I strongly dislike giving reviews lower than three stars. Unfortunately, I cannot give more than…read moretwo stars here, and I should only give 1 star-.
My experience with Joe, the manager who handled most of the communication, was terrible. In my opinion, he did not have enough hands-on construction knowledge to properly manage a remodel. He seemed to rely almost entirely on what his employees or subcontractors told him, even when they were wrong. When I pointed out mistakes, he often pushed back, blamed me, or tried to make me pay to fix issues caused by his own crew.
A few examples:
-We specified grout colors, and they used them on the wrong tiles and areas.
-The wrong sinks were ordered.
-The wrong faucets were ordered.
-The wrong tiles were ordered.
-The wrong counter top was delivered.
-Kitchen cabinets were faulty and installed improperly.
-They promised one type of flooring, then delivered something completely different, including a different color, and installed it incorrectly.
-They tried to conceal faulty piping inside my walls. Had I not walked in unexpectedly, I would never have seen it.
-They poured a foundation for a small extension without making it deep enough or installing a moisture barrier. We now have tiles showing signs of moisture damage.
-They did not repaint several rooms. They cleaned the walls and then claimed the rooms had been painted.
-The electrician made serious mistakes, including issues that almost caused a fire in my house.
The overall pattern was simple:
-They made mistakes.
-I had to catch the mistakes.
-Joe often tried to shift blame.
-They tried to charge me to fix problems they caused.
I also felt like Joe tried to take advantage of me financially. He handwrote the quote and invoice, and I trusted that the items we discussed would be handled as agreed. Later, he tried to back away from what had been discussed and claimed certain items were not included. Only after I involved the owner did Joe back down and admit he had made a mistake.
There were also major management and communication problems:
-Joe is not the contractor who owns the business.
-From what I saw, there was no professional contractor consistently supervising the crew.
-Joe would come by occasionally, look around, speak with the crew, and leave.
-The crew often seemed confused about what needed to be done.
-Communication between Joe and the crew appeared poor, which caused constant errors.
The crew was also a revolving door. Different people came on different days. One person would start the flooring, and others would come later to finish it. The same thing happened with tile, plumbing, electrical work, and other parts of the project. Each time someone new showed up, they seemed to have little or no idea what had been agreed to.
Joe also asked personal questions that made us uncomfortable, including:
-Where are you from?
-What do you do?
-Can I see your cars?
-"Wow, you went to that restaurant? It's very expensive."
-"This was an expensive house. You must be very rich."
That felt inappropriate and uncomfortable.
Overall, this was a nightmare experience. Never again.
The only reason I am giving two stars is that they finished quickly, and by the end, I was simply relieved to have them gone.
