Brand

At first John Henry is great, he's a nice guy and seems like he really knows what he's talking about. He claims to have been in the business for 50 years. John Henry is a pretty good contractor but if you're not careful he'll take advantage of you. This was our first time hiring a contractor and I feel like I got taken advantage of by a con artist. Apparently when things on the contract change the contractor is legally (at least in the state of CA) supposed to create a new contract and outline all costs. Whenever I asked John Henry how much something would cost he would just respond with and quot;don't worry, you're getting a great deal. I'm only charging you 1/2 of what people normally chargeand quot;, and he would make manage to make me feel like a thorn in his side. That was $45/hour per worker (there was him and his worker, so $90/hour). A huge issue, which I brought up to him (and nearly got brought to tears over the angst with which he responded), was that he was doing work that was under contract and work that and quot;needed to be doneand quot; at the same time, and in my opinion charging me hourly for work I was paying him to do under contract and therefore double billing me. I should've fired him then and I probably would've saved myself the $20,000 he went over budget!! I can't begin to possible name everything he did that was shady but that wasn't the only thing. He charged us a demo fee that included junk removal and then when he removed all the junk at the end of the job he charged us for his time to remove it and I'm pretty convinced we were also charged for the time it took him to remove his tools from our garage. The tools that he stored there for over a week after the job was done while he waited for a new job to start. He made me go buy the paint and wasn't planning to reimburse me for it even though when he gave me the estimate I asked if there were any hidden costs. Of course he responded no to that and then charged me for so many hidden costs! At least the other contractors were up front about those. I'm now convinced that if a contractor tells you there are no hidden expenses, go with the guy who charged you for trash bags - at least you'll know he's being up front about everything! He damaged one of the tiles that had just been laid and instead of having the tile guy come back to fix it he had the Caesarstone guy do it, the Caesarstone guy damaged four tiles by rubbing the grout around the unfinished stone and leaving a huge stain. This was in the last week that John Henry was at our house and he told (lied to) me that it just needed to dry. It was stained! And when he gave us that bogus final invoice I told him I wasn't paying it unless he fixed that and the unfortunate grout loss that happened between the kitchen back splash and the counter. *note also his Caesarstone guy. JH claims that all his sub-contractors are top notch, LIES!! Anyway, that threat didn't work out so well, we wanted him out of our lives so we paid him and now we have a huge stain on our brand new bathroom floors!! He didn't finish those stone floors either, I had to do it myself!! He installed our induction stove (which he gave me a hard time for buying - as if it's any of his business) and didn't do it correctly. We thought it was the stove so we called Bosch and they were going to come out to check it out. He, without asking, removed the stove (and charged us for this time) so he could finish the butcher block island I had him build. When we asked him to reconnect it b/c Bosch needed it connected, he again charged us for this, even though we never asked him to remove it in the first place. And then, guess what... he installed it correctly and it worked!!! So he charged us to install it incorrectly, remove it (without asking), and reinstall it correctly. He also charged us to have him adjust the bath tub spout which he installed incorrectly! He damaged paint on the door and didn't fix it. He/his workers damaged our hardwood floors with grout that won't come off. He lost the hose that goes to the shower handle on our bathtub spout and I had to buy a new one that doesn't function properly. They left things dirty and messy. And even though he said they clean up after themselves everyday, they did not. They are messy! I'm still finding cigarette butts around the exterior of the house. He washed his paint brushes off on my plants and my exterior railroad tie stairs which are now stained. He complained a lot. I could seriously go on... Regarding his work All seemed good and well thought out. Until we noticed the walnut paneling we had him install in the bathroom was starting to warp. There's an issue with a leak of some sort in the shower and the wall, no idea what at this point but something we'll have to fix down the road. NO 50 YEAR WARRANTY LIKE HE PROMISES!!! Get these promises in writing people! There's that awesome stain on our bathroom floor. The backsplash is still without grout in the kitchen. The butcher block island he created (John Henry claims to be a superior wood-working, hmm...) is already starting to have glue popping out of it's crevices. Not a sign of good quality. He charged me a fortune to paint the kitchen cabinets (which I went with b/c his prices seemed fair on other stuff, little did I know...) and the kitchen cabinets have sweat drips, marks where he sprayed to much paint, marks from where when the paint wasn't dry but he was too impatient to let them dry before transporting. We were originally quoted around $18,500 from him. Some things did get done that we were not quoted for and some things did not. We ended up paying him more than $40,000 for the work he did, some of which (the paint) I could've done a better job at. And we didn't even receive superior workmanship. I WOULD NEVER EVER RECOMMEND JOHN HENRY, NOT EVEN TO MY WORST ENEMY and I'm 100% serious.

I first met John four years ago. Aside from the recent paint job for my Mom, he did a kitchen remodel for my sister and brother-in-law in Palos Verdes. He also made a custom dining table for them out of purple heart wood, and he got rid of their and quot;cottage cheeseand quot; ceiling in one afternoon. He built a California walk-in closet for them with custom cabinets and he found a solution to a problem left by a previous contractor who disappeared. I have recommended him to two friends with beautiful homes in Silverlake. For one he put up a privacy fence; did the foundation work for a built-in hot tub and reframed a door that was out of plumb. For the other, he did remodeling of her kitchen. Everyone was more than pleased with his work. And his work ethic is excellent. No one ever had to wait around for him to show up. At his website: http://jhpbrand.com/ if you and quot;clickand quot; on and quot;view portfolioand quot; you can see some of his work, including the table he made for my sister. I also have photos of my Mom's house--I'll put them up if I can. (so far, I have the BEFORE pic up) Furthermore, he is honest. If he ever quotes a price that is higher than another, get the details. He may be quoting better materials (which may matter for a particular project) and/or he may be doing something in a much better way. Ask him and he'll work with you. If you want something done in the least expensive manner, the best high end manner or somewhere in between let him know. All work is not the same. Also, when he gives you an estimate, he doesn't surprise you with additional things tacked on. You will know the cost upfront. (including if there are necessary changes). And last but not least, he is not only a contractor (A and B license), but he is an artist. That is important whenyou want an aesthetically pleasing result, or if you have a challenging problem or want something that is different from all the rest. He is a cut above.