Delinia General Contracting

Oh, how I wished I took the review by Sebastian seriously. It was one of the warnings we didn't heed. We also should've been more taken aback on our first meeting with the president, Robert, when he said that he couldn't 'colour-match' our paint... even though we have done that ourselves! Then there was the fact that we didn't get a detailed estimate/contract until late the night before he was to start. We paid a bit more than what we thought was reasonable because we thought we'd be getting at least 3 of our 4 previous cupboards back. I thought we were getting custom cabinets made by a competent carpenter. Instead, we got drywall slapped up using random studs that never extended from floor to counter or wall to wood. Always gaps... why?? Instead a bunch of screws in our new counter, which meant it couldn't be lifted when after days of waiting and questioning, we finally got a cabinet 'installed.' The legs were cut off and it was slid in and attached with 2 to 4 screws to the cabinet next to it. It still doesn't touch the ground and doesn't really support the counter either. I kept pointing out that the end of the counter was kind of waving/wiggling since it wasn't supported by a stud or cabinet anymore. Robert was always promising that it wouldn't be a problem, it would all be taken care of. Instead, he kept mudding and sanding the ceiling and new drywall over and over. I kept wondering when we'd get a shelf, or attach the cabinet door or caulk the big gaps btwn counter and drywall? Apparently never... the last straw was when he came hours late 2 weeks after he had started to drop off a proper full shelf and it's pegs/clips and instead just took a measurement yet again. I was so irate with him showing up late, putting us off, not coming because someone was sick, we finally begged for our old pieces that we wanted to take and match ourselves and any new pieces he had bought. We didn't get this until our mold remediators who recommended stepped in and had someone drop the stuff off (minus a shelf that was the length of the cabinet and clips to hold it up). We had already stupidly paid in full since it was all supposed to be completed already. Now we have to get the pieces of wood cut to hang some pots from (trying to make up for cabinet loss), mitre some quarter round, complete the toe kick and finish the caulking... and get a proper shelf and clips!!!! Robert stood in our kitchen at our first meeting saying we'd never be able to tell that a leak had happened there, it would look exactly the same... except for the new colour he told us to pick out (and later recanted), the loss of cabinets, a wiggly scratched counter and the white dust still remaining in our cork floor. What do contractors have against drop cloths?? After 3 or 4 days of his eternal sanding and not much else, we laid out our own drop sheets on the floor. This simple job which was quoted at 3 days instead stretched out over 3 weeks. So frustrating and stressful. I've never experienced anything like it. Lack of basic construction skill... if only he had sent out a professional to do the job from the beginning instead of halfway through... that man was put in a tough spot because he couldn't guess at how Robert had willy nilly installed the studs, plus didn't have the right supplies. We got slow, expensive, shoddy and messy. We're almost as mad at ourselves for hiring Delinia and paying him in full before it was finished as we are at Robert and his company. Beware!! We put so much stock in the word of the mold remediators (who we loved) who recommended him. The administrator manning the phones/email at MRI seems to have the same last name as the person who sent invoices from Delinia... we kept wondering if there was a family relationship because who the heck would recommend someone who doesn't seem to know construction basics that were obvious to novices like us??! We would've done much better learning how to install drywall and 6 tiles ourselves! Certainly we would've done it with love and care. We just felt our job was done without care or empathy or professionalism from beginning to welll.. the end that never came. This company gives the whole industry a bad name.