We needed the basement ceiling repaired and painted, and the basement painted. To say we were disappointed with the outcome would be a gross misrepresentation of the actual result.
We contacted Pro Life Renovations to get some work done on our basement. I should say I knew what was involved with the work to be done, having done it in the past, but I just did not have the time to do this job.
I should state that the quote was not the cheapest, but the reviews for Kevin made us decide to use him. For the record, those glowing reviews are to be taken with a VERY LARGE grain of salt as there is no way, based on our experience, that they hold even one fragment of truth.
The job entailed repair to a small water damaged area, tape and plaster of a cracked seam, smoothing of the overall ceiling as the drywall seams were not properly done, and sealing of gaps around recently installed pot lights. In addition, we wanted the entire basement, ceilings included, painted. I provided all measurements and a few pictures of the basement, and the quote returned stated 3-5 days for the job. I thought 3 days was a very short time frame, but 5 was more reasonable.
I was a little surprised that a quote was provided without actually viewing the extent of the repairs and work that needed to be done, but I figured the individuals doing the work knew what they were doing. I did however have visions of being told that the cost of the job would be greater than quoted, once the work was started, and that fear was borne out a few days later.
The first day, Kevin called and said he would not be coming as he had a family emergency. That was fine, stuff happens.
The second day, and given the projected time frame for the job, I imagined that Kevin would make up for not being there on Monday however he arrived at 11:00 am and was gone by 1:30 pm. This after telling me that there would be additional costs due to the work being more than he had quoted. This is what I had been afraid of. At this point I decided to have just the ceiling done and I would take care of the rest, as I did not appreciate the bait and switch of increasing the cost of the job, once it was underway.
The third day, once again Kevin was not on site until 11:00, and spent about 4 hours working on the ceiling. Upon his departure, I found that the repairs to the water damaged area were defective, and the seam that was taped had bubbles under the tape. It should be noted that Kevin did not see fit to redo that taped seam and the bubbled area remains to this day.
The fourth day, Thursday, was the only day that Kevin actually put in a full days work on the ceiling, but then only to have him tell me at the end of the day that I would need to make sure the plaster was dry so that he could paint the next day.
I was a bit incredulous at this point.
Not only was it now my responsibility to make sure the plaster was dry but for three out of four days he had only worked for a 2.5-4 hours each day. Perhaps if he had actually put in full days of work, the ceiling would have been ready for paint on Friday.
So on top of the job being late, I was now responsible for making sure he could complete the work. In addition, once he left, I discovered that he had not covered everything, as his quote said he would, and there was plaster splattered all over furniture and work out equipment.
On Friday, Kevin arrived at 9:00 am, proceeded to paint the ceiling and then tell me he could not complete the job because the primer would not be able to cure in time for paint. So now, I would need to change my weekend plans to allow him to return on Saturday. In addition, once he left I discovered primer splattered all over the walls.
On Saturday, Kevin returned, painted the ceiling and after cleaning up, informed me that he was not responsible for removing any garbage generated during the course of doing the job. That was the last straw.
I have never had a contractor expect me to dispose of the trash they generated while doing a job.
As it is, I paid him what I owed him, disposed of his trash, cleaned up all the plaster he has splashed all over the contents of the basement and painted the walls to cover the ceiling paint that was streaked all over the walls.
I cannot stress strongly enough how displeased I am at the work done by Pro Life Renovations. I would definitely not recommend them. In fact, I found the work to be amateurish at best and certainly not worth the money paid for it.
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