Before anything formal, be clear about what you want. Recovering money, getting work completed, and having a contractor sanctioned are three different objectives with three different routes, and pursuing the wrong one wastes time.
Start with a written record
Whatever happens next depends on documentation, so create it now rather than later.
Write to the contractor setting out the problem specifically — what was agreed, what has happened, what you want done, and by when. Email is ideal because it timestamps itself. Keep it factual and unemotional; this document may be read later by people deciding whether you were reasonable.
Photograph everything, dated. Gather the contract, the scope, every payment receipt, and any prior written exchanges. This package is what every subsequent route will ask for.
Give them a genuine chance
This is not merely courteous, it strengthens your position. A contractor who was given a clear written opportunity to put things right and declined is in a materially worse position than one who claims they were never properly told.
Set a reasonable deadline and be specific about what completion looks like. Vague dissatisfaction is difficult for anyone to act on, including a contractor who wants to fix it.
The L&I complaint process
Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries operates a formal complaint process regarding registered contractors. It is the right route where the issue concerns a contractor’s conduct or compliance, and complaints contribute to the infraction history other homeowners can then see on the public register.
Understand what it is for. This process addresses regulatory matters; it is not primarily a mechanism for getting your money back. That is what the bond and the courts are for.
Claiming against the bond
Where you have a valid claim for money, the contractor’s surety bond is a route to recovery. Claims follow a formal process with specific requirements and time limits that genuinely matter.
Because deadlines apply and the details of your situation determine what is available, this is the point to get proper advice rather than working it out gradually. Acting promptly preserves options that delay removes.
Small claims and the courts
For disputes within the small claims limit, that route is designed to be used without a lawyer and is often the most proportionate option. Larger disputes need proper legal advice.
In either case the documentation package assembled at the start is what determines how it goes.
If the contractor was not registered
Your position is weaker, because there is no bond to claim against and the regulatory routes assume a registered party. This is the practical consequence of hiring outside the system, and it is why the two-minute check beforehand is worth so much more than it appears at the time.
Leave a factual review
Once matters are resolved, an accurate public account helps the next homeowner. Keep it factual and verifiable — what was agreed, what happened, what was resolved. Reviews that read as measured are both more useful and more credible than those that read as furious.