My husband & I were lured with pretty photos, claims of an experienced & well educated project…read moremanager(PM) & promises of excellence that were made at the Pittsburgh Home Show. Our kitchen remodel started 7/12/17 & just ended yesterday 10/7/17. Many items in our home were damaged due to lack of care & concern. Statements were made & never followed-through. Hopefully, you also work from home, so you can monitor the quality of the work being done. In the end, our kitchen looks nice, but they only offered a 5% reduction of the total cost of the project (not including countertops). This is the reason for this negative review, as there were many damages & deficiencies that clearly were not accounted for. Admittedly, we settled, because after 12 weeks of having strangers in our home & the idea of dragging this through arbitration: WE. WERE. DONE.
1. Rug destroyed - not covered during months of abuse & demolition supplies/construction equipment stored on top of it. Contractor's assistant (his young neighbor) sat on it & ate lunch. We expressed concerns about his age/inexperience. Company credited the cost of the rug
2. Drapes destroyed: no plastic hung during demo. I hung plastic myself, because even though this was brought to the project manager's attention, it was not done. Company credited the cost of the drapes
3. Basement stairs stripped: contractor spilled chemicals that removed the paint
4. Dishwasher scratched, fridge & range stained/rusted: not covered despite MULTIPLE prompts. Company offered to replace panels or give discount
5. Dishwasher + insulation covered in demolition debris: not covered despite MULTIPLE prompts. It was installed, still covered in debris
6. Dishwasher toe kick cover lost, then reattached with BLACK TAPE. Company offered to come back (for a 5th "final visit"); we declined as we are 12 weeks into this project & want them out of our home
7. Refrigerator covered with demolition debris INSIDE + out: contractor never covered it & used it for personal use. We cleaned it & found drywall/plaster INSIDE; as well as contractor's iced tea
8. Clogged drain: contractor poured waste buckets in sink. Never fixed, despite multiple prompts
9. Stained Leman's drawer: contractor placed dirty, wet, copper pipes in the new cabinet
* No dumpster onsite for demolition, so debris was stored on our rug in our home
* Vent relocation never communicated to contractor, so a wood repair was done under tile floor instead of hardibacker
* Vent moved to a different location, due to the PM "not understanding construction", per 1st contractor
* Electrician said PM & contractor "are rarely on the same page."
* 2nd vent not given an elbow duct under toe kick
* Cabinets sat in hot/humid garage for weeks & never rested indoors before installation
* Countertops "ran out" so we had to choose new ones 2 weeks into the project
* Large sink delivered - homeowners had to carry it indoors in the rain, as the contractor left early
* Contractor used our personal weight equipment from the garage to bang down uneven tiles without our permission
* Over 7 weeks late for project completion. Multiple 2-4 hour work days & at least 3 days when NOBODY showed up. An additional crew was promised to make up for lost time, but never happened
* Poor quality work lead to firing of 1st contractor. 2nd one had to fix & completely redo tasks, leading to more delays & being pressured to "just finish the job"
* PM claims only 1 job is assigned to a crew at a time, but near the end, our contractor was working multiple jobs
* Floor grout applied in dirty seams, in stages, weeks apart, creating obvious differences in colors & divets/bumps. 2nd contractor had to regrout the entire floor AFTER cabinets & appliances were installed, causing staining/rusting of appliances & mounds of grout against toekicks
* PM said ceiling above refrigerator would be painted due to cabinets being installed before painting, this was never done
* Cabinets installed before painting, leading to an unfinished look around cabinets
* PM said a master plumber would be doing the plumbing as required by Allegheny county, but this never happened
* Microwave measurements admittedly were never even reviewed by PM, which lead to delays in installation & having to choose a less desirable microwave
* Shortages of supplies: Grout, floor tile, crown molding. Per 1st contractor "this happens all the time to save money"
* Not fully installing hardibacker under cabinets due to being "too much work" so tile placed directly on top of linoleum. Contractor would not have tiled under cabinets at all, had I not monitored & confronted him. He said, "You won't even see it anyway!"
* Large pieces of wood used as tile transitions, instead of sleuders. Our bathroom door had to be sawed down so it would actually close (twice)
* Construction supplies left behind for months & are still present. We have to arrange large trash pickup