Started well, ended quite poorly. We hired Brent to do remodel work on an admittedly old house in Manson that we only use seasonally. I'll try to condense what went well and areas of improvement.
Good:
-Initial meetings were great and Brent is easy to talk with.
-Generally stuck to figures ($) within the 1st part of remodel contract.
-Initially owned up to issues in workmanship.
-Completed initial phase of work (though it took way longer than was agreed to in the initial contract) and was paid promptly.
-Open to input on work being done.
Could be improved:
-Follow through/delays in communication and attention to detail/situational awareness.
Examples:
-Broke a side window (we agreed on a replacement, but it came out wonky). --Leaking PEX.
-Leaking tub drain.
-Front door left wide open (we only use this house seasonally so who knows how long it had been unsecured once we arrived).
-Broken irrigation lines from driving on middle of front lawn and not blowing out lines before winter as promised. Emergent call from neighbor due to spewing water from frozen spigot again from not blowing out lines as promised.
-Left garbage that needed to go to dump including a toilet in front of house for months.
-Months long delays in sending promised photos of work progress.
-Delays in quote for 2nd phase of project (had no clue how much the work was going to be until I got the invoice).
-Delays in invoicing.
-Not completing the only piece of the project that was time sensitive (flooring) which I ended up doing myself.
-Neighbor had to come over to ask Brent that his dog not be let to bark incessantly (was tied up outside the house while work was being done).
Summary, the work started well, but as time went on there were lapses in communication and things he or I needed to rework. I would have liked to continue working with Brent but there were two deal breakers and reasons for us to stop our working partnership: 1) House left unsecured with door wide open for unknown amount of time (Brent did not own up to this for months, later claiming he had to leave for emergency). Just something I shouldn't have to worry about. 2) Things needing rework or not finished on agreed upon timeline- When I come to the house I want to build upon the work that has been ongoing, not spend time fixing things that shouldn't need fixing (plumbing, irrigation lines). In addition, the only true timeline item that really mattered to me was getting the flooring done as I was bringing a trailer of kitchen cabinets to install on a strict timeline. Flooring not done, so I did it myself.
All of this was summarized to Brent, and unfortunately none of the concerns were agreed to. Literally ZERO accountability as if I made everything up.
Ultimately, having added up the billable hours and scope of overall work, the project should have taken around 6-8 weeks to complete. The actual project took well over a year. Again, I don't live in the house so was VERY flexible on time frames except for the agreed to flooring which was not done.
I'd say most of the work was done by he and a laborer close to him. Considering what I paid for the work done, workmanship, timeline, and unnecessary rework/headaches the value is just not there.
I hesitated writing this review for quite awhile, as I don't like to mess with a person's livelihood. I'd just say you may very much need to micromanage the project (something I do not like doing) to be assured of getting what you are asking for. read more