Please be advised before hiring this company.
I hired Rustique by J&P to build a "custom" maple butcher block countertop in May of this year. I clearly stated in my first verbal conversation with them that I did not want a store-bought product in my house and was assured this would be a custom-made countertop. I received my invoice and paid a down payment.
Seven weeks go by and they finally installed my "custom" butcher block countertop. By all appearances it is beautiful. After the Plumber left the day of install, I noticed the wood got very rough anywhere water touched. Rustique came back out and did a little sanding and put more oil on it. I still had the same problem and asked them again to fix the roughness. By this time (before their second visit to re-oil) I started noticing joints which didn't seem homemade and a seam going down the middle. I'm an amateur woodworker and knew something wasn't right. I had my Woodshop friends and GC take a look and both confirmed that I have nothing more than a store-bought factory made butcher block countertop in my house. Parish came the second time and did another round of sanding and oiling. I don't like confrontation so it took me a little bit to get the courage to ask them about this plus I wanted to make sure that I did have a working product before questioning their so called "custom" workmanship.
When I asked them about it they confirmed
and I quote "These are slabs that we purchase from the lumber mill, Peterman specifically. As we mentioned to you on our phone call, (never had this conversation) the original slabs we got was not going to achieve the color you wanted and we told you we needed to get different slabs. The slabs are joined together and that might be the seam that you're referencing. To build a butcher block countertop with individual pieces would've been 10 times the cost of what we charged you, and because of that, we've never built butcher block countertops that way. We custom order based on the link that's needed for the client and we order the number of slabs needed to be able to join them to make the overall dimensions that the client orders. We do that with all of our butcher block tops." At that time, they offered me a refund, quoting "If you'd like, we can come pick up the countertop and refund you" providing I returned the countertop immediately. Returning it immediately would have left us, two seniors and a disabled son, without a kitchen sink and countertop for 4-5 weeks (the time it would've taken the new company to build) -- something they knew would cause significant disruption. After admitting they did not build the countertop and offering a refund, they have now reversed their position and are falsely claiming they built it, refusing to honor the refund they promised. Quoting again "This is not a store bought counter top with finger joints, it's premium grade lumber and professionaly sanded and oiled 4 times by me. It took me a lot of time to domino join and sand this 113"x 48" piece. I was in your home twice and you mentioned it was beautiful. Other than needing another coat of oil.This photo is your store bought finger joints which yours is not. I'm sorry you are unhappy now that you talked to a contractor but at this point we will not be refunding."
This experience has cost me time, money, and trust. Based on my dealings with Rustique by Justina and Parish I cannot recommend them for any custom work, and I caution others to get everything in writing and verify materials before payment and acceptance of any of their products. read more