NERO Construction LLC

Please, please do not hire this contractor. Like another poster, I was fooled by our initial meeting. He seemed like a nice guy & was able to squeeze us in faster than other estimates I had received. If it's too good to be true, it is. He started on the deck, but kept telling us he'd show up to keep working and would either be hours late or a no show for the entire day. About a week into "construction" (footings dug and the frame going up) we received a stop work order from the city. Apparently he didn't submit a plan & we had no permit! He came over to discuss this and told us it was a mix up with the city and he'd get it straightened out. We wanted to believe him, especially because we had already paid him 4200. Our mistake. He then said he'd clean up some mess left in our backyard. I left while the kids were home with a babysitter. Unfortunately I left the garage door open and he stole the decking materials we had stored inside. When I called him to ask where they'd gone, he said he just took them because they were warped and he was going to have some new materials delivered by Menards on Tuesday. We called Menards -- they told us that there was no scheduled deliveries for our address. All in all, we were ripped off our $4200 and did not get our deck even close to being built. Called the cops to file a claim and they told us there was nothing they could do. This guy is NOT licensed or insured. The new contractor we hired had to dig new footings because the ones he did weren't going to be up to code. Save yourself a headache and avoid this guy at all costs.

This was and still is a terrible experience. At first I thought he was a good and honest person and a super nice guy. While this may be true, he is unreliable and has taken advantage of my belief in the goodness of humankind. Chris delayed the project numerous times, blaming it on multiple delivery failures from Menards. He repeatedly did not show when promised, leaving us waiting all day with no contact, or stringing us along all day with excuses. He has not completed the job and not longer responds to communication. He left us with a mess in our yard, a broken latch on our gate, and the job incomplete. I informed him that I was terminating our contract and would like a refund of $900 for work that was not done (which is actually less than he technically owes us), but for which I had already paid. He has not responded. I even tried to negotiate a re-payment plan since I know he is short on cash and has some family troubles. I tried to have compassion because he said he was having some rough times, but I am out of patience and compassion. I only want a refund for the work that was not done. His license is not current. It is listed as "voluntarily terminated." I may have to take him to court. I will say, however, that the work he did is good quality and his prices would be great if he had actually completed the job. But, you definitely should NOT hire him.

I would HIGHLY recommend Chris for your deck project! He is clear in his explanations and responsive to questions. He communicated with us throughout the process. Even better, he was concerned throughout about getting the project right and not just getting it done. We were unhappy with many of the companies that we contacted for quotes, but Chris was a pleasure throughout the process. No matter what our projects in the future, we'll be contacting him first.