Valentine Construction

I thought there was no way it could go worse than my kitchen remodel, but somehow, despite such low expectations, it failed to meet even that bar. Mike Valentine was not a cheap contractor - he was one of the most expensive ones who bid on my project. Proof that you don't always get what you pay for. I don't have the time or space to go into all the excruciating details, so here are just some of the highlights, saving the best (life-threatening) ones for last: Construction was "completed" 13 months behind schedule (on a project originally scheduled for only 4.5 months!) 3 months of this was my fault, putting the construction on hold when my father passed away. Afterwards, whenever I would bring up the schedule, he would blame me for pausing construction for 3 months (can't get back onto the subcontractors' schedule after the delay, blah blah blah). We started construction in Aug '09, and he supposedly managed to get on their schedules for completion before the end of Jan '10, so I don't see how, once construction resumed in Mar '10, we couldn't get the remaining 2 months of work scheduled for 11 months. In the middle of the worst recession and home construction market since the Depression. He replaced my 8-yr old furnace (which I didn't agree to) with one he said cost $5000. He claimed he got $1000 back by selling my old one, and that the new one was so efficient it would pay for itself in 5 years (unlikely, since my total heating bill is less than $400/yr). And then he couldn't provide a receipt. Other construction professionals I spoke to said a top-of-the-line furnace would be about $1400. I finally got a receipt by calling the company that installed it; the cost was about $1400, and the rest of the $5000 was for new ductwork and installation. He built a closet around the water heater such that the water heater could not be removed through the door. We would have had to demolish the closet to change the water heater. His justification for this was that a) the architect designed the closet this size and b) the plumber specified that we needed a 100-gal water heater. Everyone I've talked to in home construction says 45-gal is pretty normal, and even 4000-sq. ft. homes don't have 100-gal heaters. My home is 1700 sq. ft. But Mike apparently just went with this plumber's recommendation (despite being too big to fit through the door.) For months after installing the (very expensive) bathtub, it sat unprotected while people stepped into it to put up dry wall, light fixtures, etc. When asked by one of my friends why he didn't put plywood over it to protect it, Mike said "Yes, I'm going to." Well, it was already too late - there were already scratches in it. He said he would "scrub them out". "Scrub them out" ? Don't you mean "scratch the rest of the tub to match" ? Needless to say, I did not ask him to "scrub them out". Twice I came home and found the garage door wide open and no one inside (I live on a very busy city street, and not in the greatest neighborhood). I had earlier mentioned this as a particular issue from my nightmare kitchen remodel, and Mike had assured me that this would not happen because he would be there every day and be the last person to leave. When this happened (twice), Mike blamed the sub-contractors. After punching holes in the roof to put new vents for fans, fireplace, etc, he failed to have the roof patched professionally. Luckily when the "temporary seals" gave out during a storm, I was home and heard the water running behind the walls. Mike sent a roofer to fix the seals, but still didn't have the roof patched. His response to my concern about the work he had done was "Everytime something happens, don't I immediately send someone out to fix it?" Forgive me if I would prefer to have the job done right. I didn't hire a general contractor to call roofers when the roof leaks. I can do that myself. Even the roofer he sent told me that the contractor is supposed to have the roof patched, and not rely on the temporary seals. A few days ago, I climbed into the attic to check on a noise and discovered that the vent from the water heater was not connected to the ductwork that ran out through the roof, so the hot exhaust was spewing into the attic. (I'm lucky nothing caught fire and I didn't get carbon monoxide poisoning.) I called Mike, but he is no longer responding to my phone calls (an earlier call for a smaller issue was also unreturned). I resolved both of these problems by hiring (and paying) my own subcontractors, although they should have been covered by Mike. The upshot is, I don't think Mike has much experience actually building homes. Maybe just doing the framing (which is what he did before he became a general contractor.) This is why, unlike many other construction professionals I've talked to, he doesn't know: - what a reasonable size water heater is for a house this size - to have the roof professionally patched after putting holes in - how much a furnace costs. In the end, at least the space *looks* nice. The painters and tiler he hired did a great job. (I should write reviews for them.) Nothing is crooked. If only I weren't afraid of dying in my sleep or having the roof fall in on me.