Summary

This is the overall review for renovations we had done to a house recently. Please see the Tags link at the top right for more details on everything below.

Good

  • The contracts were clearly documented.
  • The work started quickly.
  • We were upsold to use longer lasting and better materials.
  • For the most part all of the installation work is quite good, and probably would have received a 4 star if not for the rust issues ongoing andmassive amount of painful emails required throughout the project.

Bad

  • Payments were demanded before completion and not in full amounts making it difficult to manage.
  • The work too at least 600% longer than contracted for, and anticipated.
  • Some of the iron work is rusting already.
  • They are not standing by the iron work that is rusting already.
  • They are threatening legal action if I don’t pay the final installments, even though the steps are rusting.
  • Working with the manager is difficult as he won’t talk on the phone to resolve issues quickly.

Contract Performance

Prior to signing the contracts we had several discussions about the completion time. We asked that the contractor order everything as soon as possible and provided full access to an empty two car garage for the duration of the contract to store materials and equipment.

The contract for the back and side of the house was signed October 12 ,2020, with an estimated four weeks to complete. On June 20, 2021 this is technically not complete due to the fact that the light in the extension has not been installed. It seems they lost a piece of the bracket while moving it, but we are not entirely sure because nobody is responding to our requests to re-install it. Otherwise the rest of this work was completed around May 20, 2021 as we waited for the cladding to be installed and a few other small issues.

The contract for the decks was signed October 25, 2020, with an estimated four weeks to complete. We then forcasted a date of December 25, 2020 to complete to give them a 200% buffer for unforseen delays. Technically the installations completed around May 20, 2021 while we waited a long time to finish the railings and privacy screens, however we are still considering the project to be ongoing due to persistent rust on the front ungalvanized steele front stair case. Approximately 24 weeks instead of the 4 contracted, or 600% over schedule.

The only additional costs were silly but manageable; Approximately $200 for the trim in the extension, $300 to reinstall the electrical work in the extension, $150 to put a door under the front deck where there was one on the original deck. So maybe 1.5% greater than the estimated cost.

Other Oddities

  • We didn’t expect the front and back landscaping to be destroyed.
  • They would order supplies when they were going to be ready to use them in several weeks. I had requested they order everything up front and paid for that to happen, and offered full access to a double car garage for storage. This led to lots of unecessary delays.
  • The doors weren’t installed until February 24, 2021. This is two months after the contract was supposed to be completed. Still couldn’t use the space because of the following.
  • The manager refused to supply me with the dimesions of the ‘custom’ doors on the extension. This led to approximately 56 emails, plus a rare phone call, on the topic. I stared asking about door locks on December 23, 2020 and received the actual measurement February 16, 2021, but due to lots of uncommtted responses on what size hardware will fit we were not able to order until March 13, 2021 and this was because someone at a store was able to respond, not the supplier of the door or contractor. More unecessary delays on using the space.
  • The tile in the extension wasn’t put down until March 19, 2021 and wasn’t ready until closer to March 21, 2021. But they left tape across the entrance so we didn’t know if we could use it for another full week until we assumed it was fine.
  • The iron railings didn’t get completed until May 16, 2021, and they left masking tape on them so long that it melted and they had to send someone back to scrape it off and repaint them.
  • The front steps weren’t installed until April 2021, leaving us with not choice but to use the neighbors since the back doors couldn’t be used either.
  • The privacy screens were not finished until after April 22, 2021. No reasons given.
  • The we discussed the design of the railings at length prior to the contract. On January 13, 2021 after we thought the contract should be completed we were told tha the design wouldn’t work. The railings didn’t get ordered until the week of February 20, 2002, and weren’t fully installeduntil May 20, 2020.
  • Branches from a tree in the backyard ended up needing to be cut down. We had discussed several times wanting to leave the tree as is as it was just recently trimmed. I also had to tell the manager about it. They cut the branches but refussed to remove them and I had to bring an arborist in to do that.
  • The portable toilet was on the front lawn until April 20, 2021 even though the crew maybe showed up 6 times since the end of 2020.
  • The manager hasn’t been here once since they deemed the work complete, and really hasn’t been here beyond the first two months. This left me having to ask more questions than I planned on doing and having to point out deficiencies constantly that I would have expected him to be doing as part of quality control.

The reviews on Home Stars show very well, but they are all for a single deck type job. This included two decks, and extension, and tearing up concrete along the side of the house to create a French drain. Maybe this was too much.