It is sad and disappointing to have come to this junction with any client.  At 63 years of age, I have lived my life in this industry believing that no one has a monopoly on the truth.  I have always thought it better, when issues arise, to sit at the table with your client, each giving something in order to come to the middle and find a path forward.  This technique has proved most difficult with Ms. [redacted].  She has told me more than once in her texts that is her way or no way.  In the end she has achieved at least one of those ways if not both.  I want to again thank you for bringing this to my attention and giving me the opportunity to respond and answer these allegations that have been leveled against me.  I hope that my response gives some clarity from a different perspective of actually what happened.  I have pictures, emails and texts that will support every statement that I have made in this narrative.  I also will be more than willing to provide you with notarized statements from the men that worked on her job as to the accuracy of my rebuttal.  If there is any way that I can provide further assistance or information to help you in this matter I will be more than willing to do so.  Please contact me at you convenience if there is anything else that you need.