Markham Home Improvement Corp

I joined Angie's list because of this company. Seriously. We had worked with them before but with a different sales person on a small bathroom remodeling. They did a decent job, so we felt comfortable on this larger project. First it took them over six months to start the project at a time when no contractor work was going due to the down economy. Sales person rarely responded to us after we signed the contract. Once started the work went smooth and the contractors Markham hired were good quality. Once the project was completed Markham didn't do several tasks that the sales person agreed to do: install ceramic tile on entrance to bathroom, replace fan in other bathroom and left all trash in our garage (verbally agreed to this but then stuck in the contract that it was not included). The project changed due to a poor first estimate of what the project would involve so they had to install several additional things. Markham never presented a modified contract or estimate and did the work anyway. When the bill came they tried to charge us an additional $5,000 - $10,000. We refused to pay the additional amount since they never presented a new contract which would have given us the opportunity to back out or get another estimate. They contacted regularly for an extended period trying to persuade us to pay but eventually gave up. Interesting since before the sales guy was impossible to get a hold of. Unfortunately we also referred them to friends (after the first job that went OK), and they also severely overcharged them in the final bill. I read the reports on here and it seems to be part of their sales tactics, bid low and over bill.

It started out very well & we were excited. We had made our wishes very plainly known when we signed the contract & worked with the designer. She offered us 2 different designs & of course, we chose the wrong one. The finished bath is now very crowded in appearance. The first thing was the swanstone which was suppose to go to the ceiling but only went to a minimum height. Then the linen pantry did not go to the ceiling. The swanstone excuse was that it wasn't within our budget. The pantry problem was that with the chosen finish, she couldn't get one that tall. They offered no excuses for the lack of soft-close drawers. We had provided a diffused glass counter top which we were assured could be raised off the cabinet for effect. Wrong! There was no way the contractor could get his hands into work with the plumbing. So, we asked to have the top front of the cabinet removed but they would not do so without voiding a warranty. We ended up painting the back of the glass white ourselves. Then there was the tiling. The designer elected to send the tile out to have a bull-nose finish on some of the pieces. Then the tiler tiled an area he was not supposed to do and used up too much bull-nose. So that had to be removed and since some broke in the process, more bull-nose had to be ordered. Another wait when the tiler could have made the bull-nose on sight saving a lot of time and money. Because of these restraints, the tiling job is terrible. In all, this project which was supposed to be done in 9 days was not even done in 9 weeks. It took 12-13 weeks to get them to finish. The sub-contractor who performed the work was very nice but had family issues and was used on other jobs when he was supposed to be dedicated to our project.

Would have liked the contractor to tell me more about the options of wash tubs. I said they would know best but I think they should have discussed options/prices so that I could have had more input.

We attended the home show at Harper College looking for prospects for bathroom remodeling and filled out inquiry forms with several contractors for estimates. Markham Home Improvements was one of them. Mark Markham scheduled an appointment with us a few days later. He is a poor excuse for a salesman. I don't think he took a course in sales 101! The first words out of his mouth when he enter our house were "I'm here to help you spend your money." We were looking to have two bathrooms complete gutted and after he surveyed them, he told us the labor alone would be $20,000. We were floored! As he proceeded with his sales pitch, he told us he had 50 jobs in "queue". I'd be surprised if he had one. Markham took over a building for a showroom around the corner from our house approx. 2+ years ago and it's still not finished. Mark Markham told us he wants free materials from suppliers. He said "It's good advertising for them." I'm not expecting a proposal from him, which is fine!

ON OUR JOB, PROJECT MANAGEMENT WAS POOR. PROJECTS DEPEND ON THE SUB-CONTRACTOR'S INTEGRITY AND SKILL, NOT MARKHAM'S. WORKERS CUT AWAY TOO MUCH EXISTING CARPET, RESULTING IN AMATEUR LOOKING THRESHOLDS. 3 REPLACEMENT THERMOSTATS WERE INSTALLED, CAUSING THE WALL SURROUNDING THE THERMOSTAT TO CHIP. THE INSTALLER LEFT THE HOLES. WITHIN A MONTH AFTER WE STARTED USING THE BATHROOM, THE GROUT IN THE SHOWER STARTED CRACKING AND CHIPPING. MARKHAM FIRED HECTOR, THE FIRST SUB-CONTRACTOR AND BLAMED HIM FOR THE PROBLEMS. THEY DELAYED REPAIR OF THE HEATED FLOOR FOR 1.5 MONTHS DUE TO LACK OF EQUIPMENT. MANY MISTAKES WENT UNDETECTED UNTIL ANOTHER SUB TORE UP THE FLOOR. TILE MOLDING TILE WE ORDERED WAS DELIVERED, NOT INSTALLED. THE WRONG FLOOR TILE WAS PARTLY INSTALLED BEFORE WE CAUGHT THE MISTAKE. DUSTY, THE PROJECT MANAGER, IGNORED OUR MESSAGE, SCHEDULING REPAIR WHEN WE WERE OUT OF TOWN AND BROKE PROMISES MANY ITEMS OF CONCERN TO US.

THE SALESMAN CAME PROMPTLY, AND SPENT AN HOUR MEASURING THE BATHROOM AND DISCUSSING PREFERENCES AND OPTIONS FOR A COMPLETE REMODEL. NEVER RECEIVED A QUOTE, NEVER HEARD FROM THEM AGAIN. NO WORK WAS EVER PERFORMED. I AM NOT INTERESTED IN USING A COMPANY THAT WASTES MY TIME AND THEIRS ON A HOME VISIT AND THEN NEVER FOLLOWS-UP WITH EVEN A PHONE CALL.