Telmore Industries

We have used Richard from Telmore for 3 consecutive years across a variety of jobs, and therefore feel we have a pretty good grasp on how he runs his business. First and foremost, the quality of the work his contracted guys do is outstanding. We solicited several bids on our projects 2 out of the 3 years and both times his prices came back right in line if not a little better. The major problem with Richard is the lack of attention to detail. For both projects that we bid out, he missed some details that were supposed to be included (hence his lower price to start with perhaps). The first year it was a small thing and we decided to split the difference on the missed item. The second time it happened, it was a major omission during a larger project and he was not willing to lower his original price. And this was discovered through 90% completion of the job! We had the original discussion points all in writing and there was no re-pricing. After we told him that we would not be using him anymore in the future, he made sure that his contractors got paid the maximum amount of money (in spite of a safety margin typically built into these things). On the last day, we ended up paying his plumber close to $1000 for 2 hours of work. Throughout the planning and reconstruction process we had to reiterate (always in writing) certain details to remind him of what the original plan was. Not being detailed orientated as a GC is simply a non starter, be very careful and diligent when negotiating a price and the work to be done.

Sigh. After 4 months, we are finally done with two bathroom renovations for which Richard acted as the general contractor. Let me first list the positives: Richard is a very nice guy. He has good ideas. He is flexible on price. However, the list of negatives is long, primarily because he works sub contractors that are unresponsive, sloppy and, at times, incompetent. The carpenter would arrange to come, then not show for 4 or 5 days. When he finally came, he would arrive at 6:00 p.m. and work until 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. while my young children were trying to sleep in bedrooms on the same floor as the bathrooms. Also, I had to have frustratingly long conversations with the carpenter more than 3 times about what we wanted the molding to look like -- and this was even after I had printed a photograph of what we wanted him to copy. I had to do this because Richard, even though he was the general contractor, didn't seem invested in understanding it or helping the carpenter understand it either. The tiler was a nightmare. Even though the tiler, Kohn, was prompt, his work was unprofessional. Kohn had sub-sub contracted out most of the work to someone he had just hired. Well, the new hire wasn't up to the task. He laid tile crooked, and didn't pitch the shower floor correctly, leaving pooled water. Kohn did stand behind his work, and replaced some tiles, and refunded us nearly $2,000, but when we brought in another tiler to give us an estimate of how to fix all the problems, we were quoted $5,000 to tear down all the tiles and start over. The plumber that Richard suggested we use quoted us $5,000 for EACH bathroom, for a total of $10,000 to simply take out and replace a sink, toilet and shower/tub in each bathroom. So, obviously, we couldn't use him. Richard then told me to find a plumber myself. I did, for $3,000 total, and that eventually fell through, so Richard found another plumber that eventually did right by us. The painters seemed to be untrained. The paint line where the walls meet the ceilings looks like a wavy lake. And, there are spots that you can still see the plaster through. High marks for the electrician, thankfully. The permits were pulled on August 3, and Richard said the bathrooms would take 4-6 weeks. Well, the bathrooms are finally done, but on November 28, which is 17 WEEKS, or nearly 3 months late. I question whether Richard put our job as a priority, because I know his subs sure didn't. It's a bad feeling to pay $20,000 for renovations that took so long and don't meet our high expectations.

We hired Mr. Teel b/c he was recommended to us by a friend of a friend, in addition he lives very close to us, so we thought he would be a safe bet. We did our homework through the internet and the better business bureau, so we thought we were safe. Unfortuately, despite our homework, the process was dreadful from begining to end. He was VERY slow getting the permits to start, but was very quick to ask for money up front and cash the checks. Once the permits were obtained, he started one project then once the demo was done, he would move to another project without completing the one before. He left us the with water leaking into the kitchen and an open house for most of the winter. We had to hire an outside company to do some of the work because he refused to supply a small section of rubber roof to complete the small addition to the guest bedroom. His primary worker, Bryan Magliocca, although extremely nice and personable, was excessively messy and left our house filled with snowy/muddy footprints on the carpet and dust everyday. The shed we had bulit out back was built too close to the property line (he supplied the plot plan) and had to be moved (new foundation had to be poured and our newly installed air conditioners (by another company) had to be moved). The vaulted ceiling in the family room required the placement of a beam ridge, which was supported by a vertical beam. This veritcal beam was supported by a cement foundation. Per building codes, the cement foundation is supposed to be 4 feet deep. He only poured a foundation of 1.5 feet (by the time this was discovered, we has already fired him from the job). We had to hire a structural engineer to draw plans to support the beam so the foundation could be dug up so the proper depth of 4 feet of cement could be poured. The ONLY positive thing I can say about Richard Teel, is that he did pay for the painting of two rooms because his plasterer destroyed our wallpaper.