I have mixed feelings about Stafford construction. I had 9 estimates to have a wall built in my house. Stafford came in around the 5th most expensive, but Jonathan seemed knowledgeable so I figured you get what you pay for and I was hoping he was going to do an awesome job. I was provided a quote which broke down all aspects of the job. I did not like that I was being charged a "Contractor Overhead" and "Contractor Profit Margin" for the work. However, I figured since he was going to be overseeing multiple trades (Painting, drywall, and electrical), i was able to let that slide. There was also a charge for protecting the existing floors from debris. I let that slide as well (I would think that this is just part of doing a job properly).
In the end, the job was done and we have our wall. However, I am not pleased for the following reasons:
- Communication was poor at best. When he was done working for the day and left, I would have to email him when we got home to find out his schedule for when he was going to be back next (we have dogs that were put up while he was here). There was a few hold ups that pushed the project longer than expected, they were not his fault, but it did delay the project.
- his sub contractors were in our house unsupervised- I did not hire his drywallers and painters, I hired Jonathan. To have other people in my house unsupervised is 100% unacceptable. My thoughts were I was paying the Contractor overhead and Contractor profit margin for him to supervise those people, not give them a key to my house to come and go as they please.
- One of the biggest problems I have was the lack of cleanliness. He did add paper down to the floor from our front door to the stairs, then lined the stairs and hallway with plastic to protect the floor from dirty feet(however we were charged $250, This was no where near that in material). I laid some bed sheets and tarps over some of the furniture in the room where the work was being done hoping to help. However, nothing was done by Stafford construction to protect this until sheet rock was being added, by this point, it was too late. The room and everything in it was covered in drywall dust from the initial cutting of the wall that was done. everything that was in the room, furniture, blinds, baseboards, pictures, TV, stereo, etc had to be wiped down after he was done because it had a layer of drywall dust on it. Even tables that had a tarp on it were not safe, the dust got around the tarps i put down and covered everything. It took me the large part of a day to clean the room and everything in it.
- I had a closet added as part of the construction with double bi-fold doors. I showed him how i wanted to have my desk next to the closet, however when the wall for the closet was made, only about 6" of drywall was added on each side of the opening. This made the doors open too close to the wall and I was not able to put my desk where I had wanted it (door would hit the desk).
- First time opening the bi-fold doors, the right door fell off. I was able to adjust it and get it back on so it does not fall off anymore, however both doors do not appear square with the door frame.
- When getting estimates, i laid painters tape on the floor to show where i would like the wall. When the wall was being built, the tape was never removed, just sections of it were cut off as he removed the carpet under it. Once the framing was started and i noticed this, I removed the tape, however some of it was still under the framing. while this wont be noticed and not a huge deal, it appeared to be laziness to not remove it, or ask if I needed it there.
- Where the trim was installed on the new wall, there are a few areas that have a small gap between the trim and the carpet. read more