Earthworks Development Inc

Could not follow plans for a simple porch. Wanted the roof line to blend with existing roof; porch roof was raised up, see photo. Then used different types of wood for joist in roof; pressure treated and weather resistant, so could not use light stain to highlight wood grain in ceiling. Kept requesting extra money. Took exceedingly long to get the job done. Gone 3 weeks and found out he only worked 3 days during the time. Other weeks, only worked half a day 2 or 3 days per week. Finally found out he had lost his contractor's license after which he continued to work and get paid. Terminated and I had to finish up the project. Should have done it myself; would have been correct and completed a lot sooner.

Work that was contracted to be completed by December 23rd 2015 was never fully completed. On 1/27/2015 contractor phoned to say he would be there that afternoon to complete the job but as of this date (3/7/2016) has yet to arrive. This was typical throughout the time of his services; scheduled to be here then call in sick or say he couldn't be here today. The people he did send were not professional in their skills, i.e.; painting the entire room without a drop-cloth leaving paint spattering on shower/tub, toilet and newly placed granite tops and hardware. The granite was not measured correctly leaving one approx. 1/4 inch from the wall. The electrical outlet had to be moved because the height of the back splash was not taken into consideration when rehanging the mirror in its original place. The floor tiles had to be removed and reinstalled because they were not laid correctly (leaving  3 inches of a 12 inch tile on entry into the room. Tile also uneven at corners.  <br /> Each time the owner/contractor came he asked for advancement of more money. He professed to be a master at his work, but had to be watched constantly not to take short cuts and use lesser grade products instead of the materials requested by the owner. Owner had to spend hours removing paint spatters from tub/shower, commode, and new granite tops. I also now have a toilet that has a crack in the bowl.  <br /> Owner has had to hire plumber to install sink drains (which contractor left unattached leaving owner without sink for over a month). Also had to have applied the caulking of the granite to the back splash and caulking of new under counter sinks to the granite and install the kitchen stainless steel sink.  <br /> I regret that I did not research  on Angie's List,or the Better Business Bureau on this contractor, of Earth Works Development prior to contracting for his services.  <br /> <br />

Mr Pace was forced to finally do some work after weeks of nonperformance, because he kept asking for money without producing any work. He finally came and did the electric so I could get some one in to inspect, but only after he once again asked for money and I told him I would but he had to do work first and it had to pass inspection. He was flustered and acting not calm all day and had to leave several times because he isn't organized enough to plan a day and stick to it. He always seemed in an agitated state when on site at my house. He is a scary individual and he made so many blunders at my house. All the companies I have had in to look at his work has actually laughed but were also appauled at how bad and sloppy his work was. I dont believe he is capable of turning out good work let alone safe work. Does any one know who Gabriella Moore is? She is listed as the contact person for Earthworks, but the number given is Mr. Paces cell phone number. I never heard of her or had contact with her, until seeing her name on Angie's List. Warning: these people are bad news.  UPDATE: This guy has 3 different licenses under 3 different addresses: beware of a scam here!!! Look up on Department of Professions and Occupational Regulations website(DPOR) before you hire this person!!!

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Chris pace did not produce work week to week but kept asking for more money. The shower floor needs to be ripped out and plumbing redone. He was very rude and unprofessional, sending nasty emails and tests daily.

Original impression of owner, Chris Pace when he came to my home a few times to discuss the details of my kitchen remodel was, "wow this guy is pretty nice-- he seems like he wants to do honest work."  He showed me pictures of his work and seemed to really want to get the job done within my budget.  Biggest mistake ever to get into business with this guy.  Tries to make you feel guilty for his inability to complete a job because he is giving you "such a good deal," but it is not worth it.  Work was supposed to be done in "3 weeks" but after almost 3 months, it wasn't and I finally fired him.  He is rude and does not have a skilled crew.  He only sends people for a few hours a week most of the time.  He left lots of trash at my house.  Wish I fired him sooner. <br /> I am going to break this down by phases of the remodel. <br /> Demo:  Guys came, did the demo, ripped out the cabinets so roughly that they were destroyed.  Threw them into the back of a pickup for the dump.  This after Chris promised my old cabinets would be reused in a rental property, and he would credit me $100.  This was because I expressed my concern about wasting the old cabinets, when although they were dated, they were very sturdy and functional.  Chris then sent his teenage son, alone, to demo my old kitchen floor.  His son, with very little knowledge and even less direction spent about 3 days chipping up pieces of linoleum with a pry bar and hammer.  I was home most of these days, I suggested to him to try and pry from the subfloor since the goal was to get down to the bones of the house so the new floor would flow into the existing floor in dining room.  He was too scared to try, so he continued to chip up tiny pieces of linoleum until the first layer of subfloor was finally revealed.  Then he spent another day and a half prying the next layer up of just a plywood subfloor.  Finally Chris sent someone with (slightly) more experience who was able to get the last layer up so the new floor could go down and be even with old.  This floor demo situation later caused MUCH grief, as from this point on, any thing else that was slow or delayed, he blamed it on my "floor demo from h***," but refused to acknowledge that it took as long as it did because his teenage son is not a skilled laborer. <br /> -"Temporary Kitchen"  stated he would set up a temporary kitchen at this stage and I would "never" be without a sink.  This never happened and it was months before I had a sink again. <br />  -Floor:  First Chris argued with me that "it would be too difficult to tie in a new wood floor into existing floor,"  Then he decided it wouldn't be, but that it would be still difficult so HE would do it HIMSELF.  So then he argued with me that my exisitng floor was PINE.  It is not pine.  He finally agreed with me it was oak.  However I did not know there was a red oak and a white oak.  I have white oak throughout my house.  He apparently didn't know the difference either because he purchased red oak and had his unskilled son and one other kid lay the floor.  There were gaps at every board where the old met new.  Later after much back and forth and my complaints, he sent another guy over to fix it.  While he was fixing it, I noticed on one of the existing slats of wood, it said "No. 1 com white" and then I realized the new floors were not the same oak.  The guy laying it called Chris immediately with me sitting right next to him.  He told him that the new floor was red and the existing was white.  Chris stated, "That's not my problem."  I heard with my own two ears, sitting right next to the phone call.  He denied he said that when I called him out on it at a later time. <br /> If you want to know why its bad to lay red oak next to white, google it.  Making the mistake the opposite way around is an easier fix but bottom line is they'll never match exactly. <br />  So then he sends ANOTHER guy and says hes going to just lay the floor the rest of the way across the dining room so staining will be easier and that he wont charge since I said I was looking into having someone else sand and stain--This whole process took the entire length of the 'remodel'- about 3 months- multiple weeks at a time, there were nails sticking up from the floor and craters between new and old floor that I had to navigate around. <br /> -Cabinets - He insisted he had to "keep the renovation moving" and put the cabinets in without sanding/staining the new floor.  His guys put them in and had to rearrange them a few times because apparently some of their measurements were off, and there was some placement that just didn't make sense because they set a cabinet directly on top of my ONLY kitchen AC register.  Multiple dings and dents were put in the cabinets by the guys knocking them with tools etc and he assured me there was a "touch up kit" with epoxy and paint and he would fix all that.  There was never a touch up kit.  I have to order one myself.  He also would not take responsibility for the fact that 22 of the hinges were missing soft close devices.  Every hinge was supposed to have one.  I had to get these myself from the cabinet company directly and install myself.  One drawer also came with the wrong part so couldn't be put together.  He first sent another drawer, wrong size, more time wasted, then he "fixed" it himself.  It still didn't fit and had to be modified.  It does not close smoothly and has to be pushed all the way shut.  There is also a hole in one of the doors where someone drilled it for a handle and then changed their mind and drilled two more holes. <br /> Counters - purchased granite counters.  Was told week after week Chris would come measure for granite and set it the next week.  After several weeks of this just never happening it was finally measured.  Then it was "itll be ready in a few days and we will come set the granite then put the sink in 2 days later."  After about 2 weeks to get the granite he starts making remarks about how he didn't charge me for installation (he did, and I forwarded him that invoice and check number), and tried to make me feel guilty because somehow one of the slabs cracked BEFORE it got to my house and he wanted to make sure I felt special for not having to pay for that broken slab. It happened before it was even near my property.  There is visible glue squished out from cracks where the granite meets the cabinets, and the caulking is already cracking in some places. <br /> Walls/ceiling:  A cut out was put in to open up the kitchen to the living room.  The new drywall they did on the kitchen side is wavy, lumpy, and crooked.  There is still a hole in the ceiling, and one of the guys mudded over a recessed light instead of pulling it down to apply the mud.  They painted with the old light switch plates in place, and attempted to paint over peeling paint which didn't work <br /> Trim:  They replaced an IMMACULATE existing piece that had to be removed for cabinet demo and replaced with odd shaped SCRAPS that were not coped into the existing trim on perpendicular wall. No amount of sand paint to caulk will make it look good.  Must be redone. <br /> Sink:  Went over 2 months without a sink.  Before reno, I purchased a black quartz sink to match because I was not interested in his free stainless steel sink that came with the granite.  It sat in my living room, visible, in a clearly marked box with a picture and description on the outside of the box.  When it came down to the time it was ready to go in he told me he could not install it, and I would have to pay 500 to a man in Ashland to come do it.  He blamed me for buying a quartz sink, but didn't bother to address this sooner or provide me an

<p>After signing the contract with this person, Chris Pace, and after a week into the project when my bathroom was demolished, he informed me of what I was expected to buy, with a budget of $1000, above the $5000 he was to collect for labor , mud, and screws. He had the nerve to invoice me for trash removal that my nephew did twice because they never cleaned up after themselves. He went on and on about how they would protect my home however, I had to use my own roll of landscape plastic and even had to put it down myself. He kept insisting they could just use a ladder and climb in and out of the window and now my window doesnt close evenly.<br /> The total stated in the contract was to be $5000 and was not to exceed $6,000. He was advertising a $3300.00 complete bathroom remodel at that time in Valpak of Charlottesville and now a new ad came out, this past week, offering a complete remodel for $4000.00. Out of the blue he informs me that I had to buy everything with the $1000 difference between $5000 and $6000. Shower tile, wood flooring, toilet with all mounting supplies, lighting, shower fixtures, paint, wainscoting, molding, trim, grout, permit, inspection. Not only that, he knew I was recuperating from knee replacement and made it known to me that it was a burden on him to pick up anything up for the job, so I had to run all over town getting all the materials. He admonished me when I couldn't be available after going back to work, to give my credit card number over the phone to pay for $38 worth of grout and he made the worker take it back and get a refund! I am already $7,000 in and he wanted $950 to be paid at job completion. One day he would say he would pick something up for me and get his contractor discount and the next he was accusing me of not having the money to pay!! He also lied to me about when he got the permit of which I have never seen after asking him twice to see it, nor would he show me any proof of purchasing anything or labor labor costs. I called the city and he didnt get permit until 9 days after he told me he did.   Very vague invoices every week. The only way I could get him to do the wiring and have inspected was to tell him I wouldn't give him any more money until it passed inspection. That was the only day he actually worked. One day he showed for 45 mins after lunch to work, watched everyone else work, and then said he had to leave to go buy a lottery ticket!!!!<br /> Every week he told me the job will be complete by the following week and then when that date came he blamed me or my older house for the incompletion. He emailed me saying I was ungrateful that I was getting a bathroom for so cheap. From the beginning all he has done is degrade and belittle every contractor in the area and every inspector from the head on down, while telling me how wonderful his own work was, a master at this, and a master at that,  and how he has had to absorb labor costs on so many jobs. He himself never worked more than 9 hours on the project since it started after bragging about himself for hours and hours. It is obvious now that he hired people, some off the street to come into my home and it made me feel very uncomfortable. He even said Angie's List was a rip off! The one thing Mr. Pace actually did himself was pour the shower floor and it is a mess. It will not drain properly. I saw him that day when I got home at 5pm from work and he seemed like he was on something acting very weird. In fact, he had some kid smoothing the shower floor. Now it has to be all dug up and I have to hire someone to redo and finish the job after he pretty much took most my money.</p> <p>My only bathroom is now ruined and it has been 2 mos since I had a bathroom! I have had to drive 10 miles out of my way everyday to shower. I was told in the beginning that I would never be without a toilet, that it would be hooked up every day. I went 2 days on 2 separate occasions without a toilet and had to use a bucket after having knee replacement and re-injured my knee. Also, The toilet is sitting on two pieces of the old flooring and it is obvious it will be too high for the new floor thickness according to the tile guy.  Mr. Pace became angry when I told him I could no longer leave my home unlocked and unattended after going back to work.  I was home for the first three weeks waiting all day, everyday, when no one would show up or show up for only two hours after lunch. My 80 year old mother had to come and sit and wait on many of her days off from work and he always had some excuse that he didnt show upon those days. <br /> I have now contacted an attorney who deals with consumer protection and will begin legal action. I also was contacted, the day I fired Mr.Pace, by a gentlemen who had the same issues with Mr. Pace's non-performance. He also is taking legal action.   He also said he has found two more people who are upset with Mr. Pace and has been consulting with them. I had to fire Mr. Pace because I no longer felt safe in my own home especially after he threatened me to have a $240.00 check for him one day, this after telling me I would only owe the last $950.00 when job was completed. I only hope no one else would ever have to deal with this man. </p> <br /> <br />

Everything went well. He was responsible and reliable.

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