I was impressed how much the owner person knew about interlocking, drainage, etc. He met all my needs as to what I wanted, gave suggestions and made me feel comfortable. Once he returned to accept deposit, he wrote up a contract and it was done.
I waited for almost 2 months to get him to do my patio and he gave me scheduling reasons, new staff as old staff stole from him and did jobs on the side as well and he mentioned a death in the family as another excuse. Basically, played my sympathy. When they came it was rushed and he did not do much but rather scream at his rather new and inexperienced staff.
He later told me he fired 3 of his crew. I have many issues with the job and still uncertain if it will be done as promised. Incorrect grading, unleveled, chipped bricks, messy and lack of respect for your home. I would never make this mistake again.
To those that sign a contract, make sure he writes step-by-step what is to be done, when it will be done and make him explain how the money will be paid to him including penalties. Lastly, ask for his latest jobs addresses. Maintain 10% to ensure any deficiencies are corrected before you pay the rest.
- Company Response
Here is a brief history of David Nugent, owner of In Home Services. David has been in the construction business all his life. He has over 20 years of experience in interlocking, concrete work and natural stone installation.
In response to Rick’s complaint, let us address various points of his letter. First of all, we went to meet Rick to give him an estimate for the work he needed. We did talk to Rick about interlocking installation and drainage and even though he understood our recommendations, Rick decided to go against them and asked us to perform the work according to his suggestions. We had recommended building a wall in the inner perimeter of the patio, along his fence. The purpose of this wall was to take stress off the fence, instead of having the brick and the gravel against the fence which will cause sinking over time because of the weight, and this could have been easily prevented with the building of the wall. We strongly disagreed with Rick’s suggestion, knowing that it would cause him problems in the future and we explained to him what those problems would be, namely that the lack of the wall would lower his grading and create too much stress on his fence. However, Rick thought that we were trying to increase his costs and refused to do it as we had suggested.
We did have scheduling problems, including death, labour shortages and automotive accident, etc. and we apologize for that. Those reasons given to Rick by In Home Services were quite valid and can be easily verified.
The job was completed within 2 days, which is quite reasonable for the excavation, preparation and installation of patio, plus removing all debris as mentioned on his contract. The brick used is tumble stone, which is a naturally chipped brick and Rick had seen it and wanted that specific brick. The debris were removed before we left his site.
Our contract states all the stipulations, penalties, etc. on the reverse side. We strongly recommend that home owners take the time to read it. As for references, we always provide them upon request.
Sincerely,
David Nugent
In Home Services
(800) 901-0060