TIMM Engineering - Clifton, Virginia

Marc W.

I would not recommend Tim Todd for engineering work. My wife and I were looking to expand our home so she found a contractor Dennis Baker. Denis and my wife confirm a date to meet up, prior to the meetup Dennis asked if he could bring his engineer (Tod Tim), we said sure, no harm in having him. So we met for the first time to explain what we want to do and our budget. We spoke about the project for about an hour (as a group) my wife and Dennis walked off to discuss further, Tod just hung around and we talked about his hunting trips for another hour, so in total approximately 2-3 hours. We initially like them both, they came off very charming, we said we would like to move forward contingent on the cost. Todd and Dennis said they would send us and email with the cost estimate. A few days later we receive the cost estimate and it came in quite high given the work, however it was told based on the materials and add-ons we could get the price reduced. Todd said that these were estimates and needed to get the measurements of the place to get a better idea of the cost. Todd said for his work he charges 30% of the renovation cost. I left my wife handle the research because I work a lot and didn’t have time so I figured that was industry standard. Todd sent over his contract agreement form (a form that states you agreed to work with the contractor and engineer) we did not sign it because we wanted to gather other opinions since the price came in a bit high. However, to give is a better picture of the total cost he need measurements and we needed to give that cost to the bank to get the loan approved. Without the agreement being signed Tod decided to meet at the house once again to take measurements. My mom was in town and does interior decorating so she met up with him since both my wife a I were busy working that day. When my mom got there Todd was expecting 1/3 of his payment. My mom called me and notified me of this, I said that I would give Todd call when I get time after work. Todd said well since I am here I’ll take the measurements, so he did. My mom said it took him about an hour and afterwards they were talking about his hunting trips for about another 1.5 hours. But when I got home my mom told me that 30% of the project cost was high just for drawing diagrams and submitting paperwork to the local county. She found 2 other people that did they work for 1/3 of Todd cost. When I spoke with Todd I mentioned this and that I would like to work with him but give the current market his prices were high and if he would consider reducing them, he said “no, what others charge has nothing to do with his business” (paraphrases and not taking direct quotes). I told him that I would pay him for the work he did with the measurements, I would pay for the file that he inserts the measurements in for the diagram, I thought that was fair. I never got the diagram or measurements, but an inflated invoice charging $200 per hour and inflated the hours actually worked. He stars he worked 4hours the first day and 5 hours the second. I told him that unfortunately I wasn’t paying because one he inflated the numbers and secondly we never signed the contract. I would’ve paid if his numbers were reasonable because he did take time to come out, but both the other contractors we interviewed came out the first time for free. Long behold a few weeks later I get a notification of a Mechanics Lien on the home, the way the law works in VA is that the contractor does not need to have a signed contract he just need to show worked performed, but Todd couldn’t do that because he never did, I never received the file only a invoice. He knew this and use this benefiting law to his advantage. We took it all the to preliminary trails, but that long drawn out process and we end up selling the home months later due to unforeseen circumstances, unfortunately, we never had the opportunity to live in it, the total cost wasn’t worth it, it would out price the neighborhood. I WOUKD NOT RECOMMEND TIMME ENGINEERING for any type of work. He only has one other rating.

Barbara S.