From Thumbtack Customer
First Choice Masonry & Construction
The contract was signed on March 21, 2026 for $19,960 (total final cost was $22,305 for unforeseen work that needed to be done and for charges taken off for work not completed). I was promised that the work would take 1.5 weeks to complete. On June 15, 2026, the work was still not completed. This is an investment home and everyday that the house is vacant costs me additional money. The Contractor’s reasons for the delay include 1. Contractor discovered other unforeseen problems with the home (understandable, but the problems should have been addressed in a timely manner). 2. Weather (understandable, but it also did not rain for a significant amount of time during this 3-month period), 3. Contractor had other jobs to do (huge issue for me, since the Contractor promised to complete my job in 1.5 weeks and I was a paying customer) 4. Contractor went on vacation (I understand family is important, but as a paying customer, the expectation would be for vacations to be taken after the fulfillment of a promised contract. In the beginning, when I realized this wasn’t working out, I attempted to end the contract in a civil manner, but the contractor threatened to put a lien on my house. Another issue was the very poor customer service I received. Each time I brought a concern to the attention of the contractor, he became defensive or blamed someone else (including me). On one occasion, the contractor left construction debris and trash from inside of my house in my backyard for several weeks. This caused other people to illegally dump bulk trash in my yard, which in-turn, caused an inspector to call me to tell me I would receive a fine. When I brought this up, the contractor got defensive and said it wasn’t his fault and pursued an argument with me. The contractor also falsely advised that work was completed in certain areas of the home, when it was not. One specific instance was when he said the basement was done. I inspected the basement and showed him videos of how filthy it was and he denied that he ever said that it was done. I had to show him screenshots of previous messages as proof of him saying it was done. On another occassion the contractor offered to set up drywall for me at no additional cost, but later told me that he should have never done that. I would’ve preferred that he didn’t do it, if he was going to throw it in my face later. I have never asked this contractor to perform any work for free. The contractor said he has never worked on a house like mine before, and that he’s used to working on houses that are in better condition. He told me this after I had already signed the contract. He later said that I should have never hired him (if a contractor is providing me with a quote and is telling me he can do the work on the quote, I am not sure how I would’ve known that I shouldn’t have hired him). It would have been more prudent for the contractor to decline doing this work if he did not feel comfortable or did not have enough experience with it. Moreover, he refused to let me out of the contract - true, the work had already started, but I had already paid him a good amount of money and was willing to pay him for any work he had completed up to that point). I had started to have an HVAC unit installed and an inspector inspected the HVAC unit, but he advised that I needed a permit for the work that First Choice Masonry completed. I brought this up to the contractor, and they proceeded to argue with me and tell me that I didn’t need a permit. Then they essentially blamed me and said that I didn’t tell them I needed a permit (contractors that I have worked with previously have always been knowledgeable enough to let me know when/if a permit was needed for their work). The contractor still doesn’t believe that I need a permit, but my house will not pass an inspection without one, so I will need to get one on my own. A couple of days before June 15, the contractor sent me a Zelle request for a final bill of $2,080. I did a walkthrough of the house, and there were multiple things listed on the contract that were still not completed. They adjusted the final bill, but I had to bring the incomplete tasks to their attention for the bill to be adjusted. I witnessed one gentleman from this contracting company walk through my house with a lit cigarette while I was there. This leads me to believe that they were smoking in the house throughout their 3 months there. There are certain expectations I have (as anyone else would) when paying over $20,000 on a project. This contractor did not respect my time, my money, and me as a person. At the end I owed a bill of $1355 (out of a bill of $22,305). Much of the work completed was already paid for. I had full intention of paying the final bill, even though some of the work did not meet my expectations. Example - the front railing was supposed to be “remounted”, but the contractor stated later that “remounting” only meant screwing it in. They stated that it actually needed to be cemented in, which would cost extra money. Unfortunately, by this point, I did not want to work with this contractor any longer and I asked if they could simply leave. They demanded that I pay the final bill before they left (which included a charge for “remounting” the railing) and remained inside of my home. I advised that I would pay the bill after they left. They refused to leave. I called the police. I repeatedly asked them to leave my house and they started to take my kitchen cabinets down. They stopped, then proceeded to take my back door off. After some time, they finally exited my home and I paid the final bill. The police came and I asked for the door back and they refused to give it to me. They finally gave me the door. They offered to re-attach it and I declined. The company will claim that I was disrespectful and immature, but I did not cuss or call anyone names. They were also offended by the way I talked to them. This contractor, however, did cuss at me. Good customer service and respecting someone’s time, money, and property are very important to me. This contractor told me they don’t care about receiving reviews and that they only go by word of mouth. That speaks volumes to me. Needless to say - after 3 months, I will need to hire another contractor to finish the work that this contractor did not complete. I regret working with this contractor and I hope no one else has this same experience. He also left some trash that he was supposed to take in my backyard. The HVAC company offered to take the trash for free. I paid all of the money that I owed on June 15, 2026z
