READ THIS REVIEW BEOFRE HIRING WADE BROTHERS FOR ANYTHING.
This review could save you time and money and would have certainly helped me. I hired Wade Bros to add a wall extension to a finished cabinet I have had for several years. I will say that Brian and Mike are very nice guys. This is strictly about the quality of work on my project. And since this is the first time someone from Yelp has backfired i felt obligated to share my story. I will be sticking to as many facts as possible in anticipation of claims of creative differences. I have broken this down by categories that are most relevant:
Communication:
None to speak of. After giving my 50% deposit i waited months and only heard from Brian to ask for more delays. After the initial meeting, not a single word or progress report about my project. This was a sign of things to come.
Visible Screws on the finished cabinet:
There are actual visible screws all over the finished media cabinet. I have never seen something like this before. I included pictures (zoomed and normal) to give a good view. This of course is, for me, completely unacceptable on finished millwork surfaces.
Top Cap on cabinet:
This was immediately caught and discussed onsite. The pictures say it all (again zoomed and normal) I have nothing to add here except for how awful this looks to me as a finished top/edge. This is literally and figuratively the very definition of cutting corners.
Also, with the top cap-- the grain pattern and awful finish just looks horrible from a top view.
Seams and Gaps:
I have included left and right photos of seams and gaps. There are all sorts of variations with uneven gaps. And as you run you hand across a seam it is either raised some, even some or depressed---all along the same seam.
Speaker Grills:
The speaker grills I had to remove to route the cables back in for the speakers. I could not re-align the pegs again to pop the grills back in. Some of the pegs even began to fall off while trying to put the grill back on. The peg system worked great for the original lower cabinet grills but not so for the large upper ones. At one point we discussed magnets and instead the plan just changed.
Stain Finish
While the stain/color matches the lower cabinet reasonably well in color---it just has a very dull appearance, especially in the daylight. It almost resembles a chalkboard. Im not even sure if this is stained, painted or other--but after installation it looks just bland and awful.
Hopefully you read this entire review and viewed the photos of my project. I unfortunately will now have to pay someone to redo all the finished surfaces--i did indeed pay the Wade Bros in full and essentially have nothing but a frame to show for it.
If you do decide to hire them beware the '50% deposit for months away booking' thing or find some deal to protect yourself. Also insist on pre-install meetings, samples and some kind of drawings. They will improvise like on my project and not consult you.
ADDED:
I should also add that i gave this similar punch list of concerns to Wade Bros and the option to make good on work they were fully paid for. I did say that i fully understood if they just walked away as it seems they're really over extended. This was Brians reply:
Brian Wade brian@wadebrotherscarpentry.com
4:57 PM (4 hours ago)
to me
Jose,
Mike and I are very sorry to hear your disappointment in our work, we strive to give our clients a level of value that they can enjoy and be happy with. That being said it is probably best if you looked elsewhere to have the work completed to your satisfaction.
Thank you,
Brian Wade
Wade Brothers Carpentry, LLC
773.480.3414
Added 5/9/19
So Wade Brothers response to my review is that it is their common practice to take deposit money and disappear for months, only to show up on install day? they are not the sharpest tools. And thats ironic given they are supposed to be carpenters...
Like i said, nice guys but mid level skills at best. Not qualified for high end work. I posted 8 pictures, you can see facts vs opinions. And their options to solve my issues was to abandon the project---i posted their email above saying so. read more