Creative Concepts LLC

Quality of work is poor and much has to be redone. Not sure if the work is shoddy because he walked out of the job and never returned to finish, or if he just does shoddy work as his method of operation. Some of the project was never even begun before he walked out on the job. Jerry told me he had to go to N. Carolina to do a "Jerusuleum" tile job, and never returned. However, everytime he hit me up for payment, whether it was the hr. rate ripoff, or at the point where payment was due, I always paid him the amt. he demanded on the same day requested.  He walked off the job w/o completing the project and left a good amt. of work to be finished, although by this time I owed him very little money. Another warning, do not pay more than 1/3 up front, otherwise you're likely to end  up in the same bind as me.Yet, he had no respect for how his erractic schedule negatively impacted & inconvienced me. He's all about self, whether it's buying him lunch, a hammock, carpet, & whatever else he can beat out of you. I would not recommend commissioning this co. to perform work on your home for any reason.There is a local tile store owned by an Italian family. Jerry called them "WAPS."I had Real Deal perform a small job previously, which was to install crown moulding on the first level. At no time prior to installation was I informed it would need to be re-caulked every year. Had I been told this, I likely would not have had it installed. Jerry informed me the incorrect kind of caulk was used, hence the cracking.

I keep cases of bottled water in my garage.  Jerry is an avid water drinker.  I offered him some of the water.  Social graces & polite equitte would have dictated he take no more than 2-3 bottles a day.  Jerry practically cleaned me out in no time flat, & gave me every opportunity via directed & specific hints that he wanted more water.  By this time, I decided to start buying gallon jugs, which isn't what he wanted.  Adter twisting my arm to buy him water, to no avail, he said something to the effect of, "I guess I'll have to go buy water on my way over tomorrow. " By now, it's clear the type of person I'm dealing with so I say, "Yes, I guess you will."  In my opinion, once he tags you as being a free hearted person, he's going to get all he can from you, yet, he's quick to say he's not finishing a project to specifications because he underestimated the amt. of material, and he wants you to pay him separately by the hour (plus go back & buy the additional material), above & beyond the original contractual agreeement, in order to get the job you originally contracted for.

There were several places in the garage that were sloppy, obvious & in need of correction.  Jerry acknowledged they needed attention.  He told me I paid for only two (or however many) coats of mud, so he was satisfied to leave it flawed as it was.  H'owner's are entitled to a proper job regardless the number of "coats" it takes, or whatever the case may be.  He had the obligation to, in this particular instance, paint the ceiling properly.  I don't know anything about how many coats of mud a ceiling requires, all I know is that I wanted it painted properly, but he was satisfied to walk away & leave it unslightly because "you paid for only two coats of mud."  As the contractor, it is his responsibility to give me a quote that is sufficient to give me a quality job.  This goes to his quality of workmanship, which means that you not only have to check behind everything, but that you likely have to engage in a debate as to how much more money it will cost to have the job done correctly because he's not applying the extra coat(s) for free because it's the right thing to do.  Such costs should be built into the project, but not with Jerry.  It has been my experience, that he will jump into your pocket every opportunity ("you should buy me lunch"),etc., and you're stuck because you want the job completed correctly.  This is yet another way the cost of the job escalates once you're already stuck in a contract.  Any reasonable h'owner. would expect that the, in this case, ceiling, would be painted responsibly whether it took half a "coat of mud" or five "coats."  This is how the h'owner. is ripped off because Jerry then wants you to double back & pay him additional "for my time" for a job that should have been done correctly the first time.  But for him to take the approach "you only paid for two coats of mud" is arrogant when what I actually paid for is for him to do it right the first time.   Again...he acknowledged it needed at least one more coat; to his own admission he saw the imperfections.  Nobody wants a half job.  We work just as hard for our money as he does, and just as he wouldn't want anyone performing sloppy work on his behalf, we deserve quality as well.   Between the hourly fee he calculates, & schemes such as the above, it's easy to spend quadruple the amount originally agreed upon, but by this time, you're between a rock & a hard place.  My advice...don't start climbing the rock to begin with.  Look someplace else.

Jerry knows that I take my relationship with God and the church I attend seriously.  When he leanred I contacted the BBB, he left a message on my v/m threatening, "I'll show up at your church, and we'll sit down and talk to the pastor."   He went for the one thing he knows I cherish, and that's the above stated relationships.  And for him to say "I'll show up" that's quasi threatening and intimidating.  He was attempting to strong arm me into doing what he wanted me to do by threatening to go to an individual he perceived as an authority in my mind, the threat of which was supposed to cause me to change course.  That in itself is unscrupulous and under-handed.  I was offended that he would use these sanctities against me to manipulate my behavior into what he wanted to see happen.  He hadn't even spoken with me, yet this was the msg. he left on my v.m. before ever talking the matter out with me.  It's almost as though he was trying to inspire fear in me to act in accordance with how he wanted me to respond. 

He did beautiful work. He is a one man operation from beginning to end. He sometimes has his son help him. I have been very happy with his work. He is very particular with his work, he is kind of a perfectionist, he is very skilled and takes pride an in what he does.