If you're looking for a company who preys on the vulnerable, is unprofessional and doesn't notify the proper government authorities, bother to obtain building permits or actually complete the job, then you might like PW Stephens, otherwise, if you're looking for a professional contractor, you should look elsewhere.
We had the extremely unfortunate circumstance of losing our home to a fire, and there was lead and asbestos that had to be abated before the demolition could occur. My insurance company sent out PW Stephens and ERI for bids for the asbestos and lead abatement. I met with Gary from PW Stephens first, and was not impressed with him, despite having a confirmed positive test for asbestos and lead, the drywall was all ripped apart by the fire department, they didn't even put on a respirators and just walked through the house for 5 minutes. ERI came out, and they both suited in tyvek suits and donned respirators and spent 25 minutes measuring the house. I was way more impressed by ERI and told my insurance adjuster I wanted to go with them, unfortunately PW Stephens underbid them by 10k and my insurance wouldn't pay for ERI, so I reluctantly signed a contract.
My nightmare began after they had completed the abatement, structural demolition of the garage, and removal of all drywall and insulation. They never bothered to obtain a building permit from my city, and that caused months of delay and tens of thousands of dollars in having to upgrade insulation because they couldn't grandfather anything that was taken out without a building permit.
After learning additional lead had to be removed because we had to upgrade walls because they failed to do the basic legal responsibility of a licensed contractor and insure that all necessary permits were obtained prior to beginning the job. The original siding had lead in it, the stucco that was applied in 2013, did not contain lead. Even though the contract specifically stated the stucco would be removed exposing the studs and wrapping the studs in plastic, they didn't expose the studs, they simply removed the stucco, but refused to remove the lead containing siding.
When I refused to pay for work that wasn't performed they threatened to file a lien, despite giving them an opportunity to fix the situation. I was fortunate in they did not follow through with the vain attempt, despite their false claims to the BBB that they did a file a lien. The reality was I had to pay another contractor to actually perform the work. What scares me is that they gave a false certificate of completion for lead abatement, and had I not followed up with a simple lead test kit from Home Depot confirming the presence of lead, it would not have been disposed of properly. SCARY what lead can do, and this contractor gives false reports endangering the public.
The headache and the nightmare of dealing with the aftermath of PW Stephens was worse then losing my home and all of my possession to a fire. I have learned afterwards from numerous contractors that PW Stephens is notorious for underbidding and cutting corners and not completing jobs, but stating the job was completed and threatening people into paying. If my insurance company does not add PW Stephens a black list of contractors to never recommend, I'll have to consider switching insurers, they are a dishonest company and they prey on the vulnerable and don't follow safety procedures when handling hazardous materials.
They did not set up a proper containment, the crew who was working had ripped holes in there tyvek suits and I doubt they followed proper procedures regarding how much area had to be tapped off when they removed the lead containing materials. Avoid these guys like the plague they are one of the largest and probably one of the worst abatement companies. I am hoping the EPA investigates there practices and they get shut down by the government to protect other people from this reckless and careless company.
Don't trust diamond certified, they paid to get on it, and apparently hand picked a select few to receive surveys, their are numerous 1 star yelp reviews, and complaints on file with the BBB, this is not a company you want to deal with. If your insurance is pushing to deal with them, push back, and give them negative reviews and inform them that it is illegal to force to only accept the lowball undercut bid because they plan on cutting corners. Find your own abatement contractors and give those bids to your insurance and fight them until they give you enough money to get it done right. As a property owner, you don't want liability for improper remediation, and that is a huge risk you run if using PW Stephens, avoid them like the plague. read more