The Grout Doctor of Tri-Cities

There was some confusion with the owner regarding work scope and date, but it was straightened out, and the worker did an excellent job. I asked for a bid for multiple tasks and received the bid in writing, and then when I scheduled the work, I told the owner over the phone that we only wanted to do one of those tasks, but I wasn't given the revised work scope in writing. I should have asked for it. (Lesson learned). It all worked out though, and we were happy with the work done. The final cost was as stated in the bid. I would use their services again.

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Excellent service! Very personable. I am very particular about how my caulking looks (this is why I did not do it myself) and he did an excellent job. He saw other areas that needed caulking and did them for free. He also took the time to show me how to do it better myself. We had a mix-up on when the appointment was the first time but everything worked out.

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Well. Client was pleased with referral

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On the day arranged an employee showed up; not Steve, as he had said he would. She was friendly and set to work in the bathroom. After less than 15 minutes my son and I began to hear sudden thumps and expletives coming from the bathroom. At one point she went back out to her work car and while she was out there on the phone I went in to see how it was going. There were several broken tiles in the tub and edges ground down on a long strip of these vintage tiles. She was using a grout bit much too large for the 1/8" grout spacing. She had attempted to get some out all around the tub to no success; except for grinding down the edges of the tiles. I took a breath and went back out to sit with my son and work on school stuff. I was waiting for heart surgery just two weeks later and couldn't get upset and just hoped she was getting it worked out and if we needed to have a couple of white tiles (there were some already replaced from the previous owner at the other end of the tub) then it would be okay. After no more than 2.5 hours, including lunch break and many other breaks, she came out and said she was done. Huh? I went in and saw all the broken tiles put back in place but glued together. Lots of grout missing where she had randomly chosen to attempt work earlier on. I figured when Steve came to check the work he would have her fix it so I paid her and gave Steve a call. He sent her back out and she filled the grout spaces with silicone caulking (this is not in the corners or sides so caulking is not what should be needed). We called him again and had him come out to see what we were talking about and showed him that she had NOT removed all the grout prior to regrouting. Many spaces were incomplete. The fall bar had not been removed, nor the shower door to redo behind the frame. She contended that she had removed all the grout in that time frame. When we pointed out the work inside the shower where we knew she had removed it and the work outside on the wall he realized the difference and asked her about it. She finally admitted that she had not done the work. He offered a half refund but we told him that it was not sufficient since the work had not been done. There was a heated debate with my husband and he. I had to leave to keep from getting stressed but turned on the intercom system so that I could hear what was being decided. He finally agreed to send the payment back because she hadn't done the work. I had sent our children outside because he had begun to get upset with his girl for lying about it but when she and Steve went outside they didn't leave immediately. They could be seen and heard by our neighbors, us and the children yelling and gesturing. The confrontation ended with him holding his hand out and her giving him the keys to the company vehicle. After seeing that we thought it was done. It wasn't. We received a check for half. When we called he was extremely mean and kept saying I was trying to get the work done for free and I shouldn't have paid if I didn't like it. I told him that I couldn't get upset and expected HIM to be the one to tell his employee what was acceptable and what wasn't to the client, us. My husband had to call him again after he was so nasty to me to try to get it worked out and Steve kept telling him that he was yelling. He wasn't. He told him that we would send it over to the BBB and he said to go ahead. We did. His response was that our house was an old alphabet house and didn't justify quality work (though we were paying for quality work, we thought). Yes, he really said that. He called me names which made the BBB have to leave the issue. Did you know they don't deal with issues when they become personal attacks? I do now. Fast forward to a bit later. I trust no one to fix our grout. The missing grout spaces allowed water to seep in and caused serious water to the wall behind the tile. Our son slipped in the shower, grabbed the grab bar and it pulled out of the wall with it and him landing on the bottom of the tub with broken tile and wet drywall falling on him. Many more tiles are cracked from the wall being wet and flexing and may have to replace all the tiles. We have purchased an attachment for our dremel (the same thing she was using) and learned that it is still too large for the spaces so we are using a grout knife and small mallet to scratch it out. It is slow but we are determined to do what a "professional" could not and would not do. So, our home is an old alphabet home that was remodeled in 1959. We are the 3rd owners; the government, previous owner and us. It was redone in 1950's pinks, yellows and aquas. We chose to embrace the style of our home, rather than rip it all out and put in modern stuff. Our home has been featured on a very famous retro renovating website and the bathroom was to be a magazine feature after the tile and floor work had been done but it had to be cancelled due to the damage done by Steve and his girl. We do not recommend his company to anyone. Ever. His is arrogant, self serving and self important if he doesn't consider you to be worth his time.

The grout doctor did an excellent job. I wanted a darker grout color on the bathroom floor and he selected a great color and the finish work was excellent. Everything was left clean and tidy. This is the second job he's done for me and I am totally satisfied. He also did the work while I was out of town, so I didn't have to deal with the mess. I was not at all uncomfortable with giving him access to my house while I was gone.

Someone called me while I was at work and gave me a reasonable rate. The sales person responded very quickly and was very personable. It was a fine experience and I had no problems.

Great.

Steve replied to my email the same day and came over for an estimate within a couple days. It was a very simple job (for him) and so we made plans for him to return in 2 hours at which time he finished my job for me. Steve was excellent and everytime I went into the bathroom to see how things were going he gave me a mini lesson on what he was doing. There was no clean up involved in this job (as in old messy caulk or grout), just finish work and beautification and he did very well at that! I am very aware of things that are not straight and even the slightest imperfection will annoy me everytime I look at it. Steve caulked the entire inside and outside of the shower perfectly. When he left there was no indication that he had even been there as far as litter on the floor, etc. This was a very small job but after I saw how wonderful the shower looked I asked for an estimate on our front bathroom tub surround that is showing some mildew staining even though all grout had been replaced recently (by someone else). That job is bigger and will require more work but I am confident it will be beautiful when he is finished.

When I called Steve answered the phone in a harried manner explaining that he couldn't really talk. He asked me to call him back in an hour. I did call him back and I explained that I was looking for an estimate. He said he was on his way and would call me soon. I found this odd because I had not yet given him the address and he had not given me the opportunity to explain that we would need to schedule someone to grant him access to the house. He pressed, asking if there was anyway he could get me an immediate estimate. There was another trade working on the house, so I made a phone call asking that they allow Steve in so he could look at the work that needed to be done. I called Steve back and barely was able to tell him where the house was at and that he would be allowed to go in. I told him I had some particular concerns and asked him to call me when he was at the house so I could explain these concerns to him while he was looking at the tub areas. I would not have typically taken this route, but he seemed rather spacey and I wanted to make sure he understood the work he was giving me an estimate for. Steve went immediately to the house and called me back about 1 1/2 hours later while he was driving away from the house. He told me that the other trade had also left and that the house was locked and secured. I was somewhat disappointed because I had not had the opportunity to talk him through my particular concerns. While we were talking he did give me a bid. I asked him if he had looked at both bathrooms and he told me he had not. He had seen the bathroom I was most concerned about and we discussed the protruding tiles. I asked him if the sinks needing caulking and he admitted that he had not looked at the sinks. I appreciated Steve's willingness to act quickly, but he was so quick to act that he didn't pay attention to what it was I was asking him to do. His thoughts seemed disjointed. This lack of attention to details and poor communication were the reasons I decided to not hire him for the work that needed to be done.

Steve was great to work with and his crew did a very good job. There was a little miscommunication with the crew and they initially did not do our master bathroom. But, after contacting Steve, he had someone come out and finish the job. I personally think that the way a business handles mistakes/surprises will tell you more about them than anything else. Steve made things right for us and did it with no hassle to us. I would recommend them.

The work was solid, and his 3 person crew did good work. I work from home for my job and they were very flexible working around me and minimizing any work disruptions for me.The floor looks better than new, and the grout and calk work makes our bathrooms absolutely 'pop' by by how much better they look. They even used vinegar and rubbing alcohol on the master bathroom shower glass without charging us anything for it. Now our master bathroom and guest bathroom look brand new. I am very pleased with their work and attention to detail, and would refer them to a friend or anyone at my church if they needed grout/tile work done, which should tell you the work is good. It took them two days and the work was professional, competent, and honest. I am aware of the Hermiston Grout Doctor Angie's list entry getting an 'F' score, but Steve is a different franchise for the Tri-Cities.

Very poor workmanship, dishonest by trying to hide damage from me. The quality of the work was terrible. They broke several tiles and tried to hide the damage. They broke my shower door and I had to remove it myself. They kept asking to use my tools (drill bit, vice grips, garbage can) and then asked me for screws to re-attach the door. They did not apply a sealer to the grout and they left a mess on my bathroom sink from where they soaked the tiles. I will not use them again and caution others before using this company.