Gary Matte Builders Inc

The salesman-Jimmy Lyons- told me that the company was a certified Hardie installer and that they adhered to all of the recommended installation methods. A total fabrication. Gary Mattte Builders was not a certified Hardie installer, which we later found out. Hardie specifies installation be done with double dipped galvanized nails, which Jimmy stated they would do. Not! They installed using staples. Rusty staples. We made several attempts to contact Jimmy, but got no reply or return calls. We contacted a Hardie representative who stated in writing that staples were not approved for use. Also, he stated that staples were not an approved fastener for fiber cement products by the National Residential Building Codes. Jimmy's boss, Ronnie, came out to the house and stated that they had done it this way(with staples) for a long time and that they would not change the way they do things. After I argued with him, he agreed to face nail all of the planks by hand with a thin spiral nail, filling the nail heads with caulk. The installer came out, cut and replaced a few planks, and banged on some uneven boards with a hammer, trying to get them to line up, but only made dents in the material. Staples are still showing on the gable ends. I could probably count on two hands the number of face nails put on the gable ends. The contract called for Gary Matte to install a Tyvek moisture barrier beneath the siding. The crew installed one whole gable end while we were at work without the Tyvek. They forgot. Right. Only when I discovered this and pointed it out that they agreed to remove the Hardie and install the moisture barrier. The Tyvek that was installed looked like a patchwork quilt, apparently using scraps from a previous job. They also installed a vent(octagon instead of oval as was specified) in the gable near the ridge without cutting a vent hole in the plywood below. They forgot. Right. I made them remove the vent, replace it with the oval one that we ordered and cut the hole in the plywood. Then there is the paint job. While waiting on the painters(for about 3 months since the installation), the boards were exposed to rain, dust, and dirt. No effort was made to clean before painting. What was on the siding was painted over. Two coats of paint were to have been applied, but I seriously doubt that. Much of the painting was done while we were at work, and the timeline that the work was completed suggests that only one coat was applied. There are round vent holes in the soffit boards. The paint that was applied was so thick that many of those holes are filled with paint, making them useless. A hand made copper trellis was apparently used to wipe excess paint from one of the brushes. On top of this, there was the promise of a free Cajun Microwave(bar be que pit) when the contract was signed(I have that in writing too), which was never delivered. All of the above was addressed in a letter to Laura Matte, owner, on 4-6-07. Not even a response. I will never use this company again, and would discourage anyone else from doing so.