Response from Smart Repairs
(Member name removed) called our company for a home repair estimate well over 1 year ago. When I met with her, I found that her deck was pulling +/- 2 inches away from the house, the dryer was vented into living space, the kitchen had a 4 ft. sunken area, the gutters were full and pulling away from the house as well. It is a humble home and (member name removed) said that she was divorced trying to raise her grown son (20 yrs+) on her own, so could I help her out on the cost with payments since many items, especially her deck and roof, were necessities. I told her that I would do my best. For the next three months, (member name removed) and I had several conversations about her repairs. She had received other quotes but all of them too high, including ours, but I was the only one who would talk to her about options. Finally, after taking 27% off original estimate, we were ready to schedule the work. Because of (member name removed)'s past experience with contractors she insisted to be home, but could not miss work, so I even agreed to work after hours and the weekend, with the exception of the first day because I would need my crew on the larger work. During one of our previous conversations, (member name removed) said that her son could be a laborer to help reduce the cost and she would pick up materials to save on cost. On the first day, as I always do, I delegated task to the most experience tech that I have for the repair needed. Well, (member name removed) did not want two of us (Greg and I) in the basement while James vented the dryer vent to the outside. When I asked about her reasoning for that she said, "I have had too many things stolen in the past." (Member name removed) was serious, so I said she could watch Greg and I while her son watched James. (Member name removed) then said, "What about the guys outside?" I replied, "If you have someone else, I have no problem having them watch the other carpenters outside." (Member name removed) then said she had a camera on each one of us. After the last statement, I told her my men and I would gladly leave because she was making it difficult to work. (Member name removed) apologized and I agreed to work on. We finished the job as efficiently and professionally as possible. When completed, as always, I asked the homeowner to do a "walk-through" to be sure all is well and to their satisfaction. This is when an additional request was made by (member name removed) to cut a hole in her ceiling to access the attic. I knew she was on a limited budget and asked why. She replied, in front of Greg and I, "I believe that the previous homeowner killed his wife and stuck her body in the attic." Once we realized that she was not joking, we tried to reason with her. First, there was no existing access to the attic so how would anyone get up there and secondly, was the obvious about decomposing bodies. Well, needless to say I love to help people out but (member name removed) was far outside my expertise. Now, I will address her comments about us. Robert has worked for us for 2.5 years. "Black paper" not being replaced. Not only did we replace it, but to save her an additional $35 we used 15lb felt instead of 30lb felt. Also, we scheduled the roof project on the weekend, so she could be there to watch us work. In closing, it's been 15 months and there are no roof leaks, deck is holding up well, dryer vents to outside of house, and kitchen floor stayed level. The gutter leak, after 15 months, has returned. She should have taken my professional advice and replaced the gutter instead of repairing it.