MARION — A Marion family's dream home project hit a major setback after a contractor dispute left the build unfinished, but the Better Business Bureau is now stepping in to help them finish what they started.
"It was our dream property. We started with a dream home, it's not our dream home anymore," said property owner Heather Boone.
Maddie Kiefer reports - watch the video here:
Unfinished structures, scaffolding in the kitchen and holes left behind are not what Boone envisioned when she bought the plot of land outside of Marion in 2021.
Boone said it all started when she hired a contractor her family had met through church. She claims red flags soon emerged.
"Everything from the blown budget, missed measurements, wrong ordered windows, we'd paid for installation for windows, that the contractor never did. He had no clue that he had underbid the project by over 20%," Boone said.
In March 2025, Boone said the contractor walked off the project, leaving her family with nowhere to live and a home that still needed to be finished.
Boone and her husband decided to keep fighting, building themselves and subcontracting from local businesses. One of those businesses referred the family to the Better Business Bureau's Restoring Trust program.
"Not all contractors are bad contractors. We give all these contractors the opportunity to step in and say this is what a good experience with a good business really looks like," said Cameron Nakashima, BBB media engagement manager.
The program connects families who have had negative experiences with contractors to trusted local businesses, who offer special discounts for those in need.
The Better Business Bureau estimates more than $50,000 of work still remains on the home, but Boone is not giving up.
"I have two kids, that I promised them that we would finish this, there's nothing that's going to stop me from keeping that promise to those kids," Boone said.
The Boone family hopes to move in within the next couple of months.
Anyone in a similar situation can file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau here.
