A Cautionary Tale Based on our Horrendous Experience with Amodeo Contracting Unfortunately for us, we hired ****** *********************** Amodeo Contracting, to finish our unfinished basement (3 mo construction timeline provided by **********************) and do an exterior drainage project (1 mo timeline). After countless careless errors in project execution, bad judgment, and flat-out dishonesty and deception by ****** *********************** we were forced to fire him for cause 1 year and 7 months into a project that he savaged through a combination of incompetence, deceit, and neglect, and generally made an absolute nightmare for us. The project was still far from complete when we were forced to fire him in part because a lot of ******s work had to be re-done or fixed by actual professionals. I know you are probably thinking why did it take so long to fire him? Fair question. In addition to the natural bias in favor of staying the course, it was because ****** is a good talker, who regrettably was able to convince me he would get things straightened out and there would not be any more problems. As it turned out, that was never the case. Instead, we had a minimum of 1 -3 problems with ****** weekly, and constantly had to monitor, prod, chase, and essentially babysit someone who supposedly is a professional contractor. For those interested, what follows are some of the details of our very bad experience with this contractor.****** ********************** repeatedly ***** follow our architects plans, which were professionally (and expensively) created by our architect to customize our project and make sure it was done properly. We had to force ****** ********************** constantly to redo the work to fix the many, and often fundamental, problems that we (or our architect) would discover on our own. We paid for specific higher-end materials and ****** ********************** installed cheaper off-brand versions behind our backs. On many occasions, ****** ********************** lied to my face about the status of materials, job progress, and schedule. I would call the manufacturers myself to check on the order to find out they were submitted months late or that ****** ********************** had not paid for them and that is why we ***** have the materials on site. We would have lengthy meetings and calls making decisions and outlining next steps. I took notes of these meetings and would send ****** ********************** the notes so there was a history. He, inexplicably, never took notes at all. The documentation we created on our own was crucial as months later things would come up that ****** would claim he never knew about and I would go back and prove that he did. This saved us thousands of dollars because ****** was constantly trying to make add-ons or use shortcuts and cheaper materials.There is a character limit on reviews so here are a few of the many, many issues we had with ****** ************************** eventually discovered that the electrician he hired was not licensed in Westchester county and ****** ****** this problem by having another electrician file for the inspection (not the one who did the work). We had a new electrician come in and he found faulty connections, mismatched wires and lines completely not working. We had to pay a new, licensed contractor to fix the electric work.-****** ordered his worker to cut a huge hole in one of our supporting foundation walls to make a pipe connection work instead of following the pipe layout on the drawings, ***** ask or tell the architect, spray foamed over it, did framing and it was just before sheetrock that the architect noticed it. Everything had to be ripped out and replaced.-After cutting + moving the gas line ****** instructed the plumber to NOT do a pressure test or inspection and told his men to bury the line the next day. Obviously, a safety hazard and not permitted, we made his men stop and called the inspector ourselves to request an inspection. A stop work order was issued by the town until it was inspected. It ***** pass initially and modifications were needed before we could proceed.-We installed a new interior staircase. ****** ***** share the drawings with the installer so he was unaware of the finished floor height. Once installed the stairs were not code compliant, and were off significantly. ****** asked the architect, who noticed the issue first, to not say anything to us because ****** ******* have one more setback. Instead of fixing the issue when it was discovered, ****** waited months, until we got so far along (past sheetrock and moldings) that the fix was now a huge problem and the stairs and walls would have to be completely torn out and remade.--****** was supposed to install 2 PVC pipes for drainage, but he only did one, buried it, lied and said there were 2. When the inspector asked for photos for proof ****** confessed there was actually only 1 pipe and to fix that we now had to install French drains, which set us back months. --Our contract and budget called for Warmboard radiant flooring. ****** got shop drawings and was planning on installing a generic, cheaper brand. He gave us the runaround for 8 months saying Warmboard was behind with our order, but when I called them directly I found out that ****** never even contacted them and there was no order for my address. The generic brand company had our address and order on file.-****** said the contract and cost was to cover everything we discussed in planning meetings with him and our interior designer, everything in the architect drawings are part of the contract. However, ****** constantly pushed for upcharges saying he ***** know about something even though it was clearly shown on the drawings and written in emails. -Despite the contract saying a portable toilet would be on site, ****** never paid for one and I would consistently find water bottles filled with urine all around the basement. Similarly, ****** ***** get a dumpster until halfway through the project so there were huge piles of garbage and debris all around the house piling up for months. We complained about this; ****** did not care.-The bathroom tile was installed crooked and not flush, had to be ripped out and redone.-Our windows were leaking from day 1 and ****** was supposed to uninstall, fix and reinstall them. He kept saying he would do it next week/month. He never did.-Materials would be delivered and his team was nowhere to be found. We had to sign for and move product deliveries ourselves. Huge heavy things, eg, a boiler, because most deliveries are curbside meaning we ******* get out of our driveway until the materials were moved. If I wasnt WFH the materials wouldnt have been delivered.A longer version of this review detailing more of our horrible experience with ****** ********************** and Amodeo Contracting can be found on ********* *********** ******** **************** ****** and more.