READ BEFORE PAYING ANYTHING! Jacob F. got 50% deposit, did partial sloppy work, suddenly demanded more money to finish job. I'd rather have the quality job we agreed to instead of write this review, but we're past that. He's been finding ways to remove negative reviews (mostly that he won't return to fix mistakes once he's paid). I will talk to anyone to share more (plenty of proof in texts).
Cliff notes: Promising at first (he's into marketing and knows how to say the right things, draw you in for business) but overpromises, underdelivers, then blames client. Sloppy paint job: there's paint on walls, floors, behind painters tape, and he transports painted doors directly on top of each other so each one gets messed up, nothing in between to protect. Kept postponing or forgetting appts but blamed me for long project timeline. Made it seem like he'd install undermount sink (even his partner thought so), but when he realized undermount sinks cannot install under MDF board, he pretended the sink was too timely/expensive. ALL OVER the place with money: one day demanded same-day payment in full before work was finished (to "pay his rent due tonight"), then rescinded but still wanted full pay in a few days even if job unfinished; next day demanded partial remaining payment or he wouldn't come back like planned. Waited until last second to make backsplashes though he'd had measurements for a week so pushed back another appt, then got mad when I wouldn't take off work. Will not return items of mine (told me to just buy more on Amazon). Demands more payment because of my "nit picky edits" (see screenshot/photos: every edge is not smooth and there's an uneven slope/bump from sloppy glued MDF pieces).
To give credit, Jacob started out amazing. Great communication, detailed texts, quick responses, professional, polite, up front, explained some process about why I should not do the $800 option to epoxy over existing countertops and instead pay $1000 MORE to do all from scratch. Despite being the highest epoxy quote, I felt comfortable and agreed to new epoxy counters/backsplash, $1800 and kitchen/bath cabinet painting $500. We itemized everything. He claimed to be "one of the best epoxy countertop artists in the city and you would be getting a top quality installation & job." He bought different paint at my request. Gave me 18 soft-close hinges that matched 9 of my doors. I felt good about working with him.
Then issues started. There was no timeline/deadline for project completion, no required payments past 50% deposit discussed until the first time he demanded full payment for unfinished work. He'd constantly forget things like taking a door or baseboard, sections of cabinet unpainted, missed spots. While sanding, he scraped my electric pepper shaker but moved it out of sight so it wasn't noticed until later.
Jacob made it seem like he would hang the sink, making sure we had clamps needed, researching how to install undermount (he'd never done it before). He texted from Lowes for sink mounting stuff but said it would be out of his time/budget to install. I called him and he claimed he never said he would install it, only that he'd try. That wasn't true; even his partner thought he'd install the sink and the sweet woman even started trying to help me figure out how to mount it. That call was when he claimed they would be finished that night and that I had to pay in full. I'm guessing he learned something at Lowes he would not admit to me; I learned the next morning that undermount sinks CANNOT be installed under MDF (the cheap foundation of his epoxy counters). A professional epoxy installer should already know this, but he hid it from me. Later he admitted "forget what I said about paying in full, I only said that because my rent is due tonight," but that he'd need full payment in a few days regardless of project completion.
He did not finish that night as stated. I pointed out sloppy areas, looked nothing like photos of past work. He said they'd return the next day around 12 to finish the last counter, backsplashes, & paint; no mention of needing more money. At 12 I asked for ETA; he said backsplashes wouldn't be dry until 5pm and wanted next day appt. This was my 4th day off work, two of which (Fri&Mon) he did not show as planned. I said I couldn't take off work, to at least try for 5pm. He acted like it was my fault he wasn't there already; JACOB WAS THE ONE WHO SUGGESTED NOON AND WE ALL AGREED! Maybe something is actually wrong, he blanks out on things he says, but he blamed me for it and again demanded more money to protect him from my "nit picky edits" before returning. Read: Jacob wants to make mistakes without corrections, do sub-par work, and get paid for it in advance.
Now I cut my losses, money wasted, abandoned project, no sink, incomplete counters, missing items. I'd rather have the quality job we agreed to instead of write this review, but too late. This is what you can expect from Jacob at Epoxy EP. read more
