I spoke with Gigi in March to remodel my kitchen and take out 3 windows from my living room and add two large windows and a French door. Gigi was very nice and provided solid advice which I took. The contract was signed in April. The job was going to take no more than 3 months for both jobs. The following is what led to the 1-star rating: (there is more, but too long already)
Kitchen:
1. The workers were not consistently working at the house. Sometimes going four days at a time without anyone coming. This made the completion time to constantly change. Gigi always had an explanation why, but it continued. Sometimes Gigi was surprised that no one showed up that day after she told me they would be there. I have dogs that needed to be boarded the days they were there, so it cost me every time no one showed up.
2. The workers took the stove/oven and dishwasher without consulting with me and gave it to family. The stove was in good condition, and I planned on selling it. Gigi apologized and said that she would take the money it was worth off the last payment.
3. There were many issues that occurred from the workers. I bought expensive cabinets, and scraped a few of the cabinets which they fixed with a wood marker. There were holes and large scrapes in the inside of two of the cabinets. They tried to fix one with wood filler (which didn't look right) and neglected the other cabinet. They did a bad job putting in a drawer, which Gigi did have them fix it. It still doesn't close correctly.
Living room:
4. This was the worst of all. The door guy used glue to put up a plastic sheet to keep the dust out. When he removed the plastic, the glue was all over the ceiling and wall which they did not remove. After several months and trying to get this fix, I ended up doing it myself as they told me it could not be fixed.
5. The painter did not paint the inside walls or ceiling. He told me that the paint could not be matched and that he would have to repaint the whole room and ceiling. I explained that he should take a chip off the wall or ceiling and have Home Depot match it that way. He said, "great, Do that. When you get the paint, let me know and I will put it on". I said I was not paying $25K to find the paint myself. After a month of waiting and no contact, I did just that and painted the ceiling and wall myself.
6. One of the large windows they put in was defective. It was easy to see that there was a problem with it. It should have been noticed right away when it was put in. I called Gigi about it and they came a few days later to look at it. The workers tried to BUFF it out (really?) and it shattered. Another window was ordered, and it came in about 4 weeks.
7. The French door was put in incorrectly, but Gigi caught that and had them replace the door correctly (thank you).
8. The electric guy was a screw up for sure. He missed wired the kitchen island lights three times. He also messed up the electrical outlets by the French doors and had to come out to fix the problem. I am hoping that his wiring is not going to start a fire even now.
9. The painter (same one) was to paint the wall that had the new door. There are a few issues with the stucco missing, and he only painted around the door, not the wall. Although the paint is very close to the house paint (older house), it is not the same. When I pointed this out to him and Gigi, he lied and said that he painted the whole wall. It was very obvious that he did not! He continued to lie about it even though I proved it in front of his son. Great role model for your son buddy.
10. I had to remove the garbage and debris from the living room job had to always stay on top of the work being done as it was not always professional.
To this day, the stucco and outside has not been painted. The French door has also not been painted. It is almost December. I called Gigi in October adn asked her if she forgot about me, and she said no. She sent someone over to look at the issues. He said they needed to be fixed but would have to talk to Gigi about them. I have heard nothing from them.
Positive:
1. Gigi is very nice and seems to be understanding, I think she is working with unprofessional workers who do not take pride in their work. She is also hard to get a hold of. She had reasons for the mishaps and at first, I was understanding. But the issues just kept on coming and it got tiring really fast.
2. Gigi was going to take off the costs that I occurred during this mess of a job. She never showed up to finish the paperwork and completion papers so I never made the last payment. I certainly am not making out as it does not cover the cost that I occurred and completing the job with another company.
I was going to have them later address my bathroom, and two other friends wanted to utilize them for their remodeling. After what I went through and they saw the "finished" product, they both went with another contractor. read more