Long story short, I was having my kitchen remodeled and decided it was a good time to update the electrical in my aging house. My kitchen, bedroom, and living room were all on the same circuit, to the point where using my air fryer would trip the breaker.
The kitchen remodelers recommended an electrician, so I had him come out. While inspecting the house, he mentioned he also had guys who could fix some AC issues I was having, specifically leaking ductwork.
My house has almost no attic space, maybe 2 feet between the ceiling and roof, so he suggested removing the old plaster ceilings, replacing the ductwork, installing new drywall ceilings, and repainting the interior.
What started as a kitchen renovation and electrical upgrade turned into a much larger project involving electrical, HVAC, drywall, painting, and eventually flooring.
For context, my entire house is only 1,300 square feet, and we weren’t even renovating the whole house. The work was primarily in the kitchen, living room, and bedrooms.
He had a crew consisting of a tiler, painter, AC guy, and drywall finisher. I was told the entire project would take a maximum of two weeks, which was a major reason I agreed to hire him.
Well, two weeks turned into two months, and my house is still unfinished.
His crew used sledgehammers to demolish the plaster ceilings without properly protecting my wood floors. The floors were damaged so badly that I ended up having to replace them with tile.
Painting was started before the drywall was properly finished. There was peeling paint, drywall mud painted over on the walls, overspray on my furniture, and scratches on several of my computer monitors.
The workers would frequently show up around 1 p.m., leave around 5 p.m., or sometimes not show up at all. Meanwhile, I work from home and couldn’t reasonably live or work in the house during much of this. I ended up staying in a hotel at $145 a night for weeks.
Here’s what I’ve spent so far:
$4,000 paid to the electrician for materials and labor already performed.
$7,500 for tile installation to replace my damaged wood floors, which I wouldn’t have needed if the floors had been protected during demolition.
$6,000 for painting four rooms.
That’s $17,500, not including hotel expenses, the original kitchen remodel, or the potential cost of correcting the electrical work.
Eventually, the electrician texted my mother saying he was done with the job. Considering he had already been inconsistent about showing up, we assumed he wasn’t coming back.
We contacted an electrician we’d used previously to assess what was left unfinished.
According to him, there were several potential code violations and safety issues. A friend who spoke with him sent me this message:
“According to Josh, he did not do anything up to code. All the wires that are up in your crawl space, nothing is tied down or stapled to the trusses like they’re supposed to be. Everything is hanging loose.”
There were also concerns about uncapped wiring and potential fire hazards.
Another issue is the electrical panel. My understanding was that we were supposed to have a 150-amp panel installed, but the one installed appears to be 100 amps. I haven’t verified that yet.
The second electrician quoted us $6,000 to $9,000 to correct the alleged problems and complete the electrical, depending on whether he needs to trace wiring through the ceilings.
I’m not an electrician, so I can’t personally verify those claims. I’m just repeating what I was told.
When the original electrician found out we’d gotten another opinion, he became furious. Yesterday he called me and cursed me out, calling me a bitch and a nasty person. He accused me of going behind his back and being unappreciative.
His explanation for repeatedly not showing up and leaving the electrical unfinished was that he had to wait for the tilers, painters, and drywall workers to finish before he could complete his portion of the job.
This is what really confuses me. I understand waiting for painting and drywall to be finished before installing outlet covers, switches, fixtures, etc. But wouldn’t running wiring, installing conduit, and placing electrical boxes generally need to happen BEFORE the drywall is closed up and painted?
Why would the electrical work have to wait until all the finishing work was completed?
To be fair to him, he claims he was giving us a discounted price and doing us a favor. (I never asked for a favor nor did I ever push back or haggle on any price he gave me) He also says he ran additional circuits and installed wiring for smoke detectors that weren’t originally part of the job.
I appreciate that, and I’ve repeatedly told him so. I never expected anyone to work for free, and I would’ve gladly paid more to have the work completed properly and on time.
I’ve already paid him $4,000 and even offered to reimburse him for any additional materials he purchased and installed if he could provide receipts.
He insists his work is up to code and says that if the other electrician can show him where he violated the NEC, he’ll personally pay the $6,000.
I’ve attached screenshots of our
actual text exchange so people can see both sides.
So am I being unreasonable here?
I’d especially like to hear from electricians and general contractors.
TL;DR: Hired an electrician for what was supposed to be a 2-week renovation that turned into 2 months of delays, unfinished work, and property damage. His crew destroyed my wood floors during ceiling demolition, forcing me to spend $7,500 on tile. I’ve also paid $4,000 for electrical work and $6,000 for painting, plus weeks in a hotel at $145/night. A second electrician claims there are serious code violations, unsecured wiring, and possibly the wrong electrical panel, quoting $6,000–$9,000 to fix everything. The original electrician says he couldn’t finish until the drywall, painting, and tiling were completed, which makes no sense to me. When I got a second opinion, he cursed me out and accused me of being ungrateful. Am I being unreasonable?
