In a word, disappointing. Please save your money and stress on this one. I have attached pictures and video of his work. I should not have paid for anything until the work was completed and I was satisfied with the job. I have been saving pennies for many years to complete my bathroom, kitchen, and fence the backyard. I received bids to finish a shower stall, remove a closet door enclosure, install a kitchen cabinet, and chain link my back yard from four different companies. This person came in much lower than the rest and talked like he had experience enough to handle the jobs. I checked him out on Angie's List, Facebook (it appears perhaps his friends wrote this review), and his website. His website claims that he can handle a whole list of things. The truth is that he is ill prepared to handle most of the projects he has listed. I was very clear on what I expected with every job. I already had most of the materials purchased and purchased many additional items myself (around $900.00 worth on top of what I was paying him) the contractor insisted upon before he could complete the jobs. He needed a considerable amount of extra items. He purchased many these things himself. All of the jobs ended up costing 2-3 times the estimated price. I should have insisted that everything be written out with very specific details ahead of time and asked for detailed receipts for any purchases he made on his own. The contractor was very concerned that he got paid money upfront. His online payment process is more of a hindrance to the customer than a benefit. He turns off the service certain times in order to save him money. The contractor required me to purchase a pre-made molded base for the shower even though the supplies for tile were already bought. Basically, he didn't know how to install a tile shower floor. This was an extra amount, but okay. It was obvious that he wasn't happy about needing to pick up the base. Handyman had to hire a plumber to install the shower base because he didn't have the ability to do this. Another charge. The first job was to install and tile a small shower area. After using the shower two times, water started leaking under the flooring in the next room/vanity area. I talked to the contractor about this and he bought some cheap caulking and poorly dabbed some around the shower base. The leak continued, he came out and added more caulking. The leak worsened and after five showers in a new custom built $3000. shower, my sub-floor and vanity area were completely saturated and ruined, needing to be replaced. Handyman refused to take any responsibility at all. He blamed the plumber that installed the base and told me that I would have to take it up with him because he was finished. The plumber refused to take responsibility and blamed it on Handyman. Again, the customer was stuck with the huge problem and major expense. Handyman did not like the particular grout that Home Depot sold me with the marble tile and he insisted that I pay for him to buy something different. His special grout turned yellow as the shower leaked, started breaking apart, and falling out immediately. After studying the shower, I realized that there were places with no grout between the tiles; complete voids. He barely used any grout for the shower. The leak was due to absolutely NO waterproofing materials on the walls, base, or step/threshold to the shower. Who builds a shower base and threshold with no waterproofing materials? Apparently, Handyman. His explanation was that you aren't supposed to waterproof a shower floor. Therefore, I am stuck having to tear out the new shower I just paid him $3000. to install, my flooring, and sub-floor in order to repair the damage this person has created for me. He takes no responsibility in this disaster. I paid about $1000. for him the remove a header and a small side area around an existing closet. The partial patch job he did with the drywall is embarrassing. Another skill he was simply unable to master. I ended up having to fix this on my own. Handyman attempted to patch a 10x4 inch area in the ceiling where a wall had been removed. $250. and it looks terrible. Like a big lump of drywall patching material on my ceiling. Simply not his forte. The shower soap dishes were put in the wrong area, even though there were placement lines drawn on the shower walls with black marker. As you look into the shower, he placed a marble tile with a large irregular, dark splotchy pattern in the worst possible position. A real eye sore. There was plenty of extra marble left, but he apparently just couldn't see this big black irregularity in this one piece of marble in a beige and white shower. The contractor refused to change it out or come up with any solutions. Just ignored my displeasure. Handyman also tiled up the wall before placing the faucet/handheld plumbing as I had originally asked him to do; one of the main reasons I hired this project out to someone else. Again, this was out of his realm and needed to hire a plumber to fix his problem. He calls me at work to tell me that he couldn't do what I had asked him to do originally because the tile was already up and that he didn't understand the situation. He just "didn’t know what to tell me." He couldn't even remember what he was asked to do when hired. A year later, the plumber that Handyman hires is calling me wanting additional payments. Handyman is refusing the pay the plumber he hired. He is blaming the problem on me. He placed my name on the contract even though I never spoke to a plumber. An additional $100. for screwing on an already existing shower head and faucet. What handyman can't figure out how to put together a shower handle and install it back on the valve? This man simply states that it is not his problem to find a solution and puts it back on the customer. To add to the frustration, he used the wrong tile in the toilet floor area and charged me extra for re-nailing the existing base molding back on 3 very small walls after tiling it. Handyman contracted out the installation of chain link fencing of a large back yard. This job was completed by the two workers quickly. It was about $2000. higher than the original estimate. Much of the material was already bought and he was responsible for purchasing additional materials. I am still picking up loose wires from the yard. Not to mention the wire that went through and ruined my lawn tractor tire. Unfortunately, there are some areas of the fence which have 3 to 4 inch gaps at the base of the fencing; between the ground and the fence. This was a big issue that was brought up as I was getting the bid from him because I have a small dog that uses the backyard. As Handyman was asking me for the money, I brought this up to him a couple of times. His typical response is, "Oh, yeah, yeah." He suggested that I go out and buy some stakes and place them every 3 or 4 feet around the yard.... Lack of responsibility for his workmanship. He did not even go back to evaluate the work his people did, but he did have the nerve to attach his company sign onto the front of my fence to advertise his company. The sign is in the trash. I am still cleaning off dried plaster/grout hand and boot prints from every part of my house. It was dried on window sills, floors, door handles, towels, water hoses, toilets, etc. There is even a dark giant footprint on the new shower base which I haven't been able to find a way to scrub off. He set off the house alarms twice without bothering to notify me. I even had presents left in the toilet a couple of times after returning from work. Who does that? While he was completing the above mentioned jobs, my garage door stopped working. I asked if he could fix it. "Oh, yeah, yeah, sure." I purchased the sensors. He said that he could not use those and went out and bought new ones, but not before opening the ones I bought and using parts from them. Costing me twice as much as it should have in addition to his labor costs. I got home from work and the packaging was left laying there with parts so I could get my money back. He charged $175. to install two sensors, plus the $35. I spent on the first sensors and the new ones he purchase. Okay, I needed it done. However, he broke or knocked off the two side supporting cables that help align the garage door. Another problem for me to pay for and fix. I have worked with many contractors before, some positive, some not so fabulous. I have never experienced such irresponsible shoddy work as I have with Handyman. He had an excuse for everything. I have given him opportunities to correct these issues, but I am still having repercussions from hiring him. Another bothersome issue is that he wasn’t even professional enough to return my house keys. I am usually not a very confrontational person and would never leave such a bad report on a person. Hiring this person was a very, very expensive mistake which I will be paying for over many years
Ginger C.
