I had a good experience with The Granite Store 8 years ago when they installed new countertops in my kitchen. However, the recent remodeling of my master bathroom turned into the Remodel From Hell.
The owner Paul is friendly and professional. He has a new facility with an impressive showroom. Unfortunately, he surrounds himself with employees who are rude, arrogant and incompetent. The employees who came to my house have minimal or no English communication skills. There is an absence of professional knowledge and skill.
These problems are compounded by office staff who dodge phone calls and fail to return email messages. There appears to be no one in charge or responsible for the workers at the work site. They all work independently and do not communicate with each other. Paul nor anyone else acted as a site coordinator which resulted in poor workmanship.
Here is a sample of the issues I had with The Granite Store:
It took weeks to get a job quote from Paul.
The bathroom plan design could not be understood by anyone, including me (see pic). It was not a professional nor comprehensive plan.
The demolition crew did not properly seal off the work area. This resulted in dust inundating our entire house for weeks. We cleaned drapes, carpets, bedding and areas covered with dust. My wife developed breathing problems and ended up at Urgent Care with Construction Dust Pneumonia.
Lack of coordination and scheduling between quartz and cabinet installers resulted in wasted time and materials. The quartz installer lost his temper and yelled at me and my wife in a foreign language although it was his mistake. He then smeared epoxy on our entry door and laundry room floor. He left large quartz remnants in our front yard.
The cabinet installers did not clean up after themselves. They left a huge pile of sawdust, screws and debris in the bottom of the cabinet. The cabinet trim is falling off after less than a month (see pic).
The electrician Eric was unfriendly and rude. He cut out a large section of sheetrock to make his job easier and left a huge mess for me to clean up. The Granite Store had to send sheetrock workers to repair the damage and this caused a one day delay.
Renee complained to his coworker about installing the toilet. He did not caulk the bottom of the toilet and I had to ask another employee to do it.
The two bathroom sinks were installed with very cheap and non-standard drain pipes. Paul justified their usage by saying "they come in a kit with the faucet". Standard size drain pipes are 1 and ¼ inch and made of heavy metal or ABS plastic. These pipes are 1 inch and made of extremely cheap metal (see pics). These cheap pipes are not sold at Lowes, Home Depot or General Plumbing.
One of the sinks leaked after installation. After a 3 week delay, Renee applied gas pipe grease to repair the leak. I was informed I could use the sink that night. The drain pipe blew apart and leaked water in the cabinet when the faucet was turned on (see pics). I met with Paul and he offered to replace the faucet and drain pipes. Omar, a Licensed Plumber from Pro Plumbing was sent out the next day to repair the sink drains. He had to go to General Plumbing to purchase standard approved drain pipes because The Granite Store sent the same cheap materials as originally installed. Omar also tightened the faucets because they were improperly installed.
The shower controls were installed incorrectly. As a result, late on Christmas night, I could not turn off the shower. I had to shut off the water to the house and dismantle the shower controls to shut off the shower.
Finally, the tile installer did not adequately slope the shower floor to the drain. It is essentially level (see pic). During the first shower, water flooded the entire bathroom. A threshold had to be installed which now creates a bathtub effect when the shower is on.
This is not all the issues I had with The Granite Store but you can see why I call this the Remodel From Hell. Let the buyer beware! read more