Woman says kitchen remodeler never finished work
ST. PAULS, N.C. (WTVD) -- A widow is out thousands of dollars after a kitchen remodeling job went bad, and she's not the first person this happened to. The man who was supposed to do the job and has been behind bars for doing this to homeowners before.
Kim Britt said she has nowhere to cook or even prepare a meal.
"My counter tops have been set up on saw horses," Britt said.
Britt said it all started when she hired Christopher Beard of Precision Flooring and Restoration to redo her kitchen floor.
"He came out on Labor Day and started working, removing my floor, Brett said. "Then he found water damage. He said he could fix it, so I just let him go ahead with the job."
Britt said she paid Beard close to $3,000 to do the job, but the job kept getting bigger. She said Beard kept adding in more to it by saying he would give her nice cabinets and a design on her flooring.
On top of all the add-ons, Britt said Beard also brought out a plumber, Samuel Twine, to help out with the job. Between Beard and Twine, Britt paid the two men more than $8,000.
Britt says despite the money paid, it was tough to get Beard and Twine on the job. She said there were often days when Beard wouldn't show up for work.
"He would never show up when he said he would. He would come up with an excuse every day, why he didn't show," Britt said.
Through text, Britt was promised a refund, but the refund never came, so she contacted me.
We learned Christopher Beard has an extensive criminal record. He's been convicted and has done prison time for obtaining property under false pretenses, relating to other home improvement jobs.
Beard is also currently facing more charges in Cumberland County, including failure to do work after being paid and injury to personal property, for another unfinished remodeling job. Twine is also facing those charges for that Cumberland County job.
Britt said she didn't know about Beard's record when she hired him.
"I'm just really disgusted," Britt said.
She said she's mad she didn't do research on Beard before she gave him all that money.
Britt has filed pending charges against Christopher Beard and Samuel Twine for failing to do work after being paid. They both are due in court later in November.
We called Beard and Twine and went to their houses, but we could not get in contact with them and they did not return the phone calls.
When hiring a contractor for a job, make sure research them before signing anything. If they say they're licensed, ask for their license number and check to make sure it's valid. Also, avoid paying a large amount of money upfront.
Click here to check North Carolina contractor's licenses.
