NW 1 St Contracting

My experience with NW 1st Contracting has been very difficult. It is not that I wouldn't recommend Josh, but I would definitely not give him any money up front until he has provided a complete estimate and contract with details of the work you expect him to perform. I would probably have an attorney review any contract from him before releasing money to him.
Here is my story:
One of the items we all worry about when we are remodeling is turning over money to the contractor prior to any work being performed. Receiving an accurate estimate along with the details of said work, including labor and materials for each room, proved to be extremely difficult with contractor, Josh Yonkoske, owner of NW 1st Contracting. Many emails and texts and phone calls were made to try to get this accomplished, to no avail.
With the clock ticking away, we decided to at least get the demo part done while we waited for an accurate estimate and eventually hopefully a contract we could sign. He insisted on 50% ($23000+) of one of his many estimates, before he would even come out to the property to finish the demo and before he had an accurate contract to sign. Most of the demo had been done prior to that day by family.
Shortly after his arrival on March 11, 2023, unfortunately Black Mold was discovered in the home and the project had to be put on pause for further investigation. He and his crew had worked about 1/2 day. Eventually, one month later, we had to make the decision to demo the entire home and replace it with a new model, so the remodel project was cancelled. This began the arduous process of trying to get most of our deposit back from this contractor agreeing to reimburse him for materials he may have purchased and for the 1/2 day work he and his crew had performed. No materials were ever delivered to the home. We used the amount on one of his estimates for the demo completion of $1685 as payment for him and his crew.
Many promises of checks in the mail, never materialized, and finally in late August we received part of the money back. We have continued to work on getting the remainder, less his estimate of the kitchen demo. In October he sent another portion of the deposit, now including charges he had now manufactured on an invoice, to justify his keeping $5587.01 for his half day work. We are still trying to get him to do the right thing and take a fair payment for a 1/2 day of work and return the remaining $3902.01
I would just want to add that I heard from another source later that he had done this during this same time period to two other clients that were referred to him.
My warning to you is that while he may do good work, his handling of the money end of the transaction is less than desirable. I would advise you to make sure you have a detailed description of what he plans to do prior to giving him one dime and then make sure you have a signed contract for what happens to that money if the work is not performed or not able to be performed. Good luck working with this contractor.