We hired Chris Conolly/CMC Homes LLC for a project that included re-treading our steps in our foyer, replacing the banister, balusters and 2 newel posts that he was to build from scratch. In addition, he was to tile and grout our foyer, hall closet and 1st floor powder room, install and paint new trim and tear out and redo powder room including install toilet, vanity/sink, vanity light and mirror and prepare and paint walls. This project started on 4/26/21. There had been several set backs on his part that led to him to need to extend our project. Initially he was not able to properly stain the treads to the color we had asked for, once he did get the color right, the stain never properly dried and rubbed off. This was after many days of trial and error and finally determining he needed to paint them. For the foyer porcelain tile installation, he miscalculated what needed to be done to level the foyer floor, which led to extra days and material cost, for which he charged us additional. He had to rip out and redo half of the tile in the foyer, he said because of the spacers he used, and Also, when cleaning the tiles he used something that bleached the color out of the grout so he took the grout level down to accommodate the addition of new grout. We have been advised by another contractor that there are pinholes in the grout that he did which means he mixed the grout with too much water so we have to pay for someone to take it all out and regrout.
He made comments on more than one occasion that he was losing money on our job and blamed it on us making changes. There was not one thing that we asked for that we changed. We did discover that the treads he was making were not what we wanted but he had not previously described what he would be doing and this also added additional time. We paid for him to build newel posts (material and labor) and ended up having to buy two from Home Depot, for which we never received a credit. Everything came to head when we expressed concern with all the issues he was having with the treads and were not sure about the type of paint he was using for something that was meant to be walked on. He walked off the job that day on 6/3/21, 6 weeks after the initial start, when he had projected it would take 3 weeks; he had another job starting that Monday 6/7. We are now left with a tile floor without grout throughout our downstairs, a gutted powder room with only primed walls and a staircase with no balusters and a lose banister and newel post, the steps are the original pine treads (that were under carpet) and being held together temporarily with staples. There are numerous areas on walls, ceilings, trim and wainscotting that need to be repainted due to damage that he caused in the course of the demo. Beware! We have paid him 80% of the money and the job is nowhere near complete; trying to find a contractor to either finish the job completely or to finish the job piece meal with multiple contractors will not be easy. His original business address was in Philadelphia, but he is now in Perkiomenville, PA. read more