Top Rung Construction

Summary: The work that was done was good quality for the most part, and the people on site (mostly sub-contractors) were very polite and willing to work with us. However, I initially, to lower the price, negotiated doing some of the work myself, which they offered as an option. In the end, I was told over and over that what I was asking for was not in the contract. I ended having to touch up or finish up almost every aspect of the project myself, things that would be common sense because it "wasn't included in the contract". In fact, all of it was included in the contract, just a dispute over how it was written, and what it meant. Bottom Line: If you do not have the skills to do the work yourself, do not get involved because you never know what is going to be put back on you. It is a shame that this is a bad review, because in the end I am very happy with the new walls and doors. Customer service: Although I liked most of the teams, and every sub-contractor was apologetic about putting work back on me, Robert seemed postured for an argument every time something was "not in the contract". He said things like "don't you read your emails?", "It's in the first line of the contract", "Don't you realize that it's in the contract?", "Are you just trying to get something for free?". In fact, almost everything he referred to was not clear, and different from what we spoke about (from my wife and my recollection). In the end I paid the extra and did all the disputed work myself. There was 0 give, accountability, or acknowledgement from Robert (Top-Rung), and as I said all conversations about this stuff began and ended confrontational on their part. I did not even get upset and push back till the very last straw. Drywall and Electrical: I wanted to save some funds by doing the electrical myself. I was given 12-hour notice that they were coming, and would I be able to get my part done that evening. I agreed to get the work prepped for the drywallers that evening (which no electrician would have done) and talked to them about my plans for running wires. Once they got into the walls, it was clear that my plans were not going to work, but they moved forward anyway. I had to open small portions of the wall to drill through the studs that were discovered, and then had to pay out of pocket for the drywall folks to come back out. Carpet Installation: When you remove a section of the wall to allow French doors to be installed, the missing carpet is exposed where the wall was. We told them that we had remnants from when the house was built, so they did not need to match the carpet, but we would like them to patch it. When the job was finished, they said the contract and email says, "Carpet is not included in the proposal." We thought that meant the carpet itself, not the installation. Doors: The contract allowed for use to buy the doors from them or order our own. We talk to them about buying the doors, but they said it would be several months out. We bought pre-hung doors from Lowes, and they installed them. Installing French door handles was part of the contract. However, they said, drilling a hole for the handle was not in the contract, and I would have to pay for them to come back out with a drill. French doors do not know what handles you will use, how many you will use, or which door they will go on. Do a search for French doors, this is the default. I also had to install my own flush bolts and so on. Trim: When the trim was put back in, the seams were partially filled in (some were and some were not), we had to do the work ourselves. We did opt to prime and paint the walls and trim as we knew the color and had the paint.