Roger Hammonds' installation of two fireplaces was a nightmare saga. The original estimate for the project was $5,299 + an estimated $300 for direct vent flue materials. Shortly before the job was to begin, Roger said the flue materials would cost $700. I was shocked that he more than doubled the price, but I agreed to pay it since we already paid him a 50% deposit.
Roger told us all the work would be done in two days, but Richard Taylor, his laborer/independent fascia contractor left on the second day without scheduling a time with my wife to install the tiles around the fireplaces. Richard was already irritated by me asking him how tiles would cover a 1-inch framing gap around one fireplace, and he threw a tantrum when I was understandably irritated with him for not scheduling a time to return to finish the work, and him asking me if we had the grout (he never asked us about the grout before). Richard refused to finish the work, and he even blocked my phone number! So we had contractors for Shelton Tile and Flooring install the tiles. They were very nice, professional, and they did an excellent job. They also commented about the framing gap around one fireplace, and they had to install material over the gap for the tiles to adhere to.
Finally, Andrew, one of Roger's laborers, failed to install a required fireblock in our attic for the direct vent fireplace flue. At this point, we requested a Johnson City inspection of the work, and we learned that Roger doesn't even have a license to do work in Johnson City! So Roger had to ask another contractor who is licensed in Johnson City to pull a permit for the inspection. Andrew came back to do corrective work twice, but his work failed two inspections. Since Roger failed to ensure a proper and safe installation of our direct vent fireplace flue after 3 attempts, we decided to have another contractor make the corrections. read more
