Ambience Installations

Rick Shaw was recommended to me by Hobo originally, although I ended up going with Menards' Medallion cabinets. I asked if he could still do the installation and he agreed. I'm glad I was there as he originally almost began hanging the cabinets too low. I said the top of the countertops should be 36 inches from the floor and then 18 inches to the bottom of the cabinets. The 3 piece upper molding was supposed to overlap somewhat for a more dramatic look, which I don't think he was familiar with. His carpenter that he left to do the molding was beyond excellent though and did a great job!! Thank goodness. All the cabinets went in fine along with the inside cabinet solutions I had ordered. This is work that his carpenters did. He moved an electrical wire over and made a very large hole in the drywall that wasn't covered by the cabinet , that I ended up patching myself later. He came back another day to install the sink disposal and dishwasher and range outlet. He was very late and had a teenager helper that made me somewhat nervous. He told me that he needed a longer electrical wire for range so he would need to come back to do this. I went over the work after he left and the sink and disposal seemed ok. Dishwasher was sticking out 2 inches, i.e. not flush with the cabinets. Also a small drawer next to the sink had it's entire back sawed off!! Really(?) Apparently the hose was put too high up inside the cabinet and the drawer wouldn't close so his solution was to cut off the back of the drawer. (brand new dove tail corner all wood drawer) I called him that evening and he refused to pay for a new drawer. I suggested we settle up as I wouldn't be needing his services any longer. We had a friend come over and completely reinstall the dishwasher. The hose was not only too high up but too short which was why the appliance wasn't flush with cabinets and it was also kinked up behind sink so no water would run through it. The range outlet was put on wrong side of wall and the drilling to basement had apparently hit a joist which was why a longer wire was now needed. I was able to re-order the drawer-box and just put the drawer face plate onto it to fix the drawer. I'm writing this review a couple years later because I finally decided to join Angie's List and of all the contractors we had work on our Kitchen, some great some so-so and some very bad, Rick was the only one I feel compelled to warn people of. As long his workers are doing the work though... you should be ok. Just don't let him do any of it.

The remodeling of my kitchen started the second week of August.. The teardown and installation of the new cabinets took less than one day. He requested that I have the appliances delievered after the cabinets. The granite countertops were installed by another vendor. The actual connection of the sink was done a week later. It took him another week to do the electrical for the stove, microwave and the additional electrical outlet that was required. He installed the new outlet and moved my telephone wall jack and left large holes in the drywall. He never repaired them. The major problem seemed to be with the dishwasher. Weeks past and nothing was connected. When I inquired why I was told that he was waiting for a panel for junction box. The laminate flooring was installed mid-August. No one consulted with me about the pattern and it wasn't pleased with it but what could I do after the fact. A few days after the flooring was installed I noticed water in front of my refrigerator and in my half-bath off the kitchen. I blamed it on my kids. A friend come over the following weekend and she showed me were water coming up under the laminate flooring. I contacted Rick and he came out and reconnected the water line to the refrigerator. He told me the flooring would dry out. Labor Day weekend I had to call him out again because water was coming up under the laminate flooring. He came out and disabled the connection to the refrigator. That weekend my guests and I had to put multiple towels on the floor to mop up all the water. It started to drip into my basement. I again called him out because the tiles in my kitchen and bathroom were starting to lift from all of the water. He called me at work and told me he couldn't locate the leak. I called in another contractor in to tell me that the leak was coming from under the dishwasher due to a stripped brass connection on a dishwasher that wasn't even connected. Rick came out and tightened it up. In the meantime, I asked him what he planned on doing about the water damage to my floor? I called the laminate manufacturer and they agreed to replace the tile but said he was responsible for the labor. Rick didn't return my calls or have any contact with me for 5weeks. I called flooring contractors out to get estimates on the floor damage and was advised me that all flooring would need to be pulled up to check for mold and that floor boards would need to be replaced. Rick sent his flooring guy out to replace a few of the tiles and add floor leveling. The guy came out and when he saw the extent of the damage (mold and weakend floorboards) he contacted Rick. Rick told him to go ahead with repairs.. The floorboards were patched, leveling was put down and the laminate reinstalled. I had someone come out and observe the work that was being done. I paid Rick in full and he promised to come back and finish the little items that needed adjustment. I had my backsplash guy patch the hole around the electrical outlet and when the painting was done we patched the large hole near the telepghone and renailed the baseboards in places they missed. . My floor is still uneven and a lot of the leveling has dripped into my basement and damaged my clothes. Yesterday, I had Sears come out and tell me that the reason soap is leaking on my counter via the air gap is due to improper installation of the dishwasher venting. Rick dropped off my garage door opener about a month ago and has yet to return my house key. He left another client's key. My kitchen looks great but I'm afraid of what other issues I will find out about at a later date.