David Hewitt Studio

David Hewitt was bass player for the Georgia Satellites and played on their hit ?Keep Your Hands to Yourself.? He has played with other name bands. Now he holds himself out as a kitchen remodeler, but he is actually a con man. My granite fabricator recommended him highly to re-do our cabinets in February. After meeting with him, we contracted for him to install all new doors and fronts, paint, build cabinets over the soffit, and build three custom pieces for us. He asked for $2,500 up front to order the doors and fronts so that he could have them ready to install a month later. We had to make subsequent payments for materials, as well. He did not show up on Day 1, showed up late on Days 2 and 3, was ?sick? on Day 4, and arrived very late on April 1 (Day 5). That was the last we saw of Dave. He tore down the cabinet doors and soffit, spray-painted the cabinets after a fashion, and delivered two of the custom pieces (made out of scrap). He left my kitchen a mess, with half-painted cabinets and no doors or drawers. My subsequent contractor had to re-do pretty much everything he did attempt. He never ordered the doors or drawers as contracted, and later said he had thought he could make them himself. I have since found that he left another customer of the same granite company without cabinet doors; we were out almost $3,000 each. He also left a job in the granite showroom incomplete (funny enough ? no doors.) For a month following, he texted unintelligible promises. I think I spoke with him a couple of times, and he swore he would show up and then...didn't. He actually had a subcontractor deliver the 3rd ?custom? piece. He met the guy in a parking lot. The cabinet is unusable and clearly made from scrap materials. He also sent five drawer boxes that are splintered and not square, with daylight showing through the seams. He arranged to meet the other victim in a Lowe?s parking lot to go over paint samples the same weekend. I found that he did the same thing a couple years ago through a granite company in Alpharetta. He keeps the thefts relatively low, possibly to ensure people do not pursue him. It is time for Dave Hewitt to ?keep his hands to himself? and out of other peoples? pockets. Do not give a dime to this crook!

I hired David after seeing some of his work at the company where I bought my marble countertop. This company used to recommend David highly, but as of early 2009 they've ceased doing business with him because he left high and dry so many of the clients they recommended him to thereby also hurting their reputation. David required an initial deposit to do the work, and then a second installment to continue. The base of the cabinet -- and the color -- turned out mostly as I had asked for, but from there on in it was nothing but trash. He stopped showing up to complete the work... and what I sadly discovered is that he will take your money and run. I had to make a number of pleading phone calls to get in touch with him... and contacted the stone company to also step in and help. The stone company was getting bombarded with numerous calls from other clients that David had also stiffed. He was constantly complaining that he'd run out of money and was having trouble getting his jobs done as a result, and yet pulled up in a brand new vehicle that most people couldn't even afford. [Evidently THAT is where his client's money went!] If/When David did show up for work, the hours worked were minimal and rushed; hence, the quality suffered greatly. I had asked for specific molding around the doors and a glazed finish that would just add a nimimal "aged" look to a cream colored cabinet. Unfortunately, David's idea of glazing is to make something not look old exactly -- but dirty! -- the color was awful. The molding was incorrectly applied so that it measured differently at various points and was far too big compared to what I had asked for. The insides of the drawers actually had holes in the corners where the sides/floor didn't line up, nails were protruding and glue was piled up in many places. Then, to top it all off, after a few weeks, one of the drawer fronts actually fell off! In addition, David was extremely disrespectful of my property... I actually found him cutting wood directly ON my bedroom carpet!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! And he didn't even seem phased when I asked him what the h*** he was doing -- as if he couldn't understand what the problem was. To put it succinctly, this guy is totally incapable of creating quality cabinetry anymore. The fact that the stone company he'd worked with for so many years fired him says it all. He is totally unprofessional and is, unfortunately -- in my mind -- a thief. DO NOT HIRE!!!

Would NEVER, EVER HIRE THIS MAN AGAIN! Unfortunately, didn't find out just how bad this guy was until well AFTER the fact. As for the inside trim... I was mostly satisfied with his work as it progressed. Good clean cuts in the corners and all, and he took the time to tweak anything I wasn't happy with. However, a number of issues were unfortunately found later (after the job was complete). For instance, as seen in one of the photos provided with this report, he fairly ruined the wood in places because he used too many nails. I actually had to have the window trim around my foyer window recut and reinstalled because it was literally riddled with nails. There are other places like this as well which may have to be redone (based on what the painter determines can be done with the job). In addition, the new carpenter I hired found a strip of crown moulding in my guest bath that was actually damaged (see attachment to this report) -- there was a huge chunk of wood broken at the end -- but David had installed it and covered it up with lots of caulk so that the damage couldn't be seen. Not exactly ethical behavior on his part. Most of the doors David installed were correctly hung; however, there were a few that needed tweaking. I had asked David at the time why a few appeared to be somewhat out of level. He told me it was due to my walls and ceilings being out of level -- which is indeed true, but a new carpenter I hired found that David had never drawn a line to verify that his work was level. This new carpenter also pointed out a few doors where David had simply pounded on and bent the hinges in order to get the doors to align and hang correctly. I sadly hadn't discovered this myself while David was still working for me; I now have to replace these damaged hinges. I also caught him in a lie with regard to the brick mold he installed around my windows. I asked specifically if he had used the correct nails; i.e., galvanized... he told me YES. However, the nails in the brick mold soon started rusting. I had the new carpenter inspect the work, and was told that the nails were not only NOT galvanized (thus the rusting) but the incorrect nail size was also used throughout. In addition, he did not provide enough support in back of the brick mold, so when my new siding was later installed, it all started moving and caving in. There were also so many nails in some of the the brick mold strips that the painter I hired told me it would be impossible to cover them. I basically had to hire someone to recut and reinstall a portion of the brick mold I had already paid David to do. In addition, I was never sure just when David was going to be on the job. Initially, all went well...he was showing up daily (never at the appointed time, but nonetheless...) and "appeared" to be doing decent work. However, as time went on, he became increasingly more scarce as well as very difficult to reach by phone. If he finds some other project to work on for a new customer, he'll leave you high and dry. Thank goodness a large portion of the work David provided was useable... a good painter can mask most of the "quality issues" with the woodwork. Unfortunately, a lot of the issues did not become fully apparent until after a "qualified" carpenter stepped in. David Hewitt is definitely NOT in that "qualified" league! His prices are a bit too high for the LACK of quality in workmanship and professionalism that goes with it. This guy is definitely someone to be wary of if hired. His work needs to be examined closely and questioned at all times. Don't think it's worth the trouble or the drama.