Wall to wall reno

Let me start off by telling you the good. Eric is a nice guy, and supplied decent references for his work. He is someone you can trust in your home without supervision. He was assisted by his father, Mike.

On the poor side, Eric's work is not professional and he left our home incomplete. Including a gas line partially installed and unsafe.

Eric was hired to hang drywall, mud, tape and finish our basement leaving it ready for primer and paint. He was also tasked with the installation of a gas fireplace, all materials were supplied by me as his cost to supply materials was 4x my cost at the local big box stores. Eric advised this work would be completed in 2 weeks. There were 60 sheets of drywall to be hung on the walls, ceilings (with cut outs for pot lights) and bulkheads.

It took Eric a full week to completely hang all of the drywall. Into week two, he began to mud and tape. This spilled over into week three, where he promised completion so that painting could be done prior to a scheduled flooring installation. He was not complete this Friday, leaving the fireplace unfinished and the walls not sanded and not ready for paint. The following Monday the fireplace direct vent was installed, and the walls sanded. He had to return that Friday to complete the fireplace installation due to incorrect fittings.

The outcome is as follows. The fireplace installation was not complete. He did not connect the gas line to the fireplace, had the shut off been turned by my small children the line would have filled the home with natural gas. There is no tag on any of his gas work indicating his name, license number and test results. Leading me to believe this was left untested and unsafe. The direct vent was not sealed with high temperature silicone allowing for a significant draft and moisture to enter our home.

The drywall installation was very slow averaging 8 sheets per day. He used a tool, new to him to cut out the electrical boxes and other required holes causing damage to the drywall which was filled with mud, and is still very visible today. The sanding was clearly rushed as his father was packing the truck before the work was completed. Eric had to leave to take care of his children and promised to come back and fix up any mistakes. There are several areas where the sanding was not complete, screws were not set to the proper depth, seams are visible, damage around many of the electrical boxes and ceiling vents. Eric chose to bend the pot lights to fit the hole, which will no longer receive the bulb and trim ring. This was discussed with him and he chose to ignore it. The holes for the lights were also cut with a hole saw which was too large, meaning the hole is visible around the lights. He also failed to cut a hole for the bathroom sink drain, instead dry walled over the opening. This too was mentioned to him, he chuckled. There are also many areas where the drywall tape is bubbling and lifting from the drywall.

I am left with numerous repairs to complete Eric's work, having the drywall properly finished, ceiling opened up for pot light repairs. The walls may need to be opened to repair the electrical as well, as Eric shoved all wiring into the wall, that was initially curled up inside the electrical boxes. I also need to have the fireplace installation and gas line installation completed and tested, as well as the vent properly sealed.

Eric mentioned several times he significantly under estimated the time it would take to complete the work. He was also very vocal about just wanting the job done so he could move on. I can honestly tell you that his pricing and time estimates were in line with every other contractors quote.

Eric's communication was poor during the process, often time over committing himself and not following through. His work became much more rushed as time progressed, which is visible with the finished product. His lack of completion and leaving an open gas line is disturbing to me. I believe that Eric lacks experience to be a contractor and licenses gas fitter.

I am lucky that I baked in an extra week for this work, even though it went past that, leaving me scrambling to meet deadlines. I did pay Eric in full on his last full day of the job, expecting him to return as he committed to complete the fireplace and repair the drywall. Eric has not returned, instead he took the money and ran.

I do not recommend Eric due to his unethical behaviour (not completing the work), his poor drywall finishing skills, his time management and his unsafe gas fitting work.

Note that his hours are 9am - 4pm on average daily. He left anywhere between 3pm and 5pm.

The photos show how the gas line was left, the hole cut too large for the pot light, and the walls. Each piece of tape indicates a poorly finished spot, as bad or worse than the ones in the close up.