Dependable Remodeling LLC

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We hired general contractor, Rick Mackay (Dependable Remodeling) to remodel a master bath. The project went terribly wrong due to Rick’s lack of supervision and bad hiring of subs. Before we became aware of the shoddy work we handed him a second deposit (per contract) from which he now owes us approximately $4500 and has refused to give us our money back. The last communication from him on July 6th was that he needed time to factor in some receipts. The problem was we’d already waited 2 weeks and he had not gotten in touch. It’s now been about six weeks since he said he needed to factor in his receipts and he no longer responds to emails, texts, or phone calls. The project was to remove a bathtub and replace with a walk-in shower, tile shower walls and bathroom floor, replace vanity top with granite, and paint. The demo began April 28th. The problems began when Rick’s tile guy started to work. The shower pan frame was off by three inches, framing had to be redone. Shower pan was then poured, we asked Rick if he’d checked the slope, he said yes. We found out about a month later that most of the shower pan was flat and there were areas where the slope was away from the drain and toward the wall. When the tile guy installed the first wall (3’ x 8’) about 40% of the tiles touched each other, leaving no room for grout, and the tiles ended 1 ½ inches before the shower pan. The width of the tiled wall should end with the framing of the shower pan. The wall was taken down and tiles were reinstalled. The second installation still had tiles touching each other, additionally, midway up the wall the tiles had been turned upside down so that the “pattern” now changed and shifted to the right, plus the edge of the tiles where the drywall began was jagged from ceiling to floor (we have photos of all work mentioned). By this time we’d had it and asked Rick to fire the tile guy. By now we started having doubts about Rick. We found a tile guy who informed us the shower pan was flat in most areas and we would have puddles along the wall. He did not recommend a fix, said it would be best to re-pour the pan. Rick brought in a second tile guy who seemed knowledgeable but he and Rick wanted to patch up the shower pan with “red guard” and tried to convince us that once the grout was in you would not notice the wrong placement of tiles. At this point, we were so confused. We decided we needed independent advice, so we consulted another contractor, in addition to speaking with the tile department at CapCo (Denver) and both said “red guard” is a moisture barrier and not intended to be used to build up a slope. They also commented why would we allow a “patch up” when we’d contracted someone to build a new shower. We shared all of this with Rick on June 24th, and we all agreed that it would be best to part ways. He said he’d get back to us with his calculation of the balance owed us. Other issues… Rick’s comment when he fired the tile guy: “I didn’t think I had to supervise someone I paid more than $15 an hour”. Yet his contract has a line item for supervision. Rick’s plumber installed the shower diverter, turns out it was set flush with the cement wall. Another plumber had to bring the copper pipes out an inch. If left as it was, once you set the tile over the cement you would not be able to place the trim (finish) over the diverter.

Bathrooms can be a problem because they are small spaces and you can only fit one worker and maybe a helper into the space, They do all of the work in house, only subbed out the plumber, so scheduling was not a problem. There was someone there all day every day until it was done.

It went as well as these things go. For the basement, we knew pretty much what we wanted. There is a half bath there, we picked out tile and fixtures that were in stock. The kitchen took a lot of planning. We went through 3 cabinet revisions before we came up with the final plan. Rick got the permits in a day. We did the job in the summer so we could grill outside. We had a temporary kitchen set up in the dining room. The old kitchen was gutted completely and they re-leveled the floors. We needed a new electrical panel. We got a heated floor, which the cat loves. The major "do" in the kitchen? Probably making sure that every inch is accounted for. There is so much to know----clearances, knowing what appliances require as far as space and getting the power or gas or water to them in the proper location. Even different cabinet styles provide more room than others, especially with drawers and drawers.