We hired Rattigan and Sons to install bamboo flooring in our 1,600 sqft condo. Rattigan subcontracted most of the work to Austin Cass of Blackwater Renovation, then tried to disclaim responsibility because of this.
In October 2023, I met with Jody Rattigan and Austin Cass, their subcontractor, to discuss the project. We agreed to permits for the work, but Jody warned us that our stairs were not up to code. We signed an addendum to bring them up to code, paying extra for that work. When Austin opened up the stairs, he found more issues and convinced us to pay even more for "stringers." We complied, believing we were making the right decision.
Due to our absence during the installation, we couldn't supervise the work. Had we been there, we would have seen that Austin didn't bother to follow the installation instructions for the flooring. Instead of using a jam saw, he and his inexperienced brother ripped the moldings off the walls, causing damage around almost every door. The flooring itself was a disaster, with visible gaps and areas too tight against the walls. Crucially, they failed to install transitions where needed, leading to a ridge popping up in our living room floor.
To make matters worse, neither Austin nor Sean, who handled the tile insets, installed the necessary transitions between the bamboo and tile. The grout failed because of this oversight, and Sean even managed to install the front door tile incorrectly--90 degrees off from the plan. After less than a year, chunks of grout started missing, and there were cut marks on our wood floor from their careless work.
When my husband inspected the progress in December, he found that the floors felt "soft" near the entrances and noted scratches on the new bamboo. Baseboard trim was haphazardly installed or missing, and a cleat was left nailed to our roof. Jody assured him it would all be fixed.
By late December, I discovered the stairs had been built poorly, with significant gaps and inconsistent rises. I measured them myself and found one rise was 6-1/8" and another was 8-1/8". Even I knew that wasn't safe or up to code. We immediately raised our concerns.
Austin returned to address some punch list items, reluctantly admitting the stairs were subpar and not something he would want in his own home. He acted dismissively, rubbing spit onto a scratch on the kitchen floor and throwing a leftover cleat from the roof into our yard and leaving it there.
After continuous delays from Sean regarding the stairs, we finally requested a refund, citing our contract that stipulated everything would be done to code. Sean refused, and we had to involve the city building inspector, who confirmed that the stairs were indeed not up to code, creating a clear trip hazard.
After yet another meeting where the inspector had to explain building code to Sean, he took months to propose a fix, dragging us into the humid summer when the bamboo flooring began to fail due to their earlier mistakes. Now, we faced both a trip hazard in the living room and unsafe stairs.
Losing faith in both Rattigan and Blackwater, we hesitated to allow Sean and Austin Cass to rebuild the stairs. Despite our reluctance, Sean insisted he would supervise closely. They finally came back to work on the stairs, but after two days, Austin was left alone to finish while Sean ducked out for an "appointment," abandoning his promise to supervise.
I discovered, yet again, that the stairs were still uneven, with rises of 5-7/8" and 7-7/8". When I confronted Sean, he lied and claimed they were to code, even after we had the inspector confirm they were not. The inspector succinctly pointed out, "It isn't rocket science, it's math."
In the end, after being strung along and receiving shoddy workmanship, we asked for a partial refund to cover our repair costs. The last communication from Sean was a vague mention of lawyers getting involved. We asked for their names to negotiate directly but never heard back.
Avoid Blackwater Renovation and Austin Cass unless you want to pay for incompetence and frustration. Their work is a gamble, and we certainly lost. read more