We contracted with Hambleton Construction to replace all three bathrooms and pipes, a plum assignment for any residential construction firm, to begin January 2017 and be completed in 9.5 weeks. EIGHTEEN MONTHS later I told them I would not pay any more because they kept failing to fix things and made some things worse. That is the last we've heard from them. It didn't start out that way. In 2012, we met David Hambleton thru a designer recommendation. He came across then, and later in 2016 when we were ready to begin, as a complete pro. Online reviews, though dated, said the company and their work were "first class." We were good clients--we used all of their vendors, agreed to their estimated price, and made very few changes to the project after the contract was signed. They were always polite and had good ideas the few times they engaged. However, soon after work began we realized we could not give them a key or trust them alone as we do with most contractors. COMMUNICATION AND DELAY. They did not show up for stretches of days, weeks, and then months, no explanation why or when they would return. They would come over on 1 day's notice for a flurry of activity, ask to collect more money, then disappear again as soon as they were paid. They did not retain information I gave them. As just one example, we emailed/told them multiple times about our spring break, but on the first day they woke us at 5am (3 time zones away) because they had sent the plumber over and no one was there to let him in. LACK OF PREPARATION. There was a project notebook onsite but no one must have ever looked at it. The downstairs bathroom was nearly complete but then had to be partly dismantled because they failed to plan for moving the toilet in the upstairs bathroom immediately above. The countertop installation guys showed up on time but sat around for hours because the Hambletons could not find the sink bowls. The plumber had to re-position the rough-ins after the vanities were installed, now the vanities inside have glops and smears. The tile guy was sent in without any instruction, so most of the tiling had to be re-installed because the layout was bad, there was no plan for trim along the ceiling line, etc. SHODDY WORK. Nearly everything was done poorly the first time, and only corrected sometimes after multiple attempts and delays. The tile guy did poor work needing repairs and re-dos, some of it is still not flush. We had to beg over and over for basic things like smooth caulking, even painting, decent stain work, flush tiles, decent drywall work, some of that is still not good. All three shower faucets apparently were installed without plumbing grease so that they functioned like rubber on rubber and soon failed. I got replacements from Moen and my husband found the problem and fixed it. They installed the tub without mooring so that it creaked, then cut a hole in my laundry room to try and fix it, the hole is still there and it still creaks. DAMAGE. We were without a landline phone upstairs for 2+ months because they had the phone wire inside the wall touching metal. First they ignored the problem and then they cut multiple holes in the newly painted drywall trying to figure it out. When they cut off the water upstairs it was not sealed and leaked a balloon bulge of water into the new bathroom ceiling below, fortunately we were there that weekend to see it before other rooms were damaged (unlike another homeowner posting a review here). POWER GROUT. This product has a long history of occasional failure, well-documented online. It happened to us. We, not Hambleton, found the failure and the online history. Their redo also failed, although they claimed success. The grout still retained water and grew mildew. Finally I called the manufacturer and obtained corrective sealant that I applied myself, a five-day job. They requested full payment from us even though I'm pretty sure the manufacturer paid them too. CLEANUP. Their workers race each other to leave without cleaning up. Their tile repairs left white grout smeared all over our wood planked ceilings. After they failed over and over to clean it up I finally did it, it took a full weekend. VIRTUALLY NO ONSITE SUPERVISION. Over the entire 18 month period after work began, David came by once, his brother Tom the Project Manager (always dressed in business casual) showed up mostly when he wanted to collect money. The Site Manager spent very little time onsite, mainly he inspects. Not once did the SM order work re-done, he passed everything the first time. As homeowners, we were the de facto site and project managers. Tom told me they instruct their workers not to go to the homeowner with questions, even though I was nearly always there. So, many of the problems that arose (I mention here only a slight fraction) were after the fact, when they could and should have been prevented in the first place. read more