My name is Emily and Richard Smith was recommended to me by Lumber Liquidators via the Home Service Store installer network. This is to inform the general public that you should NOT hire Richard Smith given the documentation below.
Pre Install:
I was referred to Richard of 'Richard Smith General Contractor' (RSGC on Yelp) by Lumber Liquidators through the Home Service Store. He didn't show up for our first appointment which I took time off work for. When I called 15 minutes after he was supposed to show up, he said there was a miscommunication, was apologetic, and asked to reschedule for another day which I was willing to. He offered me a discount off his original estimate for a total of $4k (which still seemed liked a lot for only 900 SF) but I decided to go with him since Lumber Liquidators and the Home Service Store recommended him. I should have looked on Yelp before agreeing to work with him. It would have saved me a lot of frustration and money. Another contractor who I have worked with and who does great work had offered to do the job for $2,500 but I had already said yes to Richard, thought he would do a good job since he specializes in hardwood installs, and I had already paid a small $400 deposit, and didn't want to go back on my agreement with him. I wish I would have never worked with him given the experience that I have documented below.
During Install:
Richard didn't show up for the first day of the install until 2 or 3pm. He sent 3 guys who work for him but he didn't tell me they were coming instead of him. They started tearing everything out and cutting wood and soon there were plums of dust everywhere. To my disappointment, when I came home, I saw that nothing was covered in plastic. My leather couch, hardwood table, everything in my kitchen, my new light fixtures, and all my clothes were covered in a thin film of demo and wood dust.
Stains:
When I got home after their second day on the job, they had installed the wood in one of the bedrooms, the kitchen, and a guest room. Every couple of feet there were stains on the floor. It was was spilled soda or a sticky flooring glue material and it took me an hour just to clean the stains from one of the bedrooms. There were even stains under the bed which I wouldn't have noticed if hadn't moved the bed to check. See pictures below.
Property Damage and Uneven / Broken Boards:
My base boards were in good shape so I wanted to reuse them instead of buying new ones. Richard took them off to put in the new flooring and put them back on. But in the process, he broke many of them and, instead of replacing them or telling me, he just nailed them back to the wall. See pictures below. In addition the broken base boards, he put a big hole in my closet, stained my walls and reinstalled uneven baseboard. He didn't tell me about the hole in the closet, he just put the base board back on covering half the hole. See below.
Holes in Floor:
There are 10+ holes in the floor. It looks like they were made with the nail gun. Or maybe the holes were already in the wood, but if that's the case, those planks of wood should not have been installed. Below are pictures of pencils sticking out of some of the holes.
Uneven Install of Wood:
In one of the closets, the wood was installed unevenly and the baseboard was reinstalled anyway which looks really bad.
Poor Timing:
Richard originally estimated 3 days for the 900 SF job. Once we saw there was a big bump in living room, he estimated an extra day. We started on Friday. He said he would work Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I texted him Sunday morning asking what time his guys were coming since it was already 9am and no one was here and he said they wouldn't come until Monday.
Lack of Professional Skill:
When the carpet was pulled up, it was clear there was a big bump in the subfloor. Richard said I should just put wood over the bump. I asked if that would just highlight the big bump and he said yes but do it anyway. He also said I could do carpet instead of wood even though I already bought all the hardwood and even though that wouldn't fix the big bump but just try to cover it up. Richard told me that in order to level the floor, I would have to tear out my front door and pay him $4,000-5,000 to make a customer door that would accommodate leveling the floor. He also said it would take an additional week or two.
I called another contractor who I've worked with and he came over the same day, took one look at the floor, and said he would level it in one day by replacing the subfloor (ply wood). Richard told him he wouldn't be able to fix it, especially not in a day, but he did fix it in a day and it only cost $800.
No Regard for Security:
To get into the house, I told Richard's guys where the lock box was and left them a key so they could lock up when they left. When I checked in midday, my key was hanging from the key hole on the outside lock at the front door.
Conclusion: Don't hire him read more