SERBIN'S WOODWORKING

Dave did lots of things well but, as a project it was a disaster. After billing and accepting $17,844, about 85% of the contract, Dave walked away leaving a note instructing me to find someone else to finish the project. Of the three contractors who looked at the 'completion' job, one would not bid and the other two were only willing to rip the stairs out and start over. No contractor wants to fix another's mistakes and be responsible for the result. Not being able to afford a second $18,000, I repaired and finished them myself. It took me hundreds of hours. Problems included most of the stair stringers mounted too low, one too high and too long, making for mismatched stair heights and lengths, double the code limits making trip hazards. Some Dave fixed, some not. Only well into the project did I discover he had no intention of connecting the four sections of railing. When I detailed a simple method he made one connection but left two unconnected. He had no answer on how he was going to do skirt boards (the baseboard running up the stairs) until finally he decided it simply could not be done. There were lots of other problems, gaps, unfilled holes, irregular baluster spacing, misplaced posts, sloppy joints, etc. etc. In my opinion Davie is a nice guy who took on way too much, then walked away leaving me stuck with the results.