Keating Carpentry LLC

Bathroom was 5 x8. Stripped to studs and new drywall installed. Some plumbling and electric wiring relocated. Included in estimate but resulted in surcharge. Tile work initially mediocre but grouting has cracked and needs to be redone. Sliding shower door misaligned due to out of plumb drywall. Contractor has failed to respond to follow-up requests. Took the money and ran.

Cost estimate was substantially below two other estimates received, however, estimate failed to mention it did not include the cost of utilizing a sub-contractor for most of the plumbling work even though plumbing was a sub-category of the overall estimate .the addditional cost was not excessive. The initial time frame for completion of the project was typically optimistic - one week. As a retired lawyer who had represented both contractors and homeowners, I was not surprised that the project would take much longer than the contractor's projection. But we were in no hurry so this was a moot point. The demolition alone took over a week. The contractor did a good job of keeping the demolition dirt and debris under control. The construction phase initially involved the relocation of the plumbing for a walk-in shower and heat register. As mentioned, this work was performed by a sub (David G. Parkes) who seemed to do a decent job. He was attentive and responsive to some follow-up issues and I was generally pleased with his work. After the plumbling, the contractor proceeded with the sub-flooring and drywall. No issues here although there were one or two seams that I thought could have been smoother. The tile work was generally good but he used a chipped tile in a conspicuous place when there was an abundant supply of unbroken tiles. With a few exceptions, the tile seam gaps were evenly spaced. The plumber hooked up the toilet and sink. Overall, with a few lapses, the contractor did a good job. He does require regular monitoring if you are a perfectionist because he sometimes makes choices without consulting the homeowner e.g. installing the shower niche upside down, selecting a caulk color that was unacceptable (but did change it at our request) or leaving things undone simply because they are not immediately visible (i.e. not tiling under the heat register). While on site, he was accommodating to our ideas and requests for changes. My most serious reservation is his complete failure to respond to post-construction follow-up issues, which have been of relatively minor consequence but ignored nevertheless.