Sometimes making the wrong choice brings the right one into clearer view.
It's with this mindset that we post this review for Chris Marshall, the choice we should have made that we didn't.
We had just experience plumbing-related, water damage to our home. Our floors were removed and the tile exposed now was breaking up and being tested for asbestos. Though we were a ways away from the reconstruction phase still, we started researching contractors/contracting companies.
We found Chris, who looked wonderful "on paper" and gave him a call. It's been roughly six months now since I made that call, so I'm not sure if he answered right then or called back, but I ended up talking to him the same day. It was late in the work day, so when he offered to come by to just talk to us and check out the damage, we were really surprised--and thought there wasn't any way that would really happen.
At about 6 p.m., he called and said he would, in fact, come out that evening, if it was okay. We agreed, and he did. He was professional, very easy to talk to, patient, and seemed willing to work with us.
In the days and weeks that followed, he quickly responded to all our calls and messages; made a couple more house calls; referred another industry service provider (another mistake we made: not going with his recommendation); provided impeccable documentation for his licensing, insurance, experience; invited us to check out his work personally by visiting a home he'd just built; went back and forth with us about estimates, and adjustments to those estimates, and scheduling.
While his quote ended up being higher than we could afford, in retrospect, it wasn't unreasonable. At the time though, we couldn't get our insurance to play ball and didn't feel confident we could absorb the difference between the settlement and Chris' quote.
During this time, my husband considered a contractor whose family attends the congregation we also attended. The family had fallen on hard times recently, and his thought was, "We're going to give the job to someone; why not bless a family within the congregation?"
I was strongly against this as 1) I worried about the possible pitfalls of doing business with someone too familiar, and 2) I was already settled on Chris. He'd already gone over and beyond as far as I was concerned.
Despite these concerns and reservations, I appreciated my husband's heart and decided to support and trust his decision.
Regrettably, it turns out I was right. (This is a conclusion he reached on his own as he saw corners being cut, expressed concerns disregarded, and diverse workmanship issues.) That arrangement went horribly, and, in the end, we had to fire this contractor before our home was even far enough along to move back in.
Thankfully, family and friends came to our aid and helped us finish up well enough to get us back in our home, refusing to take any money from us at all. Our home insurance co. assigned a post-reconstruction clean-up and restoration service to clean the place up--work that cost thousands of dollars (to give you an idea of the state this contractor left our house).
We are thankful to be back home but, here and there, still notice the evidence of poor workmanship and work ethic (taking advantage of our absence from the home during most of the remodeling), which at this point is still more confounding and hurtful than anything else given the somewhat personal connection.
We should have gone with Chris, who had proven himself well before he even had the job. And YOU--whoever you are, reading this--provided you are comfortable with him and his quote is budget friendly, should go with Chris.
We cannot recommend him based on work performed/service rendered--he doesn't need us for that: his work and reputation appear to precede him, but we can and do highly recommend him based on his character, professionalism, and well-documented experience.
The "world of contractors" is an all-day, all-out dirty, murky trap; there aren't enough Chris Marshalls out there. Choose wisely. read more
