How do I begin?..... I'm going to break this into two pieces. Quality and Planning/Communication.
First the Quality. HHI's team of carpenters, drywall and tile guys are great. I think they are hard workers and their quality is spot on. VERY happy with the work they have done. I would love to manage this team myself because I feel that under the proper direction, this would be a great team. We did a master bath remodel (complete gut) and they installed a new (larger) shower including curb, retiled floor, shower/vanity wall and tub surround. Awesome work and it turned out beautiful.
Planning/communication. I should state that I have very high expectations. When you tell me something, I hold you to it. I think HHI is a good company to hire if you don't have deadlines and don't mind micro-managing every step. The first project manager I was given (yes, I had two), was completely unresponsive. Didn't answer texts or calls. In fact, I have cameras installed in my home and I called him while he was there. He looked at his phone and put it back in his pocket. In HHI's defense, they let him go so I'll give them that, but before they did, he admitted the company was horrible at communication.
We specified that we wanted 1/8" grout on the floor and 3/8" on the walls. We got 1/8" on floor and walls because no one told the tile guys actually doing the work. We didn't bother pushing because it looked ok so we let it go.
We clearly spelled out that we wanted a 36" shower door. They built the shower curb in such a way that two pieces of glass were needed and a smaller door was required. This was unacceptable because we specifically called out a single piece door. The salesman openly admitted to making the error on the design, but because I didn't catch it, I had to pay an extra $120 to fix their mistake. When I asked the project manager about it, his response was "It was built per the design". Buyer beware. Review your design VERY carefully. If you sign it, it's your fault, no matter how badly they screw up.
Specifically asked that the shower head be raised 3 inches. When the plumber showed up, no one had told him. Luckily, I was there at the time and made sure he knew to do it.
HHI has a very cool online tool with schedules, places for notes, pictures, etc. Don't bother. They don't read the notes. After making two requests on the notes, neither was read so I left a third note asking if anyone actually reads the notes and to call me immediately. No call. No one reads the notes.
Last item, the shower glass. This is the last item on the project. I was told that they now do their own shower glass (I was going to go with someone else, originally). They quoted a comparable price and a faster turn-around of roughly 5 biz days. Glass was measured on Nov. 1st. On the 10th I got a text from the new Project manager telling me the glass was on backorder. They didn't even know about this until it didn't show up on the truck the day it was due. Although not directly their fault, customers don't care about a supplier's sub-supplier. If you commit, you own it. Don't push the blame to the sub-supplier. Backordered part was finally done and was due in Phoenix Friday morning (11/17) from CA. On Thursday 11/16, I received a text message from the new project manager with a picture attached. The picture was of a pile of shattered tempered glass. No explanation, no message. I didn't want to play "guess what this is" so I called. They told me that the supplier was loading it on the truck and one of the pieces shattered. Now they are rushing to get the glass complete and installed before Thanksgiving. I have guests coming from out of town and don't want 7 of us sharing one small bathroom. I could go on, but won't. This is sufficient.
Bottom line, the quality of the work (once it's done) is beautiful. The guys in the trenches to great work. If I were rating them on Quality/Workmanship alone, I would have given them a 4 or even a 5.
If you are retired or have lots of time to oversee their work and manage the project for them, I would say go for it. BUT... If you are a working couple like my wife and I, plan on weeks of frustration as you try to get answers to questions. Much of the end result was due to us watching on camera or coming home and inspecting every night and then calling/texting to make sure things were done as planned.
I believe their shortcoming is due to a lack of communication/mgmt. and I believe this is a tops-down issue. Much of my texts and conversations were with Brandon (one of the owners) who was very quick to blame his sub-supplier (for the glass) and say there's nothing they can do. As I said before, customers don't care. As a manager of suppliers, I understand the difficulty he deals with. But I also know that you have to hold your sub-suppliers accountable and MAKE them commit. Drive them to fix problems. Not just say "there's nothing I can do". read more