End of the nightmare...

365 days ago, I started peeling back the onion of Dave Exline and the Three Little Pigs Construction companies work. Little did I know that the onion would be rancid, rotten, and slimy. So like so much kitchen waste, I am turning this rancid, rotten, slimy, stinky, onion, into a compost. A compost that can fertilize, that can encourage growth, that will keep giving back something positive and healthy long after the smell has gone.

This house can now be lived in. It can have laughter, it can now have warmth, it can now have happiness, it can now have hope. People will enjoy the holidays in the house, they will create new memories to replace the old memories and fill the house with its' own life.

There is still work to be done, but it is work I gladly do. It is work that will make the bad memories recede into the past.

As the house continues to take on character it will be posted here. As it continues to grow into a home, it will be chronicled here.

Final thoughts on this experience and Dave Exline in particular:

• That it would take 365 days from firing Dave Exline and his band of 'construction' workers to get to a house you can live in is a testament of his construction capability
• Dave Exline will be as successful in his 'custom home construction and home inspection business as he has been in his previous business endeavors.
• Funny that I never see Dave in town.
• If your contractors home is messy, unorganized and cluttered, odds are the work he does for you will be the same
• As for Dave Exline, Janice Exline, and the Three Little Pigs Construction Company, it seems as if fate has a sense of humor in that they continue to have court dates on consecutive days

Thank you all for your support, well wishes, and kind words.

The nightmare is officially over.

How many electrical outlets

As I deconstruct the building of this house, I wonder. why do I have 11(eleven) electrial outlets in one room!?!!? I can only believe it was because The Three Little Pigs wanted to make sure I was a happy camper. Because as we all know, having 6 electrical outlets on 8ft of wall is what everyone wants.

My amazement at the work of Dave Exline dba Three Little Pigs Construction will never cease.

Yee Haw, build me another house sparky!

Court, Court, and more Court

I have found it easier to distill the past and current court cases involving David Exline, Janice Exline, and Three Little Pigs construction, into one page. Click HERE to view.

...and remember, "this is custom home construction and you will get a great piece of property"


RIGHT!!!!!

Free Speech on All Hallows Eve...

I love the Ninth Circuit Court.
Free Speech and Blogging...
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/Speech/%5Cnews.aspx?id=11675
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,59424,00.html?tw=wn_story_related
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-07-02-blogger-libel_x.htm

High Quality Construction Managment

Available: Part-time construction project manager for small to medium size projects.

I have over 4 years experience with plumbing, basic electrical training, standard construction techniques, blueprint reading, budgeting, and purchasing. I am organized, pride myself on attention to detail, and have a unique understanding of all facets of the construction process, I will act as the intermediary workers, between the architect and his subcontractors, and between the project and any regulatory personnel.

In addition, I will meet regularly with owners, subcontractors, architects, and other design professionals to monitor and coordinate all phases of the construction project. I will regularly review engineering and architectural drawings and specifications to monitor progress and ensure compliance with plans and specifications. I will also track and control construction costs to avoid cost overruns.

I will never blame you, the customer for my bad decisions or poor quality work. I will make sure the work crew reports to work on time and ready to work. They will be honest, have integrity, and be free of any wants and warrants. They will work a full day, everyday and treat the job site with respect.

I will make sure no changes are made prior to your approval. I will ensure that all subs are paid in a timely manner and I will make sure the job site is clean, and organized.

Of course I am not looking for a construction management job, but if I had a person like the one described above, I suspect that I would not have had the issues that this project has.

In retrospect, Dave Exline and Three Little Pigs Construction pretty much lived down to their name.

Speaking of, Dave Exline was back in COURT on 9/28/05. For those of you keeping score at home, I think Dave Exline has now had at least 1 court appearance every month of the year. Can he keep the streak alive? Stay tuned.

The cost of doing business...

I have come to the conclusion that anyone who has found a good contractor has won the lottery. Everyone save 1 person I know, has contractor nightmare stories. Even attorneys have nightmare stories.

Here are some things I wish I knew, based on my research:

American Contractors Indemnity Company vs David Vern Exline an individual and dba Three Little Pigs Construction; Janice Exline. Complaint for:

• Breach of Contract
• Indemity
• Common Count
• Account Stated

My favorite line from this lawsuit is as follows:
7. "Thereafter, various claims and lawsuits arose and were made against the bonds described in Exhibit 2, because of Defendants' violations of the applicable provisions of the California Business and Professions Code"

Michael Boyajian vs. Dave Exline and Janice Exline

• currently in litigation for non payment of legal services

Dulce Marrs vs. Dave Exline dba Three Little Pigs Constrcution

• Insurance company settled construction defect lawsuit for $40,000 to Dulce Marrs

Roger and Jeannie Hunt

• Dismissed Dave Exline from project prior to finish

Craig and Kathy Bonelli

• Indicated that they would never work with Dave Exline again.

Dan Conner Plumbing vs. Dave Exline dba Three Little Pigs

• Small claims Dave Exline refused to pay for plumbing work. Three Little Pigs Construction prevailed in this small claims action
  

Thorne weaving barn

• Would not have Tim Exline work on their place.
  

This seems to be the cost of doing business with some contractors. They do not seem to care that they impact peoples lives. They always hide behind "its a business" after they sell you on them building your dream. Contractors by and large, refuse to be pinned down by dates or costs. Why? I really do not know.


When they turn your dream into a nightmare, they refuse to acknowledge it. They refuse to engage you in that discussion, it then becomes all about business.

If I never work with another contractor, it will be too soon. I plan to do my next blog from court in San Luis Obispo

Judges, Lawyers and Courts, Oh My!

I wonder how much a contractor, who stays in court so much, manages to run his business. Dave Exline does seem to spend an inordinate time in court. Whether it be construction related or not, the only way to find out would be to either call and ask Exline, or perhaps show up for one of his court dates on 8/15 AND 8/16. Could this be why the houses he is working on in Monterey County and San Diego County have yet to be finaled? This could also explain why he was not able to do more than 3-4% per month on my house, because if I spent this much time in court, my productivity and quality of work would suffer. Strangely enough, his son/my job site manager has also been spending a lot of time in court as well. The fruit does not fall far it seems.

Perhaps one of his current attorneys would be interested in knowing how much time he spends in court, how much he switches attorneys, and last but not least, how many houses he has actually finished without having some type of conflict with the owner. Finished being the operative word.

Someone once told me that reasonable people do not end up in court. What does it say when a business owner, may have to spend at least 1 day per month (on average) 'defending' himself.


In the end, it would just be best to ....To Three Little Pigs Construction. CA. Lic. #420523

This to shall pass...

To all the people who have sent me emails of encouragement, thank you very much. I appreciate the support



This project will be completed. The agnst, anger, and frustration may never give way to a sense of accomplishment that was once envisioned but it will be complete. Life has a way of bringing everything into focus, our goal is to make sure we are looking when it comes into focus. To that end, I have included some updated pictures of the house coming into focus.

As I re-learn how to focus myself on what is truly important, I find that the one of the criteria of judging a boxing matchrings true, effective aggression. That is something I need to remember everytime I look at this project and become angry. I need to focus the aggression on where it truly belongs. I need to make decisions that:

• Complete this project
• Make cost effective and timely decisions
• Remember that this is an investment
• Do not get bogged down in little details

One thing that I will take away from this is that letting someone in your life is not a trivial matter. How disruptive this project has been to my life is the poster child of that statement.

Needing to vent...

I have been trying to keep this journey in the proper perspective these last few months but this week I am failing.

The more I discover about Dave Exline and Three Little Pigs Construction, the more I am shocked, awed, and amazed that he is still in business. His name has showed up at least 3 times on the court dockets in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties so far this year. At least 2 of them construction related. From what I can tell, he has spent more than his fair share of time in civil and small claims court. Of course in typical american justice fashion, going to court or settling a lawsuit is not an admission of guilt or wrong doing but it does make you wonder. Exlines current attorney(he has been represented no less than 5 attorneys the past 5 years) says he is a salt of the earth kind of guy, honest as the day is long, blah, blah, blah. If being in various stages of litigation is an indicator of saltiness and various court appearances are a sign of honesty, I would have to agree with those statements.

In this situation, the neighbors would tell me that the Three Little Pigs crew would show up at 7am and leave at 11am. That some days they would not come out, that they would look to be talking and joking and not working. I am positive that the only person with a Genreal Contractors license from Three Little Pigs Constrution, spent less than 25% of the time on my site. AND IT SHOWS. The crew he had out there were not real job site managers, or carpenters. Tim Exline(Dave Exlines son) may not have anything more than a high school diploma and he was the job site manager?!?!? Perhaps a closer look at Tim's history in a future post, will bring some clarification to the quality of the work and the work ethic the neighbors mentioned.

Is this a I hate Dave Exline site? No, it's that I hate what contractors are allowed to do to people site.

I have the perspective of someone who grew up in a very bad area. Where there were gangs, drug dealers, thugs and scam artists, etc. I have seen the hustle and the game played up close. The Contractors lobby has twisted the game in such a way that it puts almost ALL of the onus on the consumer to be educated, informed, and on top of things. Even then, it would be almost impossible to protect yourself from a bad contractor. You can call the police after someone has stolen your car or broke into your house. When a contractor screws you over, try getting the CSLB on the phone. Really, try.

The true problem is not so much with Exline but with how contractors are allowed to operate in this state. His actions and behavior is a learned behavior. In effect, contractors can legally take your money, not deliver the goods and services, not pay THEIR bills and leave the owner holding the bag. The bar to getting a complaint on a contractors record is more prohibitive than anything else. The best way I can describe it is this way. The CSLB must have consulted with the IRS's audit team about the level of documentation required to clear an audit in developing their complaint procedure.

In short, contractors have a better game than, the Pimp Game, the 419 Game, and the Three Card Monte scam. The reality is, a high school graduate with no real business or financial skills becomes a contractor and begins to build houses. Before you know it, this person is building 2-3 houses per year at an average cost of $375k. So you have this contractor dealing with subs, permits, owners, etc, and they have over 1 million dollars of budget responsibility. Some contractors handle this well, some do not. Some pay subs on time, some do not. Some play the shell game of "pay me for plumbing and then apply it to something else", where as some keep everything above board. Guess which one I got...

Lies, Damn Lies, Statistics, and Contractors

Mark Twain is rumored to have uttered the phrase "There are Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics" Personally, I think a contractor said it.

Statistically speaking, this house is very wasteful in wood, materials, space utilization, and time and effort to date. Not the 'green' house I envisioned. It needs two heating and cooling units, possibly 20% more lumber than estimated, and no fireplace. (The fireplace story is for another post)

In addition, Dave Exline took liberties with the design and architecture without ever notifying me, the owner, I have included what the house looks like now(left image), and what is was designed to look like.(right image) Of course Dave Exline swears he did this for my benefit.
How about letting the owner make the decision. Note: Please excuse the poor Photoshop job. I am a bit rusty these days.

In line with the title, here are some of the conversations I recall having with Dave Exline of Three Little Pigs Construction.

• Bedrooms and bathrooms do not need central heating and cooling because of how strawbale houses perform. (strange that the laundry room 'needed' it)
• Better to stain the concrete floors prior to framing(the floors will have to be redone due to the amount of traffic during construction)
  
• Concrete counter tops are too expensive(bid I have is over 75% less than Exline estimated)
  
• No such thing as stucco color coat(Strange, every other stucco contractor I spoke to heard of it)
  
• He had never heard of obscure tempered glass

Sometimes I wonder if he ever listened to anything I requested or did he just build the house he wanted. Maybe he was too busy working on his sons house and the project in Greenfield to pay any attention to me.

Contractor Responsibility

Progress on the house continues. It is great to see real professionals at work. People who can make a commitment and stick to it. Who update you with progress and let you know the current status of your project. Thanks again for bringing this project back from the precipice.


Which brings me to this question, why don't some contractors take responsibility? When given a job of building a house, remodeling a kitchen, adding a room, the consensus from people I have spoken to is that some contractors will never admit a mistake. Some just try to ignore it, some try to blame the customers 'meddling' and some actually tell the customer to leave them alone and they will get the job done.(as happened to me). Why not make it right? Why not accept that you did not meet the customers expectation and ask them what would it take to make them happy? Taking responsibility is something most of us learn growing up. What happened to these individuals? Did their parents not give them enough attention, do they despise all authority? Do they become contractors because they can be their own boss, make their own hours, and have virtually no accountability for bad work as long as they can make it pass code?

All bad contractors know that they have the advantage. They know they can do sub-par work and not have any repercussions. The bar is so high to get a complaint on their record that most people do not even try. A contractor can do a bad job and move on. They control who their references are, who their prospective customers talk to, and even the work their prospective customers see.

The agency that regulates contractors in California, the Contractors State License Board, makes getting a complaint on a contractors record is close to an act of god. The amount of documentation and paper work they request is amazing. The amount of paper work is more than what a bank would ask for in a home loan.

In order to have the CSLB begin looking into your alleged complaint, a contractor would have to do something like:

• Not pay their sub-contractors in a timely manner
• Refuse to correct faulty work
• Perhaps make structural changes on their own without consulting a Structural Engineer

Then, the Contractors State License Board will begin to look into your complaint. Should I consider myself lucky that there they are looking into my alleged complaint?

When I first met Dave Exline, he came across as a very dedicated, hard working, honest, upfront, responsible contractor. For me, he is just another report to the CSLB.

Why are Contractors so...

Contractors Complaints (981,000 results from Google) The word elicits the same reaction as car dealers,(527,000 results from Google) and dmv complaints,(66,400 results from Google) . My experience, albeit very limited, is that when a contractor starts giving reasons instead of results, RUN!!! When they begin to tell you how they could have done it, after they have done it, RUN!!! When they say that you don't understand something and refuse to explain it, RUN!!!

In short, do not cut them any slack. Get everything in writing, get performance guarentees, get a list of ALL of their customers, and have them abide by the contractors ethics guidebook. Getting them to include this in their contract would be advisable.

Sadly, when I brought this to the attention of Dave Exline of Three Little Pigs construction, he refused to agree to it. The tagline for the ethics guide is "Doing it Right A Contractors Standard for Excellence.

In addition, I am taking donations to send this book to the former contractors customers :-)

Perhaps there are contractors out there who do the job right the first time. Who do not make excuses, who do not seek to deflect the 55 construction defects from their previous lawsuit to others. Maybe there are contractors who take responsibility for their actions and acutally stand behind there work. Semmes and Company builders seem to fit that bill. They communicate, take pride, and offer results. Sadly they were not my 1st choice to build with.

I have learned quite a bit, and will continue to learn as this process winds it's way thru. Stay tuned, I have 10 months worth of email conversations I am reviewing. Some of them quite enlightening.

House Thoughts and Ramblings...

How did this project go awry? Why, in the face of overwhelming information would someone refuse to take responsibility? Obviously the work was not done in a timely manner. Nor was it done in a workmanlike manner. It was not even done in some cases.

I keep asking the same questions knowing there will be no answers forthcoming. At least from Dave Exline. If this were the first lawsuit against him, I could perhaps accept it. If it were first job he was fired from, perhaps I could accept it. Instead, I was drawn in by Dave Exlines proclamations of:

• "I stand behind my work"
• "You are going to have a nice piece of property"
• "This is a custom home, not a tract home, it takes more time"

So after Dave Exline/Three Little Pigs being on the job from 10/2003 to 11/2004, he was less than 60% complete, no rough framing or roof framing inspections passed, and a host of issues that are outlined in this post.

In trying to articulate how I feel about this, I am struck by the depth of emotions experienced. The questions of why and how will always remain unanswered. They will remain unanswered because Dave Exline does not finish all of the projects he starts, leaving the owners of those respective projects asking themselves some of the same questions.

Hunt, Marrs, Miley. These are the names of the people who ask themselves the same questions I do. Dave Exline/Three Little Pigs Construction started but did not finish these projects. They represent a some % of Three Little Pigs Construction work since 2000. How can you 'stand behind your work' when 3 out of 5-7 projects have VERY unhappy customers.

I removed myself from day to day involvement in the house to gain perspective. It has worked to a certain extent but the reality is that this has been extremely painful, very disappointing, and very frustrating. As the house continues to get built by true professionals, I am constantly struck by the difference in workmanship, work ethic, communication, and quality. Why I settled for less I will never know. There are lessons in every painful moment in life. The hard part is taking the time to learn those lessons. Those lessons are for another post.

Paso Straw Bale House Visit, July 2nd, 2005

This is my first visit to the house site is 3 months. The last 3 months have seen more work done than the Three Little Pigs Construction Company accomplished in 6 months. Kudos to Semmes and Company Builders, (Walt is a good man) for the high quality workmanship, and hard work. True professionals.

I enjoy seeing progress on this but still have a lot of anger and frustration. Anger over re-reading 3 months worth of email correspondence and seeing the lack responsibility for the work done. Frustration over the fact that my dream has turned into something else. Frustration that it is costing so much more in time, effort and energy than anyone could have imagined. Frustration in seeing entire housing developments started and completed in the time it has taken to get to stucco and drywall.

The Internet, leveling the playing field one blog at a time.

Two years to the day

I am two years to the day of signing a contract with Dave Exline of Three Little Pigs Construction. Attempting to re-hash everything is beyond the scope of this entry but I am going to archive the posts I was making to my website here. I will keep this blog updated with the less than enjoyable aspects I encounter as I continue to bring to closure my involvement with Dave Exline of Three Little Pigs construction.

Stoppage of work due to unauthorized engineering changes

No work is being done on the Paso Straw Bale house pending resolution of
legal issues concerning the construction performed by Three Little Pigs/Dave Exline.
:-( Please feel free to email me at Lesliehmatpasostrawbaledotcom for additional(off the
record) information. I will keep updates to a minimum during this time. To say this is very
disappointing would be an understatement. Caveat Emp-tor

Engineer visits house, depression ensues

The structural engineer who originally engineered the house prepared this
report after his review of the construction by Dave Exline/Three Little Pigs Construction:
Engineering Memo . Thanks to Patrick Marr for coming up on short notice to conduct the
review.

Working hard for???

Merry New Year. The new contractor, Semmes & Company Builders (and myself) have spent the last 3 weeks removing lath, staples, nails, etc, so we can remove the windows and install them per the manufactures recommendations. We are down to the large picture windows and should have them re-installed before the end of the year. This is the epitome of taking 2 steps backward to go forward. Upon removing the windows we discovered that the framing was not nailed in properly, in some cases only 1 nail used in the window framing, none of the windows were level, and they did not remove the wood pieces that are shipped with the windows prior to installation. Things are not all that bad. The winters in Paso Robles are mild with temps normally rising to the 60s' in the middle of the day. There are also more Wineries being built which is nevera bad thing. I have included a map of the Paso Robles Wine Country. Please feel free to visit, the red X marks the spot.

This is where the nightmare began...

12/07/04: Winter is upon us and the chill is in the air. Not just the 20 degree weather in Paso Robles last week, but with the construction of the home as well. After being over 3 months behind schedule and at least 4-5 months from completion we made the decision to change contractors late in the game. Semmes & Company Builders is taking over the project. Stay tuned...

We have arrived at this juncture in my opinion, due to the contractor making changes to the design, construction, and living conditions of the house without prior notification. Poor quality workmanship, abusive and derisive communications, changing rational forvarious costs, and arguing needlessly over items that are clearly done poorly.

Overall, it is my opinion that the quality of the lath work is poor, the installation of the windows terrible, the waterproof job under the lath is laughable as evidenced by these pictures 1, 2, 3, Take a look at the stapling job in #3. The stucco sub contractor and the County Inspector both remarked that it looked as if a kid got his first staple gun and went wild. This picture tho fuzzy, says it all. Unfortunately, they are very close to being right as the crew who installed the windows was by my observation, young, inexperienced and
not versed in how to install the windows per the manufactures instructions.

This includes:

• Not installing heating or cooling in the theater room, Master bdr/bath and Guest
  bdr/bath and not informing owner. The county inspector is requiring heat and air
  to be installed in that portion of the house.
  
• Changing the material on the clerestory from Stucco to T-111 wood siding on the
  most exposed part of the house and not informing owner. This is a link I found
  about caring for that type of wood siding. T-111. In short, this siding is perhaps
  the worst thing you could put in the location the contractor chose. It is the most
  exposed part of the home and takes the brunt of the wind, rain, and sun. It would
  need to be resealed every 2-3 years and given what the plywood on the roof did in
  106 degree heat , I am surprised he went with it.
  
• Sub-par installation of the windows and doors that require them to be removed
  and re-installed. This entails removing the lath and expanded metal, taking the
  windows/doors out and re-flashing and sealing the windows. I have included
  links to the latest County Inspection Correction Card as well as the
  recommendation from Obispo Pacific Windows. In regards to the window
  installation, this a quote from the contractor " Just because YOU.. believe it to be
  incorrect..does not make it so...even if you got the inspector and Obispo Pacific to
  side with your one sided argument. I was never allowed to put my 2+cents in, and
  my explanation of the proper way to install in "Straw Bale" walls..with 10' of
  overhang, might have a different out come."
  
• In regards to the installation job on the windows, here is another exchange.
  Contractor comments are in italics, Owner does not have an obligation to pay
  until the work that you say you completed(i.e. window installation) is done to my
  satisfaction. Lets see...where in the contract does it say this...hmmmm...seems to
  me that I am obligated to the Uniform Building Code, and the San Luis Obispo
  County Building requirements, and..State of California...but no where do I see
  Leslie Millie.., or ...Marvin windows, ...or...Obispo Pacific...hmmmmm..It seems to
  me that a f t e r I talk with the inspector, go over my plans and specificiation, the
  UBC, & my Details from the plans with said inspector, that at that time it would be
  determined what action, if any, might be required.
  
• Unfortunately, the situation has have deteriorated the point that the parties are
  not speaking to each other.

September 2004 Post

We live in earthquake country as evidenced by the 6.0 on 9/28 and the 700 aftershocks, several being 5.0 or greater. There are some additional cracks in the flooring but overall, the house withstood the shaking and baking very well. In other news, the windows are 70% complete and roof is 55% complete. I started the structural wiring for the stereo system and should be complete no later than 10/6/04. Lathing and Plastering/Stucco not yet started.

Days like this I wish I had a project schedule.

Lathing and Plastering should be happening this month. If all goes according to plan, we plan to have a
small gathering to do the plastering. Could be a good time for a mud party if it is still hot. Speaking of, it was over
105 degrees when these last pictures were taken. 105!!!! Thanks to Pedraum for giving me space on his blog.

August 2004 Post

Window bucks are in. We can now REALLY see what a Straw Bale Building will look like. Updated pictures have been posted. Go take a look HERE.

Straw has been delivered. If you have wondered how the straw bale homes stay in place, check THIS out. Looks like the set of a B Horror film to me. Speaking of B Movies, someone said there was a giant KING SNAKE in the straw. I guess he will take care of the Rattlesnakes. JOY!

The first course of straw has been stacked. As you can tell from this picture, there is still a lot of straw waiting to be stacked. Dave Exline does several bale raising per year, contact him directly at Three Little Pigs Construction in Paso Robles if you want to join in.

I added some pictures of the engineering that is going into the house. Rumor is that the house had been engineered to withstand an 8.0 earthquake. Ya gotta love straw bale construction. Check out the straps from the foundation to the post, and the extensive use of steel. I hope I never find out HOW well it is engineered. Dave Exline of Three Little Pigs Construction believes we should withstand most major quakes in good shape.

Work party is over. We did not get as much done as we would have liked but it was a great experience. We are considering having a plaster party. If you would like to join us, please email me here . Dave Exline of Three Little Pigs does several plasterings per year. Contact him for more info Special thanks to J.R., Scott, and Sharon for putting in some back breaking labor in 100 degree heat. They are good folks and are always welcome in my house.

January thru July 2004 Posts

July - 2004: Trusses complete and installed, Plywood for roof installed, facia board in place. Interior framing 80%
complete.

June - 2004: Bathrooms are designed and ready to be ordered. Many thanks to Nena at European Bath, Kitchen, Tile
and Stone for the lunches and design advice. She gets to take the first bath! :-)

June - 2004: All trusses delivered.

May - 2004: Roof trusses measured and ordered. Three Little Pigs/Dave Exline informs me that trusses were not built
to spec and have to be re-ordered. Interior framing continues

Apr - 2004: Exterior framing complete, interior framing begins.

Mar - 2004: Straw Bale Building Exterior Framing begins.

Jan - 2004: Foundation poured.