Cincinnati Framing Basement Walls

Hired The Finished Basement (FB) company for a basement remodel in November 2020. My neighbor had used them and found there work acceptable. My opinion is different. If you are looking for a contractor to just finish your basement and do not care about quality or how it is done, then this company will do that for you. If you are concerned about getting what you want and making sure it is done right, then keep on reading. Things you need to know before hiring this company: 1. Contracts are vague and do not provide details for work. I had my three pages of requirements added as an addendum to the contract. 2. Told that all people working for FB were employees. They used contractors. 3. Their project manager only schedules work crews and handles county inspections. Does not review contractors work and make sure requirements followed. Makes excuses every time here is an issue. You must force them to fix issues by withholding payment. 4. You must make sure contractors are doing the work correctly and to your expected quality level. 5. FB does not review contractor’s work. Only care that it can pass inspection. 6. County inspectors doing permit reviews virtually (not on site) miss issues because they only see what the project manager shows them on his phone. He will skip over known issues to get the inspection passed because they do not care about quality. 7. Project manager does not read work contracts signed by owner. 8. FB may use cheaper products that what they tell you they use (i.e., Spray Foam) 9. FB does not honor their warranty and will not fix issues after final payment. 10. Owner gets a discount at Lowes so wants you to pick finishes he can buy there. 11. I purchased the cabinets, LED lighting and flooring from where I wanted and had delivered to job site. I also did all the painting. 12. I have had an electrical issue with some of the new breakers tripping after a power outage. Been trying to get FB to fix the issue for 4 months. Cannot get them to come fix the problem. Issues with contractor’s work: 1. I had to explain design plan to contractors when they arrived on site. 2. Contractors never asked you to review work, they just leave when done. 3. Framers did not allow for extra thick drywall (for soundproofing) when framing soffits causing cabinets to not fit correctly. Cabinets had to be modified to fit in space and doors open into walls since 1” spacing between wall and cabinets had to be eliminated. 4. Framers did not properly secure many wall 2x4s. 5. Framers incorrectly installed floor joist bridge blocking and left some out. 6. Framers incorrectly installed return vent duct work. 7. Framers incorrectly framed out soffit so cabinet would not fit under it. 8. Framers installed framing touching hot water line so rubbed and squeaked when hot water used. 9. Electrician forgot to wire for a row of can lights in the ceiling. 10. Electrician did not allow for double thick drywall for ceiling light boxes. (set to deep) 11. Plumber wanted to install sink drain venting that was not up to code. 12. Plumber moved a waste line and put it right next to a hot water line causing them to rub together and squeak when hit water used. 13. Plumber did not install nail plates on 2x4 with pipes through them. 14. Spray insulation installer sprayed code at a thickness from ½ inch to 4 inches in depth when code requires 2 inches of foam for insulation. Did not spray behind 2x4s in corners and missed other spots. Manager tried to fill areas with fire block foam. 15. Manager had contractor use ¼ of manufacturer recommenced amount of sound insulation glue between drywall sheets. Good things: 1. Framers’ laser leveled and squared all walls to near perfect. 2. Framers listened and worked well with me as design requirements were explained. We discussed how they were going to build something before they did it to try and make sure it was what I wanted. 3. Nothing good about the plumber. 4. Drywall crew did a really nice job with only a few fixes need before painting. 5. Finishing crew (framers) did a nice job fitting cabinets into shortened space. 6. Finishing crew did nice job on baseboards and laminate flooring. I caught most of the issues because I reviewed all the contractor’s work. I know how framing, electrical, drywall and finishes should be done so I knew when the project manager was trying to give me an excuse to not fix the issues. Here is one example of a major issue I had to fight to get fixed. FB uses spray foam insulation between the basement wall and framing. Functions as vapor barrier and insultation. Code in my area requires 2 inches of spray foam. The project manager got the building inspector to pass the permit on a virtual inspection. Something did not look right with the foam being very wavy instead of smooth. Some places it filled out past the wall studs. I started measuring the depth of foam and found it ranged from ½ inch to 4 inches in different places. I discussed this issue with the project manager since I’m paying for 2” of foam, He discussed this with the owner and said they purchased the correct amount of spray foam to insulate the space and would not do anything about it. (Tanks of spray foam are about $500+ so they do not want to buy more.) I talked to the owner and told him that I would contact the building inspector who approved the permit and ask if it this variance in levels was acceptable. If he said yes, then I would not press the issue. The owner was at my house the next day to review the issue. He made the same excuse that they had purchased the correct amount to insulate the space to code. I said that it is not my problem if they can not install it correctly. Code requires 2” of foam. They fixed the issue the next day. Overall I’m happy with the basement now that it is done, but I had to do A LOT of work to make sure I got what I wanted. Cost without cabinets, countertop, flooring, lighting, and painting: $24,970

Wally and his guys were all very professional and easy to work with. All work was done according to the agreed to budget and schedule, including easy accommodation of our vacations. Work areas were always left clean. I'm amazed at how responsive all his subs are to what he needs done and when. Subs were all also high quality. Touch ups required after last payment was made were also done quickly and to our satisfaction. End product is fantastic.

Wally and team did a wonderful job finishing our basement. We've worked with a number of contractors and remodelers over the years and Wally's team were particularly professional and experienced. They were helpful and flexible as we modified and expanded our plans over the life of the project. They listened to what we wanted, and when we weren't sure what we wanted, they had helpful suggestions and were able to guide us to a good decision. Most importantly, Wally and his project manager, Matt, were always responsive and in-touch and maintained great communication throughout the project. We're really happy with the final product and I'd recommend Wally and team to anyone.

It went great. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to finish their basement. Wally answered his phone the first time we called him and came out to our house within the week. He had a list of all the options with him which helped make everything easy. He made very good suggestions. His crews was able to start sooner than he originally thought. Every person that worked on our basement did a great job. They were extremely skilled. They did a great job of keeping us informed of what would take and when. Our basement looks better than we thought it could look.

Jared came out to give me a price for finish basement of 2500 sqft. He had a lot of great ideas and left no wasted space unturned. He emailed me a couple different designs of rough drawings of floor plans and ideas. I've used Building Character in the past and every time I do Jared seems to amaze me even more with his talent and designs. His work ethic is simply amazing to me. Once we agreed on a price within a week he and his team began to put of framing of walls and interiors. They loaded all the wood in and framed the entire basement in a day and a half. Once that was complete a team of electricians came in the very next day. Within two days they had completed all the rough in for electric. The plumber came out three days later to do plumbing for full bath. They had to bust up concrete to run drains for shower and toilet. Plumbers had everything wrapped up in three days and at that point Jared had said was ready for insulation and sheet rock. Everything was going as planned. This entire project turned out better than I could have ever imagined. The project of the basement just kept rolling in to a beautiful finish product that I will be spending a lot more time in. I felt that his price was very fair compared to others that I had gotten. He was very professional and open minded. I will be recommending Building Character for a long time to come. Thank you Jared once again! I'm in a place of happiness!

Top notch craftsmanship and professionalism! Specifically, the crew was courteous, worked clean, had great attention to detail and all communication was timely, polite and clear. The team finished 1,500 square feet in our basement, giving us a large living area, a full bar, a full bath and a large play room—work was done on time and on budget.

Don’t waste your time. On May 29, 2020 Brian came to my home took measurements and collected $300.00 for a estimate and 3D drawing. I had to call him to check on the status of the estimate and the drawing. He tells me he believes the estimate is outside of our budget. I tell him we don’t have a budget. Give me an estimate and drawing so that we may see and make our decision. On June 29, 2020, I go to the office to get my estimate and 3D drawing. Brian gives me back my check and tells me he believes it is outside of my budget. Keep in mind we don’t have a budget. This I’d extremely offensive. They would not even provide an estimate. I am wondering if that I’d because I am black. I hope not.

The basement looks better than I expected. Joe and his crew did excellent work. They were on time and cleaned up afterwards. Joe made sure that everything met his high standards. He had a lot of good suggestions when asked, but didn't push them on us. I am scheduling him again to remodel my master bathroom.

Cody finished my basement bathroom and did a fantastic job. This was a pretty challenging job given those wonderful surprises involving basement plumbing. Cody ran the water lines, installed the toilet, tub, fan, sink, shower door, electric...and then finished the drywall and laid the floor. He even fixed some of my framing gaffs and gave me pointers on how to frame the remainder of the basement. He also came well within his quote and was pleasant to work with. I highly recommend Cody!

Joe and his team were very professional from the moment we requested the quote for the project until the project was completed. Joe offered suggestions to make our decisions easier and answered any questions during the process. The project was started and completed as schedule despite many days of difficult weather. They were very careful taking in consideration one member of our family was sleeping during the day due to working 3rd shift. Overall, we are very satisfied with the finished project and enjoying our new place. Joe was able to work with us and keeping us in budget. We 100% recommends Joe for any work around the house. We definitely will contact him for additional projects.

Mark Williams is a true professional. He crew was great! Quality work! The estimate was exactly what the end invoice will be.. Finished job in record time! Highly recommend!

Could not have been happier. Professional, courteous, and clean. Not to mention the walls look significantly nicer than the rest of my house.

Steve was excellent to work with, very professional and provided a high quality service. His pricing is very competitive and he is flexible with his schedule to accommodate the customers needs. I highly recommend Mills Drywall services.

They started on Jun 15 and finished by July 13. Overall, fairly well, communication could have been better, warning of what was coming and when, etc.

It went great. I had quotes up to $17,000 he gave me the lowest option. I looked at 4 different companies and they were extremely aggressive in pricing. They explained everything and his solution made the most sense. Extremely clean, polite and went out of their way. I was surprised I could get worked into their schedule so quickly.