Brutally Honest Testimonials
Good listener
Don’t you hate it when all you see is glowing testimonials? Where is the DIRT? Surely these other companies have pissed someone off really good! Even I get excited when I get great or rotten service. Rarely do I keep quiet about it.
This page is dedicated to telling the truth. Yes we get glowing testimonials, but we piss people off occasionally too. It is not on purpose of course! I made a vow years ago to treat people right. I am not in the business to anger or upset anyone, however, shit happens. Through the process of working it out, much is learned.
I have saved little notes, stories, and comments for years and now have a place to put them. When situations arise, I become an active listener and historian. So, at the risk of TMI, and losing a perspective client or two, here is full disclosure.
When we hit the nail on the head, or when we miss completely, people talk. It is in this spirit that I post these brutally honest testimonials along with some background for context.
The reality is that I have and will continue to move Heaven & Earth to make sure my clients are shielded from the “Lions, Tigers, and Bears” of the remodeling process. I will also be there to deal with anything that might come up for years to come. It is all about what’s wrong, not who’s wrong, that I am focused on. How we solve the problems that are bound to arise is what defines us.
The Management.
Asses & Elbows
My Turn!
We were called to examine a water damage problem in a kitchen of a 9 year old home. We were welcomed at the front door and didn’t notice any particular sense of urgency. As we rounded the corner into the kitchen with hardwood floors, we saw the buckling. My superintendant and I immediately dove into demolition mode. We started removing the waterlogged flooring that had swollen and pinned the refrigerator. We quickly located the spraying hose, and turning off the broken water line.
After removing the majority of the ruined flooring the clients said “gee, we were just hoping you would provide us with some advice, we had no Idea you were going to spring into action. That was cool.” We try to handle these problems like they are in our own home. With my strong background in emergency medicine it was a reflex to dive in and fix the problem and save the home. We left them with fans and dehumidifiers running.
Painter From Hell
While visiting the job site at the end of the day, the Owner met me at the door to say” If this is the quality of your painting… I would have rather painted it myself”! Ouch, we had the painter return several times until the owner was pleased. We do not use that painter now.
Those Installers Rock
My clients took a moment to give a shout out to my cabinet installers, a father and son team. “They did a magnificent job putting in our cabinets”
Leaking Egress Windows
We had installed 4 egress windows for a single woman and had all sorts of difficulties with the leftover dirt. We were glad to be done with the project. A year and a half after completion , she called in the early summer to report that one of her windows was leaking and had flooded her basement family room. Panicked, I responded (Code 3). Realizing that it had not rained in over a month I was anxious to figure out what had happened. When I finally got the full story from her, it turns out her son had turned on the sprinkler system and had left it running for days spraying right at the window. “We did not build you a boat, I said” I agreed to not only help fix the problem, but we upgraded all four windows using our new improved moisture proofing technique that we had learned since her project. She thanked us profusely!
A Weird Sound in the Basement
What is that noise ?
After having a water heater installed I received a strange call around 8PM. “Joe”, she said, ” I hear a weird sound in the basement, can you come check it out? I buzzed over to discover that the water heater supply line had a large leak! Freaked out I attempted to contact the subcontractor after hours. I kept getting his answering machine. I ended up fixing the problem myself on the spot. The following morning I reported what had happened. Frustrated that I could not reach him, I asked if there was a special person or number that takes his call. “Nope, when we leave we are off the clock” He is no longer our plumber and I raised my esteem in my homeowner’s eyes.
My Carpet is Ruined
After installing carpet protection to avoid getting an area rug from becoming soiled during the remodeling process we removed it expecting that the carpet was in fact protected. It looked fine until a few days later when we discovered that the carpet was actually attracting dirt. We immediately called in the carpet cleaning company that did “the best that they could” The client called nearly in tears, “my $3000 wool carpet is ruined”. Instinctively I zoomed to the home while calling the carpet cleaners. “it looks fine, she is overly picky” he said. I arrived to see what was going on, and it looked bad! In questioning the client she normally takes the carpet to an area cleaning company that I had not used “they are the best” she said”. We rolled it up and put it into my car.
That Felt Good
I met the actual cleaner guy who took great pride in his process and his work. He said he has a two week backup in business. I left it there after telling my story hoping for the best and told the client what was up. The next morning I received a call that the carpet was ready to pick up. Fearing a mistake, I arrived to see a perfectly clean carpet. After hugging the cleaning guy, I hot footed it to my clients home and returned the carpet to its place. My client was giddy with joy. “Thank you, how did you get that done so fast? It looks beautiful again!” That is what I do. I contacted the protective film company who said I did not read the fine print “NOT FOR WOOL CARPETS” In fact they took responsibility for the problem and paid for the cleaning as well as provided me with a credit for more film. Through this process, I also learned that I needed a new carpet cleaning company, which I now have.
The Water Just Came Gushing In
It was a winter day and it had been snowing recently, all of a sudden it started to warm up. The roof top melted in a flash and the downspouts drained everything just like they were designed to do. Unfortunately, there was a breech in the underground drain system that ties it all together. Unbeknownst to the crew that was working in the same room, a waterfall of water entered the subterranean room in a heartbeat. Shocked the crew started vacuuming it up as fast as they could. They struggled to keep up and slowly got the upper hand. The homeowner came down to say hello, and was shocked that for the past 2 hours the crew had been doing everything possible to save the home from flood damage. To everyone’s amazement, at 7pm the water stopped coming in. Nothing substantial was ruined. “ Those boys worked their tushes off to protect my home, I can’t thank them enough, It was amazing to watch”
Hey, Who Turned Out The Lights
It Sure is Dark!
It was a warm summer evening and my second story remodeling project was in the electrical rough in phase. We had discovered that the kitchen we were working over had been remodeled poorly in the past. There were all sorts of short cuts taken and we were up to our elbows in cleaning up others mistakes. It started getting dark around 7pm and my clients called, “half of our home is without electricity”. Having two small kids, this was going to be a problem. I immediately responded to see if it was something simple like a flipped breaker but no. I finally got in touch with the electricians and we were out there with flashlights until 9pm when we finally got it solved. “Thanks you guys are GREAT, I really appreciate that you came over and fixed this tonight, it means a lot to us” I was there with the electrician fixing what they had left incomplete at the end of the day. It made an impression on everyone. Testing everything before we go is part of the evening checklist.