J.S. Hough

Overall, my experience with J.S. Hough was excellent. The bathroom came out beautiful and I am very happy with the workmanship. Everything is solid, straight, and even. The finished tile and trim look great, and I haven't noticed any flaws. Water drains correctly off of the tile bench in the shower. I worked with Jeff from J.S Hough and he was very responsive and concerned with how I wanted everything built and installed. He would make it a point to work out any details in the morning and would contact me to let me know his status. This being the only bathroom, he went out of his way to make sure that we were as comfortable as possible during the renovation. He had temporatily installed the toilet multiple times even though he was not the licensed plumber. The plumber I had contracted myself did not meet his schedule on multiple occasions and Jeff was flexible in working around that schedule. He noticed that the shower valve was installed lower than normal, and agreed to stop work for the day so that I could move the shower valve. He definitely went out of his way to make sure I was happy with the finished work.

The four month job was not essentially completed for seven months, and even then, a "punch-list" drawn up by the homeowner revealed many unfinished details that had been paid for. It was of poor finish quality. Expensive and carefully specified architect plans were NOT always followed. Work was also potentially dangerous: for example, failure to insulate in a crawl space underneath stairs resulted in a devastating burst water pipe and flooded finished basement and a very high water bill by the time it was controlled; the major oil burner pipe in the ceiling burst due to over-heating the first time it was switched on due to faulty installation of thermostat; Tub did not drain first time shower was turned on, and water seeped into kitchen ceiling. Much woodwork is visibly crooked, finish paintwork is poor and streaky, both tile and hardwood flooring are poorly installed; grout is not sealed, hardwood floors are already gaping at the seams. Contractor destroyed a solid brick and concrete external staircase without home-owner's permission, and installed a poorly constructed wood stairway, and did not finish or stain it but insisted on an additional $3,000 for doing so. There are many other details similar to this. Most frightening was that this contractor used foul and threatening language. Homeowner is a single, elder lady, who works in a senior professional capacity, and paid every penny demanded, which was a substantial amount above the contracted amount (including work performed with no change orders signed by homeowner) since the contractor threatened her to "kick the doors in" if she did not pay and told her to "pack her bags and get out of here" (her own home).