How many stories have you heard about a contractor who started a project and then never finished it?

Contractors like this do a disservice to skilled craftsmen, like those in our team, who take great pride in taking care of our clients and their homes... But there is a reason why some guys can't finish what they start.

Some contractors, in their personality, are simply really good at starting stuff and enjoy the thrill of starting something new, but they get bored quickly and haven't learned to find the Joy and the Satisfaction they can get from the after photos when they finish a job and look back and see how amazing it came out.

But the sad and more frequent reality is that lots of guys out there calling themselves contractors will underbid a large project and sell themselves short, coming in with a low price just so they can win the project. And everything starts great, but halfway, or 2/3 of the way through the project, they don't have enough money to pay themselves or their guys to finish it. He didn't schedule periodic draws throughout the scope of work... and needs money now for the mortgage payment, or the credit card bill... so they stop working at your house, and they start something small that will allow them to make a quick buck, or they will go sell another job and grab a deposit from the next customer so that they can use it to pay their bills, while they're finishing up that 5-week job they underbid: robbing Peter to pay Paul. You can only kick that can down the road for so many weeks before it catches up to you, and this is part of why Pennsylvania's consumer protection laws limit contractors to only taking one-third of the contract upfront, or 1/3 plus special order materials. You don't want to give somebody 50% of the cost to your project so they can use that money to pay themselves to go finish the last project that is hanging over their head.

Sometimes these low ballers will come back to the homeowner of the project they are working on and explain that they underbid the job, and ask for more money, partway through... after they've been missing an action for 4 days trying to sell another piece of work somewhere. Be Leary. This is a huge red flag.

If you haven't asked for a certificate of insurance showing your name and address by this point and called the agent who issued the COI to verify its legit, you better do it now BEFORE you hand that contractor any more money. If they didn't give you a written contract that complies with all eight of the requirements of the Pennsylvania consumer protection law, it's time to get something in writing before you give them any more cash. The danger of them disappearing altogether is incredibly high at this point. If they did give you a contract in writing, now's a good time to read that to see what the contract says about the contractor asking you for more money at this point in the project.

Even more concerning, is if they start cutting corners and doing shoddy work just so they can get done quickly, so they can collect their final check... It will take a reputable contractor two or three times what you paid the first guy, to take apart poor workmanship, fix it, and put it back together correctly.