Finished, at long last...

Yahoo,
We are "substantially" finished with this house. It's been a rough time, but we made it. Our life savings are wiped out, but what the heck, it's only money!

The biggest hurdle to cross in the last year was not so trustworthy Chris Jason Smith ( aka, Chris James Smith) of C. J. Smith's Custom Cabinets, a most misleading business name. I met Chris Smith on line in the spring ot 2008. He had a shop locally. I wanted to spend my money locally. We met up at Lowe's where he showed me a set of stock cabinets and told me that he would make me a better set of kitchen cabinets (with all the bells and whistles) for about the same price. I went and looked at another job that he had completed, with a contractor friend in tow. It looked like good work. He had a deal and I wrote him a deposit check as he promised me that he would have my new kitchen installed within six weeks. Six weeks came and went.

Mind you, every time I went to check on the progress of my house I had to travel over 2,000 miles. Over the next month, seasons, and year Chris Smith made many promises. He would call me very excited and ask me to come over to his shop to see the progress. The cabinets that he showed me looked great. He had more that he needed to do in my house. He wanted to make it his showplace. He wanted to complete the entire interior of the house. This included sheetrock, tape, texture, paint, all flooring, bathroom cabinets, custom "California" style closets, shower installation, door, floor and ceiling trim, Wooden window shutters and of course the kitchen. He was even going to make a miniature stage for "media room". But everything came with a deposit.

During the winter of 2008/2009 I go see the "progress" on my house. There didn't seem to be much, if any. My good friend Ron noticed and the next thing I know we had a sheetrock party during the weekend. I was sick with a 104 temp., but we got the majority of it completed. Of course, this was sometime after I had paid Chris Smith over $6,000 to complete the job. So spring of 2009 rolls around and Chris hammers in the unfinished hardwood that I had purchased. But he only installs the easy part of the job, I would call it the field. He left all of the detail work for "later"...much later. Over the next months Chris managed to get the kitchen and living room taped and textured (two whole rooms). This went on for several more months. And, of course Chris was always asking for more money all along the way.

After a while it got to be a joke, sort of a sick joke. Chris would fret over some miniscule detail and would use it as his excuses to do nothing. He kept telling me that he was "going to move into the house for a month and finish it". He was always asking for more money. The last big money that I sent him to complete the house with....he went out an bought himself a pick-up. Nice.

I asked a friend (a real good friend) to help Chris in his shop so he could finish my job. They worked on my project for weeks. Then Chris asked my friend to work on someone elses project, (without compensation, of course). The freind said no and Chris got mad.

Chris gets mad a lot. He gets mad over the smallest things. He blows up and says nasty evil things to everyone around. He sent his girlfriend Sandra to tears on a regular basis. He struts around like a banty rooster and acts tough. Then a day or so later he acts like everything is fine.

Chris called me a lot also. He told me that I was one of his only "friends". He told me that he got depressed. He sounded like he was crying on the phone. Then, usually, he would ask for more money.

I paid for helpers to try to move my house project along...to do the work that Chris should have done himself. That's Chris Smith's picture on the right. He even wears a tape measure to give the impression that he knows what he's doing! He was nice enough to have his girlfriend Sandra take this photo of him for me. Chris told me that Sandra loves him.

Finally, out of desperation I offered to pay additional money to Chris Smith, to make the final installations in my house. I figured that this guy is so greedy that he will jump at the opportunity. He did.

Then a call comes from Big Ron. Big Ron tells me me that Chris offers to pay Ron to grout some tile. Ron says O.K. Next, Chris says to Big Ron, "and since your working for Dan be sure to charge him too".

The big day is upon us and Chris is going to deliver all of the materials that I had purchased. The cabinets were dropped of in prior days. On this day Chris Jason Smith shows up without his girlfriend Sandra (who he is always with). He gets out of his truck, and grabs his large toolbox; it looked so heavy that my friend Big Ron offers to help, but Chris "has it handled". My guys notice that all of the finished materials are missing from the truck. Minutes later Chris is elsewhere and my guys need to move the big heavy toolbox. They went to move it and it was light as a feather, in fact it was empty! Imagine that.

While all of this is going on in Louisiana, I am in California driving towards the San Francisco bay area to move my elderly mother. My phone rings and I hear my friend telling me that Chris just "quit". I was driving so I let my buddy who was with me handle the calls from Chris. It all boiled down to this. Chris thought that he was the big joke on the jobsite. Chris wanted even more money to finish the job that he was a year behind on and he had already been paid more than it was worth. He hadn't finished one portion of the job. He still had the materials that I had bought and refused to return them (I think that this is called stealing). He also refused to return my $3.200 wood engraving machine, which he later pawned. Chris called and attempted to throw Big Ron under the bus. Chris said that Big Ron was trying to cheat me. What a lame attempt;
what a class act!

This guy told me for over a year (over fifteen months) what a great Christian he was while he was taking my money and taking me to the cleaners. I supported him for this entire time. He was living better than I was. I'll let others deal with C. J. Smith's Custom Cabinets. I think what we have here is called "Contractor Fraud". I am working with the authorities. Chris has a few surprises coming his way (graybar hotel anyone). But, the wheels of justice turn slowly. I lost tens of thousands of dollars, and over a year of my house rebuild time to that creep. I figure credit where credit's due. If this wasn't all true....I wouldn't put it into print!

So with that over, I called a recommended contractor. He finished the house in a matter of months. All of the cabinet doors that Chris built didn't fit the frames. He had to redo the entire kitchen. I had to pay for many items twice.

The smartest advice I got (after it was too late) was that if your contractor/tradesman can't afford to do the job with his own money, you should run away.

I will be enjoying our new place in just a few short weeks!

I will just have to work at my job for the rest of my life. Here's a link to my website, check it out: http://www.potteryequipment.com/

Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike came ashore and did much damage in Cameron and south Calcasieu Parish. I have friend who lost her house and one who doesn't yet know. We lost many windows and storm shutters. Our outdoor kitchen was (again) trashed. Stinky marsh mud covers everything....but aside from that the new house is unfinished and intact.

I have cut all ties with my former contractor. A year to get the house to the sheetrock stage is too long. I have already paid him enough to build the entire house. I thought that he was an honorable person; I was mistaken. I'll have to deal with that aspect later. For now I have someone else finishing up. It is an expensive lesson that I will have to live with.

Flooded House? Here's what you can do to save your home.

Below is the post that I sent to the hurricane section of http://www.craigslist.com/ It is what I learned from having my house flooded. If your house is flooded use this as a guide to saving your house. Don't wait for someone else to clean up your place, get busy! You will save yourself a lot of further damage if you can follow these steps right away.

House Flooded? Here's how to help yourself! < DanielLee > 09/13 14:31:58

I found that after returning to my flooded home in 2005 I didn't quite know what to do. Here is a list that I made up and followed. Feel free add to it. If you have a friend who was flooded please, please print this out and give it to them.

Turn off the power at the breaker box.

If you can locate a camera take lots of pictures. Be sure to take pictures of the outside of the house as well.

Wear rubber boots, playtex type gloves, and eye protection, if needed.

Clean out the fridge right away!

Get all of the ruined furniture to the road or in the front yard. Store good stuff elsewhere. Remove valuables!

Find a Squeegy or wide shovel.

Cut the drywall above the high water mark. Remove any drywall or paneling at least a foot above the high water mark.

Remove any wet insulation.

Get all of the wet stuff (insulation, drywall, and carpet) out of the house.

If you can find a butane heater open the windows and fire it up.

You should be able to drive a lot of moisture out of the windows before mold takes over.

Go to Sam's Club and buy something called Odo-Ban (a little goes a long way). It will kill the smell. Use only as directed! The sooner you do it the better!

These are all immediate repairs. Most can do it themselves.

Here's a few more tips: If your photos are all wet, keep them wet (for now) store them in water until you can dry them properly. Drying photos (behind glass or plastic photo album covers) will stick to anything that they dry to, which will ruin them.

Watch all contractors! Only deal with those who are reputible and established. There will be a lot of fly by night contractors fleeing to your area. If they can't afford to start without your money, chances are high that they will rip you off. Do not pay up front, like I did. My contractor came recommended by a friend. Now, I am tens of thousands of dollars over budget and don't even have the sheetrock up. It has been a year since my rebuild started. Don't get screwed....like I did!

And here is what I added to the post:

Generator Safety Tips < DanielLee > 09/14 07:06:05

Please remember that if you are running a generator or using a butane or propane heater to dry your house out follow these precautions: Operate any generator outside, in a well ventilated area. Well ventilated does not mean in the garage. If you are drying your house out with a butane or propane heater get it working that then get out of the house. Both devices give off poisonous carbon monoxide gas, that will kill you, if breathed in over a period of time. You cannot smell carbon monoxide gas. It will put you to sleep and then you will die.

Please be careful!

Good Luck to all!

Hurricane Ike hits Cameron and Lake Charles

Hurricane Ike has now come and gone. I hope that the flood will have subsided enough so that someone can go and have a look at the Reon "camp" house. I know that I lost everything that was at ground level, including my shop. Everyone who I know is safe, though rattled. There was a lot of water that came in, more than hurricane Rita. I hope that everyone survives, but I know better.

What is happening with this world? There was a hurricane in the area around 1900, Audrey hit in 1957. Rita arrived after almost 50 years, in September 2005. Now, we have Gustav and Ike hit the area (a wide area) in September of 2008.

Hurricane Ike report. Here's what I know as of early Sunday morning.

Graywood rental houses:

Primrose: Report from renter that there are broken windows and that the storm shutters broke. The ocean came right to the front door (and we're 20 miles from the ocean), but didn't get inside. We likely lost all of our landscaping due to salt water.

Camellia: No report but I suspect no water as it is slightly higher than Primrose house. We likely lost all of out landscaping due to salt water

Black Bayou/Reon Road: Surrounded by many feet of water. I saw a picture of a neighbor's house that had three feet of water in the yard. The picture was taken over 12 hours before the actual storm arrived! I hope that we did not have over ten feet of flood waters or our new house would be flooded. The Black Bayou bridge is closed (to vehicles). I will call my friend Bobby's cousin (who is the bridge supervisor) for an update later this morning. But during Rita the motor burned out and it took a tug to open and close the bridge.

Friend Ron's house: Unknown. Ron is one mile south and right on the lake. His home is the first house at the south end of Deatonville and took the full force of the storm.

Friend Karen Thibodeaux's brand new house: Completely ruined and flooded, along with her brand new car.

Friend Dorothy Carter's new home in Creole: It is in the same situation as our Black Bayou/Reon Road house. The entire area is submerged.

The problem with this storm for our region was the high storm surge. The winds topped out about 90 miles per hour.

The Long Road Home

Where do I start. It's indeed a long road home. The rebuild of our place is well under way: In November 2007 we "pulled" our building permit. In December the old house was demolished and the columns were poured for the new home. There's thirty of them. They are ten feet in the ground and twelve feet above ground. The frame for the entire house is glued and bolted to these columns and up goes the house. Only it goes slowly. It is now mid-august and the house is still not finished. But we successfully endured our first tropical storm (Eduoaurd).

I need the place finished very soon because we have plans to bring a group down from the Reno area to help others rebuild their homes.

For now you can head over to my photo site www.flickr.com/nevadadans and see the progress.

Two Years Minus One

There have been a number of developments to keep up with.

We put up a gate that will keep all but the most determined out; at least it will keep their vehicles out. If they want to steal anything they will have to carry it over a thousand feet.

The LA Citizens suit is moving forward at a snails pace. I hope that there is some interest that will be included with their stalling tactics.

I took a real hard look at rebuilding verses starting over. Starting over looks like the wise move. I have purchased the plans for the Lowe's KC-1807 "Katrina Cottage" house. They are being looked at by a contractor who is putting some figures together. I will have more to report in the future.

Another year goes by......

It has been over a year since I have written. The house on the bayou has been cleaned out, but it still sits in a condition of decay. I have a law suit filed against LA Citizens, like tens of thousands of others.

The house clean-out came as a result of numerous unwelcome visitors. There is no reason to leave anything there for them to steal. It's just better that way. The house is an empty shell. The grass still grows and must be cut. It is hard to do when you must live so far away.

I got one bid for the lifting of the house to the desired sixteen feet. It came in at well over $100,000. For that I will get a wrecked house on a new foundation. Somehow, it just doesn't seem worth it. The economics don't add up.

I was promoted at work shortly after the storm. The hours are greater and the money is better. The hours make our time here in Reno more difficult.

But there's hope. In just a few short years we will be moving down. We will have a place to live and the time to fix up the old place.

Dan's 4th Trip

Note to readers: this log is publisher in reverse chronoligical order. The first entries are near the end of this page and the most recent entry is at the beginning. Please start your reading at the beginning of my story. Thank you, "Nevada Dan"



In early February I found myself on yet another airplane heading for Lake Charles. This time it was not for a for the usual reason. This trip was to take care of an impending problem. My camp was burglerized.

I found myself wondering why thieves would be going into an area devistated by a hurricane. Was it because stealing from those who had already lost from the storm was easier? Was it to help local folks raise money to help rebuild their own homes? Whatever the reason, the people who were stealing from hurricane victims must be of very low character. Essentially, they are dirty no good "looters".

I had an alarm system in the house, before the storm removed it from service. I thought that it was honorable of the alarm company, Interface Security, to call me and offer to discontinue my service. They called days after the storm. However, that all changed after they refused to quit charging me a monthly fee. Before they would stop charging me they racked up another $200 in fees. Interface Security is on my list on companies that chose to profit from the misery of others.

The plane landed in Houston, I rented a pick-up and drove the two and a half hours to Lake Charles. I stopped by my mother-in-law's and grabbed a sleeping bag. I drove through my gate (that had its lock cut) and parked my rent-a-truck out of sight. I entered the now unlocked door and assessed the damage. The two chain saws that I had shipped down to cut all of the trees that had fallen down ruring Rita were gone; they also stole my ATV. It was a Honda "Rancher" It was very useful around the property. The thieves didn't have the decency to close the garage door. This left my tractor in the open, free for the taking.

I returned to my home back in Reno. It is now early March, six months after hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Bay St. Louis, Waveland and surrounding communities. I watched the CNN coverage of the aftermath. It showed how little had been done to aid the recovery and rebuilding of the area. It is the same that I have seen. I had been a regular watcher of Fox news. But it seems that Fox has also forgotten about hurricane victims.

I also recieved payment for my house that was blown by 135 mph winds, before the storm surge filled my house with water and mud. The check was for a whopping thirty-three hundred dollars!

In this sea of negativity there was some good. The residents of Cameron Parish were finally cleared to move back into their parish. For me this means that I had another thirty jacket orders to fill. This is a sign that things are starting to inch in the direction towards normal.

I just wish the thieves timing had been a little better. Mardi Gras was only two weeks away.