Warr Acres woman says contractor left backyard deck unfinished
WARR ACRES, Okla. (KFOR) — A woman says a contractor she hired eight months ago still hasn’t finished replacing her deck, leaving her pool and backyard unusable.
Since September 2023, Anita Fike has been confined inside her Warr Acres home.
"I'm not allowed in the back yard because there's nails and broken boards and it's all dirt,” Fike said. "My kids won't let me go out there because I might fall and hurt myself."
Fike hired contractor Dan Freeman — who goes by ‘Dan the Handyman’ – based on a recommendation from Home Depot back in September.
He was supposed to replace the large deck surrounding her pool, which takes up most of her backyard.
Fike paid Freeman almost $7000—about half the project’s total cost—up front.
"They signed a contract with him end of September,” Fike’s daughter, Stacey Fike, told News 4.
“And he told us verbally it would take about 15 days."
But 15 days came and went, and all ‘Dan the Handyman’ had done was rip the decking off.
Anita Fike’s son, Jim Fike, says ‘Dan the Handyman’ and his crew didn’t properly remove the decking boards, causing damage to the deck’s frame below them.
"You can see all the screws and the damage they've done,” Jim Fike said. “Pulling it out instead of taking a drill and taking the screws out."
The Fikes say as weeks went on, ‘Dan the Handyman’ stopped showing up.
"I kept texting him every day, and he always had a reason why he couldn't come,” Anita Fike said. “They were finishing up another job, or his truck broke down or he couldn't find workers to hire.”
“And then he tried to hire just day laborers to come to my mom's house and do the work,” Stacey Fike said.
The Fikes shared News 4 screenshots of dozens of text messages they exchanged with ‘Dan the Handyman’ between September and now.
Often, he would tell them he couldn’t do any work because of weather conditions.
“I’m sorry but [no one] wants to work in 40 degrees and wet that’s facts,” he texted them one time.
“I can’t be out in the cold can’t take a [chance] getting pneumonia and it’s 40 degrees we will be there tomorrow,” he texted another time.
Someone claiming to be Dan’s wife using Dan’s phone texted Anita Fike in December, writing that Dan had a heart attack and would need some time to recover.
The Fikes gave him some time. They didn’t hear from ‘Dan the Handyman’ again until February.
Over text, he agreed that he would have the project finished by April 19.
When April 19 came and went without any progress being made, Stacey Fike sent ‘Dan the Handyman’ a text giving him an ultimatum: have everything done by this May 17, or refund them.
“We agree,” he responded to Fike via text.
But now, the Fikes haven't heard from ‘Dan the Handyman’ in nearly two weeks.
"And so that's when we contacted you,” Stacey Fike told News 4.
News 4 texted ‘Dan the Handyman’ Tuesday and asked if he had time to talk on the phone.
He declined to talk, but he did send News 4 the following text:
"They shouldn't even be calling u cause we haven't stop we have just be waiting on the weather to hold out they don't tell us the whole story about the weather and things and u guys just jump right on it that I'm a bad person or contractor"
It all leaves the Fikes with little hope the deck will be finished in time for Anita and her great grandchildren to use her pool this summer.
“He has three days left to complete the deck. There's no way it's going to be done,”
Stacey Fike said. “It's not possible."
“I'd like my money back so I can hire somebody else to get it done,” Anita Fike said.