I hired Homes Reimagined USA to remodel my townhouse. The estimate was for $33,000, with the first…read morepayment being $16,500. The other two payments were to be made based on job completion. There were problems from the beginning!
The remodel consisted of demolition of a kitchen, to include removing old cabinets and drywall because of water damage and mold. It also included demolition of an upstairs bathroom for the same reason. The wood framing of the downstairs kitchen and upstairs bathroom was to be treated for mold. New drywall was to be installed afterwards. The sub-contractor hired to do drywall work started in the kitchen, and put up drywall without treating the exposed black mold. When I asked Allen Coven, the owner of Homes Reimagined USA, if the wood framing had been treated he told me he didn't know. He then told me it had not. So I insisted the new drywall be taken down, and the mold treated.
I took a day off work to supervise the drywall installers. They showed up with a bottle of Tilex bathroom cleaner to spray on the mold. In frustration, I called a friend that owns a professional demolition company for advice. He told me Tilex shower cleaner wouldn't work. My friend then came over with a special paint that kills mold, and told me the visible mold would have to be scraped off, and the special paint applied to the effected areas. My friend had to explain to Forest and me what needed to be done. I ended up having to do all scraping, clean up, and painting of the effected wood frame myself. This is work I payed the contractor and subcontractors to do.
A lock box with a key to the house was put on the back door. The workers had a code to the box, and were to make sure the house was locked and the key secured in the lock box when leaving. I couldn't stay at the house during this process, but would come home in the evenings to check on things. One evening I arrived to a wide open back door. Even though I wasn't staying there, I still had expensive firearms, clothes, and other belongings upstairs in boxes. After that I called Allen, and put a stop to all work until he and I could meet in person.
Also per the estimate, a dumpster for trash was to be placed outside. Allen then told me one could not be used because of my car port area not being big enough. He then assured me that he and Forest would not let trash pile up in the back patio, and would haul it away on a regular basis. That didn't happen until I complained several times.
The plumbers hired to install the new bathtub and shower valves didn't do a good job either. They didn't line up the mixer valve hole, the bottom water spout hole, or the top shower arm hole for the shower head correctly. The guy hired to tile the shower didn't say anything to anyone when he installed the tile either. He tiled the shower walls and didn't say anything to anyone, about all three holes being off.
I got super busy at work, and couldn't go by the house every evening. On one particular evening I went by to check on things, and found that some of the kitchen cabinets had been installed. Unfortunately, they were of poor quality. I later found out they were made in China. I would have preferred they be made in the USA. That, and the installers didn't line up a vent hole with a cabinet box correctly. You would think the installers would see their measurements were off, and make a phone call to Allen or Forest. But like the tile installer, they didn't say anything. That, and if Allen or Forest had gone by the job site every day to check on things, perhaps some of these problems could have been avoided.
I repeatedly asked Allen for a cost breakdown. I wanted to know how much of the $16,500 was spent, and on what it was spent on. To date, he refuses to provide that. He did however, invoice me for the second installment.
Long story short, hiring this company was a mistake!
