We hired John to do a major renovation on our "fixer upper". My perspective is that regardless of how good the construction is, if the finish work isn't good you will be disappointed. My husband and I have some differing opinions on this. I used an A, B, C, D, F grade for each component to try to be more objective.
Job Scope: Removed supporting walls and added support beams. Full kitchen remodel. Both bathrooms were reconfigured and basically rebuilt from scratch. All new windows were put in. New flooring throughout. New mudding, painting and finish work. A very very big job.
John is a very amiable guy. Nice to work with. His crew, in this case, Raul, was also a very nice guy.
*Communication: C. I don't feel the communication was as good as it should have been. When issues were discussed, John would say little, give an affirmative nod, but not a clear discussion on plan of action. Sometimes, issues were discussed multiple times, and to this day not all are resolved. Unfortunately, my husband paid in full prior to resolving all issues. Although John came back himself to work on stuff a few times, it was always after a phone call and he has not returned in good faith in over a month to finish his work.
*Timeliness: B. The timeline of the job was under estimated, but there was some scope creep. The job finished 2 months after projected. It wasn't that there were days with no workers, so it seems like it was just underestimated. Still - a B on this. They worked hard.
*Business sense: A. John gave a detailed estimate of the work with detailed line items which my husband really liked.
*Core team work ethic: A. Raul and the crew worked hard They were on the job every day and always busy.
Inspections: We had no failed inspections. A
*Structural Construction: A. Structural construction seems sound. Plumbing works. All the lights work. Tubs don't leak. Windows open. The house passed all inspections. We trust the Raul's electrical work and plumbing.
*Finish Carpentry. C. The cutout for the window needed to be enlarged to accept larger windows. These cutouts are not square nor is the new window sill level. This became apparent when we put blinds in. Many of the outlets are not straight/level. The cutout for the new crawl space in my closet floor is jagged with gaps. The crown molding and baseboards are with gaps and cracks. A mudding repair to fix water damage to bathroom drywall has uneven/wavy surface and it was not sanded smooth prior to painting.
*Mudding: B+ Ben was the mudder. Nice guy. Unpainted mud samples were left on a small piece of wood - 3 choices. We picked the one that was orange peel. I had orange peel in my condo, so had an expectation. As it turned out, my condo had knock down and the house did not. The thickness of the mudding was varied throughout. The ceilings looked great but the walls had some sections with much heavier mudding. Ben was very responsive and came back and redid one room which was exceptionally thick. He also did a great job on the smooth mudding.
*Cabinets: A - we LOVE Keith at Seqouia cabinets. Couldn't say enough good about him.
*Granite Install: B. CR Marble. They did a good job with templates and cutting. They double checked with us before making the cuts, avoiding errors. After install, the black flat granite had a white residue on it which was not seen at the store. And it was getting water marks. They ensured me it was sealed,. ?paint? ?sealed in dirt? They came out and cleaned it with granite pledge. To this day the granite has a whiteish discoloration to it and only looks sleek black immediately after the granite cleaner is on it. It stains easily as if not sealed.
*Tile: C-. Dave's tile. We planned layout together. The guest bathroom looks good but the master does not. They never wiped up excess grout off the wall. There were pock marks and pinholes in the grout. The custom glass tile piece was put in unevenly. The grout is discolored.
*Painting: F. Rolando's. First, Rolando did none of the painting himself and wasn't on the job. They did not sand down filler in the molding so the surfaces look rough. The did not caulk the gaps in the crown well. They did not cover the floor and got paint everywhere. They did a poor caulk job between the hardwood floor and the base board. We asked them to remove it but they didn't take it up cleanly. It is really unsightly in many places. We aren't sure what was with the quality of the primer and the paint. The paint peels and chips off the walls even though it is fresh mud.They got paint all over the hardwood floors and tile. The more they tried to fix it the worse it got. And the lines are not great despite tape (bled through etc). We had to fire them.
*Flooring: C. The floor had many paint spots on it which did not get cleaned up before finishing. There are gaps that did not get filled. For some reason it is scratched in many places, There are squeaks developing in the new floor. read more