Colton Chaulk, owner of CWD Construction, is named in five different PEI Supreme Court rulings cited by CBC News. Documents filed in recent years show he owes about $ 80,000 to former customers as well as a building store. The CBC spoke with all of them and only one reported that it was paid, saying that they accepted an agreed amount of $ 6,500 as opposed to the $ 10,800 requested in court. Michelle Benoit says the experience was devastating and wants to warn others. (Michelle Benoit (submitted))
Michelle Benoit and his wife Corina Benoit are still waiting to be paid about $ 34,000 after CWD Construction failed to insulate their mini-house on Hunter River and add to it. The Benoit live in Alberta, but bought the house hoping to eventually retire there, as they have a family in PEI If you have information about this story or news tip to share with CBC Prince Edward Island, email [email protected] “While looking for a contractor, we’re just looking at the Internet, Facebook and Kijiji – especially Kijiji,” said Michelle Benoit. Chaulk gave contracts and demanded a down payment and Benoit said everything seemed fine at first. However, when asked for photos of the job he allegedly did and job updates, he said it was difficult to reach him. The Benoit said their deck was destroyed by Colton Chaulk and CWD Construction. (Michelle Benoit (submitted))
“Before that, he was asking for a lot of money, deposits for materials and such,” he said. The couple said they used all their savings to get things on track. Then a relative who passed by the property told them that nothing seemed to be happening. “We thought the job was done,” Benoit said. “We started asking more questions about why it had not happened.” The Benoit hired another contractor to build their house on the Hunter River. (Michelle Benoit (submitted))
Benoit said holes had been dug in the wrong places around their caravan and a deck had been destroyed. It also appeared that someone had used a few spray cans under the structure. Eventually they took legal action and a court ruling from November 2021 ruled that they were entitled to about $ 34,000 from Chaulk. By the end of March, Benoit said they had not received anything. “We are devastated. We are devastated,” he said. “We feel they have surpassed us.” Colton Chaulk’s Facebook posts include dozens of photos from various construction projects. (Colton Chaulk Facebook)
They ended up hiring another contractor to fix the problems.
“We want him to be held accountable for what he did,” he said of Chaulk. “We want this to stop. We want this not to happen to anyone else.”

The garage project never started

Josh Towel had just moved into a new modest house with his fiancée when he was looking for a contractor to add a single bay garage with an attic. The 25-year-old said that he likes working in projects and “working” in car and welding projects, for fun and to bring a little extra income. Tawil took a line of credit and gave Colton Chaulk two deposits totaling $ 27,500. Nothing was ever built on his property. We will probably never get this garage now. We will never get that money back.- Josh Towel
“We are just surprised. We just have no words,” Tawil told CBC News. “We will probably never get this garage now. We will never get that money back.” Tawil said Chaulk told him he had bought materials for the project, but when Tawil contacted suppliers, he was told no orders had been placed. He, too, took legal action and ruled against Chaulk in March. He said he lost a lot of sleep over what happened and commits suicide for handing over the deposit. “I have nothing to show for it,” he said. “There is not a day that I do not worry about it.”

The contractor answers

CBC News spoke with Colton Chaulk of CWD Construction to ask about dissatisfied customers. He said he intended to pay people back, but did not say when. When asked about Benoit’s case, he said they had canceled the job after he had already bought materials, adding: “We are waiting for things to clear up before I can pay them back.” When asked about Tawil’s case, Chaulk said: “This is taken care of.” Despite court documents showing poor build quality and no refunds for unfinished work, he said all his customers were satisfied. Colton Chaulk advertises his services on Facebook and Kijiji. Over the years he has had a small engine repair business, a roofing business and a general construction business. (Colton Chaulk Facebook)
“Everyone I work for can go and sit down to their dinner and have a meal with them,” Chaulk said. When asked about the court rulings, he said he was served papers, but did not defend himself because he “did not know anything about it”. The documents required Chaulk to defend his claims. He never filed a defense in any of them. Chaulk also said he sent money to two other people named in the decisions, but CBC News confirmed with these two parties that they had not received the money. The claims against Chaulk and CMD Construction demanded an answer. He did not file a statement of defense in conjunction with any of the claims. (Laura Meader / CBC)
Chaulk said a tractor had been recovered and his bank account had been frozen by the sheriff’s department so he could not access his money and was waiting to hear from the sheriff.
He said he also had problems with employees and fired them due to poor construction. “He is no longer with me,” he said. “I had to go back many times to fix things they did. It probably cost me a lot of money and it cost me my name.” He confirmed that he was on the Benoit property, as well as Josh Tawil’s house, and said that he was sticking to his job. When asked to comment on the verdicts against him, he said he was tired of dealing with “this nonsense” and added that the CBC needed to do more research.
“It’s painful, it’s very painful and a lot of it is unnecessary.” He said he is certified as a Red Seal carpenter, a national test-based model who demonstrates knowledge in the field and intends to continue working as a contractor. But at the moment, he said, “I’m literally alone. I have no one to work for me … because I can not find someone who will have a good job like me and be proud of the job … “I’m not hiring Joe Blow off the road anymore.”

The Construction Association says the complaints are common

Sam Sanderson of the Construction Association of PEI could not comment specifically on the case, but said the union receives complaints from contractors every other day. “Unfortunately we hear it very often,” Sanderson said.
The electrical and plumbing trade is provincially regulated, but you do not need to be a licensed contractor to build a building.- Sam Sanderson
The industry association has no jurisdiction to take any action on complaints. Sanderson said that if people are getting nowhere with their contractor or building code municipalities, legal action is the next logical step. He said clear, defined contracts are also important. Sanderson says the construction association has asked the county for a permit to have a guaranteed standard for contractors. “The electricity and plumbing trade is governed provincially,” he said, “but you do not need to be a licensed contractor to build a building.” Sanderson said a formal licensing system would help protect both industry and individual homeowners.