Complete Basement Renovation & Baby room
My wife and I were looking for a contractor to handle the complete renovations to our modest 100yr old. home. We required electrical, framing, insulation, water heater, drywall, tile work, general woodwork around finishing...the works! Work began and was off to smooth sailing, requests we're made and handled (based on attention to detail and the small things), but shortly thereafter focus was lacking and requests were either ignored or reinterpreted and executed with little or no care.
We were very clear about our expectations and really hit it off, only to find ourselves in a very uncomfortable situation, where we began to compromise and settle to just get them out ASAP.
In the end we are left with uneven walls, electrical outlets that are not installed, a not so hidden closet (complete with a large frame around it!), uneven tiles in the laundry room, water stained tiles in the bathroom, incomplete detail work around door frames, unnecessary trim around our stairs to get around sealing a small gap, a closet that is essentially a trapezoid in shape and who's left and right edges don't line up, an access panel to a water main 2.5 ft from the valve, loose pieces of pipe left behind the frame, etc.
Only upon refusing to pay the remaining balance was there any genuine interest. Which we also limited (repairs) as our trust on their doing the job to our expectations was a huge concern.
Lesson learned. With certain individuals there is no such thing as too much repetition (even at the cost of one sanity). When they keep repeating "it's only a basement" the care balloon burst in our face.
Now we are left with an unsatisfactory renovation and have to get a handyman in to fix all the issues.
Ugh!
- Approximate cost of services:
- $29,000.00
- Company Response
The basement in question had been lowered without a permit before the owners bought the house.
The basement immediately flooded in the spring and a waterproofing company was hired to resolve the problem, in the $20k range, again no permits.
I was hired to finish the basement in question, which in my opinion, had been improperly waterproofed.
Needles to say, I finished the basement, despite my warnings, which promptly flooded in the spring.
The last I heard the owner was threatening to take the waterproofing company to court, unfortunately he'd payed in cash.
I expect the poor review is out of frustration with ruined basement.