Elias Construction

Jan 18, 2018
Bathroom renovations, $5,000

AVOID, AVOID,AVOID! I would not recommend this individual for any type of work. Apparently Elias Construction/Johnny Elias has developed a business plan which focuses on taking 2/3 money up front, then having you chase him to do the work. DO NOT let his mild mannered appearance fool you. I should have done more research on his reputation, but gave him a pass as he was recommended by someone I knew well. It lead to disastrous results.

It was supposed to be approximately a one week job, he was young and starting out so I agreed to 2/3 up front balance at completion. He started showing up a day here and there, and did little work. I had trouble contacting him and I knew right away this was trouble. However, I gave him the benefit of the doubt several times until I realized he had no intention of honoring our contract. After three weeks of continuous excuses, I decided to check further into his background. It did not take long to discover a trail of serious issues involving his business ethics.

The work came to a standstill. When I finally caught up with him after 10-12 attempts by others and me, his attitude had totally changed. He insisted on more money,(contrary to our agreement), and would not return unless he got another chunk of money. After seeking the advice of others, it was clear that Johnny Elias had not even done 1/2 of the work for which the initial 2/3 down payment was provided.

In an effort to get him to finish the job, I agreed to purchase more materials. I was not comfortable with this, but thought it might get him back to finish the job. Then more problems started. He advised me that I would now be responsible to pay the plumber and electrician separately. This was clearly not in our contract. Once again he refused to come back. At this point, I did not trust him to come back for any reason.

Maybe it was a good thing he did not finish the job. As other contractors came to quote me to finish the job, they all commented that nearly everything had to be redone. They stated that it looked like he had almost no basic knowledge of construction. I was sickened to get the news.

I am currently trying to fix the work he did and move forward. I would also mention that Elias stepped through the ceiling below after coming back from a two hour lunch one day, cut the carpet far beyond the work area(which now needs to be replaced or fixed), as well as advised his plumbing subcontractor to put tub drain pipes on the wrong side of the floor (which now needs to be relocated), etc.

Please do not fall into the same trap I did. Do your research on contractors, and do not use Elias Construction/Johnny Elias.

DO NOT HIRE HIM. We hired Elias Construction on July 28, 2014 (John Elias of Old Cranberry near Hazleton, PA) to put stamped concrete around our pool. We paid him half of the estimate on 8/15/14 of 8,500.00 and he agreed the work would be completed in 3 weeks from the date of the first check paid. He was to start that Saturday of the date we gave him payment which was on a Thursday. It took numerous unanswered phone calls over a 1 week period to get in touch with him after we had paid him half of the cost. His first appearance was with 2 other workers. He explained to them what was to be done. He said the workers would be there the next day. No one showed up for over 2 weeks. After more phone calls John came by himself and did a few things, nothing substantial in about a 2 hour period. He said his other workers quit on him. That was the first excuse. Then came his grandmother’s sister died, then his uncles stole an expensive violin that his mother was supposed to inherit and he had to deal with all the legal issues, then he stated 2 other times how sick his son Aiden was and his son’s mother would not take care of him. When he was confronted on his numerous excuses, he cried and said he just wanted to jump off a bridge. He assured us he would start that weekend and the job would be finished, but he needed more money. He stated the other jobs were not paying him. On 9/26/14 he was paid 1,800.00. on 9/28/14 he was paid 1,875.00. He said he had no more money and we had half of concrete poured around our pool. We were in a bind and the winter was coming. Our pool needed to be closed. We were at his mercy. Numerous unanswered phone calls went without John Elias answering us. 10/2/14 he was paid 1,500.00 and the final check of 1,500.00 was given on 10/3/14. We were still waiting for him to produce. He started the stamp concrete and stamped it the wrong stamp. It was not until the end of the week and more phone calls before he came again. At that point again we told him we were very dissatisfied with the fact that he does not call or return phone calls. We explained to him again that another contractor was waiting for him to complete his job so we could have additional work done to our pool. He assured us that he understood our dissatisfaction with him not returning calls and assured us that the job would be done in a week. He gave us a daily description of what he was going to do each day to get the job done. At this point we still did not see any further work done to the concrete, but he assured us he would return every day until the job was finished. When he did not show up for the next week, we called him daily and left a message for him and asked him to send us an itemized bill for the materials and labor he had done to that point and return the balance of our money we had given him. After over 2 weeks and many unanswered phone calls, he did not provide us with an itemized bill or check for the balance that he owed us. We have decided to go to the magistrate and have called and left a message for him stating so. We have hired a new contractor to finish the work that he was contracted to do. He has no honor, integrity and his character. He is trash. DO NOT HIRE HIM.

DO NOT HIRE HIM.
We hired Elias Construction (John Elias of Old Cranberry near Hazleton, PA) to put DryVit on our foundation. We paid him half of the estimate and had an understanding that he would work on it in the evenings and weekend. It took numerous unanswered phone calls over a 2 week period to get in touch with him after we had paid him half of the cost.
His first appearance was with 2 workers. He explained to them what was to be done. He said the workers would be there the next day. No one showed up. After more phone calls John came by himself and did a few things, nothing substantial in about a 2 hour period. We were still waiting for him to give us larger samples of the DryIt so we could match colors.
It was not until the end of the week and more phone calls before he came again. At that point we told him we were very dissatisfied with the fact that he does not call or return phone calls. We explained again that another contractor was waiting for him to complete his job so we could have additional work done in our driveway. He assured us that he understood our dissatisfaction with him not returning calls and assured us that the job would be done in a week. He gave us a daily description of what he was going to do each day to get the job done. At this point we still had not received the samples of DryIt so we could choose the color we wanted, but he assured us he would return every day until the job was finished.
When he did not show up for the next day and a half, we fired him and asked him to send us an itemized bill for the materials and labor he had done to that point and return the balance of the money we had given him.
After over 2 weeks and many unanswered phone calls, he did not provide us with an itemized bill or check for the balance that he owed us. We decided to turn it over to the magistrate. Today we showed up for the hearing and he did not have the courage to accept his responsibility as a person and as a businessperson. His absence says a lot about his character.