Royal Home Improvement was hired to finish our basement including a new bathroom, renovate the first level, add a new kitchen and a new window at the back, and renovate the second floor bathroom.
We are almost at the end of the $170,000 major renovation project that started December 2013 and was supposed to last a maximum of 6 months. 17 months later, the work is still not completed to our satisfaction.
First, the contract that was supposed to be “directional” only and hardly contained any information became set in stone. We had to pay extra for 3 spotlights in the basement bathroom because the lighting had not been specified in the contract.
Early May, I organized a meeting with RHI management and we agreed on a list of work to be finished by May 22. I am writing this because the latest worker told us that he was given a budget of 5 hours to do work which in his estimate, should take 3 days to do properly. The drywall of the first level ceiling was badly done so there are already several cracks and I was told that it will only get worse. The worker hired to refinish the stairs never showed up once but told RHI that he had already finished the sanding. Needless to say, I do not want that type of worker in my home. The new siding covering the new outside wall supporting beam is vastly different in size and colour to the existing siding and the under side will not be covered. I have now hired 2 new firms for the house siding and the staircase. The air-conditioning unit was removed by an incompetent worker and is now missing parts.
This past 17 months, there has been a high turnover of RHI “Project Managers”. We had to learn early to put everything in writing because RHI does not honour commitments made by previous Project Managers. Every time, it was like starting from the beginning. We hardly ever saw the RHI PM’s anyway. They seemed to believe that their work consisted in taking half the money we paid and sending sub-contractors and uncertified trades to do the work unsupervised. The last Project Manager told us that he was not a “Site Manager” and had 20 other projects to “manage”.
We also had to deal with 6 very unhappy sub-contractors who kept quitting or being fired because they were not being properly paid for their work. So no work was ever fully completed. The new sub-contractor was always expected to correct the work of the previous one, with hardly any compensation, only promises of better-paid work. One of them knocked on our door months later and told us that he had not been paid yet. Another one of the sub-contractor was so angry with RHI that he did cut wires already installed by the electricians.
We chose RHI because they were part of the Building Industry and Land Development (BILD), an association with strict code of ethic and conduct. So we were shocked to have to demand that they obtain the proper building permits. The fourth project manager told us: “Why would you need a building permit when you already have an engineer drawing?” Maybe because it is the law…
Careless workers also damaged our property. The fireplace had to be replaced after only 2 days. The brand new custom-made back door was badly scratched and dented. The backyard was covered by 6 feet of garbage all winter with no concerns for our safety. The door to our basement was unusable for several months. At Easter, the backyard was still covered in cement, broken drywall and garbage because the last PM spent a month trying to find a way to have the garbage removed the cheapest way possible. We had to keep the basement laundry room faucet running non-stop for 6 weeks, so the pipes would not freeze.
Uncertified trades did the majority of the plumbing. This led to many extensive leaks during the project. We had the shower on the second level leaked all the way down to the basement.
This represent only a fraction of what we experienced. Overall, the quality of the work done has been adequate at best and not done to our satisfaction or agreement. The process has been horrible. Hiring them has been the most expensive mistake we have ever done on our home. The exceptions were the electricians and Paris Kitchen who did an outstanding job in creating truly beautiful kitchen cabinet with incredible craftsmanship’s and customer’s service.
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