My request, goal & need: For the porch to be sealed as tight as possible to protect from mosquitoes & other bugs = no gaps, have the screen doors to all shut (3 relocated) & be rehung properly, remove an old metal shed shoved into one end of the porch - to be replace by same wood frame & screening as rest of screened porch.
Andrew & I had two on site meetings with Andrew for him to measure, estimate and factor what materials he would need to do the work on my screened porch. We also emailed and talked on the phone. After he gave me his full estimate of all repairing my porch & replacements in areas, painting the porch & electrical work. I chose due to my budget, to stick with only the porch repair & replacement work.
Andrew spent 2 days getting the work done. It was pitch dark, stormy and cold on his 2nd day, his finish day. Based on all of our conversations & some of his ideas for some redirections-which I approved, I believed Andrew would complete the work honestly, completely & in good order. I wrote that check that dark evening. The next day, I took off to fly north to spend two months with my family for the holidays. I left my roommate in charge of the house.
I got a call midway in my trip from my roommate letting me know that none of the screen doors shut properly, there were huge gaps and one door had ripped off, with only a one inch screws holding it's hinges. I let Andrew know what had happened & scheduled time to meet with him on my return.
He was defensive, did apologize, saying he just got ripped into by an unhappy client right before he showed up. He stayed to fix one of the doors and made excuses for the other ones, although they worked prior to his re-hang. To date, we found that much of the wood siding it just hanging, not properly nailed to the porch framing, the screening is blowing out of the frames (not pulled & stapled properly) and nails sticking out on the interior portion - dangerous for kids. Also, there are so many gaps between boards, some up to 2 inches of exposure to the elements & bugs. I wish I would have kept the porch the way it was before. We had more bug protection & the doors were all hung to shut completely with no gaps. read more