Finest Home Designs LLC

PLEASE READ for your benefit. We were doing a high end kitchen remodel. The price of contract from Joseph Peters was high and we were made to believe that things will be done the right way, but Joseph did not plan to get electrical or building contracts or use licensed electricians or plumbers for the job. The contract mentioned an electrical plan, but he did not provide one. When asked for the plan, he very aggressively turned it around on us that it was not part of the contract. His contract was very front loaded -- 3K for acceptance of contract, 4K for start of work and 5k for completion of demolition. I was gullible enough to pay him 13K of 38K total, and he left the job incomplete. When we requested better insulation because the kitchen gets cold, he refused to take down the uninsulated plaster walls and wanted a few thousand more upfront before he did anything extra. His plan was to put high end cabinets on and appliances on uneven plaster walls and not run new electrical lines for expensive appliances. His work would not have passed electrical or building inspection. He wanted extra money to even complete the work that he had been paid for. Dangerous debris from demolition was left in our yard and live electrical wires left hanging in the kitchen. His plan was make a quick 38-40K in 2 weeks for shoddy work. He started tiling the floors even before completion of demolition, so that he can get the money due at the end of tiling. Tiling is usually one of the last things that is done. Joseph's attitude was unprofessional, aggressive, and working with him felt like extortion. I have not got refund for the money I paid him.

I had engaged Joseph for tearing down second floor and adding a new floor. I took his advice and installed two new heat pumps for the two floors in the house. The total cost billed was $18,000, so I had assumed that the job will be done by professionals. Unfortunately, to save money, Joseph did not use licensed HVAC business which had provided the heat pumps to install the two units and instead used his workers to do the installation. This may have been a violation of county rules but I did not know better at the time because I has trusted Joseph. Unfortunately, the drainage for the units was not done correctly which resulted in large amounts of condensation water from the AC accumulating within the units and damaging both the units. Within 6 months of installation, circuit boards had failed twice and rust had formed in brand new unit. I am potentially looking to spend thousands of dollars to replace new heat pumps.

We signed a contract to do a complete addition to an existing house. Joseph Peters whilst signing the contract guaranteed me saying that I don't have to pay anything more than what he has quoted in the contract work items. Joseph couldn't pass the framing inspection because he did something that was not in the original plans. He agreed to pay the architect fees for any additional work required to revise the drawings in order to get town inspection complete. But later he refused to pay the architect fees, and went completely absent from the work for over a month. few weeks later he called me to tell me that he is in deep debt because the estimates he made were "wrong". He needs more money to get the work complete. I suggested that he should finish the framing inspection passed since I had already paid him for that work. He started demanding more money. He wanted a revised contract which is $20 thousand dollars more than the original contract. While going through the items, I found that he has duplicated a number of items in the revised contract for which I have already paid him. He even had the audacity to ask for advance payments at the beginning of each week for the next 5 weeks to get the job done. Needless to say that I fired him from the project from that point. Summary Joseph Peters from Finest Home Designs is an out and out liar. His work is shoddy, puts client's project plan in jeopardy. I made a mistake by believing in one good reviewer who I spoke to before hiring him. In hindsight, I should have read all the negative reviews to form my opinion. Last but not the least DO NOT TRUST HIS PRICING. Joseph Peters gives you a reasonable price to get the project. After which he will demand a lot more from the client through various excuses. I am glad that I didn't fall on to those traps.

We signed a contract to do a complete addition to an existing house. He couldn't pass the framing inspection because he did something that was not in the plans. He refused to pay the architect to get a letter stating that the work he had done was fine, so I had to pay for it. Insulation and sheet work has been paid for but not completed. The architect wrote a letter and drew up a new plan. The service provider wants to a whole new contract that would be $20 thousand dollars more. This contract includes work he had already completed and I have paid for. I have given him money for various materials he claims he needs. He has dug up the soil and it is just sitting there. He has put my project into jeopardy. He is now holding me ransom to get more money out of me. He had been dishonest during the whole process.

Would not recommend.

I have used Finest Home Designs many times in the past both or my home & place of business. I have a rental apartment on the 1st floor where I live and I am on the second floor which is smaller. With Joseph's designs, he provided use of every available space. He did the same for my place of business. I was so impressed. As my business grew, a tailor shop, I needed to update the decor and make room for garments to be worked on as well added dressing rooms. He also was willing to work when the shop was closed on Sunday & Monday so that my business would not be interrupted and I would not have loss of income. This was extremely important to me. It was difficult to find others who would do that and if they would, there would be an extra charge for week-end work. Finest Home Designs' pricing was better than anyone, even with the weekend work. Description of work: For my apartment: A complete renovation including a new kitchen, new master bath found attic space and added dormer and window, new laundry room more found space , central air conditioning, outside stucco work along with a new front entrance door and a new patio and landscaping in the back yard. Most recently my hot water heater failed which also services the rental apartment. Joseph immediately came after hours to investigate and a replacement was done the next day. For the rental apartment: Renovated the kitchen and bathroom with new cabinets & fixtures, appliances, ceramic tile in bathroom, painting and re-finishing hardwood floors. Old carpeting, cabinets, etc. had to remove and disposed of and repairs to outside decking also done. For my business: Joseph designed a new layout adding 2 new dressing rooms, all new powder room, a kitchenette, a new receiving counter with added cabinet space, added hanging space for pick up, added storage space, new entrance door, lighting and new flooring. Joseph and his workers give a good, honest and clean work ethics and try to always please. He is genuinely wanting to do the best for his customers and takes pride with the results. I highly endorse Finest Home Designs & Joseph to improve your home as beautifully as he did mine. I am a happy customer. I go over back 12 years using his services and expertise and have recommended him to many of my customers who also continue use of his services and I receive thanks quite often for referring Finest Home Designs

The job was done in less than a week (as was promised!) and the house looked as new! After that i hired them to do job in my business, and once again it was done very professional and very quick. Parents and students who attended my school during the summer and then came back for classes in September could not believe what they saw! In less than a week Joseph's crew build another entrance to the school, painted the inside, put new floors, and built paver walkway outside The place looks marvelous now!

Finest Homes Designs staff was prompt and polite. They were able to level my foundation and installed beautiful Vinyl Flooriing transforming the shoddy work of the original builder into a lovely living area for my family. We were planning on adding a bedroom for my oldest son and at Joseph’s suggestion opted for some minor work that allowed us to add the space needed and come in way under budget. Not many builders would do that! All in all we had a great experience and plan on calling him for future projects.

After working about seven hours on the job our new kitchen is so much more comfortable in this the coldest of recent winters. . He cleaned up in all the areas where he was working. I was very pleased with results and his pricing was very reasonable.

This is a follow-up from our first review of Finest Home Designs and after going through a dispute resolution process with Joseph Peters. The contractor responded to our first review with a series of untruths we can document through the contract, emails, texts and photographs that every sentence written in the Angie's list review response and in the dispute resolution were completely untrue and misleading. We will be taking him to court. There are other former clients of Mr. Peters who have ran into similar issues and lawsuits are part of the public record. So if you are interested in hiring him, please do your due-diligence, the Attorney for the Rockland County NY Case is interested in hearing from other people with similar experiences. As not everybody with a bad experience wants to post on Angie's List. Due to a 10,000 character limit we are just include a break-down of a few of his many untrue and misleading statements from the review and dispute resolution process. You can draw your own conclusions, Direct quotes from Mr. Peter’s Dispute Resolution Response are separated with ********. ************* Contractor Statement 1: Upon agreement that the balance of completed bathroom contract is paid and that payment for design work for the addition added to phase two contract is also paid. September 15, 2017 email from client states "thanks for completing almost of the bathroom contract yesterday." ******************************************************* The bathroom has not been completed, and we never agreed that it was. Below is the actual email thread from which this quote was taken: --------------------------------------------------- Text from from Mr. Peters on September 13, 2017 The proper resolve on the glassblock would be to take it down replace it with new glass block you can order the block and the spacers and the silicone it's perfectly clear with the spacers in the clear silicone there is no grout there is no distortion I'll supply the labor and you can supply the materials --------------------------------------------------------------- On Fri, Sep 15, 2017 at 7:25 AM, Client wrote: Joseph, Thanks for completing all most of the bathroom contract yesterday. The only open item is repairing the poor workmanship on the glass block. In order to figure out what to do on that, we need in writing, the solution, the duration of the project, and if it is going to cost something, the total cost of the project with you purchasing all of the materials and supplies. If we need to make decisions on the type of material to use send us a link to a website or if that isn't available a photo or description is sufficient. Thanks, Client This was the last correspondence on the work for the bathroom. There was no response from Mr. Peters by email, text, phone call or in-person conversation. Current Status: The contract still has not been completed. Contractor has not responded with a schedule when the replacement of the glass block wall would be completed. ***************************************************************************** Contractor Statement 2: It is obvious that we were in complete communication in the time frame from the stated intention to remove & replace only the tub and rebuild the rotted, mold covered, insect infested, sunken sub floors which were to be removed, leveled and sanitized.The clients chose to continue with a complete rebuilding ******************************************************** False. The contract clearly specified a complete rebuilding of the bathroom. We were told this was 4-5 days of work. The gutting of the bathroom took place on August 19th and at that point Mr. Peters suggested aesthetic enhancements. We were told that this additional work would take 2-3 days and the bathroom would be operational by August 26th. On September 5th Mr. Peters texted: “Would like to be there tomorrow morning early to finish up your bathroom make it all operational.” On September 8th Mr. Peters texted “It's very close we need a couple hours probably get it tomorrow.” The bathroom was operational on September 14th, but is still not complete. The glass block wall needs to be replaced and recently when it got cold we realized insulation was not put in per building code requirements. ************************************************************ Contractor Statement 4: We had to delay previously scheduled work for other clients to take care of these unforeseen mold and wood rot and other damage conditions. These issues were not part of the original plan because they were discovered when the tub was removed. ************************************************************************* False. There was known visible wood rot on the bathroom floor in advance of the renovation (this is what prompted the project). There was no mold or additional rot problems. This statement is inconsistent with his other statements that the job was close to completion for three weeks before the bathroom was operational. ********************************************************************* Contractor Statement 7: With reference to the glass block problem: I supplied, at no charge, used glass block clients cleaned & polished the block. (text from client, "they look great........Thank you so much for a gorgeous bathroom"). However the spacing material was not available so we installed in a non-traditional manner. We were not pleased with the outcome so I offered to do the block demolition and supply the installation labor if client purchased new material. ******************************************************************* We agreed that he offered to demolish the glass block wall and provide the labor to redo the work, however, he failed to deliver upon this offer. Contractor did not return requests for this information, complete the work, or make an attempt to complete the work. We made the statement “Thank you so much for making this such a gorgeous bathroom!” on August 21, when the materials were supplied, in anticipation of the bathroom that we expected him to build. This comment was not made in reference to a completed bathroom; he failed to complete the project. ************************************************************************ Contractor Statement 9: When I realized that some of my comments were chosen to be interpreted as misogynistic, I attempted to apologize, but this exchange of words seems to have affected our rapport. In hindsight I believe that we have a personality conflict which is what brought the relationship to this point. In fact, I was instructed that I should no longer speak directly to the wife. *********************************************************************** No apology or attempt at apology was made with respect to his inappropriate behavior. We continued to work with Mr. Peters, and decided that Male Client would lead the interactions with Mr. Peters. The scolding and angry behavior of Mr. Peters toward us (and his workers) evoked fear to the point that Female Client was concerned that he could become violent toward her. We proceeded with Mr. Client as the primary point of contact. *********************************************************** Contractor Statement 11: A short time later , I received an email to cancel the contract even though I was in phone call, email and text conversation with the client every day through September 15, 2017. As I read through my emails I confirmed that the letter to stop working was sent on September 10 but my crew and I were at the house working almost every day through September 15. I do not see good reason to return the funds due to me as per the signed contract. .______ Specifically they still owe me for the balance of the bathroom and the cost of Design Work on the Phase of the project which was cancelled As of September 5, I have an email and photograph requesting additional design changes for the next phase for which they cancelled the contract.which I continued to work on from September 5, and September 15. ********************************************************************** False. On September 5th we resent drawing and specifications that were developed and se

The bathroom was old with yellow tile and aging wood doors. But we did not want to do a complete renovation since the rest of the tiled room was in perfect condition. After a new updated tile design created by Joseph, he also painted the remaining yellow tiles with a special epoxy paint and the final result is very contemporary with the unique features of the room left intact.. He replaced the door and frame into the bath and matched the stain perfectly to the other doors in the hallway. Joseph provided an attention to detail and design that i really appreciate. The bathroom is beautiful!

The bathroom was old with yellow tile and aging wood doors. But we did not want to do a complete renovation since the rest of the tiled room was in perfect condition. After a new updated tile design created by Joseph, he also painted the remaining yellow tiles with a special epoxy paint and the final result is very contemporary with the unique features of the room left intact.. He replaced the door and frame into the bath and matched the stain perfectly to the other doors in the hallway. Joseph provided an attention to detail and design that i really appreciate. The bathroom is beautiful!

Work was performed as per our satisfaction. Excellent, Very Satisfied.

No choice but to terminate contract after paying contractor $173,000. Contractor failed to perform work in accordance with agreement; failed to pay subcontractors (electricians and plumbers, who were going to walk off project); misreprespresented facts about performance of work and ability to complete the work. Currently in litigation in the Rockland County Supreme Court 9th Judicial District.

It went well, I was very impressed with the end results. When Finest Home Design began this project, I wasn't sure how or what direction I should go. My basement is situated sort of odd. Joseph Peters did a good job directing along the way and contributed to my ideas etc. Everyone who sees the basement is also impressed. I believe he did a far better job than I would have imagined.

Let me begin by stating that I have encountered MANY contractors ready to take your money and do a terrible job. HOWEVER, this was not the case with Joseph. From the very beginning Joseph was professional and punctual. He contact me, 1 day after reading my message on Angie’s list. We scheduled a viewing date and Joseph arrive several minutes early. He handed me a contract and explained to me what needed to be done. On the job date, he arrived with two workers. Joseph ensured to watch and redirect his workers to complete the job to a perfection of 110%. They took their lunch break and were able to complete the major part of the job in 4 hours. Tomorrow they are due to arrive at 9am and complete the sheet rock and paint. I will post another review with photos for your viewing. I will be hiring Joseph for future work. I live in two family home with my mother, sisters and their husbands. I will be recommending him to them for any of there planned renovations. PLEASE NOTE: I interviewed four contractors including Joseph. Joseph was the most expensive, but the most responsible, punctual, and professional. This is the reason I hired him and hopefully he will be my permanent contractor.

Great. They completely the job quickly and on budget. The final product looks amazing! We are very happy and would use Joseph again.

The design of the kitchen is what impressed me the most. It was such an odd kitchen when it was originally added so I couldn't picture how they were going to make 2 small rooms into a larger open kitchen. The design was absolutely beautiful and even though we lost a sliding door we gained more light with the addition of some smaller windows. The crew was always hard working and helped make the process smooth. We also had a deck extension added to our house to give our back yard a smoother feel. We are very happy with the final product.

Finest Home Design was exactly the kind of company my family was looking for! Joseph Peters was professional and easy to work with. He and his crew began work outside with a new roof and gutters. They continued inside with a new ceiling, flooring & lighting in the family room. Happily, all painting was professionally handled too! In the basement, water leaks were remedied. His crew removed an old oil furnace and water tank. Finest Home Designs did an outstanding job!!

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All went well.  The workers worked quickly but quality was NOT sacrificed for speed. The project was completed in 4 weeks!  Workers worked on Saturdays too! <br />

All went well. I am very happy with the way the bedroom turned out. Joseph Peters of finest Home Design LLC. did an outstanding job and best of all gave me suggestions that improved on the work I wanted. Joseph was at the job site everyday often more then once to make sure that all was going well. Joseph was in easy contact whenever I had a question or request. His crew was there on time friendly. Boy were they hard workers also. I read the reviews of Finest Home Design which were all singing the praises of Joseph's business and his workmanship and I agree with them. I did see one review that was out of line with everyone else, Joseph explained that to me upfront. I disagree very mush with that persons review and think it is not honest. Don't have second thoughts about using Finest Home Design I don't and would gladly use them again. <br />

Joseph and team turned our unfinished basement into a playroom and theater room. Work was well done, team was extremely clean and always on time.  Joseph made great recommendations for the playroom including rounding the edges on all posts and putting in foam rubber flooring. We would definitely use this team again. Great work! <br />

Terrible, terrible, terrible.  However, I understood that going with Joseph Peters was a risk.  He was the 2nd low bidder out of five bidders.  Luckily, I structured the contract & payment schedule accordingly to protect myself and therefore did not lose too much on the deal when I fired him although considerable re-work was required.  As in all reviews, don't take my word for it, photos never lie.  <br /> <br /> <strong>A few words to the members & Angie's List staff </strong>before the review.  It's extremely important to know who you're dealing with.  Who's selling the job, who will be overseeing the job and most importantly know the company you sign the contract with.  I deal with contractors frequently, and I've seen too many times a quote from company A but a contract from a similar sounding Company B.  Huge red flag.   Angie's List is invaluable for reviews, but it doesn't stop there.  I check outside reviews, BBB status, date the NJ company was founded, if multiple companies similar in name are founded in same town or by same principal, and status of the HIC license against the information provided.   Does the HIC license match?   For instance, Joseph's Angie's List profile states he's been in business since 1965, however the current company "Finest Home Designs LLC" of New Milford was only founded on 4/26/13.  This is a potential red flag which could mean he may have gone out of business a few times in the last 50 years or perhaps it's just an administrative change.  I would later find out from Joseph that the business is NOT in his names but rather his wife's.  This was news to me & also a potential red flag. <br /> <br /> I consider myself very lucky that Joseph's crew didn't show most of the time.  This allowed me to inspect the minor amount of work completed and uncover considerable faults & deviations from our contract & the approved plans.  Both the underlying construction + the final finishing options are important, however finishing can always be replaced.   The most important aspect is the underlying "foundation" of construction materials for long lasting quality.  This is where Joseph skimped.  <br /> <strong><br /> Pros</strong> <br /> Joseph knows construction.  He spent a good amount of time coming up with a solution for a few projects I had in mind.  However, his quotes were astronomical and I chose to test him with the fireplace project.  The price for the doghouse was reasonable with a moderate amount of profit <strong>.<br /> <br /> Cons</strong> <br /> <strong>Schedule & communication: </strong>Another reviewer noted that Joseph was impossible to get in touch with except for text message.  This is very important I would come to find.  Joseph said the work would take 1-2 weeks, I gave him double that and he wasn't even 30% complete.  Joseph never responded to calls, voicemails, emails and only a handful of text requests at his choosing.  He never once provided a schedule or even a heads up of who/when folks would be showing up at my house.  He personally showed up at my house once only at 6:15am unannounced, luckily my wife saw him and I was able to speak with him.  <br /> <strong><br /> Insurance: </strong> Homeowners don't realize how important it is to get a "Broker certified, Certificate of Insurance (COI)" listing the homeowner as an insured on the contractors policy.   The homeowner needs to be listed as an additional insured to be fully covered & to ensure the policy isn't cancelled mid-project.  This was a requirement of our contract which Joseph & his crew never fulfilled.  What's so important is that Joseph used (2) non-english speaking immigrants to do the work.  This in & of itself is not a problem, they did decent work if somewhat messy, but they were not covered by his policy since they were not employees.  If anything happened to them, it would be on my home owners policy. These guys couldn't afford to buy a $35 extension chord, they're lucky they didn't die or get seriously hurt using this modified chord  (See attached photo).  <br /> <br /> <strong>Quality:</strong> These guys cut corners to save effort & pennies in materials, literally.  Rebar never installed in footing, CMU not properly installed nor did end result match existing color (grey vs. white) coloring additive would have cost a few dollars, anchors not installed correctly, framing for fireplace were wrong dimensions.  Instead of properly cutting my existing vinyl siding, they tore it all off along exposing my home to the elements for 2+ weeks.  They also pulled a LIVE ELECTRICAL WIRE outside the house & left it open to the elements.  (see photos).  Once Joseph made sure my house was open to the elements and he assumed I was vulnerable, he pulled the oldest trick in the book & decided he wanted to renegotiate the contract.   <br /> <br /> In the end, I asked Joseph to my house to review these issues & refused to make the 2nd payment install for "framing".  He only performed 1/2 the framing (much of it incorrectly) and did a terrible job with the CMU & wanted to be paid.  The completion date of 3-weeks had already passed and Joseph hadn't purchased a single finishing materials (Sheetrock, insulation, vinyl siding, caulk, nails etc. etc. ).  Joseph then came to my house & unexpectedly brought his wife, apparently the owner.  They wanted payment of which I refused many times until work completed & issues fixed.  We met in my dining room with the fireplace framing 6' away, they both refused to review the work.  THEY NEVER REVIEWED THE WORK!   They also asked if I would write a blank check or call Lowes & authorize credit card purchases on my behalf with my card number.   In the end, we went our separate ways.  <br /> <br /> Joseph refused to relocate a single electrical outlet which was clearly listed (as item #1) of the contract.  Joseph said that he wasn't going to comply with the contract unless he received substantially more money than originally negotiated in the contract.  Lastly, Joseph attended a meeting with the fireplace unit vendor in which we made 1 or 2 changes.  A written recap of the meeting was circulated to all parties to confirm what was discussed & a no cost impact for these minor changes.   Joseph performed the changes (redux in scope) that were in his favor & did not comply with the additions in scope & tried to play a game.  I finished the fireplace without him (see photos). <br /> <br /> In summary, I took a calculated risk with Joseph.  The risk didn't pan out but the contract & payment terms were structured in a way as to not hurt me vert much.   Lastly, don't ever rely on "Town Approval" of certain conditions.  Joseph had received "Approval" for footing & framing inspections.   However, he didn't meet most of the contract conditions.   Towns in Northern NJ usually only check to make sure you're not building with Popsicle sticks.   In this particular case & the inspection I personally scheduled, no one asked for approved plans & the inspectors go by first names only.   There's no documentation except for a sticker with no identifying marks for town, permit # or inspector credentials.   Building to code is the most minimal/terrible standard you can build to and should not be accepted.  I've heard way too many times a contractor say "It passed inspection" so you must accept it - So what? No I Don't have to accept it.  The Inspectors aren't reviewing the approved plans many times let along verifying that you're contract requirements have been met.