When it comes to contractors, you have to go with your gut feeling. On first contact with Brian, he came off snarky and "I'm too good for this job" (redoing a bathroom damaged by a pipe leak). Should've trusted my instinct! Gotta live and (write on Yelp so others can also) learn.
I will admit that Brian and Hovik are knowledgable and hire decent workers, and it doesn't hurt that Brian is a professional engineer. However I think he is used to working for folks that feel comfortable with his cocky, paternalistic demeanor. I am not one of those people- I ask tons of questions, express my concerns, and really hold contractors accountable for their claims.
For example, when I texted him a photo of the Kohler sink we chose that was in-stock at the Home Depot 1 mile from our place, he texted back verbatim: "I'm gonna have to get whatever is available. It may be a different brand. Sorry" Excuse me? Without even checking, he dismissed my request and acted as if I was working for him, not the other way around. "Oh, ok. The Home Depot 0.6 mile away confirmed they have several in-stock, just FYI," I texted back. He replied: "Listen, if you want that exact sink, you are free to pick it up yourself."
When he used aluminum bullnose edges for our bathroom tiles, instead of the matching bullnose we chose, we were almost too tired to confront him about it because we knew what his reaction would be. Sure enough, his response: "sorry, that's all we had and YOU have us on a tight deadline so we couldn't wait."
I wish we could say that at least he cut us a good deal, but he was actually one of the most expensive contractors we interviewed.
Needless to say: not worth it. read more