Gray's Contracting, Inc.

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It started out well and we were so happy to be able to have this done. However, we did add more work to the project and according to Jim Gray that wasn't a problem. However, things went downhill fast. He had someone come in who was a friend of his to do the painting job and it looked like a 2 year old painted our ceiling. He charged us $800 and we had to buy the paint. The painter also had his son come over one day because he couldn't make it and did such a horrible job we couldn't believe it. We kept being told, "We'll fix it, we'll fix it" After having so many other problems and then having a railing installed in the living room that clearly looked like it belonged on a farmer's porch, we called up Jim and requested our key back and explained that we would look over the bill he had given us and would certainly pay him what we felt was "fair" considering the colossal mistakes and extreme poor workmanship that was done to our home. We told him we didn't require his services any longer. We would NEVER recommend his company to anyone, EVER!! If anyone is interested in contacting us regarding this company please feel free to do so, 603-434-4315

We started our process by having four (4) companies come out and give us a quote for replacing ten windows and a sliding glass door. Gray's Contracting was neither the cheapest nor the most expensive; however we chose them because of the sales pitch Jim gave. He made us feel extremely comfortable about what his workers would be doing and who they would be. He made sure we knew that his company had been in business for many years and was well known in the town. We should feel free to stop by any job he had done or was doing to see what we thought, something we didn't do but should have. His confidence made us feel like we were getting the best of the best, the best windows with the best crew installing them. After deciding to go with Gray's we asked that he come out to the house one more time to show us the exact window that was to be installed, and go over the final pricing details with what we would be getting. When Jim came out to do this he even brought out Sean, the head of the crew that would be doing the removal and installation so we would know who would be coming to our house. This was an added detail that was appreciated. We explained that we did not want wood installed anywhere on the outside of the windows and opted for Azac board instead which we were told would increase the bill by approximately $200-$300 and ultimately increased the price by $450.00. When Jim and Sean left that evening we were excited to start the process and enjoy our new windows. Three weeks later the process was started and the excitement left and was replaced with frustration. We had asked for a two day notice of when they would begin the work so we could let our employers know we would need to work from home so one of us would be here to let them in the house. They gave us less than 24 hours, not so much of a big deal but still not what we asked. On the first day the two workers arrived exactly on time and when we told them that we had ruined two of the trim boards and were willing to pay for two more, they said no problem they had extras in the truck. They needed to leave after they unloaded their equipment and offered to bring us back coffee when they returned. They worked intensely for 6 hours. They laughed and joked and seem to get along with each other well and we were impressed with the fact that all of the windows were out and the new ones were in. They told us at 1:30pm that they were going to wrap up for the day and return the next day to finish up. They told us they only had the sliding glass door to do and the trim around the windows. We asked when they thought they would be done and they told us Tuesday afternoon, remember they started Monday and only worked 6 hours. We asked before they left about caulking the outside of the windows where the azac board meets the vinyl siding since we noticed at least a half inch gap in many places around almost every window. We were originally told all outside of the windows would be caulked, however on this day when we asked we were told the windows were water tight and did not need to be caulked. Confusing to us since this is not what we were originally told. Tuesday came and again they were very punctual. They began working right away and before we knew it they were installing the inside trim, this is when things went very wrong. It was obvious to us that the trim was not coming together well, huge gaps at the corners and not to mention there was a seam, that was not explained to us during the quote process, around the entire inside window. When we asked about this they said the seam was to make sure we could install window treatments without the sill falling apart.... Weird explanation we thought. After all of the trim was done they asked us to come take a look by this time it was late afternoon and they had not started the sliding glass door yet. When we went to look we could not have been any less unhappy. The gaps were so deep that all the caulking in the world would not have pulled it together, and if it did it would begin to split in no time. We told the workers we were unhappy and that we wanted it fixed. They said okay, they tried again, on all of the windows and asked us to look at how they had fixed them. There were still gaps and seeing the seam around the window was an eye sore. We said we were still unhappy they said they would come back the next day and try again. After two tries we were frustrated and decided to call Jim and have him come take a look, after all in his sales pitch he said they would do whatever it takes to make the home owner happy even if they had to redo it a hundred times. We called the office, had to leave a message and instead of getting a call back from Jim he had is secretary call to see what the problem was. We explained we wanted to talk to Jim, we hung up and the secretary called back again to let us know that Jim would be out in the morning when the workers arrived. Unprofessional since we are paying $8200. Jim arrived in the morning with the workers and at first started to blame the house. The walls are uneven, the way the house settled and that caulking and paint would cover all of the imperfections up. This was unacceptable to us and when we finally raised our voices he realized we were not going to take this and said they would fix it immediately. He said they needed to shim the trim. At this time we also asked Jim how water was not going to get into the half inch gap around the outside of the windows. He agreed it needed to be caulked and was not water tight as the workers had stated. The workers began caulking the outside of the windows and shimming the inside which was fine except that when they shimmed the inside trim they left huge gaps between the wall and the trim, full finger gaps. We told the workers not acceptable and they tried again, I might mentioned that the just kept shimming, at no time did they take the trim off see that the sill was not level and fix that problem. Again frustrated we called Jim and he again had the secretary call us back. Finally the workers said they would be back again the next day, first they would be done on Tuesday and now they were returning on Friday. Jim arrived after the workers tried again and it was still not acceptable on three windows. When Jim arrived he said well yes he could feel the gaps and yes they needed to be fixed. They were going to take the trim off, finally, and they were going to use a belt sander in the house to level the inside sills. This was not going to happen. We had to explain the dust that would create and we were not willing to let them do it in the house. We told them we wanted them to take the sill out and cut it outside and then put it back in as it should have been done all along. Initially we were given a hard time and told it wouldn't create that much dust and then again we raised our voices and suddenly Jim realized this was a serious issue and he said they would do it outside. The guys finally finished up and immediately wanted a check for the work. We told them we wanted time to look over the entire job in the light of day, because at this point it was dark. They said they understood and would send Jim out on Sat. to pick up a check. Jim gave some excuse as to why he couldn't come out himself and sent the worker who did the work. We refused to pay the worker and said when Jim comes out we will pay him. This in our opinion was very unprofessional, Jim is the owner of the company, he knew we had issues and he still couldn't be bothered to take the time come out and inspect the work with us to make sure we were completely satisfied, but he sure was worried about getting paid. So much so he had the secretary call and leave a message saying she was going to call us several times until she got a hold of us with a time she could send a worker to retrieve the check. In the end we had to immediately hire a painter/wood worker because the seam in the sill was such an eye sore it couldn't be tolerated, this adding another $3000.00 to the cost we were not expecting. Jim finally did come out to the house, not at a time that was convenient for us or a time we agreed upon, but one that was acceptable to him; he got his check and never checked in with us again. His unprofessional attitude and lack of disclosing the entire process to include the sill seam was enough for us to tell our friends and neighbors not to hire this company as well as assure that we will never hire them again either. At the start of this process we even told him we were going to be redoing one of our bathrooms as well as building a garage and we said we would talk when this project was completed. Needless to say they will not even get the chance to bid on our next project.

Jim's crew arrived on time and worked efficiently. One crew member constantly worked on clean up. Amazingly we have not found even one nail after re-roofing. A great experience.