It’s pretty shady to hire someone to do work for you, such as construction work, and then not pay them.

That’s what happens in today’s story, when a man who installs tile for a living doesn’t get paid for the tile or his time.

Don’t worry, he ends up finding a way to make sure he gets what he’s owed and more through some pretty clever petty revenge.

Let’s see how the story unfolds…

Don’t want to pay for your tile work? Fine. I’ll repossess it.

My dad was a master tileman back in the 60s – 90s, in Florida.

How it worked back then, before cookie-cutter neighborhoods sucked the soul out of entire communities, is that each house was customized through the builder/contractor.

The subcontractors, like tile, plumbing, electrical, etc, went through the contractor.

My dad had a really good reputation as a craftsman, and some people asked for him directly.

This particular home was being built by the owner, and he chose all his subcontractors and acted as the contractor himself.

The owner didn’t pay.

Since my dad had the discounts, he purchased the tile himself, then billed it back out with the labor after the job was completed.

Funny thing, though, the owner wasn’t in any hurry to pay the bills.

Liens were filed, other legal action was threatened by my father, and other subs.

My dad had finally had enough, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

His dad decided to take back the tile.

The owner’s wife (who may or may not have known about the bills not being paid) asked him to come over to re-seal some of the tile in the master bathroom.

Kinda nervy, if you ask me.

But, dad showed up.

Only he didn’t have a bucket of sealant with him.

He had a hammer and a chisel.

Since he’d paid for the tile, he figured it was his, and he started chiseling it out, piece by piece.

He knew he’d eat the cost of that tile, but he didn’t care.

The bathroom was a mess!

The woman called her husband, who wisely stayed away.

The mess made the bathroom completely unusable, of course.

But the pettiest part is that he’d already put the word out that this guy didn’t pay his bills. And believe me, my dad knew EVERYONE in the construction business then.

They couldn’t get anyone to come in and redo the bathroom.

His dad finally got paid.

So the guy had to eat a big helping of humble pie, show up with a check for the full amount owed, plus materials for the new work.

And dad’s price per square foot went way up.

Christmas was really good that year.

The nerve of the owner not to pay his bills!

Taking back the tile was a clever move that definitely worked!

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story…

Here’s a story from a former drywall subcontractor…

This would’ve been some gross revenge…

It was like a game of chess!

This homeowner sounds like he’s amazing to work for!

Another tileman was arrested!

If everyone would just pay their bills, life would be so much better!

I don’t know how people expect to get away with things like this.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.