Living Space Construction, LLC

Details of Work Performed by Living Space Construction, LLC owned by Jim Aubuchon Bid During the bid process, Jim was very punctual in getting out to the house for a bid. His company specializes in customized work which is exactly what I was looking for. A previous contractor (who claims to build to Amish standards) bid a lower price but did not want to deal with the details. It was clear that Jim really enjoys finding solutions to challenges and that is exactly the type of person I wanted on this job. Owner Working with Jim Aubuchon up until completion and final payment overall was positive. Since we did the job over the winter, his concrete business was slower so he had time to provide the attention I expected for the size of the project. On one occasion though, he came to my house incredibly angry, as he was upset with me for complaining about his lack of communication to his carpenters. Other than that, during the 6 months or so we worked together, his behavior was professional. After the job was completed and had passed all inspections, there were problems with some of the work that the Brick sub-contractor had done. I have requested now for 6 months that he hire a new brick contractor to attempt to fix it. Early on, Jim would reply to my emails stating that he hasn't forgotten about me, and that he is working on it. I haven't heard from Jim since that email on 8/20/2014. Foundation and Flat Work Jim has owned St. Louis Concrete for 25 years and his concrete company did the concrete foundation and all flat work. His concrete crew were professional and did good work. When issues did come up, Jim was willing to go the extra mile to make them right. Building The building itself was constructed by Jim's two carpenters. They followed standard building codes and built to standard. I am unhappy with the quality of the windows that they installed, as they are very low quality and were designed to be single windows but were installed as a double window installation. Overall though, Jim's employees were good people and did professional work. I involved myself during every step of the build, and they were responsive to my requests and changes. While I'm sure I frustrated them at times, they maintained professionalism and worked with me to keep me happy. Electrical Jim sub-contracted electrical work to M&H Electrical. Brian Mayer did the majority of the electrical work and he was always courteous and did excellent electrical work. He clearly saw his trade as artwork - and the product showed through in his work. Overhead Door Jim sub-contracted to Martin Door. The door was not cheap but I got what I payed for. Brick The brick sub-contractor that Jim selected was absolutely awful in every way. He would show up sporadically, and he delayed project completion for several months. He got into a fist fight on my front porch with one of his employees, and I had to call the police. I fought with the subcontractor for over a month on the mortar color, because he wouldn't put the time and effort into doing a proper acid-wash. The acid wash that he did do ended up staining the old brick that it was supposed to help match, because he didn't put the time and effort into rinsing properly. Moreover, since Jim paid him in full prior to the work being completed, the only way I could get him to come back was to hire him to build a mailbox with the remaining brick. I had to put more money on the table before the subcontractor would finish. Update (11/4/2014) - why I changed my overall rating to C. Unfortunately, I can't get Living Space Construction to make the mistakes from their Brick sub-contractor right. I've been trying to get Jim to send out a new brick restoration guy for 6 months. He was incredibly busy with his concrete company over the summer so I was extremely patient. As mentioned before, he did respond on 8/20 indicating that he found someone and that they would be out the following week. I haven't been able to get him on the phone, or reply to my messages since. I am now hiring my own brick guy, with the intention of sending the bill to Living Space. I will update on what happens.