Typical Home Remodeling Mistakes

For more than 20 years, we've done many stories on how to protect yourself when you hire a home remodeling contractor, and lo and behold.. there are still folks out there, who make the little mistakes that add up to big problems.  Recently, one of those situations resulted in a NewsChannel 9 investigation that uncovered "need-to-know" information after the contractor was hired.. instead of the other way around.

A property owner in Terry Melton's neighborhood recommended Roy Cronon, Junior to remodel her kitchen, bathroom, back bedroom and put in a heat pump.  She got a reverse-mortgage to pay for the job.  "It was around 7 thousand dollars," she says.   Cronon says he put in the heat pump for 2-thousand dollars, and was paid about 43-hundred dollars for the remodeling work.  Mrs. Melton says she paid him a whole lot more, which leads to the first red flag of this job.  "Did you have any kind of written contract with him," I asked.  "No.. no contract at all," she replied.  I put the same question to Cronon, and he answered "No, there was no contract, she said 'I want to pay as I go, that way there's no confusion, I just want to pay as I go." 

Experts say, there's nothing wrong with paying as you go, as long as you keep up with how much you've paid.  "Do you have receipts," I asked Cronon.  "I have receipts for everything spent, I can prove everything spent on this place," he replied.  Cronon did show us his receipts, but Mrs. Melton, the homeowner, says she has never seen them.  "He said he wanted cash," she says, "that the people he dealt with, preferred cash."

The job stretched out for three months..  And then, probably the biggest red flag of all.. Mrs. Melton admitted, she did not check the remodeler's background before she hired him.  We did.  He does not have a valid contractor's license, nor business license. But he does have something else.  "Is this you?" I asked Cronon, as we looked at a stack of court paperwork.  "Roy D. Cronon, Junior?" I said.  "Yes, that's me," he replied.

Cronon has a lengthy record of misdemeanors, most of them involving alcohol.  "Do you see how hard it is, believing what you're telling me?" I asked him.  "You don't see no theft charges or fraud charges," he answered.  "I've never beat anybody out of anything."

But Mrs. Melton says, had she known all that, she never would have hired him.  She ended up firing him because she says it took so long for him to do the job, and she is now seeking another contractor to finish the job..  A contractor she says, she'll first check out with the Better Business Bureau, then "I'll call the city or go to the city to see if they do have a license."  And what about that contract?  "The contract will be the third thing I'll do, after I find out if they're a legitimate person to do the job," she answered.

There were enough mistakes made by both sides in this situation, but Teresa Groves with the Homebuilders Association of Southern Tennessee says, there are plenty of lessons to be learn from those mistakes.  Their suggestions are, first of all, always make sure you have a written contract that spells out what's going to be done in the remodeling work, and if you pay with cash, always make sure YOU, as the homeowner, get receipts for the materials.   It's better to pay with a check and mark on it what it's for.. That way, when it comes back from the bank, that also counts as a receipt..  Always check out the contractor's history, and never pay them more than one-third the total cost of the job, unless you've checked them out thoroughly..