I did not have a pleasant experience. Neighbors walk by and comment, "The yard looks beautiful. The…read morecontractor did a good job." I am writing this review because the casual observer does not know the struggle. The people who stop and ask for my thoughts, I respond by saying on a scale with craftsmen on one end and laborer on the other, I rate them closer to the laborer end.
The contractor said he has in-house 3 teams. I got the C team. Their inexperience showed. I understand the best way to gain experience is to be hands on. But to learn, supervision and mentoring are needed. The supervision was very minimal. The owners were not on site daily. When they did appear, it was mainly to deliver supplies, take away debris, or pickup equipment. Not my job, but I assumed the role of Onsite Superintendent and Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC). If I had not, I am not sure what the project would have ended up looking like. To their credit, if something needed to be corrected or changed, they did it with no resistance. Their motto is "what makes you happy." I say their motto is "we do it nice because we do it twice."
Progress was slow. The contract was signed at the beginning of December, and it was completed at the end of March. I was told at the time of the initial site visit it would take 2 weeks to complete. After the contract was signed, there was no communication for over a month. I was left in limbo wondering on the start date. Would it be before Christmas? After Christmas? Before the New Year? After New Year? Start was not until mid-January. There were many days where no work was being done. In my opinion, a month's delay could be attributed to the holidays and weather.
Overall, communication was poor during construction. Days and weeks would go by with no update leaving me to wonder if they were even coming back. In the beginning, communication was adequate. But as time went by, it felt like my project was no longer a priority. To date, I have not heard from them. There has been no project completion follow up.
Examples of my frustration:
Gutter Downspout - They attached an underground drainage pipe to the end without cutting the angled outlet off. This made the pipe protrude out to such a degree it was a trip hazard. I brought this to the contractor's attention, and he agreed. He even provided me with a picture on his phone saying, "this is how it should be done." The sad part was the job he showed me was also performed by the same work crew on my project. They should have known better. They corrected the error with a fitting I provided, but it was sloppy work. The fitting was not straight and too low to the ground. I ended up redoing it. I connected a 2nd downspout to save myself from further disappointment. This would be a common theme during the project, doing things myself. My neighbors would see me in the yard and ask, "isn't the contractor supposed to do that?"
Front Entrance Joint Sanding - The front entrance originally consisted of a concrete pad. Instead of removing the concrete pad, they laid the pavers directly on top. Ever seen a vibrator vibrating pavers laid directly on concrete? It is not a pretty sight. Those pavers were jumping! Many pavers were damaged. I was so shocked and angry; I had to lock myself in the house after witnessing the carnage. What really made me mad was prior to this incident, I spent time replacing chipped pavers they had laid with nicer looking ones. But in short order, all that was undone. They fixed the damage, but the replacement pavers they used were the ones I had previously rejected. Later, I went back through the unused pavers to pick the better-looking ones, and had the contractor redo it.
Side Gate and Gravel Path - Last day of work, what could go wrong? Well, they removed and repositioned my side gate. When I realized what they were doing, I was LIVID. It was unnecessary. They should have removed the earth a few inches and backfilled with gravel to the former finished elevation. But no, they placed the gravel on top of the existing ground and decided to move the gate higher to clear the gravel path. When the weather moved in during the night, I could hear the gate banging from my bedroom. In the morning, I inspected their work. A snapped bolt, improperly installed latch, and a damaged gate stop. Once again, it is up to me to remedy their poor workmanship. To top it off, they used my neighbor's yard to store their materials.
These are just some of the struggles I encountered. Did I mention the multiple times they had to pull up and put down pavers at one section? I lost count after 4 times. Plenty more follies occurred. There were many smaller issues. All those small issues add up and become a pattern of ineptitude.
To end this review, let me say my dream was to step out my front door, look out at my front yard, and experience joy and happiness. Instead, what I feel is disappointment and anger.
