After taking more than six weeks to do a job which he claimed would be completed within "a week, tops," Kevin O'Rourke stated that he "wouldn't show up Monday" if we failed to pay him more money - even though, by that point, we had already paid him 80% of an ever-increasing estimate. Since this was not the first time he had made such a threat, we finally asked him to not return at that time. We had already paid him almost $4,000 (80% of his estimate) for a job only 40% completed. We had nothing to show for that money except:
* Approximately 40% of the work completed;
* Poor shower plumbing that another (licensed) contractor had to redo;
* Unfinished shower tiling, and the ones he had set had to be removed and redone because they were crooked;
* Stained carpeting outside the bathroom he had been working on;
* Uneven floor tiles in two bathrooms, and no grouting - just tiles with gaps between them;
* Sink drain installed improperly and crooked, which kept popping out of the bottom of the sink;
* Damaged ceiling where one of the ceiling medallions installed around a light fixture fell off onto one of the members of our family;
* Incomplete ceiling tile installation in small bathroom;
* Destroyed bathroom light fixture. Not sure how/why he destroyed it as it wasn't involved in the remodel at all;
* Toilet not installed properly; and
* Gaping hole where our medicine cabinet was supposed to go.
Additionally, Kevin O'Rourke:
* Stole the $300 shower door we paid for. He made multiple claims that he was going to deliver it to us, but as of the date of this review, he has refused to deliver it, or to refund the money we paid for it, or to respond to any communication regarding this item;
* Refused to give us either his active business address or his personal address, and when pressed, in fact gave us a fake address - twice. If you decide to go with this unlicensed contractor, definitely insist on making a photocopy of his driver's license as he will never willingly give you his address. Don't you think it's odd that he doesn't put his address (or license number) here on his Yelp page, or on his card, or on his estimate? He says he lives in Carlsbad (which was his excuse for showing up after noon every day) but he gave an old apartment complex in Poway as his address and no one at either phony address knows who he is;
* Was found sleeping in his car with the seat fully reclined in the middle of the day during hours he claimed to be working;
* Is NOT licensed with the CSLB (Contractor's State Licensing Board). Shame on me for not looking into the details of whether or not he was licensed before paying him any money. The Contractor now helping us clean up Kevin O'Rourke's mess thinks he should be reported to the CSLB and that I should call Turko Files about the situation he's left us in... we're still deciding what actions we should take, if any, to remedy our situation.
Why are there such good Yelp reviews for KO Construction and Kevin O'Rourke? I honestly don't know. I did a little searching and I did find one other honest review on another website that hit the nail on the head; I only wish I had looked beyond Yelp to see it before it was too late for me: [ http://www.thumbtack.com/ca/poway/handyman/handyman-k-o-construction ]
I would have given no stars if Yelp let me. Save yourself: go to anyone else! read more