Drywall Repair and installation
We needed a drywall ceiling installed on uneven joists, and large portions of 3 walls repaired. After having several contractors look at the job and give us outrageous quote, and even tell us that one wanna CAN'T be leveled, Dan the Drywall guy was one of the few who said he could do it, and for a very reasonable price. We feel his quote was reasonable, and he was very personable and professional. He showed up when he said he would, and was very understanding and accommodating to fix something that we'd forgotten to mention (he adjusted his price to incorporate this extra work as we expected, but the price was more than fair). His taper, Ed, even came in on Good Friday to finish the job, which was a pleasant surprise.
The only thing we were unhappy with is that we were told all construction waste would be removed from the house, but there was a large bag of garbage left behind, as well as the taper did not use a dropcloth when he was mudding and left hardened mud all over our brand new tile floor. Drywall dust was not swept or vacuumed up either, so we had to spend the entirety of Saturday scraping, sweeping, and mopping the floor repeatedly. We didn't expect anyone to clean the drywall dust out of our whole house for us, of course, but I think it's pretty standard to use a dropcloth, plus one of the other reviews said they'd left the place "cleaner than when they started" so we weren't expecting such a mess. This one small step would have saved us hours of cleaning.
Other than that one small thing--which in fairness I don't think was Dan's fault but his taper's--we were extremely happy with Dan's work, the ceiling and walls look smooth and even, and I can't believe he was able to transition the kitchen ceiling to the living room as cleanly as he did. And the back wall that was left by another contractor with several inches of bulge in the middle that we were told couldn't be fixed and we wouldn't be able to get granite countertops? GONE. I really am thrilled with the work, and would happily hire again and recommend. Thanks Dan the Drywall Guy!
EDIT: Dan, you did tell us in person that you weren't responsible for "dust protection" and gestured to our electronics, so we assumed you meant to cover them and you weren't responsible if anything malfunctioned because of dust. We didn't realize this meant no dust cleanup at all. Regarding the trash, ultimately we wouldn't have minded taking out a bag of trash, except that you had set an expectation that you would remove the trash. That, combined with what we thought at the time was an unreasonable amount of mess, meant we felt it was worth mentioning. However we will happily chalk all of this up to simple miscommunication, because you are right that the price you gave us was excellent and we were thrilled with the work. Thank you for clarifying, and I'm gladly changing my rating from a 9 to a 10. I maintain that we would not hesitate to hire you in the future.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $1,900.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Use a dropcloth when mudding, remove all waste, vacuum or sweep drywall dust when finished, or--if not part of their service to do so--inform us of that fact up front.
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Ask the taper/mudder to use a dropcloth.
- Company Response
Thank You Yvonne, I'm very pleased that I could do this project even if some other contractors said it could not be done, I loved the challenge and at a reasonable price as you mentioned on your review. As far as the dust goes I explained in my e-mail on March 24th that I was not responsible for dust protection, when I met with Jeremy the first time and he explained he done most of the work himself and wanted to keep the cost down that he would take care of dust protection/floor protection. I never use a dropcloth, that is the painters, it is a safety issue for the taper working off of stilts, I have never seen a taper use a dropcloth in my 28yrs. experience. If you did not realize I did not charge you to straighten up the back wall for that large ceramic backsplash, that was wrongly framed where the door used to be. I did not take the trash out because it was trash from where I done your wall and did not think you would mind taking 1 bag of trash out since you were not charged for the work, and what about all the stainless steel applicances and the hood that I had to move out of the way before I could begin work, just so they would not get damaged. I was more concerned about that. That is the homeowner's responsibility, not mine. And as far as everything being cleaner after the job was done on a previous review he paid the extra money to not have to touch anything, you wanted a price break, and was reflected in the price I charged you, most homeowner's do not mind doing some of the clean up to get a better price. The miscommunication is between you and Jeremy, not me, if you would go over our e-mails you will see what I am talking about. The extra $100.00 was for a pot light that was in the wrong location and we had to cut out the new drywall and retape it. I will try to make sure the homeowner's understand everything before I start, I thought it was clear with you. Always check your e-mails from me, as that is our contract. Thanks, Dan
Drywall Guy