How do I get my contractor to finish the renovation job I paid him for?

The mistake was paying him in full upfront, which it sounds like you know. I do a lot of commercial contracting work. Most of my customers make a final payment at completion, but also hold a 10% retainage fee for 60 days, just so they can get us back for any punch out final things after the job is completed. Customers like Disney, Walmart, and Marriott do this regularly. Chalk this up as a learning experience, never pay a contractor everything up front. If all you do is argue with him about finishing, it can go on forever. You need to take a substantive step to resolve. Your best bet is to tell him (in writing): You have x number of days to complete this work. After that point, I will be hiring Company A to complete your work. After I pay company A, I will then sue you in small claims to recover the payments made to company A for work that I already paid you to do. Bringing in a new company means you will have to lay-out money, and you are not guaranteed to collect it back in court. However, it will get it done fast. Taking that stance might also light a fire under his butt to get it done. You might see if you could get a free estimate from someone to finish. Then give him the estimate and your timeframe / lawsuit ultimatum. Also, just to note, what I am suggesting is fairly common in construction. I have been company A several times, brought into a half completed job to finish the work, while the two original parties take the original contract to court. Finally, I would also say - this is yet another reason you should have gotten a building permit. I assume that you did this kitchen re-model unpermitted, because a contractor can not keep open permit hanging out there for long. Open permits impact his ability to pull other permits. I am guessing that the contractor told you that you do not need a permit, and probably told you that it is for your benefit to not pull permits. Permits are for the benefit of the customer, and not pulling a permit forces a contractor to do things correctly and in a timely fashion.

You can't make him do anything he doesn't want to do. What you can do is ask him to return all the materials you've paid for and the remainder of what he charged you for labor. If he's a stand up guy, he'll do that. If he's not, then the only thing left to you is suing him. I'd approach it thusly, "Gregg, it seems that now that summer is here, you're really busy with these other jobs. I really want to make it work, but I need to have the project completed by July 15. I'm willing to work with you on that, but I need an assurance in writing that it's going to happen, because it's been two months since we've seen you here. I'm catching hell from Pat over the fact that the bathroom is still out of service. Tell you what, I don't want to put you in a bad spot, and I'm sure you don't want to dick me around either. If this isn't going to work for you, how about I pay you for the materials, and your labor so far. Which one works for you?" In the future, when dealing with trades-people, when you draw up the contract, be sure to insist on receipts for materials, a time frame by which certain things get done, and a drop-dead date for when the project will be completed. In the US you can insert the phrase 'time is of the essense' into the contract, and it has a sprecific legal meaning that if the project isn't complete by that time, consequences will ensue. To that point, build in consequences for missing project milestones. Such as, 'If entire project is not complete, to customer's satisfaction by X, then 1/3 the labor cost shall be forefeit. If the project is not complete to customer's satisfaction by X + 2 weeks, 2/3 the labor cost shall be forfeit." You get the idea. Good Luck!

Since he is a friend, and presumably would like to continue getting work from friends, how about posting this same question to Facebook (if he has Facebook) so people know there is a problem with his timeliness and hopefully he will try to rescue his reputation. Or, have a mutual friend call him up on the pretense of getting work done by him, mention to him that they are aware you got work done and tell him they will contact you in the next couple of days to make sure you were happy with the completed job before hiring him.

I work for a contractor. Never, ever pay a contractor in advance. Asking for an advance just screams "We have no cash flow" and that is never a good sign. He's probably broke as a joke and maxed out on credit. And like Flood said above, a 10 percent holdback is standard in the industry until the job is done. Not lecturing here as I'm sure you have learned your lesson but to drive the point home for future readers of this thread. These are almost always the same kind of people who don't pay their worker's comp premiums and cut all kinds of corners. And get the rest of us labeled as shysters. Call him up and be firm. Tell him "I am really pissed off and if this work isn't completed by July X, I will have no choice but to escalate things." You can keep it vague and keep him wondering or you can be more specific. I knew someone in a similar situation recently and they phrased it as "My lawyer is advising that..." At the mention of the word "lawyer" the guilty party showed up on site within a couple of hours and did what was required.

I had a bathroom remodel go wrong despite pulling building permits, having a written contract that spelled out deliverables and payment schedules, and paying out a bit at a time to a contractor whose license number was reportedly clean. In the end, no amount of pleading or legal threats got the contractor back into my house and for my sanity's sake, I hired someone else to finish the job. In retrospect, I wish I had done that sooner: I spent over 11 months with a decommissioned master bathroom (I got pregnant and had a baby during those same months too). Your contractor has even less reason to return than mine did. Price out what it will take to wash your hands of him and decide if the additional cost is worth it to you to just get the thing done.

The contractor is busy. He has been paid. If he is 90% complete, then it should not take but a few days more work to complete. How about suggesting he come on successive Sundays until he finishes?

First, before a chorus of "sue his ass in small claims court" answers, I want to ask you this question: did he give you a discount for his services because he was your friend. I think if he gave you the courtesy of a discount, then you need to cut him a little slack (though now that slack is running/run out in my brain). Reach out to him again, tell him you've giving him until XX/XX/14 to finish the job and, if it's not done, you'll refer it to your lawyer. Sometimes you don't even need to sue someone to get them to move. Sometimes it's enough to threaten legal action.

I think if he gave you the courtesy of a discount, then you need to cut him a little slack If he couldn't do the work for the price he quoted in a reasonable time frame, that's his problem, not the OP's. I'm not sure I'd trust him to finish it with any sort of quality at this point, especially if you start threatening lawyers. I'd make a few more collegial attempts to get him to finish up, but the point at which you start talking about lawyers is when you should probably be trying to get your money back to have the job finished by someone else.

If he is licensed you can call the city or county and complain. Or at least threaten to. Or threaten to leave a bad review. If he cares at all this should get him moving. If he is oblivious to the threat then you will never get any leverage. Chalk it up to a lesson learned.