‘Our flat is unlivable’: Brother disappears on a 2-week vacation after promising to help with his sister's remodel, ends up tasting his brother-in-law's revenge when he leaves their apartment demolished

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Jun 15, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

Nothing is more unprofessional than starting a job you can't—or won't—finish. 

This contractor was a tradesman in his career, but acted more like a con artist when it came to helping out his sister with her apartment remodel. Although he promised a good price, a reasonable trade deal, and the highest quality gut-and-flip, the sister was elated! However, the brother-in-law was not convinced, and with good reason. 

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  • I grew up in a blue-collar household, and as the daughter of a contractor, I knew my way around a remodel. Understanding that things will never go as planned during a home remodel is crucial to the morale of the project; however, there's a difference between run-of-the-mill delays and downright negligence on the job. This contractor in our next story failed to mention a 2-week vacation to his clients after destroying their entire home. Rendering their space unlivable, they were forced to couch surf for weeks while they waited for him to return from the tropics, all the while, planning their own version of revenge upon his return. 

  • Cheezburger Image 10517060608
    via Ceneri
  • My brother-in-law ditched our flat renovation to go on holiday, so I destroyed the gift he was polishing for himself
    via Lovethosebeanz
  • A few years ago, my wife and I finally scraped together enough money to renovate the kitchen and bathroom in our first flat. It wasn't a small spend, we'd been saving for months. I wanted to hire an
    via Lovethosebeanz
  • independent builder, someone with no emotional strings attached. But my wife insisted we use her brother-in-law's building company. "He'll do a good job, and it keeps it in the family," she said. I caved. Mistake number one.
    via Lovethosebeanz
  • The first few days, everything was ripped out, kitchen gone, bathroom gone, we're basically camping in our own home. Then, out of nowhere, her brother-in-law disappears. Just ghosted us. No
    via Lovethosebeanz
  • replies to messages, no updates, nothing. A few days later, we find out he'd gone on holiday. For two weeks. Without a single word of warning.
    via Lovethosebeanz
  • スタイムメモリー [+]
    via Clicks da Juliana

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Cheezburger Image 10517060864
    via BlueBird
  • So now our flat is unliveable. No kitchen, no bathroom. We had to couch surf with friends for almost two weeks.. Awesome.
    via Lovethosebeanz
  • When he finally returns, the work resumes, but barely. He's showing up for maybe an hour or two a day, clearly juggling other jobs. We're about 5 weeks into a "2-to-3-week max" job and barely any progress
    via Lovethosebeanz
  • has been made. The place still looks like a bomb site. Now, here's the petty part. We had this freestanding IKEA butcher's block in the kitchen,
    via Lovethosebeanz
  • nothing fancy, but a decent solid wood surface I had used for years. He'd asked me if he could have it once the new kitchen went in, since it wouldn't be needed anymore. I said sure, figuring the work would be done soon and we'd be rid of it anyway.
    via Lovethosebeanz
  • Well, I came home one day to see the butcher's block had been perfectly sanded down, oiled, polished, it looked brand new. He had clearly spent days working on
    via Lovethosebeanz
  • this thing. Meanwhile, my kitchen was still a gutted shell, the bathroom half-installed. I snapped. I dragged the thing outside, took a hammer to it, and smashed it to
    via Lovethosebeanz
  • bits. Straight into the wheelie bin. The next day he came in and noticed. Didn't say a word, just looked kind of confused and disappointed. I didn't say a word either.
    via Lovethosebeanz
  • The job took another 4 weeks to finish, learnt not to use family in the future for stuff like this and glad he didn't get the new butchers block. We have never spoken about the butchers block since.
    via Lovethosebeanz
  • Bainrow17 I honestly hope your wife knows this also...to not use family for these sort of jobs or to be cautious.
    via Bainrow17
  • taketotheskyGQ Ugh that's contractor hl. Hopefully your wife learned a good lesson too.
    via taketotheskyGQ
  • Educational_Prune_... I have learned to never use family for things like this. They view it as "oh, I can take my time because they are family and they wouldn't take me to court/complain about it." Just like you don't sell to family. They usually want a discount or something else.
    via Educational_Prune_

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