Working with Josh was an absolute nightmare. If I could give him negative stars, I would. Do…read moreyourself a favor and avoid him at all costs! I hired Josh to refinish my basement, and it turned out to be the biggest mistake I've ever made. Let me start from the beginning.
When I first spoke to Josh, he came across as professional and was very responsive to my messages and calls. He mentioned that the scope of the work would take about a week with his "crew of guys." That's what put it over the top for me. I didn't want a long, drawn-out renovation process so I hired him.
The moment I paid the initial deposit, the facade of professionalism disappeared. Josh immediately canceled the first day and pushed the project back a half-week so he could "order materials". This was a lie. The first day Josh showed up, he was three hours late and was clearly hung over. To my surprise, he didn't bring any materials and got absolutely no work done.
When he came back the next day, it was more of the same. He got nothing done and had no materials. Finally, on day three, he worked an actual full day of work (this was the only time this would happen). The day Josh completed framing, he went to Lowe's and came back with framing material. I figured he would just bring all of the material at once, which would be more efficient. But no, he would piecemeal materials every time he needed something and would take up half the day at the hardware store.
When he moved on to drywall, he left several pieces outside and said he'd be back the next day and would bring them inside then. He ended up canceling both days over the weekend, and there was a huge storm in the forecast Sunday. I was forced to carry about 10 pieces of drywall down into the basement by myself to avoid the rain.
When Josh finally began hanging drywall panels, he did so without installing insulation. I was provided a quote for insulation, and I would have never completed this project without it. When I called Josh out on this, he didn't have a valid reason. He knew I caught him in a scam and made up some BS excuse that made zero sense. I should have fired him immediately, but I was already in the hole for $10,000. Instead of going through a lengthy legal battle to get back my money, I gave him a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh chance.
Josh never once brought a crew of workers; it was almost always just him. When he did show up to work, which was rare, he would only work for two to three hours and then leave. After about a month of working on the project, the only thing Josh had completed was framing and hanging drywall. He had the audacity to ask me for another deposit for extra electrical work he never finished and flooring that I never received. This was my mistake; I should have never given him the extra $1,000, but I thought it would show my good faith and motivate him to work a full day. Unfortunately, it did not.
After about a month into the project (3 weeks over the stated timeframe), I started to emphasize the deadline I had to complete the project. Josh kept claiming that he would finish it on time, but he showed up even less and less frequently. He canceled five days the last week he worked for me. Finally, I had enough and fired him. I ended up finishing the work myself and had to fix all of his mistakes and poor workmanship. If an inspection had been conducted, there's no way it would have passed. The moment I fired Josh was the first time in over a month that I felt some sense of relief. We all make mistakes, but please don't let hiring J Dean Enterprises be one of them.
