ARCHIT DESIGN BUILD INC

unknown

My husband and I hired Bob and his assistant to build one wall and to frame and hang a double door in this new wall which we had picked up at a salvaged goods store. The job was to include drywall work however painting was not included in the job. He also repointed a column in the basement for $300, this is included in the total above. We wanted him to ascertain if the steel beam above the new wall site was in good condition prior to framing. He did a little exploratory work but not much and we really had to push him to look into the matter even though this was the primary purpose of our hiring a professional to do the work. We are still a little nervous about potential structural issues in this area because of this. We asked him to plywood back one side of the wall however he purchased and used OSB rather than plywood - the wood backing cost us an additional $345. The framing job looked okay however there were very few nails or screws used to attach the frame to the building. The drywall was not hung properly - each screw was deeply recessed breaking through the paper - this method could make the drywall pull loose from the framing. The drywall shaping was done well however a finished level of detail was never achieved - he left many dips and chatter marks in the wall and a lot of additional drywall work for us to do. The most unprofessional aspect of his handy work was the door hanging. HE DID NOT BOTHER TO RECESS THE HINGES he simply screwed the hinges to the frame that he built. The gap between the two doors was over 1/4". When we go to recess the hinges, we will have to re-frame the door otherwise we would be left with a 1/2" gap between the doors. He left stickers on the wood that he used. He did not apply door knobs to the door as we requested, and he did not apply molding around the door frame. So, basically he did an incomplete and unprofessional job leaving us with a lot of work to complete and for this he charged us $3045 for labor, 2x4s and drywall (in addition to $300 to re-point the basement column). We asked him to return to the property to complete and repair the work. He agreed to come over however when he arrived he would admit no fault and he refused to do the work requested. I also should say that he did not clean up after himself well. The entire room was covered in drywall dust. I offered to let him use our shop vac but he refused, saying I should mop it up instead. I am very sad that we have had yet again another negative contractor experience.

Kitchen went a little slowly, about 2 months total, but the work was beautiful. The bathroom, roof and window replacements were done rapidly and excellent. This is one of the few companies that returns your calls & addresses your concerns immediately. When I started projects, it was obvious that Bob Ronayne, the owner, really was listening to try to get it right.