Short Construction

We had a similar experience with Andy. I want to clarify this is Short Construction in Salem, WV as there appears to be contractors in other states with the same name.

We hired Andy in March to do several large projects of home improvement. Finally, the last week of September he was available to begin. Crew showed up Monday and by the end of the week our back deck was removed and framework for the new covered porch had begun. The following Monday, Andy took vacation for two weeks and his crew didn’t show up either. This was a pattern. Between the last week of September and the first week of December they (he) took 4 weeks vacation.

By the end of October we knew we were over budget and the work was behind schedule. We started to question Andy on this to which he had only excuses. “Materials are hard to get and more expensive right now.” “ that’s the way she wanted it done”. “I told her we should wait until spring”. (The latter two are not true). Finally after questioning $3000. worth of invoices included in our supplies bills that never even came to our job site, Andy quit. Only to call that evening to say he’d finish the job, could he please get paid. We paid him but that was 3 weeks ago and he has never returned.

We were left with a hell of a mess, no roofing, no railing and a very dangerous high side where people or animals could fall to the concrete below. The day he “quit” he laid all the remaining wood materials out in the driveway where stained finished boards could ruin and warp in the weather. We had to carry them ourselves to sheltered areas until we could get someone else to finished the job.

We have sorted out invoices with the supplier as to which are actually ours but Andy continues to try to include those $3000. worth of invoices under our name. We have $32,000. in an unfinished porch that we gave him a budget of $30,000.
Nothing in writing, no estimates despite our repeated attempts to get them, and just replies of “I gotcha, don’t worry about it”.

His crew includes some very nice and talented men but I have heard him belittle and rag on them until, in my opinion, their spirit is broken. Like the review above, he was rarely satisfied with their work and seemed to enjoy keeping a thumb on them at all times.

We were friends with Andy and when we decided to make these home improvements he was really the only contractor we considered. He’d worked for us before and done really great work. I don’t know what has happened to his life, his work ethic, or his desire to build a good reputation for his company. But we are no longer friends and we will never consider him again for any work that we need done or recommend him to anyone else.

I hired Short Construction (SC) to finish a project that had been started by a company from out of the area. This project was a large upscale vacation home, being built for a member of my family. The original contractor had made a mess of the project, and their contract was terminated. Owner Andy Short and his crew pinpointed several major and minor construction flaws that needed to be corrected before proceeding with construction.

At the beginning of the project, the crew was a mix of master craftsmen, apprentices, and inexperienced laborers. Andy coordinated with them well, and much was happening. As the project progressed, I began to see less and less of Andy at the site. This posed no concern for me, as his crew was very capable without direct oversight.

Then Andy's absence began to take a toll on the project. After absences that would extend to as much as 10 days, the crew would be forced to make decisions based upon their intuition, without his input. Upon his return to the project, Andy would often be critical of the crew's decision, and sometimes would have them deconstruct what had been done so far, and re-do it his way. After a while, this began to affect morale.

Andy's frequent and extended absence from the project also affected subcontractors, who would show up as scheduled to start work, only to be left without guidance on how to proceed. As with his own crew, upon his return to the job, Andy would be critical of the sub's work, often to the point of having his own workers correct the problems. Unfortunately, I had hired SC on a by-the-hour basis. These fixes and do-overs created by Andy's absence were paid for out of my budget.

Then SC began to lose workers, starting with the most experienced. For a period of several months, there were no experienced housebuilders on the job except when Andy was there. I discovered that SC had taken on a second home-building project, though mine was months from being finished, and was well beyond SC's projected move-in date.

My project dwindled to one worker, then none. The last time anyone from SC was at the job site was when Andy picked up his last check. When I asked him about finishing up, he said he would bring a full crew to finish up the punch-list, but he never came back.