If you are planning a remodel with Mr. Jason Ehrstine of Thoroughbred Customes LLC, please reconsider.
Our experience with Mr. Ehrstine has been a nightmare. We received a quote in January 2022 to remodel two bathrooms with a completion timeframe of two weeks. We had ordered all materials and had everything on site. June 9, 2022 was demolition day.
Week 2 into the remodel, the first bathroom was still incomplete. Mr. Ehrstine stated his brother had quit but assured us the work would be completed. Mr. Ehrstine canceled several appointments to continue the remodel. One cancellation was due to a water leak at the Knoxville convention center. Another cancellation was due to meeting a building inspector at condominium complex in Sevierville.
Mr. Ehrstine sent George Rudd and a crew of 2 men my home (August 2022). I assumed Mr. Rudd was an employee of Mr. Ehrstine's. I later found out he was a subcontractor Mr. Ehrstine had just met on another job site. Mr. Rudd informed Mr. Ehrstine all of the tile work would need to be removed and he would need to start from scratch. Through phone calls and text messages, Mr. Ehrstine expressed his anger to me over having to replace over $700 in materials his former employee had wasted and having to wait 5 weeks for the new tile to arrive.
Mr. Ehrstine sent an apprentice to remove the tile. The apprentice failed to protect the $900 bathtub that was set in place and subsequently dropped a pry bar into the base of the tub, causing a scratch and a chip. Mr. Ehrstine did not want to replace the bathtub, rather sent a technician to fix the tub. The technician assured me that the repair would match the existing tub. To this day, you can still see the patch.
Mr. Ehrstine left Mr. Rudd on the project to complete the remodel of the second bathroom. Mr. Rudd expressed concerns about the tile being used for the custom curbless shower floor. I requested he contact Mr. Ehrstine, as Mr. Ehrstine had reviewed the sample tile and stated he could install a custom curbless floor using that tile. Rather than reach out to Mr. Ehrstine, Mr. Rudd laid the tile in questioned, completed the job and left.
When I used the shower, the entire bathroom flooded. I contacted Mr. Ehrstine and voiced my dissatisfaction. I also advised him that the grout was cracking in the first bathroom and falling off out into the bathtub. Mr. Ehrstine came back out with another subcontractor, who determined that I needed to use a mesh backed tile for the floor. This caused yet another cost and delay for Mr. Ehrstine to rip out the floor and order new tile. The second shower floor also failed when water pooled in the middle of the floor rather than flowing to the drain.
Mr. Ehrstine stated he was unable to reach the subcontractor and stated he would be out to do the job himself. He was a no call/no-show for two appointments to resolve the problem. I messaged Mr. Ehrstine several times and mailed a certified letter of demand advising that I was seeking legal recourse if he did not complete his contract. His last day in my home was March 21, 2023. As of that date, he was in breach of contract and the bathroom was still not completed.
I contacted Exact Tile to finish the project.
Exact Tile started April 27, 2023 and completed May 1, 2023.
My attorney mail a second letter of demand to Mr. Ehrstine. Mr. Ehrstine contacted him and demanded proof of the cost for Exact Tile to complete the remodel as he believed they overcharged. He was provided with receipts, and he agreed to settle with my attorney and to send him a check within two weeks. He broke his agreement. My attorney served him with lawsuit documents. He contacted my attorney twice the day after he received the lawsuit letter. Two additional times he promised to meet the attorney to settle and both times he failed to show up. His final response was a request to see $1000 per month over a six month period. His first disbursement was received in December 2023. I notified my attorney January 10, 2024 that I had not received the second check. My attorney file a lawsuit in Knox. Co. TN and a judgement of $10,000 was awarded 7/1/2024. read more