VERSATILE FLOORING

Contractor offered 90 day same as cash. We accepted. Big mistake. Financing was with GE Money Bank. They immediately reported my account in default and it affected my credit rating. Contractor was often very late and/or postponed until next day. Correct amount of materials were not ordered and we spent many days during installation waiting for tiles. Too many 12 x 12 tiles were ordered and contractor refused to give us credit; extra 18 x 18 tiles were ordered but some mysteriously disappeared. A 1 week job turned into a 2 1/2 week job. Contractor did not make adjustments for uneven flooring. When laying large hard tiles, floor should be leveled out first. No effort was made to do this. Contractor NEVER USED A LEVEL during the entire process. Consequently we have sloping, uneven floors. In the kitchen/breakfast area it was quite noticeable. We had to beg contractor to tear out some of it and offered to pay for the extra tiles to make it look somewhat presentable. Many door frames were cut as much as 3/8" too high. Very noticeable. Looks awful. Some tiles meeting walls were cut too small and gap shows. When pointed out to contractor, he replaced some of the more obvious ones but left others. There are uneven tiles throughout, especially beneath one toilet. Contractor used dark colored ThinSet (glue). He should have used a light colored glue since all the tile and grout are light. He made no efforot to scrape away the excess glue before applying grout. The customer spent hours and hours scraping away the black ThinSet showing through or above the grout. Large amounts of tile/grout debris were in the floor vent after tear out. Customer had to resort to removing handfuls of debris in the presence of contractor even though he had been reminded to clean it out. A rag or towel should have been stuffed down the vent to prevent the problem at the start. Contractor never apologized for not cleaning it out. Woodwork and cabinetry were damaged. No effort was made to clean grout from woodwork and cabinets. Area where tile meets carpet was not properly prepared for carpet installation to follow. We should have been told that we needed a sleuter strip installed with the tile. Three noticeable areas were so poorly done that we had to hire a second contractor to re-do them. They had been pointed out and dismissed as being "ok" by original contractor. Within weeks we had 2 loose tiles in the hall because they had been laid over a seam with no tape. They had to be removed and replaced at additional cost. Placement of tile in master bath was poorly planned and is not aesthetically correct. Stove handle was broken off and stove top was bent. Contractor did re-attach handle; however, stove does not sit evenly. During and after installation, problems were pointed out to the contractor in writing and in person. He made no concessions. He charged all to finance company and we had no way to challenge the charges.