Not a good experience
Capital Home Services (CHS) wanted more than 20% as a down payment for an on-the-spot quote with no cost breakdown. However, the City had issued a violation order for porch demo and reconstruction, so we signed a contract in June 2020 for $43,910 with a $9,500 down payment. Before doing one minute of work onsite, CHS demanded an additional $31,100 in advance for City-required modifications (no cost breakdown). If we didn’t pay in full immediately, work would not start. It was Sept. by then, and too late to hire another contractor, so we agreed. CHS then demanded another $18,500 payment for City-required modifications - just a total. We asked for a cost breakdown and questioned costs for work no longer being done. The owner responded by threatening to walk away and sue us. We paid, with the written stipulation that any further unexpected costs would be borne by CHS.
When we tried to hold back the legally-required 10%, the owner demanded $49,640. This included not only all remaining payments, costs they were contractually prohibited from charging. If we failed to pay, "We will be stopping your project immediately." We were told "take it or leave," and "talk to the Pope." He called us a pain, threatened us with legal action, said we had a lot of nerve, and that he’d had "ENOUGH of your garbage!"
We foresaw the $60,000 we'd already paid evaporating and the project abandoned, and felt we had no choice but to back down. Work halted for the winter in early Dec. 2020. They had $91,100 of a $93,510 contract. They promised to return in the spring to fulfill the contract, repair damages they caused, and restore the lawn which was destroyed when they neglected to remove the excavated material from the site (as specified in the contract), instead spreading it all over the yard.
In April 2021, they returned to do some brickwork, promising to be back at the end of May to complete the project and repair the damages. They returned at the end of July 2021 to do the trim work. They then stopped returning phone calls and emails, so we filed a Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaint in Nov. 2021. They waived the final payment of $2,410 (2.6%), considered the job paid in full, and promised to finish by the end of May 2022.
In April 2022 they came to assess the remaining work, but didn't return in May. When we called, they responded by once again threatening to walk away. They came at the end of July 2022 to do the painting, saying they'd finish the repairs within a few days. They returned 6 weeks later to repair the yard (which they had initially refused to do). After several broken promises to finish the repairs, they stopped responding yet again. It was Nov. 2022 by then — 29 months since the contract was signed. For a third year, it was too cold to do any more. Despite the 2 winters and some weather delays, in the 26 months since work began, CHS was onsite a total of 66 days.
Taking all of this into account, CHS is the worst contractor I've ever hired.