We had the unfortunate and unpleasant experience that a home owner can have hiring a contractor that is not honest and does not perform up to standard. This has been a total nightmare dealing with someone that felt the need to lie about anything and everything which started from day one on the job.


We live in Amador County and were doing a kitchen remodel when we found dry rot on the outside of our kitchen window as we were installing a new one. We thought we were doing all the right things by contacting many licensed contractors to get to know them and to get the best deal. You will find our story here along with the Contractor from Amador County that saved our home and our lives, Betlan Construction.


Things a homeowner should know when picking the right contractor

10:49 PM | by Home Owner
If you go to The California State Contractor’s License Board site you will find a wealth of information to help you with all the answers to your questions on picking the right contractor and making sure he is legal.  We thought we did all the right things to make sure this contractor was honest.

After this contractor left the job, yes he abandoned the job!!!  THANK GOD!!!  Of course once again the lies come into play and he gives 4 different stories, never being consistent with anything because a person who doesn’t tell the truth can’t keep the same story.

  • Get References!!  Many References!!  Call them up and if you can, go and check out the jobs that was performed.
  • You will need to Check The Status of their License.  - Now this one can be tricky because we checked the status of his license.  Come to find out later, the license was not in his name!  The license was in someone else's name.  He had told us that he had been in business since 1980 and the license says 1990.  Plus if you start to click on all the links in the license you will find lots of information.  We found later that he had not been working under this license for over 12 years.  Came to us and has only been working under this license for a little over 5 years.  The license clearly shows no bond was paid for for over 12 years which means that they can not work under that license.
  • I would check his drivers license as well to make sure that this is really the person you are dealing with.  Come to find out later, this person had another name and even more than that!!  He was not who he told us he was.
  • Make sure his name is printed as well as signed on all proposals and contracts as well as any change orders.  AND make sure you watch him sign the contract!!
  •  Make sure that you have a copy of the contract as well before any work starts.
          Labels: 1 comments
          1 Response
          1. Anonymous Says:
            February 3, 2010 at 4:54 PM

            I was searching the internet looking for information on contractors and I came across your Blog. What a very interesting blog you have here. I will be for sure following this. You have a wealth of information for people like me.


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