Buck Mountain Construction

After reading the August 2019 project review we felt compelled to give an account of our experience with Buck Mountain Construction, which is ongoing. We are building a small cabin overlooking Beaver Lake near Eureka Springs and live 9 hours away in Texas. Initially, knowing that we would not be able to be on site for much of the project, it was of prime importance that we be able to trust our contractor. After reviewing contractors we selected Kevin Courtney of Buck Mountain Construction. Our experience to this point with the project being 85% complete, has definitely met our expectations in regards to quality of work and sourcing of materials. In our meetings with Kevin he has been respectful of our input and open to changes we requested. From a trust standpoint, we feel as positive today as when the project began. We look forward to providing a follow up review when the cabin is completed. Ronnie Holz Wayne Hamman

BuckMountain Construction Review From dream to nightmare. * After construction began on our dream home in August 2018 the contractor became difficult to pin down on details for budget and scheduling. I did not have visibility to either the schedule or budget and when I asked to review details I did not receive them. When I asked for a meeting to sit down and go over the budget and the schedule the contractor would not take the time to do this. * The BuckMountain Contractor was hired to manage the construction of the home but did not manage the project, only focusing on the tasks he would perform. We were left to identify subcontractors for various other tasks and ensure work was scheduled and completed. * In July 2019 we were told by the dry wall contractor that the Buck Mountain contractor had no intention of returning to the site. We had no advance notice of this. In June 2019 I was diagnosed with breast cancer, of which the contractor was aware, and my husband and I had to take on the additional stress of dealing with a bilateral mastectomy and recovery from reconstruction surgery and chemo therapy, as well as taking the house from being half finished to complete. * We called the contractor to ensure he return the money we had already paid him. The contractor kept $920.40 and sent no copy of vouchers to account for the variance. He also kept our intellectual property in spite of requests to return them. * At the beginning the contractor was adamant that we needed no contract and that he was an honorable man of high ethics and integrity and a contract was not needed. We insisted and fortunately have a legal contract as of May 2018. * Among other issues, the contractor used our tools. Many of our tools were left dirty and/or broken. We paid to continually repair his older nail gun. Buckmountain Construction also used our tractor on a regular basis which they broke and we had to repair at our expense. * He antagonized our young dog with a power saw by turning it on and while the blades were moving he would repeatedly jab it in the face of the dog. * We provided access to a cottage on the property, a hookup for a travel trailer, and also offered to rent a cabin close to the site for his convenience. * We reimbursed BuckMountain Construction for Workman’s Comp Insurance as he was concerned about his ability to meet this financial burden. * My husband was told by the contractor that he did not like an audience or my husband looking over our house plans and liked to work on his own. * We had a number of important details that had to be corrected and some still not correct such as walls incorrectly placed, off by as much as an inch and not square and/or plumb; floor outlets not placed before concrete was poured; tiling an exterior patio without allowing a slope for drainage (the exterior patio had to be retiled). * We incurred additional expense in coring through a concrete wall for duct work which should have been factored in, redoing a retaining wall to allow appropriate space for the driveway, and retiling the patio. * A wall was removed without my prior knowledge or agreement. * My requests for specific design elements were disregarded and replaced with the contractors preference.