We hired Natanael and his crew to do a large part of our kitchen renovation. After we gutted the old kitchen, he was responsible for everything except the kitchen cabinets and countertops. That means the tile floor, the walls, the plumbing, electrical, gas, trim, door to the deck, paint, and installation of appliances. He sold us with the "I'll treat your kitchen like it's my own" bit.
They "finished" the job yesterday and took their last payment. They didn't bother putting covers back on some of the light switches. They put some of the old switches back ,covered in paint and drywall mud. They did a poor job installing the expensive range we bought (they left the plastic wrap on after sliding it in, for starters). They didn't follow the installation instructions for the dishwasher and the door won't open all the way (had to fix that myself). They tried to get out of moving the fridge into place, even though our contract stated "install ALL kitchen appliances." The paint job is sloppy.
For three weeks of downtime when another company was building and installing the cabinets, they left live wires poking out from the walls, didn't bother to tape or cap them or flip the breaker or anything. They knew there was going to be a break in the work, so I'm not sure how they could let that happen.
The worst part of it all is the floor - uneven tiles, and a mess of not one but two grout jobs. The first grout they installed cracked and discoloured within two days. They blamed the subfloor (which they installed) and the fact that we have a "long" kitchen floor (it's appx. 10x20). It was a cement based grout, which I've installed before without any problems, and they didn't say anything about it when I provided it to them to install. My guess is that they rushed installing it after setting the tiles, and it was too wet.
After they dug all that out (chipping a bunch of tiles in the process), they told us to buy about $100 worth of epoxy grout. They made another mess of this grout job. They had to come back and spend a day frantically trying to remove stains from the tiles (epoxy grout is tough to use). They managed to clean the stains, but the actual grout between the tiles is now rough and uneven. It's also stained with drywall dust because they didn't keep the job site clean.
We are pleased with the potlights and plumbing. They are nice enough guys. But we're a little upset because we chose them based on their HomeStars reputation, and didn't see what most people on HomeStars apparently got. Looking at the other reviews here I have to wonder if we're overly demanding or crazy, but we've worked with other contractors in the past without any problems, and Nat and his crew never said anything about anything to us during the process. In fact, there was very little communication from them at all.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $14,000.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Plan their time better. Discuss things with their clients. Communicate more frequently with clients. Stick around to finish the job instead of rushing out and leaving a mess.
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Look around. We interviewed about 10 contractors/companies before choosing P&P based on their Homestars reviews. It's always a tough choice to make. And definitely stand up for yourself and put whoever you decide to work with on notice that they'd better do a top-notch job, especially if they've gone and made a mess of something like floor tiles early on in the project.
- Company Response
Our company is very surprised and disappointed with your comments. Honestly we did not expect it from you, we are wondering why you did not tell us anything on the last day when we reviewed with you the completion of the project (as you remember we stayed in your place until 9:00 pm). On that day you had the opportunity to tell us you were not satisfied with some of our works and the reasons, but instead of that you did thank us and congratulate us.
We would like to tell you that our company worked in your place with professionalism and commitment and we solved and fixed every detail you asked us, even we gave you more than 100%, for you to get satisfied, finishing not only our work we also repaired works performed by others at no extra charge, and also performing for you extra works at no extra charge either, and you know that, but it looks like you never get satisfied.
Our company has more than 10 years of experience with many satisfied customers and that is our goal.
We appreciate everyone comments, they allow us to improve our business and provide better client satisfaction. Thanks, Natanael and his crew.