Spalco Construction

I have been a contractor in the Sacramento area for over 20 years and in that time I have not had one complaint to the Revdex.com or Contractor's State License Board on myself or my company.Mr. [redacted] is upset because his job was not finished when originally planned. While I understand that would make...

anyone upset, there are many factors why this has happen and most of them out of my control and not due to my negligence. Mr. [redacted] as exaggerated most of the complaints to get his point across but they are not completely accurate, missing important details to help his case.I would like to take Mr. [redacted]'s complaints one by one. Please see the following."The day we closed escrow, he informed us he would not be able to start the remodel for 4 days, and after the first 5 days of work he would have to stop our project for a week in order to complete another job he had committed to (though he had committed to our project 45 days earlier)"    1. He has exaggerated the 4 days of start delay from the close of escrow. Escrow closed on midday Thursday 6-11-15 and I started work on that following Monday 6-15-15. While it was 4 days there was a weekend             within that time. The loan was supposed to close in late May. The loan closed on the June 11, 2015. This set us back 3 weeks. This delay was out of my control. I worked hard keep us to the 7-20-15 completion               date. (see below for contract). Even though the contract stated completion of 7-20-15, Mr. [redacted] moved in on July 12, 2015 filling the garage (my work space) with furniture and boxes. Again causing a delay           out of my control and forcing a delay out of my control and forcing the job out of sequence.                                                                                                                                                                                                 Yes, I did schedule both jobs but because the delay of the loan closing on Mr. [redacted]'s job I had to rearrange some scheduling to accomodate both jobs. The other job had some specific scheduling constraints               and with the delay of Mr. [redacted]'s loan there was no way to avoid this. This was explained to Mr. [redacted]. Hence, the 7-20-15 completion date on the contract that Mr. [redacted] signed.                                         It is not unusual for a construction company to be running more than one job at a time. This did not mean that I didn't value his job as much as any other job. What this meant is I needed to make sure I scheduled          my time to fit in both jobs. " This gave us serious heartburn as it would push projected completion several weeks beyond the move out date from my house and my girlfriend's move out date from her apartment."    2. Again this was due to the late close of escrow and not Spalco Construction. Mr. [redacted]'s move-in date was supposed to be July 20,2015. He moved in on July 12, 2015. With this early move in and consumption           of the garage space with his personal items, I was unable to set up my tools and equipment to complete the job by July 20th. " For the next 3 weeks, we saw limited progress and seldom saw him at the property doing any work. (wkdays or wknds)"    3. Mr. [redacted] is stating there was little work from 6/11/15 to 7/2/15. When in fact, 25% of the total project was done during this time. I personally worked 62 hours during these 3 weeks. Remember I had told             Mr. [redacted] that I would be unable to work the week of 6-22-15 to 6-26-15 due to my obligation to another job. In addition to my time during these 3 weeks, my Sub-Contractors worked a total of 30 hours." then moved in to an incomplete house on July 12th."    4. The move in date was July 20, 2015 per our agreeement. (see below). Mr. [redacted] moved in earlier then the completion date. If Mr. [redacted] would have moving in on July 20, 2015 the job would have been             95% done. I understand that it would not have been complete but all of the items on his complaint would have been completed. A few small items would have not been completed but it would have been live in                 ready." Once moved in, we observed what we suspected had been going on since 6/15...little to no work being done! To date (7/22/15). the house still is only ~65% done, has no kitchen sink, and no one has showed up to do      more than 1 hours of work 7/16.    5. Work done from 6-15-15 to 7-22-15                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Contractor = 138 hours                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Sub - contractors= 149 hours                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             for a total of 287 hours of work or 80% completion        He stated only 1 hour of worked since 7/16/15 but                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Contractor- 11 hours                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Sub-Contractors- 12 hours                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 On 7/23/15, the key that was in the lock box was removed. So I was unable to work from that day forward." Unfinished house and no contractor"    6. Mr. [redacted] as of 7/23/15 has not allowed me to be on the property. I have tools on the job and he has not even allowed me to pick up." He has caused us enough stress and financial damage already"    7. Mr. [redacted] signed a contract to have the work completed by 7-20-15 yet still insisted on moving in on 7-12-15 a week before the completion date. this is what caused most of the work not to be completed by 7-         20-15. Any financial damage and stress was due to his lack of planning and early move in.I never want any of my customers to be unhappy with my work but so far, other than the finish delay, my work and the work of my contractors has been excellent.Mr. [redacted] states that he would like the job completed but he is stopping me from doing just that. As in addition, he has denied me access to pick up my tools and equipment.

Review: Spalco Construction is your home improvement nightmare. Lies, delays, and laziness are what you can expect from [redacted], who is the owner/operator of Spalco construction.We contracted with Spalco through the purchase of a HUD property that needed renovation. We obtained a 203k home renovation loan (required for this type of property), and selected [redacted] as the contractor based on a recommendation from the mortgage broker, although there was slight cause for concern with his responsiveness, accuracy in our quote, and reluctance to countersign a contract with dates. The day we closed escrow, he informed us he would not be able to start the remodel for 4 days, and after the first 5 days of work, he would have to stop our project for a week in order to complete another job he had committed to (though he had committed to our project 45 days earlier). This gave us serious heartburn as it would push projected completion several weeks beyond the move out date from my house and my girlfriend's move out date from her apartment. Concerned we would lose even more time, we reluctantly stuck with [redacted] as the contractor as he promised to work wknds and do "whatever it takes" to get our project done, so we would not be homeless. For the next 3 weeks, we saw limited progress and seldom saw him at the property doing any work (wkdays or wknds). Again, very unnerving as the clock was ticking on our move out dates + 2 mortgages. We bought 2 extra days at my girlfriends apartment where I had already been staying for a week (since the new tenants had already moved into my house), then moved in to an incomplete house on July 12th. Incomplete = no hot water, no kitchen sink and nearly all belongings in boxes in the garage. Once moved in, we observed what we suspected had been going on since 6/15...little to no work being done!To date (7/22/15), the house still is only ~65% done, has no kitchen sink, and no one has showed up to do more than 1 hour of work since 7/16. Unfinished house and no contractor.Desired Settlement: I would say that finishing the job is 100% our desire, however we have no desire to work any longer with [redacted]. He has caused us enough stress and financial damage already.

Business

Response:

I have been a contractor in the Sacramento area for over 20 years and in that time I have not had one complaint to the Revdex.com or Contractor's State License Board on myself or my company.Mr. [redacted] is upset because his job was not finished when originally planned. While I understand that would make anyone upset, there are many factors why this has happen and most of them out of my control and not due to my negligence. Mr. [redacted] as exaggerated most of the complaints to get his point across but they are not completely accurate, missing important details to help his case.I would like to take Mr. [redacted]'s complaints one by one. Please see the following."The day we closed escrow, he informed us he would not be able to start the remodel for 4 days, and after the first 5 days of work he would have to stop our project for a week in order to complete another job he had committed to (though he had committed to our project 45 days earlier)" 1. He has exaggerated the 4 days of start delay from the close of escrow. Escrow closed on midday Thursday 6-11-15 and I started work on that following Monday 6-15-15. While it was 4 days there was a weekend within that time. The loan was supposed to close in late May. The loan closed on the June 11, 2015. This set us back 3 weeks. This delay was out of my control. I worked hard keep us to the 7-20-15 completion date. (see below for contract). Even though the contract stated completion of 7-20-15, Mr. [redacted] moved in on July 12, 2015 filling the garage (my work space) with furniture and boxes. Again causing a delay out of my control and forcing a delay out of my control and forcing the job out of sequence. Yes, I did schedule both jobs but because the delay of the loan closing on Mr. [redacted]'s job I had to rearrange some scheduling to accomodate both jobs. The other job had some specific scheduling constraints and with the delay of Mr. [redacted]'s loan there was no way to avoid this. This was explained to Mr. [redacted]. Hence, the 7-20-15 completion date on the contract that Mr. [redacted] signed. It is not unusual for a construction company to be running more than one job at a time. This did not mean that I didn't value his job as much as any other job. What this meant is I needed to make sure I scheduled my time to fit in both jobs. " This gave us serious heartburn as it would push projected completion several weeks beyond the move out date from my house and my girlfriend's move out date from her apartment." 2. Again this was due to the late close of escrow and not Spalco Construction. Mr. [redacted]'s move-in date was supposed to be July 20,2015. He moved in on July 12, 2015. With this early move in and consumption of the garage space with his personal items, I was unable to set up my tools and equipment to complete the job by July 20th. " For the next 3 weeks, we saw limited progress and seldom saw him at the property doing any work. (wkdays or wknds)" 3. Mr. [redacted] is stating there was little work from 6/11/15 to 7/2/15. When in fact, 25% of the total project was done during this time. I personally worked 62 hours during these 3 weeks. Remember I had told Mr. [redacted] that I would be unable to work the week of 6-22-15 to 6-26-15 due to my obligation to another job. In addition to my time during these 3 weeks, my Sub-Contractors worked a total of 30 hours." then moved in to an incomplete house on July 12th." 4. The move in date was July 20, 2015 per our agreeement. (see below). Mr. [redacted] moved in earlier then the completion date. If Mr. [redacted] would have moving in on July 20, 2015 the job would have been 95% done. I understand that it would not have been complete but all of the items on his complaint would have been completed. A few small items would have not been completed but it would have been live in ready." Once moved in, we observed what we suspected had been going on since 6/15...little to no work being done! To date (7/22/15). the house still is only ~65% done, has no kitchen sink, and no one has showed up to do more than 1 hours of work 7/16. 5. Work done from 6-15-15 to 7-22-15 Contractor = 138 hours Sub - contractors= 149 hours for a total of 287 hours of work or 80% completion He stated only 1 hour of worked since 7/16/15 but Contractor- 11 hours Sub-Contractors- 12 hours On 7/23/15, the key that was in the lock box was removed. So I was unable to work from that day forward." Unfinished house and no contractor" 6. Mr. [redacted] as of 7/23/15 has not allowed me to be on the property. I have tools on the job and he has not even allowed me to pick up." He has caused us enough stress and financial damage already" 7. Mr. [redacted] signed a contract to have the work completed by 7-20-15 yet still insisted on moving in on 7-12-15 a week before the completion date. this is what caused most of the work not to be completed by 7- 20-15. Any financial damage and stress was due to his lack of planning and early move in.I never want any of my customers to be unhappy with my work but so far, other than the finish delay, my work and the work of my contractors has been excellent.Mr. [redacted] states that he would like the job completed but he is stopping me from doing just that. As in addition, he has denied me access to pick up my tools and equipment.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: The contractor's rebuttal includes false information and a one sided argument. The timelines were clearly explained to the contractor before contract was signed or work began. Despite repeated emphasis on the pending move in dates and pleas to expedite the pace of work, the contractor chose not to show up for work on numerous occasions outside of the week he stated he would not be one the project (June 22-26th). He has no proof to support the hours he has stated he and his sub-contractors worked. Whereas, the proof that he didn't work within his contractual time frame is a house that is 50% complete, a page long list of incomplete work which is being verified by HUD, and an unfulfilled contract stating a completion date of 7/20/15.The fact that the garage was used as storage for owner's personal property from July 5th through July 18th is immaterial to the situation, as the rest of the house, including a massive basement was available for access and work to be done since June 12th. In addition, it is worth noting that as explained to the contractor, the reason personal property had to be moved into an incomplete garage before completion of the house was that this customer actually HONORS their agreements with their customers (in this case tenants, who needed to move in my prior residence by July 5th).Only after complaints were filed with HUD, the Revdex.com, and the CSLB on 7/22 (two full business days after contractual completion date) did the contractor decide to show up at homeowners house to continue work and offer to finish his task, which was well defined since HUD reviewed and approved the scope of work in late April. Because we no longer trusted contractor to perform, and given that my girlfriend and I work full time through the week, we were not available to provide access to property on 7/23. If contractor or his subs lost their house key, that is their fault. But, actually to our benefit as we cannot trust them to actually show to complete their work and provide a safe and livable environment in a timely fashion. Therefore we no longer wish to have them on my property.