Alewine Business Services

Work was performed in a detached Guest House. When we purchased the property there was a sense that there was a "hump" in the bedroom floor of the Guest House. When we decided to replace the carpeting in that room we thought it would be a good opportunity to attempt to level the floor and replace 2 circular floor vents (actually meant for use in ceilings) with 4 X 12 rectangular vents. I am very handy and had accomplished all the remodel by myself (full kitchen and walk in closet) I was faced with going into the hospital for a couple days and knew I would have about one week recovery time. I thought it would be nice to have someone come in, get the work done and have the carpeting installed during my recovery time. NOTE: I had used Alewine Business Services once before. (thanks largely to a subset of fairly competent subs, that project was done satisfactorily for the most part. Alewine left to take a part time job in Canada before that job was completed, leaving a sub demanding payment from me & a problem that was unresolved until I re-roofed my house this year. I would have easily done this job myself and considered it a fairly straightforward and easy task. It is my own fault for calling Alewine again as prior reliability and punctuality had been as issue. This job was so straightforward, in my opinion, that I figured he couldn't screw it up and would be in and out before I knew it. Also - to my shame - I did not ask for a fixed price estimate as I considered this to be a very short/easy job. Met with Alewine the day before I went to hospital (Wed). He also indicated it would be straightforward: remove plywood, use electric planer to shave down joist if needed, reinstall plywood. The vent replacement would be easy as well since all connections were made with sheet metal screws. This job would amount to making 4 plunge cuts in plywood, remove/replace 3 sheet metal screws per vent and reinstall. Work was to begin on Friday. I returned from the hospital on Friday afternoon. There was a pickup in the driveway loaded with a lot more plywood than it would take to effect the job discussed. When I entered the house, I asked what was going on and was informed they were going to remove/replace the plywood discussed and then put an additional 5/8 layer of plywood over the ENTIRE floor. I immediately balked and said "that's not gonna happen". It would have required removal/replacement of all the baseboard trim, cutting down all the door frames and leaving this room at a level 5/8 in different than the rooms adjoining the bedroom. I noted that the plan was to remove the affected sections, plane the joist if required and reinstall. The lead worker told me they encountered a problem with the presence of some metal "strongholds" (metal brackets attached to joist) that prevented the planing. He continued to say that he called Alewine to discuss the issue was was simply told to "figure it out" - as Alewine was too busy to come take a look. I stopped work until I could contact Alewine. He eventually arrived and I voiced my displeasure about his lack of interest and letting these guys "figure it out" as their approach was ridiculous. He said he agreed, although both workers agreed they had been proceeding according to instructions they had received from him. It was agreed to use 2 X 4 ledger boards attached to the joist to alter the floor level where necessary to level it. When addressing the size of the floor vents, I misspoke and stated an incorrect size (error, not ignorance) and Alewine corrected me about 3 times telling me the vents to be installed were 4in X 12 in. The next morning when I inspected the job, I found the floor sagged when I walked on it. There was a difference of about 1/4 inch between the newly installed plywood and the old. I called Alewine who said: "it's not finished yet, it needs to have cross supports and shims". We'll finish it up on Monday. An inspection on Monday revealed the 1/4 in height differential had not been addressed and the floor still sagged about 1/4 inch when one walked along the seams. A novice would know that of all areas needing support, it would be at the seams. Not these guys. The vents that Alewine installed were 2" X 10", not the 4" X 12" that he insisted were the correct size. I took a video and once again called Alewine. He eventually came out ....but never when he said he was going to be there. He agreed it was sloppy work and later said he was "disappointed" at the approach his workers had taken. I told him to give me an invoice and leave ...I would do the job correctly myself. He asked me to give him a chance to personally fix it, but he couldn't get there until Friday...........the end of the first week of a few hour job. One delay and one excuse after another. Alewine said he would return at 9:00 am on Wed (12th day) to finish the job. He finally showed up about 5:00PM, dropped off his toolbelt and new vents for the floor......this time they were 4" X 14"!!!. I called him again and he said the supplier gave him the wrong vents. He returned on the morning of the 13th day after start and did some "cleanup" work. It is better than it was, and the correct vents were finally installed, but is was a complete NIGHTMARE and very expensive for what should have been and in and out job. The "crew" was sloppy and worked in an unprofessional an dirty manner. They walked right by a trash can sitting on the floor just outside the room in which they were working and into another room to pickup an empty box that was to house a fan that was being returned to Home Depot. They used this box for their trash, rendering the return of the item impossible. They left doors to other rooms open and sawdust covered everything! On the 14th day, Alewine sent me an invoice for $756. He claimed 10+ hours for one worker, 2+ for another added supplies and then said he spent another 4+ hours fixing their work. He "generously" did not charge me for his work. Needless to say, if I had done this myself: it would have been done cheaper, in much less time, and my carpet would have been installed. Alewine held up the carpet installation for more than two weeks since it will be next week before the carpet contractor can come out. No supervision, questionable qualifications of helpers, high price. In two projects, NEVER on time when promised, long delays, lots of excuses. I informed him that he has burned all bridges with me and will not get work from me again. I definitely would not use this contractor again...even under the direst of circumstances.

We hired said contractor to remove existing fixtures, flooring, tile. Remove and reset toilet. Re-slope shower floor and re-tile along with bathroom floor. After demoing the bathroom and reframing a wall that was moved 18 inches into the bathroom to accommodate a stacking washer and dryer,the work came to a slow crawl. We expected the work to start on Monday and after a few lame excuses it started on Wednesday. The pattern now became the norm. Work would start on Wednesday and stop on Friday. After a few weeks we noticed that the sub -sub contractors that he hired were doing sub standard work. Framing of the floor and shower walls were not plumb and the plumbing looked like a child had done the work. Then when they started to tile we were appalled to see the mud for the walls were gloppy and uneven. Then the tile work started and the tile setters left my home dirty. Tracked mud all over my new hardwood floors and tile in the master bathroom. What was worse was the we came home to find our house was wide open, key in the door and the workers were down the street having DINNER! After several incidences like this we finally had the contractor get new tile setters. When he gave us excuses again he finally got new ones but they didn't start until Wednesday! New tile setter ruined the tile and it was set so poorly the we could remove some tiles with our fingers. The tile setter even had one of our neighbors in helping him. We didn't know this man. But he was in our house and helping. We finally had to end this nightmare . After contacting another contractor and having the work inspected, we agreed to stop our work and hire a new contractor. We asked the old contractor to replace our tile and end our relation ship. He agreed to give us $1000 back. We asked for the entire amount for the replacement of tile. $2000. He said he would send a check in the mail. We never got our money. We now have had to redo all the work that was done. Everything down to the studs. We paid him a total of $6,000 dollars and we have had to pay more to fix what damage was done by Alewine Construction. After many call for our money we have not even received a call back or an email. Now our bathroom that was to have cost $13,000 has now cost $25,000. Do not hire this company.