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"We paid Matt at Family Ties Contracting over $35,000 to renovate our downstairs apartment in an agreed upon maximum of three months. The problems began early, with delays to the start of our project, but we cut him slack because one of his employees was injured in an accident. Not long after, we began getting bills for extras that 1) were already detailed in the contract and 2) were never signed off on. We were clear with Matt from the beginning that we wanted a space that was up to code, it wasn't till months later that we discovered he never even pulled a building permit - is a big "no no" where we live. Our local inspector did not seem happy about this and, in the process of inspections, we discovered other work that needed to be done to bring the apartment up to code, adding to the cost of our project. The problems continued when Matt began to refuse doing work that was clearly in the contract, from small jobs like installing the kitchen sink, to big ones like adding sheetrock to the ceiling to meet code, which was the first thing listed in our contract. The quality of the work was poor, we ended up having to hire a second electrician to install the correct type of outlet for our washer/dryer and a second plumber to fix a leaky sink which was installed. When the project was "finished" it was a mess (see pictures below). Worst of all, the project wasn't actually completed for 11 months - 8 longer than what was in our contracted, which resulted in the loss of a years worth of rental income. We were *constantly* calling them to come back and fix mistakes over this time, with varying degrees of success. To top it off, the owner apparently began spreading rumors about me and my wife because of the difficulties. I wouldn't have even bothered writing this, until I became aware of that. Overall, a totally unprofessional experience. We have spent over $52,000 so far and we are having to finish up by hiring outside contractors. We feel like we were screwed by Family Ties Contracting. It's not just the money and the poor results, but the stress and frustration made for an overall terrible experience."

"Project was said to take 3 weeks but between personal problems with eviction, moving, his crew getting locked up, dental work, no gas, bla-bla-bla, it took extremely longer to get moving. I'm sure u get the idea that project was not completed in a timely manner and should never have been dragged out for months. My recommendation is to make sure you get a time line in writing and add a default clause into the contact to be on the safe side if your decide to use this guy. In my opinion, this business operator took on more than he could handle and failed to deliver. Worst experience I ever had. Phil has terrible time management skills in additional to poor money management problems. Use caution if u decide to deal with him and his wife, Marcella. Business owners should not have their personal problems impacting their clients. That is your bread and butter, after all. Plus the fact that is not professional. They take very little responsibility for there shortcomings. His poor shabby work actually created more problems with leaks due to roofing materials not put down or fastened properly; unbelievable. In addition, the job site was not kept safe and secure with children present all summer; hazards that even involved a close mishap with his own son on a ladder. Consider this experience when considering this business for your job. Just want to warn others before they are faced with similar problems."