I love my finished kitchen. I would be disingenuous if I said I didn't. However, the experience…read moregetting to the finished product was not what I expected.
When I signed with Rapid Restoration, I was told my small kitchen project would take approximately three weeks. I understood construction can have delays, so I was prepared for a month or even a month and a half. Instead, a project that started at the end of May took nearly four months to complete.
There were many days when no one was working at my home, and at times it seemed like only one thing was being completed per week. During that same period, I had another company complete my flooring and another company complete my painting while the kitchen project was still ongoing.
At the same time, I was regularly asked to sign off on stages of the project and make the next payment. I never understood how there could be urgency when it was time for the next payment, but not the same urgency when it came to completing the work. I understand a construction company has other customers and projects, but I hired and paid Rapid Restoration. I wasn't asking for special treatment. I expected the service I was paying for.
Communication and organization were also issues. I dealt with several people, and information did not always seem to make it from one person to the next. At one point, I noticed cabinets being installed differently from the plans I had been given. When I showed the installer my plans, we discovered that he was working from different plans than I was. Had I not noticed it, I don't know when it would have been caught.
Before construction began, I purposely purchased everything and reviewed measurements and specifications with the project manager so nothing on my end would delay the project. Yet nearly four months later, we discovered one of my doors was off by approximately a quarter inch.
That door was still unfinished when the rest of the project was completed. I was offered another change order for Rapid Restoration to handle it, but after nearly four months, I declined. I chose to have another company take care of it rather than extend the project any further.
The financial side also raised concerns. I was questioned about payments I had already made, and there were multiple change orders and situations where I believed I was being charged again for things that had already been discussed or included.
One situation in particular made me feel like I was being nickel-and-dimed. There was a question about whether a wall was load-bearing, and I was told I would need to pay approximately $350 for an engineer simply to come out and determine yes or no. That $350 was not for removing the wall or doing additional work.
I understand the importance of safety, and I am not an engineer. However, I hired a professional construction company and expected their experience to count for something. Ultimately, members of their own team looked at the wall and determined it was not load-bearing. Had I simply agreed when the $350 was presented to me, I would have paid it. Whether nickel-and-diming me was their intention or not, that is how that situation came across to me.
My second project manager, Sebastian, eventually came in and did what he could to organize things and move the project forward. I give him credit because he inherited a project that was already well underway.
There were other issues along the way. Demolition debris was left on my property long enough to damage my grass. By itself, that may not seem significant, but it was another issue during a project that had already gone far beyond the original timeline.
I paid the price that was asked of me. I didn't receive a discount or special deal. Nobody was doing me a favor. I paid for a service, held up my end of the agreement and expected the company I hired to do the same.
I originally found Rapid Restoration through a Broward County vendor publication. Between that, the sales presentation and the reviews I read, I felt confident choosing them. In fact, at the beginning of this project, I was considering using them for work on two other properties After this experience, I would not.
Again, I love my kitchen. But when a project presented as approximately three weeks takes nearly four months, the finished product is only part of the story. I also have to consider the timeline, communication, organization, change orders and everything else that happened along the way.
Would I use Rapid Restoration again? No.
Would I recommend them based on my experience? No.
The saddest part is that the happiest moment of the entire process was making my final payment and knowing the project was finally over. That should never be the best part of a renovation.
Of course, there are three sides to every story: my side, their side, and the truth. Rapid Restoration may see some of these situations differently, and I respect that. I can only tell what happened from my perspective.
