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Shingles Plus Roofing & Remodeling --Norman Scown deceptive contractor uses cheap material not meeting city code,hires cheapest labor,yet receives fair price for job. Rowlett Texas
May 2005 contracted written with 5 year guarantee on workmanship to do a room addition to rental property. Foundation built without sand or vinyl sheet under concrete,even with ground,therefore leaks bad every rain storm. Walls are only 1/8 inch. before adding exterior hardie board. Price of room $10,000.00. I supplied carpet and padding which contractor did not supply. After signing contract I had to get city permit,at my expense,as builder would not. Contractor hired only Spanish workers who all claimed they were unpaid. Contract work time to be finished 3 weeks,ended job 2 months.
I hired an attorney to sue contractor, after paying him $8,734.80 on credit card,needed another $8,000.00 to enter court case. Attorney indicated that all I would get is a judgement to paper my walls. I discontinued the case for lack of money in total despair to get any results. Results are loss of rent on dwelling at original rent for one bedroom apt.$450.00 per month,totaling $18,900.00. Now as a senior citizen depending on my rent to live,am faced with repayment of equity loan plus hugh credit card debt and no money to pay creditors.
Mary
Dallas, Texas
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Norman Scown
Rowlett,Texas,
United States of America
Norman Scown
#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Tue, January 24, 2012
Shingles Plus Roofing and Remodeling
Norman Scown
2701 Lakewood Dr.
Rowlett, Tx. 75088
214-882-7181
No good deed goes unpunished. I remember my father saying that over 40 years ago. One day back around March 2005, I was in the Lowes at Cockerel Hill and I-30, just West of downtown Dallas. There was a woman, Mary Hollis, trying to get someone from the Lowes store to come to her place to do some work for her. The representative told her that they didnt do the type of work that she required. I handed her my card and she called me later that day.
I met with her at her home in Cockerel Hill we discussed the addition that she wanted on the back of her property up the street, which she used as income. I have done work with Habitat for Humanity, and, and I had been having an exceptional Spring with many jobs. I made sure that she did have the funds by asking several personal questions. I could see that what she needed may be quite costly. Knowing that she was not working and that she was a person of modest means, I bid the job at cost. A 12X14 for a total of 172 square feet, at a total cost of $ 10,000.00. A little over $58.00 per sq. ft. That is cost!
Since the house is on pier and beam, I could not be sure where to have the foundation come to, in order to meet with the existing foundation. She pointed out exactly where she wanted it. I told her that the property was on a gradual slope and that I would be using the dirt dug from the foundation, would be used to divert water that comes down the grade in the back, when it rains. This would prevent ponding that can cause problems. When we drew up the contract, I had her sign an addendum that required her to stay 50 feet away from my men and to only talk with me. I did this because she is a real talker, and I could see that she was going to take up too much of our time with chatter. Never the less, she was in our way, talking with my men every single day.
The City of Dallas came out and I got green tags for everything. They inspected my foundation twice. Once when it was dug and had the rebar and boards properly in place. The second was after the concrete was poured. There were inspections for the roof, windows and insulation, electrical, and they all passed inspection. And although most of my men are Hispanic, they all speak English clearly. They are citizens and pay their taxes.
Within about a week of starting, she said that she would like the same addition on her own home, as she seemed pleased with the results. She told me to move forward and start the second project. Included in my contract with her I had her sign another agreement to stay a certain distance from my men while we worked as I felt that she was getting in our way and I wanted to protect my guys from getting bogged down with her constant talking about non relevant things. She must have felt that she had to be in on the project the whole time that we were there, and my men complained about the constant chatter. One day she came out with a wheel barrow and a shovel. I asked her what she was doing. She was removing the dirt levee, that I had used from the foundation, which was my rain diverter. Again, I reminded her that the dirt was to divert the rain water from the house.
I was always coming between she and my men, and I was gentle and held conversations with her. Once while in casual conversation, she told me that she had once been a millionaire. She told me that she had won a judgment from a lawsuit from someone regarding one of her properties. This sent up a red flag.
I did an assortment of little things for her at no cost to her. One was to haul away a large pile of trash in her back yard. Rocks, logs, tires, and junk that had piled up for a long time. It was about two tons. We removed trash from the garage that previous renters had left behind. I built covers for her outdoor lighting and replaced bulbs around the outside of the building. All this at no charge.
When the jobs were complete she became difficult to track down. She lives on the other side of Dallas from me, about 30 miles away, and when I would go to have a final inspection and get paid, she was never there. She wouldnt return phone calls, and finally, one day I found her at a neighbors house, resting. I told her that I needed to pay the men that had done all the work and reluctantly, but with no specifics, she gave me a check. The total was $22,000.00 for both jobs.
She then said that my men had stolen from her. Little things like a hair brush, a fan, a pot for cooking. My men said that this just didnt happen and I believe them. They have worked for me on many jobs and in wealthy neighborhoods with no incidents. She said that someone had come into her house while they were working and moved her fax machine a few inches. I know and trust my men and they said that this was not true. They said that no one had come into her house while they were working. All this after she gave me the final payment.
About 3 years go by and we had a tremendous rainfall. It was March 19 and it was reported that 19 inches fell that day. It rained so hard that the retaining wall at White Rock Lake had collapsed, among many other tragedies around the city. She called and said that water was coming up from the floor. I went out to look and she had not only destroyed the rain diversion that I had created with the foundation dirt. She had moved it right up against the house completely covering the foundation exposure. There is supposed to be a couple of inches exposure of the foundation, and she had moved the dirt down and covered it all, which allowed the water to come directly into the house above the slab.
I told her she should call her insurance company as this was an act of God. Instead, she filed suit against me for $65,000.00, which I fought for about 10 months. Her lawyer told her that he would not pursue it with her any further. I now know what my father meant. No good deed goes unpunished.
I have had my construction company for over 20 years, and I have done thousands of different jobs, without a single complaint. Not with the BBB or anywhere else. I have never been sued by anyone either. I am careful to protect my business and I have always done everything that I could to make the customer happy. I have an excellent track record and you wont find any other complaints against me and my company, including The Better Business Burrow. I have even referred customers to the internet to check me out . A customer told me that they had seen this sight. This is my response. Shame on you Mary Hollis. I am all for the first amendment and I believe that this website is all about the first amendment, but the lies and lawsuits are over the top in this case. Again, shame on you Mary Hollis!
Norman Scown
Shingles Plus Roofing and Remodeling
214-882-7181
Norman.Scown@gmail.com