This company left me in a bind, cost me thousands of unnecessary dollars, and left me with an…read moreunfinished house that I will now need to hire someone else to finish because he refuses to answer my pleas to do what he promised he would do. It is going on 6 months now for a job that should have been 8-12 weeks according to him.
Leo and Vadim started out very nice, responsive, and communicative. He made me feel very good about using his company and the quality I could expect from his workers. He was very confident in his abilities and what he could do for me and my property. I had concerns about his estimate price and the lack of details. In several meetings before we made a deal he assured me he would take care of every concern and keep coming back until I was satisfied. He said he would put everything in writing. I had total confidence in him.
Turns out his estimate was ambiguous and open to interpretation. It lacked details and I brought it to his attention. He assured me this is the way this type of estimate is done and he would make sure everything we discussed was done. He added, he would keep coming back until I was satisfied.
After the work started I stopped by a few times and noticed things his workers were doing did not seem right. Things such as demo'd materials sitting on the front lawn (killing the grass in a very large area), walls and ceilings being painted without the sheet rock repairs being made, outside wall siding and eaves being painted without the rotted wood and other defects being repaired, broken window sills that water will penetrate, windows without sealant that will let water penetrate, a new roof that has many low spots and visible water retention after it rains, exposed sub flooring where he installed new floors, it is visible where he pieced scrap wood together to make patches, the sheet rock tape is coming undone from the walls where they appear to have immediately painted over the attempted sheet rock repairs in a room that once had a huge hole in it, they used copper water pipe to install gas lines from the water heater to the washer location, I cannot feel any air coming from at least 4 of the ac vents throughout the house (this was supposed to be a new ac system), they used the 2x4 wall (less than 1.5 inches of air space) as the return air, They left construction debris all throughout the house and yard and told me I was supposed to clean it up, he promised a kitchen package including a stove, oven, and dishwasher then told me he couldn't install the dishwasher and he would give me $200 off of the price, The vent-hood/microwave combination is installed about 12 inches above the gas cook-top, the vent-hood/microwave cord runs along the wall exposed to the gas cook-top, the duct for the vent-hood directly exhausts into the attic around combustible materials, some of the cabinet doors do not open and some that do are difficult to move, the sink light is now missing and has a round plate screwed on to cover the hole, the new disposal sounds as if it will fall out of the sink at any minute, the bathroom closet door is missing but the door track is still there but just painted over, one bedroom is missing a ceiling fan he promised in the estimate and in its place is a fixture that is so loose on the ceiling it will most likely fall down at any minute and is also installed about 2 feet from center of the room, I could go on and on. I still do not have warranty paperwork for the new roof, the new a/c, the two appliances he did install, the foundation work he said he completed, or anything else I should have a written guarantee/warranty for.
This review was much longer with more details and examples but I had to edit it because it was too long to post.
If you use Leo or Instamax, be sure to get detailed estimates in writing, and a signed contract with a detailed timeline before you give him any money and before you get yourself into a situation where time is not on your side. He took advantage of me in those situations and he could very well take advantage of you too.
If I can find a way to post the photos here I will be happy to share his work with everyone.
