a foundation. But it took two years before he got involved. By that time the floor had cracked, and I thought I was going crazy.”

Replacing the roof, which had continued leaking even after all code violations had been addressed, required county approval for a second release of bond money. That took almost four years. In the interim, Carlson had given up hope, resigned to placing potted plants under all the leaks. When the county finally acquiesced to Carlson’s repeated requests, it was Phillips who once again made everything right.

“Tom is a partner with his clients,” Carlson says. “He is able to embrace their vision without preconceptions, and he cares as much about the finished product as they do. He is a technician with the soul of an artist.”

Annand David Duch joined the Phillips fan club after suffering a similarly painful initiation into renovation. When they decided to double the size of their home in Fairfax, the contractor they chose from among three they interviewed came highly recommended by a family member. The Duchs saw no need to ask for additional references.

Page 3: The Rescue Builder, continues…

Looking back on a project that should have taken four months but instead took two years, the Duchs blame their naiveté. They trusted a contractor who was juggling too many projects and never pulled a permit for theirs. (He produced a fake permit.)

“I just thought you hired a contractor and he would take care of everything,” Ann Duch says. “We didn’t ask many questions, and we never asked how many