T.L. Horton Contracting

Initially, we thought that T.L. Horton from Fargo, ND was going to be great - we were very happy with our decision to use this company to build our pergola. The owner seemed very knowledgeable and his price was competitive. Unfortunately, the quality of work was not at all what we expected. The four main posts supporting the pergola have footings but the posts are not centered on the footings. On one, part of the post is on footing and a significant portion (several inches) is off the footing, just hanging in the air. The contractor's response was that it "kinda got away from them". The nails used on this outdoor project were rusting within just a few days. Saw cuts were so rough that we had to go through afterwards and clean up the edges with a sander. We paid for far more lumber than was needed, which the contractor took back to his shop. He brought it back when I inquired as to the whereabouts. When we researched the issue with a local lumber yard they confirmed that pergolas are quite easy to accurately estimate and that there should only be a spare board or two ordered. The banged up, unattractive boards were used in the pergola - the better looking ones went back to the contractor's shop. The jobsite was not picked up (e.g. empty Subway cups and chunks of concrete left behind). We had to ask him repeatedly to come back and remove the unsightly sonotubes that were left above ground. I made the mistake of writing the check before inspecting the details of the job (it looks ok from a distance). When we asked the contractor about our concerns a few days later, he made no offer to correct the poor craftsmanship and promptly cashed the check. Looking back, I wish that I'd not assumed that the contractor would correct their mistakes. I should have stopped payment on the check and reissued payment only when the quality was improved.