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Okay, so first off, I've never owned a home before and this was my first experience with getting a room remodel. I had just bought a small mobile home in a MHP in N. Ridgeville. One of my neighbors saw me having roof work done and approached me with his business card - Greenwood Property Management, an all-around handyman who claimed to have been doing that type of work for 15 years. I wanted to renovate the spare BR for my office. Home Depot had quoted me an outlandish price just for laminate floors. This neighbor quoted me the same price with a room repaint (walls and trim), AND claimed he could get it done in just a day because the room was small. Too good to be true, right?
It was.
He drew up a contract, per my request, with a deposit for material purchase. We had initially planned for the work to start a week out, but I had a cancellation which allowed him to start in two days. He wanted to get a jump on things and show up early at 9 am. Fine by me, only come Sunday morning he didn't actually arrive until 11, then left without explanation at 2 and didn't come back for the rest of the day. After many unsuccessful texts and phone calls which he didn't answer, I went across the street to knock on his door as his vehicle was in the drive and he was home. His wife answered and I left a message with him to call me so I could know what was going on. He then messages me back to say not to come knocking on his door uninvited. after some back and forth messages we smooth things out and he says he be there bright and early Monday morning to finish. Meanwhile I have an office-load of furniture, books, and whatnot strewn about three rooms.
Monday morning arrives, and he doesn't show up until 10:30, and AGAIN left around 1:30. I was scheduled to work that evening but due to a power outage at the store did not have to in. I messaged to let him know as much, asking if he planned to come back and finish that evening - to which he said no due to the complication he was having with laminate being warped and Home depot giving him flack about returning it for new material. So, this "one day" project had turned into two and was stretching three.
On Tuesday, again he shows up in the late morning, left around 12 saying he would be back in 45 minutes to finish up. two hours later I get a text saying he is officially done with this project because of the flooring issue; that in his 15 years of doing this he's never had such difficulty with laminate or hassle returning defective pieces. He said that without my investing more money he would not be able to finish the job, then tried to demand what was "owed" to him for the half-ass paint job he did. And when i say half-ass, I mean it. he broke pieces of trim in taking them off and left multiple spots on the wall with the old color still showing through. Plus, he just up and left what he did get done on the floor in limbo. I argued to see the receipts for material cost in order to balance any leftover toward the labor of the paint job. He refused to produce the receipts. In the end he settled for less than what he claimed I still owed, and I paid it just to get him out of my hair.
So, here it is a week later, and I have installed a new floor myself - complete with underlayment and vinyl planks. Turns out the warped laminate he claimed to be the issue was in fact his lack of thoroughness in removing errant nails and staples left over from the carpet removal, making the floor uneven. 15 years of doing this and he skipped that crucial step? I also bought new trim, cut, painted, and installed it myself, plus finished up the paint job. It's as the old adage goes: if you want something done right do it yourself. Had I done it myself from the start I certainly could have saved a lot of money and headache in dealing with this person. Lesson learned.
All this to say I would recommend going with someone who has reputable references and/or a deeper sense of professionalism than this person, who in the end tried to gaslight me into feeling sorry for all the difficulties he encountered during the project and breached the contract on many levels with no remorse or concern.