We contracted with Steve Shaw of Springer Construction, in February, 2016, for a 577 sq ft ADU (app…read more1 BR apartment) for $80,000 in my mother's existing backyard area as a livable space for me so I can be with her full time to care for her. Payment of $25K, $20K, $20K & a final $15K upon completion. We signed his contract un-amended. I do not recommend signing his contracts un-amended. And DEFINITELY acquire an escrow acct by which to pay sub-contractors... DO NOT TRUST that he is paying your sub-contractors. We found out the hard way when they all started coming to the door or sending certified letters that they were about to lien the property for non-payment.
Not only does he NOT follow his OWN contract, but once paid, rarely answers his phone (which always has a full voicemail box, so it's nearly impossible to leave messages) or text or email messages & provides no other form of contact (the address on his contract is a personal mail box & therefore not a valid form of contact.)
He has misused the monies we paid in good faith by not paying the sub-contractors. A 90 day project which began in earnest on 4/4/2015, when permits were released, has, to date, turned into a 8+ mos, still-unfinished FIASCO for which my mother has endured a serious heart attack, several thousands of $$ add'l to the agreed-upon amount, 3 demand letters &, now, a formal lawsuit. He knew very well the fragile state of health that my mother was in & why we were building this in the first place.
Steve Shaw RARELY returned our calls, has never provided documentation re: the job & bc of this, we had no idea WHO the subs were until they came to the door threatening to lien the property for non-payment for work done on the project, even though HE had been paid according to HIS contracts' payment schedule. The electrician, lumber provider, plumber, drywaller/insulator & gutter company have all come asking for payment. Because we have never received a timeline or list of sub-contractors, & he will not tell us who else he's hired, we have no idea who will come out of the woodwork in the future for payment for services or supplies rendered.
Steve Shaw has bragged to us about his 9 acre property, his brand new home, his brand new vehicles, his new & expensive landscaping, all the while leaving us in a filthy, dusty, rubble mess throughout the summer, only showing up occasionally for a few hours at a time. We learned his constant delays were bc he owed some of his subs money & they're unwilling to work for him until paid, so he had to find others to work on our job.
All sub-contractors in this project have stated they will never do business with Steve Shaw again & a call to the CCB & Sec of State will confirm he has done business under 3 different names in the state of OR in the past several years, been disciplined several times, left jobs unfinished.
He ALWAYS had an excuse for not showing up, not communicating, or not paying a sub and tried to place blame elsewhere, even on US, the client, for the problems HE'D created on the job. To date, he has left the job unfinished, unable to pass inspection & not released as habitable, keeping us from fully utilizing it until we have monies to finish it.
We have spent thousands and almost two years on a lawsuit and finally after all his stalling tactics & changing attorney's, arbitration fell in our favor, though we were not compensated completely for the hours & months we spent getting the project completed on our own, the extra monies spent paying sub-contractors to finish their jobs, the damage that he caused to existing property. BEWARE signing ANY contract with ANYONE before having an attorney review it first. You might not think it's not a big deal, even for a small project, but when something goes wrong, you'll be very sorry for not getting that extra bit of reassurance.
Again, he received payment every time he asked, has had unfettered access to the property since Day 1, & simply walked away months ago. We are well over our $80,000 contracted amount with lost income & an inordinate amount of unnecessary & very damaging emotional, mental & physical stress on my already fragile & ill mother, who's well-being he knew we were building the ADU for to accommodate .
There is so much more about the behavior we have had the misfortune to endure that can be stated about this contractor and if you are interested in those details, or our attorney's name, for additional assistance if you have had similar issues, please feel free to contact me at klouri@yahoo.com.