J L Construction J. L. Construction Damaged property and breached agreement Milan IN

Do not trust this contractor! This company operates in a very unethical & unprofessional manner with little regard for customers, unless it's an easy one or two day roof replacement job. I engaged Jeremy Lewis and his business, J. L. Construction, to remove aluminum siding on my house in Cincinnati. The terms of the agreement stated that the work would be completed in a professional manner and the property cleaned of debris. The work was not done professionally and screens on 13 of my windows were damaged from careless work. Since this was only one phase of work I had initiated with J.L. Construction, Jeremy assured us he would replace the damaged window screens when he commenced the next phase of our agreement which was repairing the original wood siding, gutters, and other exterior carpentry work which we agreed to move forward with via email. Jeremy Lewis said on June 27 when he came to collect the check for the aluminum siding removal (first phase) that he would return to start the work on the exterior the following week and at that time also repair the damaged screens. I was okay with that, since it was only a week away. I want to mention that 10 of the damaged screens are on brand new windows. The cost to replace each window screen unit is about $100 each. So I have at least $1000 in damage here on just that. 

That contract for exterior work (phase 2) was sent via email and mutually agreed upon on July 7, 2020. Jeremy Lewis did not show up the following week to commence the next phase and part two of our contractual agreement. I reached out to him via email on July 14, 2020 asking when he would begin, and he replied on July 14 saying it would be the end of the month before he could begin. He never began but kept putting me off in text messages with one excuse after another as to why he could not begin, eventually stating he would have it started and finished by the end of August. On Aug 24 I again emailed him asking when he would begin the project and repair my window screens from when he removed the aluminum siding. He never responded to that email. I again sent Jeremy Lewis an email on Sept 9 asking for some communication and a start date to which he replied by text message saying he was waiting on materials he ordered from a local supplier to which no local supplier was able to confirm any order placed by J.L. Construction. This breach of agreement has caused me substantial damage by putting me out months waiting for work that he agreed to start and complete. The wait for contractual commencement put me in a very vulnerable situation having exposed exterior/gutters needing immediate remediation before the rain and winter weather sets in, which could potentially cause foundation damage if left as-is. I would like to seek recourse in the amount of $1000 to cover the cost to replace screens on my 13 windows and warn others about J.L. Construction.