JW Smith Contracting

Before I make my complaint I want to acknowledge that I realize this work was done more than six years ago, but I think it is necessary to report my experience with JW Smith Contracting since it is still doing home improvements and it is the same company already listed on Angie's List, which I can prove because my paper work gives the same company name, address and phone number. My purpose is to alert others to asked more questions and be very specific in the contract and to consider all that should be done to ensure the work will be quality work. The gutters and facia covering was done well, but the siding work was a disaster and the owner Jim Smith is to blame even though I agreed to the terms of the contract. I blame Jim Smith because he informed me at the time he had been doing siding work for over 20 years and I felt he should have recommended all that should have been done to see that the siding was properly installed. Smith advised that it was not necessary to remove the existing shingle siding and that the new vynyl siding could be placed over the old. He stated it would provide double insullation to the house walls. The problems resulting from the installation of the vynyl siding over the older shingles were: 1. No covering was put over the older shingles before applying the new vynyl siding and when the nails were driven into the old shingles, they shattered because they were brittle. Therefore, where the nails were driven, I did not wind up with double insullation, but shattered pieces. Not using a covering first also caused wripples in the siding at specific locations. 2. The exterior walls of my home are not plywood, but coated sheet rock.. The installers used straight nails to hang the vynyl siding which will not grip in sheet rock. In 2008, a windy rain storm lifted two sections of the siding and when I went to repair them is when I noticed the nails on which the siding hung just pulled out with no resistance. I believe what holds the siding in place are the edges of the end caps and the overlapping of the siding. I felt Smith should have checked out the type of material my outer walls were made of, should have known nailing into the existing shingles would result in them shattering and that some type of cover should have been applied first, but he didn't. I did not complain because the contract did not include the covering of the old shingles and I was very sick at the time. I was suffering with cronic kidney failure and shortly after having the siding done, I went on kidney dialysis. Finally, once I signed the contract, I never saw Jim Smith again until he came to pick up the check. Not to sound prejudice, Smith sent two Koreans and two Mexicans to do the siding work, neither of which spoke English and when we had to communicate, one Korean who I assumed was in charge had to call someone on his cell phone. As for the subcontractor to replace the back porch who was suppose to be a licensed carpenter, which is what I asked Smith for, but again was not specified in the contract, nor was the name of the carpenter shown on the contract, the carpenter did not show, but sent a person I would classify as a deck builder with no carpenter skills at all. The deck leans towards the house instead of away from it. Also, the ground under the deck and stair case was not prepared to prevent weed growth. Again not specified in the contract nor recommended by Smith. Now when it rains, I get a mud puddle because after tearing out the old porch, the ground was not graded before putting up the deck. Again with JW Smith Contracting be sure to think of everything that should be done and make sure it is included in contract, as it will not be brought to your attention by Smith and most definitely will not be done. In my opinion Jim Smith is not a professional, just a handyman.

Jim showed up. We went over the job requirements, he wrote up the estimate. He told me his crew would be here on Sat. They came, removed and installed gutters, fascia and soffits. Excellent job.