I hired JDJ Drywall to retexture 3 bathrooms and kitchen after I removed wallpaper. I also hired them to install hardwood floors and shoe moulding and to pressure wash my garage floor.
Here's what went right:
1) They showed up on time.
2) The seemed respectful and eager to do a good job.
Here's what went wrong:
1) They quoted the price including materials but brought almost no tape for masking. They had no car (they were dropped off by their wives) so I went to Home Depot and bought more.
2) Their mud "went bad." Again, no car so I went to Home Depot to buy more mud.
3) After the first two bathrooms were done, I said I didn't like the large texture. I had asked them to match the rest of the house and it wasn't even close. I asked them to use a smaller nozzle. They said it was their new compressor which did not hold constant pressure, not the nozzle. Off to Home Depot I go again to rent a good compressor.
4) The rest of the job was decent but not great. Some overspray on a wall 4 feet away which they did not clean up
5) On to the floors - they laid the underlayment upside down - the moisture barrier against the slab instead of the flooring. I caught this after one room was done and they corrected though they had no idea it was done incorrectly until I showed them clear instructions right on the package they used.
6) They cut the flooring too close to the tile so the t-mould didn't fit. I caught and they corrected by using an all-in-one and spraying sawdust all over the bathroom.
7) Some of the door jambs look great - others have as much as a 1/3 inch gap.
8) In several places, the shoe moulding is off by about ¼ inch in the corner.
9) They correctly left a gap between the flooring and the sliding glass door but the gap was terribly uneven and a transition piece would not fit. They told me to use a black piece of weather stripping. Yeah, right - that would have looked real hillbilly in this upper middle class home.
10) If a line of flooring was too short on one end and to long on the other, they simply beat the flooring with a mallet, breaking the seal on the baseboards and leaving large black rubber marks on the floor.
11) They promised to finish the job on Wednesday, then it was Thursday, then it was Sunday then they didn't bother to call or show up to finish the job.
12) Trusting fool that I am and knowing that they were strapped financially, I left them a final payment check when I left for a four day trip. I left them clear instructions to not cash the check until the work was done. The check was cashed and the work is still not done.
13) I called them when I returned from my trip and they promised to come early Wednesday and finish the job. They did show up but all they did is pick up their tools and leave. I called twice and they have not returned my call.
14) They left drink cups and cans and cigarette butts all over the property and used the bathrooms I specifically asked them not to use as they had been final cleaned. They also took food out of the refrigerator without my permission. Minor, I agree, but annoying nonetheless. Lastly, they left the home unlocked several times.
I have hired someone else to finish the shoe moulding and transition piecing and pressure wash the garage floor. Thanks to JDJ Drywall, I am well over a week behind schedule and have an inferior texture job and floor installation. I plan to give them an opportunity to refund me for the money they did not earn. If they do, I will update this post. If they don't, I will be filing fraud charges against their license. Please be VERY, VERY reluctant to hire these guys. They seemed great but left me stranded. I think I treated them very well until the last broken promise. I didn't deduct the cost of anything I paid for on my 4 runs to Home Depot from their payment and I bought them lunch several times. Talk about feeling like I've been slapped in the face! read more
