Contractor Confessions: What happens when you are a contractor?
By Scotti Ian Ogden
Owner of Ogden Built.
In this blog, I’m answering five quick-fire questions that reveal the kind of stories you only hear behind closed doors… unless you’re here.
Welcome to the very first newsletter of Contractor Confessions — where we get real about the construction industry and share the unfiltered truth from the job site. If you’ve ever worked in the trades, you know that behind every polished finished product is a stack of mistakes, outrageous requests, busted tools, and sometimes — a $70,000 loss.
The $70,000 Contractor Mistake That Changed Everything
What’s the most expensive mistake a contractor can make? Not having a signed contract. I was hired for a $300,000 residential construction job. I asked for a $25,000 deposit, completed about $75,000 worth of work, and invoiced the client. Nothing. Still trusting the process, we kept working and completed another $70,000 of work. When I sent him yet another invoice, he called and explained: “Stop work. I’m in the middle of a lawsuit. I won’t be paying either invoice.”
Luckily, I had his $25,000 despite it still so I hired my lawyer to help me put a lien on the property, and still only recovered 50 cents on the dollar. Total loss: $70,000. Lesson: Always use a detailed construction contract, no matter how trustworthy the client seems.
Fixing Bad Contractor Work: Client Paid 250% More!
One of the most frustrating things as a general contractor? Getting called in to fix another contractor’s botched work. In one case, I estimated a project to be $65,000 and the owner thought that was too expensive so he hired another builder for $30,000 to do the same job. When the other framers were at the roof he called me and said, “look, I need you to come and take over, I have fired the other builders. They’re doing a horrible job”.
We went to the site and realized that the walls were out of level, nothing was parallel, from the foundation all the way up the house was a complete disaster. The owner ended up paying me $60,000 to fix the work the other builder had done despite already paying the other builder. So he ended up paying more money than it would have cost to hire me in the first place.
This is why I always argue that QUALITY and hiring the right contractor matters.
Unexpected Job Site Finds? Always.
One of the wildest surprises I’ve ever encountered on a job site was during what was supposed to be a simple excavation. The plan was to dig about 2 feet deep across the length of the property — no big deal. But as soon as the excavator got started, it became clear this land had a hidden history.
Turns out, the property was originally used as a dumping ground for old fill from when they built the Trans-Canada Highway. Under the surface? Layers of blue clay, massive logs, rocks — even debris from the roadworks decades ago.
Instead of 2 feet, we had to dig down 16 to 18 feet just to remove all the unsuitable material. After that, we had to bring in structural fill, and let me tell you — the owner got hit with a serious bill.
Back in the day, there were no rules or regulations about where highway crews dumped their material. They just filled in wherever there was space. Today, of course, it all has to go in dump trucks and get hauled to regulated sites.
The contractor I was working with at the time had us riding compactors to pack down the structural fill. We had two guys spraying water, one guy driving a massive roller, and we spent nearly two months just compacting and rebuilding that ground — all just to get it level enough for a 2-foot foundation. It was a ton of unexpected work — and a ton of unexpected cost.
The truth is, as contractors, we never really know what’s beneath the surface until we dig. That’s why test digs are so important — and even then, surprises happen.
The Most Outrageous Client Request We Always Get
Ask any contractor, and you’ll hear the same complaint: “I want to do the painting myself to save money.” Let’s be clear: unless you’re a professional painter, I’m not letting you touch it.
Painting a raw house isn’t just rolling color on walls. It’s a layered process — priming, caulking, sealing, sanding, multiple coats — and bad painting ruins great construction. It’s like buying a Bentley and asking the dealer to leave it unpainted so you can “finish it at home.”
Nail Gun Injury: The Worst I’ve Seen on Site
Want to know the most common construction site injury? It’s not falling off a ladder — it’s nail gun accidents. One of my crew members once shot a framing nail through his hand. It went clean through — the nail tip exited at his wrist. He looked at me and said, “What should I do?”. I had my hammer in hand, ready to pull it… but we decided he should go to the ER.
Three and a half hours later, the doctor pulled out a hammer and block of wood and removed it the same way I would’ve. Still, safety first. Go to the hospital. Don’t “DIY” surgery.
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