We hired Keith to install trim in a renovation. First of all, some of his work was fine. My pocket doors look nice. My window casings are just fine. But that's about where it ends. I would not recommend Keith for the following reasons:
1. Keith took shortcuts. I asked him to repair a piece of the ceiling that had some water damage. I had already removed the damaged wood from the ceiling and I provided it to Keith so that he had a template to create the replacement. Instead of properly fixing it, he REINSTALLED THE DAMAGED WOOD that I had removed. When I pointed out that this was not what we had agreed to, he basically shrugged and said oh well. He did not fix it.
2. Keith does not communicate and arbitrarily makes decisions based on what's easiest for him, without consulting his customer. I asked him to install 4 1/2" baseboard trim that matched the rest of the house trim and he agreed to it. He had installed several pieces of trim in one room when I noticed that he was installing 5 1/2" trim instead. When I pointed it out to him, he said "they don't make 4 1/2" trim". I thought to myself, how strange, I would imagine a carpenter could cut a 5 1/2" piece of wood down to 4 1/2". I assume he decided this would be too much work for him. In an attempt to be accommodating, I decided 5 1/2" trim would be fine and he assured me that where the trim had to match up to existing baseboard, he would in fact cut it down to 4 1/2" and make it match. He did not do this... when it came time to match it up, it was, again, too difficult and too much work for him, so (without even talking to me about it) he installed a "corbel" so that he didn't have to do precise work where the trim matched up. Now I have a corner where existing trim should meet new trim and this corner has 4 1/2" trim that abruptly changes to 5 1/2" trim and then back down to 4 1/2" trim (this is not a decorative corbel as he tried to describe it, it is mismatched trim that looks patched together). The moral of this story is two-fold - first, Keith chooses to take shortcuts as opposed to putting in the effort to make it right. Second, he does not communicate issues he encounters to ensure he is meeting the needs of the his client.
3. Keith did not finish the job and argued with me that very obvious trim work that he had previously agreed to and that I had pointed out to him on multiple occasions was not part of his job. On his last day he packed up all of his things without requesting that I come take a look at the work he had done. When I walked into the renovation, I noticed the corbel and the ceiling he had improperly repaired. I also noticed he had not finished several pieces, including trim around a fireplace and trim around some exposed posts on the wall and in the floor. When I pointed out the missing trim around the posts, first he said 'Oh, I forgot that...' then he proceeded to tell me he would come back the following week to finish but CHARGE ME MORE TO DO SO. Then he argued that it wasn't part of his original bid because he didn't notice that it was needed, even though he had previously asked me what kind of trim I wanted around the exposed posts. When he asked me, again I tried to be accommodating and I told him it would probably be easiest to install quarter round rather than the 5 1/2" baseboard he was installing elsewhere. He agreed at that time. Then, when he forgot to do it, he told me I had just told him about it the day before. He argued that he had installed all 121 feel of quarter round he said he would in his contract and that he wouldn't install more without charging me. I measured all of the installed quarter round and it totaled about 95 feet. There were multiple areas requiring quarter round that he ignored. I pointed this out to him, asked him for a refund, to which he agreed, but then never sent me anything. Now Keith will not respond to my requests for an update.
Overall, it was not a good experience. I would not recommend hiring Keith Orvis Carpentry as Keith is not detailed-oriented, does not communicate, and does not follow through on his commitments. read more