James W Barger Woodworks

I was referred to Jamie by my stair treads supplier. I was told from the beginning that he was on the expensive side, but was worth it. I had carpet-covered stairs that I wanted to change into wood treads to match my newly installed wood floors. On first impression, Jamie was professional, friendly, on-time, and knowledgeable. It was all downhill from that point. Before giving him the job, I made sure to clarify his general timeline for the project. He had told me that he wanted to get it done ASAP as he had large projects coming up soon. This worked well for me since I was trying to coordinate installing the stairs and getting the stairwell painted. That's why it was so surprising to be that getting him to arrange a time to pick up the treads and actually start the project was such a nightmare. We had tentatively arranged for pick-up 3 times before he actually showed up - still 6 hours after the time that he had said he would show. Then I would have to call him every 3 days to see if he actually got around to spraying and lacquering my treads. After the 3rd delay (2 weeks later and with my painter was waiting), I had to insist that he committed to the next date that he said he was available. Keep in mind that he never reached out to me that he had to cancel our original appointments. I had called him the night before each time and that was when he revealed that he wasn't able to make it. Then, he proceeded to tell me that he had only taken on this job as a FAVOR to me and that "he didn't even want the job in the first place." He also said that "I should know better and that there are always delays in construction." At that point I had to keep my cool since he still had my very expensive stair treads in his possession. I calmly asked him if Thursday would work and if I could count on seeing him then. He finally came to install the stairs. He actually showed up exactly on time. I left them to do their work for the rest of the day (it was only a 1 day project). I came home right around the time they were finishing up. I had to contain my horror. He did indeed remove and demo my old stairs and install the new ones. However, he also took out half of my dry-wall with it. When i asked him what happened, he said that the way the old treads sat, he had no choice. Part of my drywall was gone, the brackets holding the treads were uneven, the risers were not put back (originals did not fit and not part of the job to make them fit he says), and none of the treads were caulked at the seams. He never called me to let me know the challenges that veered him from our original plans - just went ahead and destroyed my house. He also left me in a position where the person who would fix all the damage done would have a heck of a time working around the installation. All in all, I think Jamie is unprofessional, has poor work ethic, is expensive, unreliable, has poor customer service, and has no pride in his work.