Nate, Martin, Eli, and Effi, the team we had at ITS Remodeling and Construction for our bathroom…read moreremodel project, were the most incompetent, unorganized, unprofessional and irresponsible group of people I have ever worked with. Our project timing was overly stated as "2-3 weeks, easy," yet the remodel finished more than 2 months after the proposed completion date, cost us nearly double the proposed cost, included multiple lapses in communication and changes throughout the project workflow, and was left incomplete.
There was no communication on why things were taking longer than expected, several days of absenteeism with no notice and no one coming to work on the project, and no explanation as to why this project was taking longer than what was communicated to us.
The amount of rising costs on this project was insurmountable with little to no communication on project expectations.
After assuring us "they doubt there is mold" mold was discovered. Considering they weren't sure how much mold there was, we agreed that we'd take the approach of first, seeing how much mold there is to remediate and then, only pay for the percentage of wood that needed to be replaced. Since we were home watching the project in its entirety, we were not only aware of what exactly was removed but we also confirmed with the day to day person actually working on our project that no joists were removed and only 20% of the walls removed.
Despite that, they still had the audacity to charge us the full amount. We asked Eli and Martin to show us proof so we can pay for what was actually complete to which no proof was ever provided. Then, in the most ill-mannered way, they wanted to negotiate on a percentage they felt was fair. Negotiate? We should only pay for work that was done. The tone and approach from Martin during this conversation was very uncomfortable and unprofessional.
During that meeting where we learned about the mold remediation, we specifically asked Martin if there were any other additional costs we can expect from things like plumbing (we were already paying for plumbing upgrades), lighting (we were only placing two canned lights), electrical, etc. Martin said "absolutely not."
After the demolition was complete and the largest expense was paid, they then told us we needed to "replace our gas line and upgrade our circuit box to pass inspection." Worried we wouldn't pass inspection, we agreed to do the gas line repair and suggested that electrical was not needed since we were only placing two canned lights in the bathroom. Martin and Nate continued to push us on the electrical upgrade, and when we asked for clarification on whether this was truly necessary, Martin said he would ask Eli and get back to us. He never got back to us.
After speaking to our gas company, we learned Martin charged us more than double for the work ITS performed. When we asked Martin for an explanation, he not only did not respond, but that was literally the last we heard from Martin and we consider this behavior not only manipulative but illegal.
Communication was terrible to say the least from our project manager Nate. Though we asked multiple times, we never received a basic project schedule from Nate with timing and deliverables, and we were forced to follow up every time to ask where we were with our project schedule. On several occasions, there were consecutive days of complete silence from him even though we asked about important project updates. There were several days where there was complete no- shows to our home with no communication from Nate or the project team. That is unacceptable, rude, and dismissive of our busy schedules. Nate even stated to us, "I don't circle back on every minor detail with all clients."
Under Nate's direction, there were several additional design and fixture issues that caused unnecessary delays due to poor planning and management.
After an initial decision on a design that included a large storage cabinet and a wall mounted dual vanity set, we did not receive the wall mounted vanity, which Nate kept referring to as a "happy accident." He then tried to charge us for the vanity and the plumbing upgrades which we successfully disputed because these costs were already included in the contract price.
Our shower/bath combo had an incorrectly measured door that took over a week to fix and an incorrect handle that was never fixed, even though Nate stated on May 17 that it was a "minor fix." After 6 project delays and unfinished work, Nate, Martin, Eli, and Effi on multiple occasions continued to be unaware of project details and what else needed to be done.
Our final interaction with ITS was on June 20 and they stated they had completed the project. As of today, we have no doorknob on the bathroom door, incorrect showerhead, incorrect door handle, incorrect storage cabinet, misplaced towel rack, incorrect mirror, incorrect window shades and trash from the work remains on our property.
