DIAMOND DUST CONSTRUCTION

This is a difficult review to write, in that the experience was mixed, with the contractor doing many things outstandingly well and a few things rather badly. This was a big project with a historic district home with many little oddities. First the good: a)The contractor is a very, very, creative, effective problem solver. Where other contracts said "that can't be done"-- he looked at it, thought it through and came up with elegant, cost effective solutions-- One example of this was his installation of a 20 foot steel beam cleverly sunk into the existing brick wall which allowed a uniform, high ceiling across the newly combined space. b) The contractor is an outstanding carpenter who really cares about the final look and functionality of the product. I had a completed design, but he offered improvements to it that really were genuine improvements. He incorporated existing 100 year old cabinets seamlessly into the new space. The finished look is amazing! c)The contracter was willing to undertake new tasks and smart enough to research the how first. One example of this is the gorgeous concrete floor that now graces the kitchen (yes, I know, it doesn't sound like concrete would go in a circa 1882 home, but it fits). d) The contractor was very patient with a homeowner who was very particular about the look she was going for, but not entirely sure of how to get there. He spent hours working out solutions that helped me get 99% of what I wanted. He was also able to "go with the flow" when the house's hidden structure forced changes to the plan or when I found "great buys" that had to be fit in (like the copper range hood from a salvage yard). But not everything was great.... a) The project was scheduled to take 20 weeks and instead took slightly over a year! b) He lost interest at the very end and had real trouble forcing himself to complete lots of small details- little problems like shoe molding that keeps popping off have never been dealt with. 4 years later--we are still waiting for him to "get to it". c) He started other projects before he finished mine, really dragging out what should have been two weeks work to three months or so! d) While working on my sink installation, he snapped the cherry apron board, rather than order another, he mended it, promising me it would look great and be just as strong. I doubted that it would be just as strong, but he guaranteed if it ever broke, he would repair or replace it. So, I went along. The repaid did look great- the seam wasn't even visible. But, sure enough, last year it snapped on one side, with a piece of the board falling into the sind support and leaving a big gap and a visible joining "biscuit". I called him several times over the course of 8 months to come and repair it and he just blew me off. Well, he promised each time that he or one of his people would be back in touch, but they never were. On one call he gave the name and number of some random carpenter saying he was expecting my call on this matter. I called the carpenter-- He had no idea who i was or why I was calling him! At that point, I gave up on the contractor honoring the guarantee. I used a vacuum cleaner to suck the missing piece of cherry wood out of the sink support and rigged supports to hold it while I wood glued it into place. It doesn't look as seamles and perfect as it would have if done by a real carpenter, but it is a lot better that the gaping hole that there before. e) He absolutely swore up, down and sideways that if I gave him the final payment he wouldn't skip out on the last little details. Stupidly, foolishly, I fell for this-- So, we were left with a project that was 99.5% fabulous and .5% undone. Sigh. I knew better. I really did. I thought a long time about the question above: Would you use this company again? In the end, I think I would, for the skill set. But I would never make that last payment until every single detail is done.