HEARTHSIDE

I went to their showroom and picked out a fireplace design that was the same as one on the floor, but with different stone and brick. The sales rep helped with picking the brick/stone/mantel and said everything I was asking for, such as clipped corners on the hearth and a herringbone design for the brick within the upper arch, was no problem. It seemed like an easy job because they had already did this design in the showroom. The workmen didn't show up on one day and then showed up and hour late on the next with an attitude "because he was called off of another job to do mine." It soon became apparent he didn't have a clue on what he was supposed to do. He asked me where the framing was supposed to start and where the side return was supposed to be. Obviously, I didn't know, nor was I going to guess wrongly. I told him to call the store and ask them. He then started marking the upper wall without an arch and I asked where was it going to be and he said I wasn't supposed to get one. I said yes I was, I paid $400 extra for that and his partner looked at my invoice and announced I wasn't. I told them to call the store again and instead he and his partner just left. The store was very apologetic and sent another crew of 4 the next day who also came an hour late but seemed, under the direction of one guy, to know what they were doing. They ran out of cement board and could have sent one or two guys to get more but didn't. They worked 3 hours and just left. They didn't bring the fan and said the store would send one out while they were working, or the next day but, they didn't, so we had to set up another appointment for that. They came the next day an hour later then they told us and finished the job, leaving a ton of dust everywhere in the house and didn't have shop vac to even suck up dust around the fireplace. If they would have told us how much of a mess this was going to be, despite them cutting outside, we would have moved furniture and put up plastic. They also left six huge boxes from the stone because they didn't have room in the truck. The fireplace turned out excellent, but I don't know what we would have gotten if we weren't there the entire time watching and making a few adjustments to the mantel height and a few stones. Poor communication and professionalism!! This could have been corrected with a job blueprint and a complete list of what was needed to finish the job, with less than 4 guys.

The craftsmen took only a few days, but worked with great care! In fact, the one man told us he would only leave finished work he would like in his own home. The hand-laid stones and hung mantels ended up looking fabulous and like they had always been there. We are the envy of our neighbors.

The store had several samples and ideas to choose from. The craftsman left the gas logs, etc., in place and ready to go. We have already been enjoying them.