C&L General Contracting

I hired Chris Malinowski, who was referred to me by a local lumber yard, to put in windows, siding, trim and a exterior stair case to my house. He stated he had a crew of guys and it would take 5 to 7 days to complete the job. Six weeks later and 3 promises to be done in the next couple of days it still wasnt completed. I was notified by the lumber yard where he was getting his supplies that he was ordering a large amount of supplies for my job that were over what he needed. I asked Chris about it and he mad a lot of excuses. He clearly has experience with talking his way through issues. Well, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and let him continue. I had already paid him more than half of the amount for the job. While I was out of town he texted me that they had completed the job and would I be there to pay him that night. I stated I was out of town and could do it when I returned the following Tuesday. He said that was fine with him. I asked him how it turned out and he said great. While I was out of town I asked 3 different contractors to inspect his work. Each one of them returned back to me with the same issues. Chris had not completed the job and actually left the stairs half completed. He also had not secured the sidding so it would leak into the walls but I wouldnt know for years until the damage was done. There were pages of proof of poor workmanship and just plain negligence. Each contractor gave me pictures and the issues in writing that need to be fixed. They also suggested I not have him do it because based on the cost he had over charged me already. I sent an email to Chris explaining that he did not complete the job as he stated and what he did do needs to be corrected by someone else and that I was going to hire someone else to fix his mistakes. That night he sent me a text message saying he wanted to come by the next day for a certified check (he had always taken a personal check in the past) as a good faith payment so that they can comfortably complete the job. Also that he needed a separate check to have the permits pulled with the city. So now I know he never pulled the permits to do the job. I texted back that I sent him an email and to read it and not to come to my house the next day. The next day his wife and teenaged son came to my house to collect his money. They never came to the door. They pulled in the driveway and then backed out. If I had not taken the time to have his work checked I would not know that according to the other 3 contractors he did not know what he was doing. They stated it was clear the job was above his skill set and he should have never taken the job. I paid him 20k not including materials to do a job I now am going to have someone else correct.