CAPSTONE EXTERIOR DESIGN FIRM
About us
EXCLUSIVE COOLWALL CONTRACTORS FOR COSTCO, SAMS CLUB, AND ORCHARD SUPPLY. SIX TO EIGHTY FOUR MONTH LOW OR NO INTEREST FINANCING AVAILABLE.
Business highlights
Services we offer
ALUMINUM CLAD, AND ENTRY DOORS, EXTERIOR COOLWALL COATINGS AND TEX-COTE, FRENCH DOORS, HARDIE-BOARD SIDING AND VINYL SIDING & PATIO COVERS., SLIDING DOORS, VINYL CLAD, WINDOW REPLACEMENTS OF ALL STYLES AND SHAPES IN VINYL, WOOD
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
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33% | ||
11% | ||
11% | ||
44% | ||
0% |
Our house is a 2-story 1976 built house with significant wrap-around decks, stairs, railings, etc - genearlly a tough paint job for any professional firm. Additionally, we had areas were there was wood rot and termite damage - however this was negotiated into the price of our contract.
The team showed up as scheduled and because of the complexity of the project, ended up extending their scheduled time to "complete" the work (roughly 2-weeks total). The pressure washers they used for cleaning the surfaces to be painted were your standard store bought models (not industrial strength). They did minimal scraping and sanding of existing areas (which led to re-work later on). There was a general disconnect between the sales person (who promised us everything) vs. what the crew was willing to do. This led to frequent calls between the sales person and the crew foreman to align on expectations/promises.
The crew did not protect plants/shrubs near the house and we had to monitor them closely to make sure they made the appropriate repairs. For example, they tried to bondo some wood damaged area and paint over them vs. replace/repair. Consequently this caused some re-work in several areas. Additionally there were a few floorboards which were rotted out on our deck floors. Instead of carefully removing the damaged boards, they used a circular saw to cut them out, leaving cut marks on good boards and then filling in the cut marks with wood filler - overall very shoddy.
Our decks had debris and leaves painted into them and were not sanded, consequently the paint started peeling a month after the job was done. Ultimately it took more than 6 months (and the threat of legal action) to get Capstone to send a new crew out to repair and re-do the work on our decks (which now look great - with the exception of the floorboards showing the cuts). The process was very exhausting and not what I would expect for the price we paid. Futhermore, there are areas on my house where I can already see peeling paint.
I would avoid this firm- they may be fine for a newer property, but not one as difficult as ours.
Regardless, the work began on-time with a small crew of two or three. I noticed throughout the process that each step in the process we seemed to get a different crew and the lines of communication between the crews and Capstone was not fluid. We never saw David and we may have only seen the supervisor(?) Alfredo(?) once or twice during the installation process. This was troublesome as during the installation process, the workers left the job site (our home) very dirty with construction debris, e.g., nails, stucco washout areas, wiring, etc., which we still find in our yard 9 months after the job was completed. They also broke sprinkler heads, separated windows from interior walls, cut telephone wiring, and many nail pops in our interior drywall. To their credit they did address most of the issues, but am troubled by the amount of lingering issues we were left with e.g., washout areas, nails in the yard, etc...
Once we began the process of picking out colors, we were given a small sample booklet (pantone?) of available colors. This was great, but the choices were overwhelming and trying to pick a color for your house from a 2-inch x 2-inch color sample is nearly impossible. Capstone didn't offer nor provide any color samples that we could paint on our home in a bigger area to see what the color truly looked like and in fact rushed us through the color process. Once the CoolWall with color was applied, I immediately regretted my color choice, but what am I going to do. I mentioned this to Capstone, but all I got was crickets.
The last think I'll mention is that during our initial meeting, it was highlighted that the installation process included taking the CoolWall onto the foundation and down 6 inches below the soil line. There is one side of my house where the original stucco carries down over the foundation, but appears to leave a small gap between the foundation and siding. When I asked how they were going to address this they stated it was fine and wouldn't need any additional work. Recently while doing some minor landscaping along the side of the house, I noticed the gap between the siding and my foundation and how the siding easily cracked and pulled off the house. If they had addressed this issue during installation and applied the CoolWall under the siding and down the foundation wall 6 inches below the soil line like they had done on all my other walls, this issue could have been prevented. I recently contacted CoolWall about this issue and having it addressed under the warranty and after waiting 3 weeks, I received my response in the negative. My next action is to contact Costco about this issue and hopefully get a positive resolution. Before writing this, I read several of the earlier Angie's List review which all seemed to eerily reflect my own experiences. My advice is to not use this contractor, but if you do than make sure they talk very slowly and clearly. Get EVERYTHING in writing and make sure all of your questions are answered. Don't feel pressured to make a decision right away no matter what deal they are quoting you and if you have any problems or issues than make sure you contact Costco and/or Trusted Home Services as they only way Capstone will change their ways is if they see it in their balance sheets.
Licensing
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