We needed to replace our primary bathroom due to a leaking shower. Final Touch was detailed and…read moreorganized so my wife and I accepted their bid even though they were the most expensive bid. FT promised a professional, clean, and correct install within 4-5 weeks. We did not receive a professional, correct, and clean remodel.
Cleanliness - We were asked if they could place a dumpster in our driveway for the job and we gladly approved. The dumpster never arrived and for the course of the next 9 weeks debris and construction materials would pile up for weeks on end. Cleanliness was a problem throughout the job. Our driveway is currently covered in mortar, caulking, paint, dust of all kinds, we are still picking up screws/nails/finishing nails from the driveway.
Sub Floor - we discovered that the subfloor was patched with one and a half sheets of OSB board. These boards were glued and screwed down to the floor joists. The issue was that our contract stated all sub flooring was to be replaced with 3/4" plywood. I had to make some calls to get FT to agree to replace the subfloor as per the contract. We thought we were done with the floor until we discovered that they did not replace the section by the toilet. The company had covered this area with the mating for the heated floor and it was not initially visible. that evening I looked under the mat to discover the old sub floor with cuts along the walls and toilet drain. More phone calls to FT and after some back and forth they agreed to replace the toilet area as per the agreement.
Pocket door woes - We had a pocket door installed and the general contractor used our tools in the garage to cut the aluminum framing for the door. The reasoning was that he didn't have a miter saw with him so they decided to use ours. The frame was installed in such a manner that the door stuck out of the wall 3.5" and wasn't flush with the jamb. We were told that was by design due to the soft close feature of the kit. After weeks of arguing with FT, we called the manufacturer and sought their input. Turns out that the GC thought the door knob hole needed to be outside of the wall and he shortened the frame. In talking with the manufacture we also learned that the T-guide was supposed to be attached to the sub floor and a 3/8" grove was to be routed in the bottom of the door for the guide. This was not accomplished because the GC didn't have a router on hand, so they decided to skip it and now the door wobbles freely banging about as it's manipulated. By this time the drywall was already up, textured, heated floor and tiles were installed. After debating with the 3 project managers they agreed to open the wall and make it flush. This required them to modify the shortened frame allowing the door to sit back almost flush all the while dancing about as the door retracts into its newly modified frame. The contractors threw away the rest of the parts and is missing trim at the top and side of the door leaving the hangers exposed.
Exterior siding - FT screwed 8 screws through the backing of the shower niche straight threw to the exterior siding of the home. FT tried to deny that it was their contractors however, when my wife pointed out how they matched the location of the 3 niches and some phone calls, it was confirmed that they used screws instead of gluing the backing to the wall.
Damaged Vanity - We purchased a $7,000 vanity and when it came time to install it the sink water supply lines needed to be set 2" higher then they were. The GC without us knowing began cutting out the shelving and backing with about 12-15 hole saw punches. After complaining they came back and cleaned up those cuts with a jig saw. Once the vanity was installed and the final caulking was being performed the GC stained the top right corner of the vanity. FT then began to sand off the areas trying not to break through the finish, this however failed. They then called to get our attention and inform us of the issue.
Other issues - FT lied about the framing for our 50lbs towel rack that was installed with sheetrock anchors. After informing them that we scoped the wall proving it wasn't framed, they eventually did addressed it. Our medicine cabinets were framed 2" to large on two sides forcing FT to patch the areas to make them fit. The brand new drywall looks like its been poorly repaired as a result. The tile flooring was stained in multiple areas from materials used in the remodel. We had a hot water recirculation pump installed that the plumbers attached to the kitchen sink and not the primary bath. FT did correct the issue after going in the crawl space to prove that the return line was not tied to the remodel project. The first pump shorted out turning the water heater into a tesla coil causing us to lose hot water for a night.
This was not a pleasant experience for us. We were our own project managers while paying a premium for oversight and competent craftsmanship which we didn't receive.