I've never hired a contractor before, so naturally I was pretty nervous about it but my home bathroom desperately needed remodeling. Not knowing how to go about choosing a contractor, I contacted the Home Services department of a National home improvement retail store. They sold the fixtures I needed and in turn engaged Extreme Makeovers Inc. (CA. license # 895397) to perform tearing out the old bathroom and installing the new fixtures that I purchased from them.
Roy Couvertier, the owner of Extreme Makeovers Inc. and his trusty colleague, Issac, made a good first impression. They arrived on time. Their van was professionally painted and their shirts had logos that matched. Roy asked permission before parking his truck and showed great consideration for the neighbors - important as I live in a condominium. First impressions mean a lot and I was looking carefully for clues as to how this was going to go - being so nervous and all. Roy is neat and quite friendly. So I took all of this as a sign that things were going to go well.
Roy and Issac set to work immediately and completed removal of the old bathroom tub, flooring (several layers!!!), vanity, and toiddy. They worked intensely but always had time to stop and answer my questions.
One thing I learned from my experience is that remodeling an older home is complex - things can go wrong and many things cannot be foreseen when planning the job. Two unforeseen situations came up during my project. The first, my subfloor had soaked through from excess moisture. The second, the drain pipe for my bathtub was cracked and leaky. Roy pointed these out to me promptly and formulated a plan to remedy both situations. These were not in the contract so I paid an additional amount for the extra work. I thought the prices Roy quoted for these items were reasonable.
Another thing I learned from my experience is projects become subject to "mission creep" - fix something and you get new ideas about adding/fixing something else. I decided I wanted to change the project to include making a half-high wall and tub surround into a full height one, which added greatly to the looks as well as the stability of the tub enclosure. I also asked Roy to add an extra electrical outlet for a wash-let seat on the toiddy. I also decided to have Roy texture the walls, ceiling and repaint the room and to install some extra towel racks and fixtures. Some of these additional items Roy installed/performed gratis, the others I paid an additional sum for Roy to complete.
Anyway, the final result is amazingly beautiful. Neither I nor my wife can believe it is the same room! I was so happy with the outcome that I decided to have Roy remodel my downstairs half bath as well. It also turned out fantastic. The whole project - two baths made to look like new - took about a week.
I am happy with the quality of the work and look forward to working with Roy at Extreme Makeovers again when I decide to remodel my kitchen.
I hope this review is helpful to you. Good luck with your remodeling project!
-PaulD. read more