Drywall, Taping, Mudding, Finish coat
I got several quotes for the drywalling and finishing of my basement and Barry was competitively priced (not the cheapest, but had great reviews and was very personable) All of the drywall was installed very well and in a reasonable time frame. The taping and mudding started out good, but it went downhill from there and took about 10 days longer then it should have. The guy that Barry had doing the taping and mudding work seemed very nice, but halfway through the job he seemed to not care about the quality of the work or how it looked in the end. There were lots of issues with the majority of the corners and some seams. I was told to "prime out the basement and then we'll come back and take care of deficiencies" I did this and then spent the better part of a couple hours marking out all of the areas that were poorly finished. There was a bit of back and forth between Barry and his employee which ultimately ended in Barry coming out to "fix" the issues himself. Then I had to prime the entire basement again to cover up all of the "fixes". I know that Barry honestly tried to make the best of a "bad job" and things ended up looking ok, not great overall; there are still areas that bother me as I see them every day. The only way to fix it is to rip it out and start over, which certainly isn't reasonable. I was hesitant to write the review as I know that Barry did the best he could by me and the situation, and I don't blame him for the end result. The main reason for this review is so that everyone is aware that with any good contractor, they are only as good as their worst employee. Who ever you choose in the end, be prepared for something that may not meet your expectations, even if the contractor has the best intentions. In the end I may not have been satisfied with the work overall, but Barry seems like a genuinely hard working guy that tries to give the best to his customers. This time it just didn't work out for either of us.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $6,000.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Company Response
Thank you Troy for your honesty. It is frustrating as a business owner when you have an experienced taper who works for your company who is more than capable of doing really good work,tries to pass off poor quality work. Back in February when your basement was completed you called because you were concerned about the finishing, I did address your concerns, even touching up areas that you had marked.You said you were happy for me doing that, you also knew that I fired the taper who worked on your basement because his workmanship was unacceptable. I totally disagree that a company is only as good as their worst worker, because sometimes people get lazy and lack motivation but that doesn't mean that the company itself is no good. It's the individual, that's where the blame goes. You know I willingly went back to do touchups, your basement was completed months ago. I'm wondering why you just didn't call if you noticed something else after all you know I warranty my work for one year. I noticed you didn't mention that I suggested that I pay not only for the primer for your basement, but for your labour costs too. This was offered to you, just to make you, my customer happy.