JR Contracting

Jeff Poffenbarger of JR Contracting came across as a caring, knowledgeable contractor when we met with him. His bid was low for the work which he assured us he could and would do and he seemed so self assured, we went with him. In fact, things did not go well at all. I learned a lot about loopholes in contracts. The contract itself was written up in very vague terms and the details were only then outlined in subsequent texts and emails. It was written to protect him, and not the consumer. He promised work, then backed out of it, keeping pre-payments made in good faith. Although he had health issues, he also had a work crew that could have done the work he said he could not do because of health reasons. He had workers quit on him to find other jobs, he showed up unpredictably and sometimes not at all on scheduled days. He also took the liberty to change our idea of what we wanted the room to be like to what 'he' wanted to do. Finally, after assuring us the day before that he had cleared his schedule to tie up loose electrical ends, Jeff sent a poorly written, cryptic text early in the morning saying he was finished and was never going to show up again. He had received payment for work promised and never completed. A hard lesson for me to have to learn. The work that was done was far from complete. Wires were left hanging out of electrical boxes and panels. Wires leading to outlet boxes had no power coming to them so in total frustration we hired a licenced/bonded/insured electrician who was shocked at the low quality work Jeff left undone or done in poor quality. The ceiling can lights had to be re-wired. This was first discovered when we put light bulbs in and nothing worked. It ended up that the neutral wires were never connected so the circuit was never complete. This is elementary electricity. It was as if Jeff was booby trapping our house because he didn't like us asking questions. Also the wire casing stopped several inches outside the ceiling fixtures, sloppy electrical work and indeed a fire hazard. In rewiring the utility room, the wire to our furnace was disconnected. The electrician could never find the actual line and after spending several hours trying to trace it back, finally put in a new line. Lights to the garage and several outlets moved by Jeff (that I can only assume to must have been on a common breaker) no longer function and we will have to re-run electrical lines. To his credit, Jeff did wire up the pressure tank but did not do it to code, so we were again left with having to undo his wiring so to redo it with conduit. There is a 3-way switch that still does not function. The electrician has been unable to trace back to see where the disconnect is. When installing the shower vent with a heater and light, the wire was not run through the housing correctly and we did not discover this until the ceiling drywall was hung. Sheetrock was hung on the ceiling covering the heat duct and air return. After asking several times, he asked his sheetrock workers to cut a hole for the heat duct. They failed to cut a hole for the air return. Jeff blew it off saying that air return can just be in the space between the ceiling and the floor above. Wanting the house to meet code, we had to uninstall a can light to reach up and get to the air return duct to cut our own hole in the ceiling for the proper air flow. Concrete was dug out to lay the drain lines for the new shower stall and toilet. But when the concrete was poured in the shower stall area it was poured completely around the drain pipe without leaving the standard area for the shower pan drain. Therefore, we had to recut the concrete to set the shower pan. A vapor barrier was never put up along the window/door that were closed off. We had to hang a vapor barrier and rehang siding as well as remount the floodlights he took down. His working staff would come and work for less than two hours on occasion and say they had to leave to "do laundry". Jeff was very clear that we were to provide the fixtures and he would provide the rest of the materials. It ended up that he he gathered materials together at Lowes and they then called us to pay for the materials. That is fine, but not part of the bid/contract. Screws were put through the wall and left hanging as a safety hazard. Although a drain pipe was built into the wall, a water line was never installed in our kitchen area. I just can't imagine an unsuspecting consumer hiring JR Contracting to do a job, leave home, and have so many, many unprofessional things done to their house. Jeff was a poor communicator and unreliable to show up when he said he would. His timeline was unrealistic since he nor his workers showed up in a reliable/timely manner. To top everything off, construction debris remained at the site long after it was pulled. I could go on and into more detail, but this gives you a feel for the quality of work Jeff and his workers do. His final text to me was "no hard feelings". I guess he feels that way because he made a lot of money for not finishing anything he started at the house. We hired a contractor so we did not have to do the remodel project. It seems the old adage holds true. "If you want something done right, do it yourself". Please check your references before considering hiring Jeff. In summary, this was a contract that started out as being about a proposed two week project that painfully extended into a much longer period of time and that was never finished by the contractor.

Very skilled contractor. Impressive work.

He did a good job. He was punctual, he was on budget, on time and he had a good workmanship

It was absolutely wonderful and he was a great guy and he is absolutely professional. He sits down to you and he listens to your feedback.

It went wonderful. They were nice, efficient, polite and they were very respectful.

It was very good. They kept me in the loft. They answered all my questions and my concerns. I would recommend them.He was really good to work with.