Hometown Home Improvement Inc

Too bad zero stars isn't an option. You know a contractor isn’t good when he constantly threatens to sue those who complain about his work. Hometown Home Improvement is one guy, Robert Runnells. His Hometown Home Improvement website says that his business is a “certified” vinyl siding installer, endorsed by the Vinyl Siding Institute. However, the Vinyl Siding Institute does not certify businesses. It certifies individuals. As of this writing, Runnells is not certified. Nor should he be, because the work he oversaw at Bradford Commons in Bangor, Maine, was among the worst work you will ever see. All one has to do is read the installation instructions to know how to install vinyl siding. The basic rules are these: (1) Center fasteners in the middle of their slots in the nailing hem and don’t put the fasteners in too tight. This is to allow siding panels and corner posts to expand and contract with changes in the temperature; (2) Fasten panels into studs; (3) Cap corner posts by folding the two sides on the end inward; (4) Overlap panels away from doorways and well-traveled corners of the building to conceal seams. And above all: Do not drive nails through the siding to hold it in place. Hometown Home Improvement did none of these things consistently. The result has been predictable: swollen, bubbling, rippling, and cracking siding panels that give an overall cheap-looking appearance, and nails used to hold improperly installed panels in place. The contractor also failed to install trim boards properly. Does it really take five nails in one spot to fasten a trim board? Of course not. Fasteners are supposed to go into structural members. Hometown Home Improvement failed to do this. The boards are supposed to be cut to ensure a snug fit and then glued. Hometown Home Improvement failed to do this as well. The contractor’s installation of exterior insulation looked worse than what a third-grader could do. Whole panels are supposed to be used whenever possible to reduce the number of seams in which water can enter. Hometown Home Improvement used scraps. It used the wrong tape and took no care at all in applying it, allowing creases and sometimes actually failing to tape seams entirely. Runnells actually called the police on a tenant for recording video of his workers installing wet insulation in the rain and complained that the tenant had filed complaints about the work and safety violations. The police, of course, did nothing. The contractor is lucky I can include only 10 photos.

very poorly

They were 2 weeks late starting the job, and 6 weeks late finishing the job. He never came back to clean up the job site or to finish some of the odds and ends, some major, per the contract. He has not returned a call in over 2 months. I have notified him that I am reserving my rights to pursue a remedy with the courts.