JFR CONTRACTING

Description of Work: Kitchen Remodel, Painting, Floors

Description of Work: I hired John October 2017 to remodel my kitchen and bathroom. The kitchen remodeling included removing a wall between my kitchen and dining room and installing a breakfast bar, new counter tops, floor, and cabinets. The bathroom consisted of installing a new floor, exhaust fan, sink, medicine cabinet, and reglazing. He also did a few smaller repairs (roof, chimney, railing) The reason I hired John is because he has done numerous jobs for me for over 20 years. He remodeled the bathroom and kitchen in my last home along with other smaller projects (installing doors, drywall, new ceiling). Based on previous experiences with John, he is the only contractor I consider.

Description of Work: John took our house renovation job in late April, 2016 It was not a large job, but it was not a small job. My wife and I made it very clear that we needed to move into our house by July 1st because our lease was up. We told him up front that he had 9 weeks to complete the job, and his exact words were, " it should be no problem if we made decisions quickly." His guys came in and the demo part of the job was completed in the first week....and then the house sat. The total contract with JFR was for $55,000 and I was paying for the floors directly ($20,000k for hardwood floors and $10K for carpet). I also paid for all of the HVAC work. I paid early and often in the beginning...each check being for $10,000. Every single thing that came up during the job, was invoiced to me directly...for an additional amount of $14,800. Once I saw the progress slowing, I confronted John and he started to make up lies. The most blatant lie was that I told him that we need to move out July 15th. The guy is pathalogical. Every time that he fell behind, he blamed me. In early June, we had a major conflict because he did not have a handle on his contractors and he exploded with the fact that he was going on vacation from June 22 to 29th (the entire week before we were supposed to move in.) He siad that he told us about his vacation in the very beinning....another lie. John essentially toold me that our house "may" not be ready, and that we should put all of things (including two pianos) in storage and move my family and dog into a hotel until he was done....again...in la la land. Honestly, the biggest blessing happened when John went on vacation. I took a full week vacation and took over the general contracting work. I worked with all of the contractors, hired a handyman (Mr Handyman in Malvern) at $104/HR and we worked like dogs on things that should have been completed much ealier. To make a long story short, we got the job completed to 95%, certainly to a point where my family could move in. John bounced back from Puerto Rico the day that we were moving in...with a text like nothing had happened....again, totally pathological. I told him to stay away until after we moved in which would give me time to process the total cost of what I had to do to finish Johns's work. At the end of the job,per John's propsal, I owed him $13,500 (had he completed all the tasks). I gave him firm costs for everything that took place over the week while he was on vacation, including materials and labor that totalled over $11,000. I offered John $3500 to drop off my 5 kitchen cabinet doors (that were late because John measured wrong). This was the last peice of puzzle to complete the job. John sent me a credit invoice for $2700 and insisted that I pay the remaining balance and the dumpster fees. John walked away from the job completely, trying to hold my kitchen cabinet doors hostage. He refused to pay his contractor, Eddie the painter, who called me and said that he was owed $4980. Ironically John was great at taking moeny...but terrible at paying it out. I paid Eddie for all of his services eventhough my contract was with JFR and Eddie's contract was with JFR. I did not want any of the people who did the work to get screwed by this guy. I have never written a review...good or bad on a company or a product, but I feel that I owe this to people who are researching contractors. Beware of the yes man, who drinks 40 oz coffee coolattas, and RARELY does any work himself because he is too busy not managing his jobs while he talks instructions into his phone because he couldn't remember to zip up his jeans if he didn't talk to Siri every minute.

Description of Work: Created a first floor master suite and laundry area, enabling us stay in our present home longer. Several subcontractors were used for carpentry, electrical, plumbing and HVAC work in addition to work John and his helpers did. NOTE: Especially if you have a septic system, it's a good idea to do the research to make sure you're up to current codes before adding a bathroom.

Description of Work: Full kitchen remodel and opening up of interior wall.