ZKC NY LLC

I have used ZKC twice in the last four years: 1. it was a gut renovation of a two bedroom two bathroom coop ? it was my first renovation project ? Zev is not only your general contractor, but he helps with the design and architectural ideas, he knows what will help to increase a resale value of your place and really gets what is important to every member of client?s family (read a couple did not get a divorce after a gut reno); he delivers. 2. three years after the first project I hired Zev to combine two apartments which involved gut renovation, moving walls, building new bath (where it did not exist before); installing split ac units throughout the apartments etc. I think the best recommendation would be that I have hired him for a second major project without hesitation and would hire him and his team again for any renovation. He really puts his heart into it and quality speaks for itself.

ZKC team in charge of my project was efficient all way through. From the very beginning, these guys were honest, professional and fair. Each and every worker was courteous, focused and dedicated. Everything was completed within established deadline. I am extremely pleased with the quality of the work performed. I highly recommend ZKC for their attention to concerns of the owner, caring and professional staff and team.

We wanted to make our bathroom look better and ZKC NY's cost is reasonable and we knew they could do it a very short time so we went with them. We've had ZKC NY out here twice. The first time, the tub had to be removed because we wanted a step-in shower. That one took a little bit longer than advertised but that was reasonable. Both the sales and the installation teams were both coordinating and doing a good job so we had them back to do the other bathroom. They had to fit over a tub there and that worked out nicely and very easily.

Zeev asked for a 50% deposit on August 12th and work started in the apartment on August 21, 2013. Contract stipulated time frame of 3-4 weeks, which would have meant completion date of Sept 18th. We scheduled to move from our existing apartment on September 26th, giving Zeev some buffer time, just in case. 3 weeks later on Sept 11th, Zeev was still primarily working on installing the wood floors, claiming that it was "more complicated than expected". He refused to discuss in detail the other items on our contract list, saying he needed to "focus all his attention on getting the floors right" At that point, we sounded the alarm bells and expressed concern that he wouldn't be able to complete the project in time for our move (which was already 8 days AFTER his promised end date). At this point, despite multiple requests, he still did not provide us with design drawings of the den doors. The worst part of this nightmare for us were the hardwood floors. Some corners had more than 20 visible nail heads in them, there were visible gaps between many of the planks, there were bad chips in several pieces of the wood, there were HUGE gaps between the wood and door frames / tile saddles that they tried to fill with an awful looking wood filler that didn't even match the wood. (In some areas, the filler was between 1/8-1/4", which was not acceptable by any standards!) To top it all off, despite us showing Zeev photos of the natural floor seal we wanted for the wood, and despite our offers to take him to our old apartment to see the floors (we wanted the exact same treatment of the oak) -- he refused and said it wasn't necessary, they sealed the wood with an oil/water base which made the wood darker and more yellow than what we wanted. (We only wanted a very natural Bona Traffic seal) When we saw the "finished" floors, we were aghast... there were still nail heads that weren't even flush with the floor, there were chips all over and very visible fillers all over as well. After many discussions, Zeev admitted to us that his floor guys had totally messed out (we later learned that he was going to subcontract it out to a professional wood floor contractor, but at the last minute, decided to let his own guys install our floors). He claimed that he fired most of the crew who were working on our apartment, but that didn't do anything to make our situation better. We were crushed when we saw the state of the floor, but at that point, there was no choice but to move in, as the new tenants of our old apartment were already scheduled to move in. Apart from the floors, at some point, Zeev just gave up on trying to design the doors, because he didn't know how to design the bifold doors with privacy blinds attached to the doors itself. The doors never got done. Everything else on the contract list was an absolute rushed job, and showed in the end result -- the paint was patchy, base moldings were not installed well (at our front door, they stopped the base molding 2" from where it should have continued!), electrical work was incorrect (they did not run the cable wiring correctly into the den), dining pendant light was not centered over the table, toilet bowls were not installed correctly (very wobbly), shower baskets were not installed parallel to the floor, sagging sliding cabinet doors were not fixed well, our TV bracket was not installed and the list goes on. The first night we were in the apartment, Zeev's guys had painted shut our air conditioner unit cover, so we could not turn on the A/C! The only 2 items on the list that Zeev managed to complete with no mistakes were installing the pot racks and replacing 3 shower heads. EVERYTHING else that he and his crew touched, because an issue that had to be resolved. It was an absolute nightmare that caused my husband and I many sleepless nights of worry and angst. We moved in on September 26th as planned. My husband had to take time off from work to help Zeev project manage the work, else nothing would get done before we moved in. Despite multiple requests for NO PAINTING to be done the day we moved in, because of our 3 month old daughter, we arrived on 9/26 with at least 5 paint cans all opened and guys still feverishly painting base moldings / walls / doors etc. It was extremely shoddy workmanship that we got from Zeev and his crew. Paint / grout was splattered all over the place, grout was the wrong color (they had to re-grout about 1/4 of our existing kitchen tiles, and didn't even bother to match the grout to the existing grout color, so 3/4 of our kitchen had grey grout and the 1/4 had white grout!!), paint was extremely patchy in many areas. When we moved in, there were still wires hanging out from sockets! Thank goodness we had a young baby and not a toddler running around. After a week in the apartment, we found SO many issues with the wood floors and rest of the apartment, that we had no choice but to move out (yes, with our 3 month old baby) into a hotel to give Zeev a 2nd shot at fixing the floors (and other issues). The floors needed to be repaired -- some planks replaced, filler to be corrected, resanded and recoated / resealed. It was a nightmare packing all our stuff again. And it was a nightmare sanding the floors with all our furniture already there. They did the apartment floors in 2 parts, and had to move around all our furniture to be able to work on the floors. We were forced to stay in a Manhattan hotel for 8 nights in total...extended by a day because once again, Zeev failed to deliver. Once again, work was not getting done, no one was project managing the work and my husband and I had to oversee the work to ensure things got done. Even then, it was only the last 2 days that Zeev provided more men to work on our apartment and RUSH everything again. We moved into the hotel on Thursday, and found out on Saturday that Zeev and his team did not even work on Friday, because they had another project to work on... While we were staying in the hotel! It was incredibly difficult being stuck in a 250sf hotel room with a 3 month old for 8 nights, especially when we realized that Zeev did not work on one of the week days. This was his chance to make things right for us. He was so apologetic that so many things had gone wrong with our apartment, and promised to make everything right this 2nd time, but again, he failed to deliver. To exacerbate the situation, when his crew were moving our furniture around, they damaged our brand new wood dining table, damaged 1 of our brand new dining chairs, lost 4 of our throw cushions on the couch, scratched 1 of our kitchen cabinet doors and damaged 2 of our built-in cabinets. At the end of the day, Zeev was not upfront with us about timing, he claimed it would "all get done in time", with full knowledge that it would not. He also cut corners by NOT subcontracting out the work to the right people. The quality of his work is extremely low (and he actually thinks it's acceptable!) -- even our family and friends who have come over to the apartment remark that the workmanship looks extremely shoddy. We poured our life savings into buying this apartment, only to have Zeev and his crew make a mess of it. It is extremely disappointing and heartbreaking for my husband and I to witness how callously they have treated our apartment. And we are the ones who have to live with Zeev's mistakes -- there are still dents and chips in the wood floors, some wood planks are uneven / squeaky, painting still shows blotches, poor edging, and patches, base molding is still uncaulked in many sections, damage to build-ins still show despite Zeev's repair attempts. We now have to pay someone else to come in to clean up Zeev's work, such as caulking between the base molding and floors (gaps all around!), paint touch ups (hand prints can be seen on some doors!) etc. Overall an extremely disappointing experience. Hiring ZKC was one of the biggest mistakes we have made. We tried to be as supportive as possible, providing Zeev with clear expectations from the start, with "to-do" lists. Anytime he needed us at the apartment, we were there, so as not to delay the work. But Zeev could not deliver and should never have promised to complete the work in 3-4 weeks if he was not able to do so. The fact that toilet bowls and shower baskets could not even be installed correctly is very telling of the kind of work ZKC does. Zeev is incapable of properly project managing a project and figuring out what needs to get done when, in order to stick with promised timelines. Zeev failed on so many levels -- in terms of being trustworthy and upfront, keeping on schedule, and providing an acceptable standard in terms of quality of workmanship.