Long, frustrating experience. Failed an inspection and lied about why (I called and talked to the inspector, who explained to me the patio was not being built according to the drawings submitted). The contractor had previously submitted the drawings to the City without my prior approval, and they were in violation of our contract due to specifying inferior products (e.g., lower quality of concrete). I made him resubmit these in accordance with the contract. Had to redo numerous parts of job because they were done sloppily or incorrectly the first time (for instance, see the pillar hanging off the concrete). Had to repeatedly--constantly--correct contractor on basic details of the project including the fundamental length and width of the patio (among many other things). Promised project would take 3-4 weeks and it took a full 3 months, and thats with me telling him Id find someone else to complete the flooring because he waited until a month into it to begin looking for the tile and a month later told me he was still looking (though he kept saying its a common slate type and easy to find). Contractor was rarely on job site, which means he rarely managed his poorly/semi-skilled crews as well as efficiently set up the next part of the project to be completed. Was the highest price of 3 bids I obtained, and I thought I was paying for a high-quality, efficient product. This was not the case.