Short version: Mike Ford, the owner, hired sub-contractors who he then fired due to their mistakes, poor performance and damage caused to my home. Mike promised to fix everything and would leave us 100% satisfied with the job, but once he realized the extent of the damages and the out of pocket costs he would incur purchasing new tile, flooring and labor costs for new subs, he quit the job. Full story: I interviewed extensively before we hired a contractor to do this work (originally resulted from a water leak and insurance claim). Mike assured me that he had the best subs with expertise in tile, flooring and the other types of work we were having done (trim, painting, etc). We moved into a hotel for the bathroom and flooring phases (we only have one bathroom and an 800 square foot home). We were then out of town for Thanksgiving holiday - so Mike had a total of 12 days to complete the bathroom and floors which he assured us would be no problem. When we returned home the bathroom was not ready and Mike hadn?t re-set the toilet, so we had to stay at a friend's house. Mike got the toilet installed for us but we lived without a shower for several more days. When we started to examine the work to try to understand why it was so behind schedule, we were shocked to see crooked tiles, jagged edges, bulges and indentations (nothing level or flat), broken mosaic glass, chips on installed tiles, and the list goes. on. When I brought this to Mike's attention he said "good thing I fired the tile guy earlier this week". Mike committed to pulling out all of the bad tiles and replacing them, re-doing all of the grouting, and correcting the mistakes. At this time we also examined the new wood floors and it was evident the floating floors weren't installed correctly either ? large gaps at the seams and running vertically between panels, chips and dents in the hallways and in front of the bathroom (clearly no protection was used on the floors) and so on. I spoke with the manufacturer who warned that improper installation would void my warranty. Again, Mike told me that he would have it resolved and fixed like new. In addition to these major problems, Mike fired all of the people who did the baseboard/trim work and painting. They sprayed texture all over my floors, through the doorways into other rooms, down the hallways, into my AC closet all over our AC/heater, on the toilet/new bathroom floor ? didn?t use any common sense to remove fixtures or to use plastic to protect things. Mike apologized for all of this and said he was bringing in new people to handle all of those touch-ups. We were past the original scheduled date of completion and I had already paid $5500 of $7300 ? and not one project was complete, only more problems had been caused. At this point I said I wasn?t comfortable paying any additional money until the work done to date was fixed, correct and up to standards. Mike came to our home and we reviewed an extensive list documenting all of the problems and issues. Mike agreed with the list and our refusal to pay additional money until the existing list was addressed. Mike promised me we?d see improvement within a few days. Here is a sample of items from the list: Bathroom -Tiles not cut straight (most apparent where tile meets wall); skinny tiles that meet edge of bathtub are cut jagged and uneven with each other -Cracked/chipped tile behind sink pipe, at showerhead, at tub (where corner-cut around bathtub), on wall in between toilet and sink -All tiles aren?t level/flat ? dips and bulges (in floor, mosaic and wall) -Holes, cracks in grout ? poor grouting on mosaic tiles (some glass covered, some glass pieces crooked, grouting un-even and gets thinner/thicker) -Messy/poor caulking at tub line; caulking and grout build-up in corners -Texture residue on toilet, floor, tub, in fan -Bathroom fan making very loud, rattling noises (wasn?t making this after original install) Floors -Chips (2) at front door, multiple dings/rough cut edges on last board that meets bathroom tile in doorway, multiple dents in hallway (circular round dents, also in front of AC door) and at entry way to back bedroom -Large gaps in-between boards in hallway extending into living room, across the doorways to bedrooms, and in master bedroom by closet, and in back bedroom running along the wall that?s the front of the house. I?ve talked to Prosource, Floor King and the manufacturer about these floors ? Quick Step floors have the best locking technology on the market and there shouldn?t be any gaps after installation. I also have noticed in a few spots that there are two rows where the ends of the panels are almost at the same place. The installation instructions say : Ensure that the end gaps of the panels in two successive rows are never in line. Always ensure that the gaps are staggered by at least 10 cm / 4 inches Doors & Windowsills -Poor painting job across the board on doors. Door handles not removed and painting around the handles is very messy and/or not painted, parts of doors were primed but not painted (varies door by door, some are in the grooves and others are just random splotches), issues with most of the edges and tops/bottoms, random drip spots or other things that need to be sanded down -Texture residue on doors/jambs in bathroom and master bedroom (also texture inside AC closet) -Touchups of wall paint around windowsills needed everywhere Baseboards -Chunks of wall/paint ripped up when baseboards taken off ? need to be touched up/painted -Many dents/chips/nail holes in baseboards still present -Can see places where not painted over wood filler, other spots that were just missed -Areas with lots of build-up (filler, caulk, etc.). Corners and where baseboards meet door jambs are the worst. -Poor caulking ? not smooth, very visible/apparent, build-up, smeared on wall and not touched up Misc. -Texture on wall plates, on ceiling fans and air vents in bedrooms -Scratches on bed ? you mentioned you had some filler After the floor people came back for a 2nd time on a Saturday, they pulled up the floor and put it back down with the same problems in different spots. Mike didn?t stay to watch them work, and at one point when I came home one of the guys threw one of the baseboards behind his head out into my hallway onto the wood floors ? nails and all. They used magic markers to try to disguise dents and scratches. There were gaps in every room ? and massive holes filled with messy caulking all around door jambs. I had Mike come over on Sunday to examine the work, and he said that he knew they?d probably do a crappy job but he needed to give them a chance to correct the work. He said he had a new floor guy out on Monday morning ? one he had never worked with but told me that ?when I asked him how he?d fix the floors, he gave me the right answer?. The following Monday morning Mike brought over new workers and told me he needed me to pay him upfront for the floors because the subs were demanding it. I politely explained that given the state of the house, quality of the work, and his previous track record with his subs, there was no way I was going to pay any more money until the end of the projects when everything was 100% complete and correct. Mike said that he understood, but he was already out of money because he?d had to buy new tiles and was going to have to buy new flooring to replace everything that his workers had damaged. He told me he knew this wasn?t my responsibility, but it in order to keep the job moving he?d need more money from me upfront. I told him no ? and he told me he needed to think what to do. I suggested he charge materials on a credit card or take out a loan, the same thing that I would have to do as a business-owner needing to rectify a situation. Mike said he only works with cash and doesn?t even have a credit card for personal use. On this same day, I organized the manufacturer of the tile company to come out to my house, along with the wholesaler it was purchased from, as Mike was claiming the tile might be defective and that?s why he couldn?t get a straight cut or keep it from chipping. The tile manufacturer and wholesaler
