MERRY BUILDERS INC

Kevin was recommended to us by the real estate agent who had listed our home. Prior to the start of work, we felt he was easy to deal with and understood the goals of the project. Unfortunately, the first impression was not backed up by his actual performance on the project. Problems included: Repeatedly missing commitments regarding the completion of the work. He would frequently make no progress and give no update for days at a time. This medium complexity bathroom remodel took THREE MONTHS, instead of the 3-4 weeks that were promised. Inability to execute high quality work - the subcontractor chosen by Kevin to install the shower tile lacked basic equipment needed to satisfactorily cut the large tiles we chose, resulting in awkward "seams" around our shower fixtures. The overall quality of the finish work was fair to poor, and leaves the impression of a "do it yourself" job (no offense to all the great "do it yourself-ers" out there). After promising to do so, Kevin failed to create airflow from the heating duct behind the vanity unit, effectively leaving the bathroom with no source of heat except leaving the door open. Finally, faulty installation of the shower base and tile has resulted in water seepage behind the shower tiles. We started to suspect there was a problem approximatedly one year after the work was done, but were so tired of dealing with Kevin from the original work that we did report the problem. Now, 2.5 years after the original installation, we will be paying $5800 to have the entire shower rebuilt by a shower expert. The bottom line is that based on our experience, Merry Builders is NOT qualified to do custom bathroom remodeling, and Mr. Merry should not present himself otherwise.

We finally received our certificate of occupancy this past September '12 after having to complete the job using another contractor to complete/fix the railings and stairs at both entryways and the portico. In all, it cost us another $10,000 to fix mistakes that had been made and complete the work. In addition to this, I had to fix several areas myself. Most of the sheetrock around outlets was poorly cut. I had to repair sheetrock and replace standard size wall plates with medium sized plates. The ceiling in the laundry room that was damaged from water intrusion also had to be repaired. The areas around the windows were never insulated. The screens were never delivered for the windows. The frame to an upstairs window was taken for repair by Merry Builders and never returned, meaning we have to buy another screen and frame. The addition's floor knocked and squeeked. We had to roll up the vinyl floor and secure subfloor. There were few and in some places no nails securing the infield of the subfloor. Only the perimeter was nailed. As for the siding, there is still trim that was never put up around windows and we still have siding that falls from its place on the top course. I had to seal the seam between the chimney and siding to keep a draft from blowing into the house. In some places you could see daylight around the chimney. The debris took me a long time to clean up. Numerous nails, metal lathe and metal flashing in our driveway and lawn that was never cleaned up. The PVC pipe that exits the house for the basement sump pump was broken and never fixed ($25 part + labor). In addition to the money I gave Merry Builders for this work, I also paid for the flooring ($874.83) and the screens ($77.68) for the downstairs windows and the 2 extensions to the building permit ($100.00) which I was told would be taken care of. All this was covered by the building contract. For having put so much effort in working Merry Builders prior to work start was a waste. I thought we had a good working relationship and I was willing to accept some delays without much fuss based on our mutual connection. But the initial 3 month job turned into a 15 month headache that was never completed. In the fall of 2011 after stating all problems would be fixed and the job completed prior to December, you never showed again. After that, I decided it was enough and contracted another company to complete the work.