Ruth Construction

General Complaints RE Logistics Throughout the project, Scott Ruth of Ruth Construction demonstrated poor communication, a lack of supervision, and no quality oversight. Scott Ruth also failed to meet any of his own stated deadlines and failed to communicate work schedules. Scott Ruth avoided responding to texts or emails, sometimes for several days, even when immediate communication was necessary. The customers were left unaware of when workers were showing up or what job they were expected to perform when they arrived. The workers themselves, upon arrival, often did not know what work they were supposed to perform or what materials or tools they were even expected to arrive with. On more than one occasion, the customers lent his own tools to the workers to complete tasks. On more than one occasion, workers arrived unaware how tile was supposed to be laid. This resulted in wasted hours and days of work, and the homeowners always felt obligated to be on site to supervise in Scottâ  s absence. When any work was finally done, it was often done incorrectly, again due to the lack of oversight. Beyond an inefficient workspace, this created a stressful and hectic home environment for the customers. Specific Complaints Front door work One of the major projects to be undertaken was the stripping, sanding, refinishing and painting of the original entry double doors of the home. The labor for this project was not supervised at all. That is to say that Scott Ruth was not on hand a single day to observe what work was being done on the door, despite the four weeks that two workers were employed on the project. The result was an irreparable door that was gouged and irreversibly altered through over-sanding. The workers then over-stained the interior to the point that it looked like brown paint. They then painted the exterior without properly preparing the surface. Upon examination, one outside general contractor consulted for expertise described the work as looking as if it was â  done by a child.â  A carpenter, who gave a separate estimate on repairing and redoing the work after the fact, gave his professional opinion that it would cost about $2000 to repair the damage. He said, however, that he could not return the door to its original condition because of the amount of material he would need to add to the wood. Upon reassembly, workers also stated that they could not find the existing hardware. Today it is held together with mismatched, improvised hardware. The door, worth an estimated $10,000 (and $15,000 installed), is considered a total loss by the homeowners. Repeated/Incorrect Work Another issue of the work was the number of times work had to be redone because it was done incorrectly, beyond that of the front door which was never repaired/replaced. The backsplash was laid unevenly and has uneven shadows visible even now despite efforts to repair it. The light fixtures in the kitchen were moved not once but twice. The mirror over the vanity in the bathroom was placed askew with the light fixture. The light fixture initially installed was also the wrong fixture entirely. Therefore it had to be reinstalled twice, once for the correct fixture and a second time to center it over the sink. The rainfall showerhead was installed barely 5â  off the bathtub floor and had to be moved as well. Scott Ruth of Ruth Construction also often provided incorrect or insufficient materials. On some occasions, these were relatively minor, such as when workers arrived to prepare the tiles and did not have enough of the correct stain or did not have enough ram board or protective material to prepare the workspace. But on one occasion, after much back-and-forth about paid-for and ordered materials, workers showed up at the work site with a door to install that was the wrong size, color, and orientation. Scott Ruth of Ruth Construction then insisted that the 36â ...

TL;DR: Fired Scott after finding out he was lying about several aspects of our project (ie, never ordering windows even though he told us he did) and delaying the project for almost 1 year. Scott owes our family $80k in undelivered material or incomplete work. Complaint filed with CSLB. Scott will lose his license. I hired Scott to remodel my house in San Jose in 2016. His crew did a fantastic job, and even finish with minimal delay. Fast forward to 2022, we hired him to remodel a home we bought for my 73 year old mother. She lives in Taiwan and had been taking care of my sick father for the last 10 years. Since my father passed away, we wanted to move her to the bay so that she can spend her retirement years with her grandkids. We purchased the home in Oct 2022, and signed the contract with Scott in Nov 2022. From the beginning, I noticed something was a little different with Scott. The worksite was a mess, trash everywhere. Several instances where he told us that we ran into problems, and would cost $XX to fix. One example was that he told us the city inspector said we had to install a 6â sewage line all the way out to the main line and was going to cost $70k. This didnâ t seem right, so I called the inspector myself, and the inspector told me that this was absolutely not the case. I confronted Scott about it, and Scott brushed it off as a misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the requirements. When we initially signed the contract, he told us that the windows are non-standard size and would have a 16 week lead time. We gave him the money for this in Nov 2022. He told us the windows were ordered and on their way. Fast forward 4 months, we asked if the windows are ready, and Scott tells us yes. Finally we get to the stage where windows can be installed. Scott gave us specific dates when installation would happen, but there was always an excuse for why it didnâ t happen. I called the window vendor where he gave us the quote from, and it turns out he never ordered the windows. They had two quotes issuedâ one in November and another in March, but no orders. Furthermore, they said the lead time had never been 16 weeksâ more like 16 days. Another example where Scott lied was on countertop installation. He gave me specific dates for installation, but it never happened and there was always an excuse. I called the countertop fabricator and he told me that they were never called out for final measurement so could have never been scheduled for installation. Scott also disappear in two instances for 2-3 weeks each time bc he was sick. The last time he was â sickâ , I saw him posting on Facebook about going to a U2 concert in Vegasâ ¦. Scott took deposits for a lot of finished material (water heater, water softener, tiles, flooring, staircase, etc) that he never delivered or only partially delivered. We estimate that he owes us $80k in undelivered material or unfinished work. We have filed a complaint with CSLB. Scott will lose his contractor license soon, so please do not work with him. People like Scott do not deserve to be in business.

Rob and Scott were amazing ... they responded to my call for help within a few hours, and scheduled an appointment the next day. They completed their inspection and had an estimate to us within 24 hours. The work was scheduled and completed on time, within budget, and with a minimum of inconvenience.

I cannot say enough bad about Scott Ruth and his company. I never knew that the man is apparently retiring and no longer doing contracting when I hired him. We hired him in August of 2017 to do a fairly simple kitchen remodel. The only complication required removing a wall and installing a header. I would say the total job was about 50 man-hours of work start to finish. Scott Ruth is the essence of a "PAPER CONTRACTOR". If you hire Scott, you will get a part-time purchasing agent. There is almost 0 attention to detail...he delegates everything to his subs and spends very little if any time managing your project. It took him 7 months to complete a 50 hour job! His sub-contractors left trash all over my front yard, my back yard and my house. My wife had to interface with the sub-contractors and explain things to them herself since Scott never did. I had to haul away loads of trash myself. A simple under the counter Legrand wiring took 3 months for him to figure out because he never kept a red-lined electrical plan at the job-site and explained things properly to the electrician. Mostly he never did his homework. The wiring wasn't even done the way I wanted it to be done. The man spent most of the 7 months taking vacations (spending my money) whenever we came up on a critical point in our project. The only reason why the project ever got done was my wife and I had to hold Scott's feet to the fire to finish. If you can, find a contractor that does most of the work him/herself and avoid Scott Ruth. The project came out OK, but it took way longer than it should have. A real contractor could have done it in 2 months after all the parts were in.

Ruth's team was very professional. Customer focused. They took care of my kitchen from start to finish. They helped me buy required materials or tools from home depot and cleaned the dust. They were punctual, clean and stress-free. I will hire them for the future floor and other projects.

Very nice to work with

Scott was great to work with, helpful and responsive.

Scott always was very prompt in returning calls, texts, or emails. If we had an issue or concern, he was very attentive to listening to us.

Scott was very responsive to our needs and got the parts ordered and problem solved.

Scott always returned texts or phone calls promptly. I agree with the other reviewers that he listened well, asked questions and tried to thoroughly understand what I wanted. He offered suggestions if he thought they might be useful. When there were unanticipated problems, he worked hard to remedy them quickly. I always felt we were on the same page. I would recommend him enthusiastically.

Scott Ruth was someone I feel I've known all my life. He listened to what I wanted, made good suggestions and did excellent work. His team is wonderful: courteous and dedicated to getting the job done. Very reliable. I am so happy that I plan on having them replace all the flooring in my home.

Scott Ruth is someone I feel like I've known all my life. He listened to what I wanted, made solid suggestions and did excellent work. His team is wonderful, courteous and dedicated to getting the job done. Very reliable. I am so happy that I plan on having them replace all the flooring in my house. Ruth Construction is the best!

We hired Scott to do a kitchen, master bath remodel, install new HVAC and tankless water heater, as well as tile a fireplace. Work started in January of 2013 with a promised completion by mid-April of 2013. We did have some change orders which added about 35 days to the timeline, yet we didn't pass final inspection until March of 2014. He's a nice guy, and we are generally happy with the quality of work, however he over promised what he could deliver. We would not hire again.

A bit too expensive, but it was very fast and painless. Quality of work was great too.

Scott & his crew worked hard and did what I asked of them, coming in on budget despite a few quirks that came along with our 100 year old house. Thanks guys! The new bathroom looks fantastic!

Reliable, good work

Scott provides excellent customer service - he does answer his phone and email! His team will answer all your questions and their work is very efficient. In my situation, I had previously hired a handy man to install a new sink and granite counter top in a guest bathroom. The sink developed a small leak within a month and the handyman was not responding to my concern. When I decided to have the other bathroom floor replaced, I asked Scott to include a fix for the handyman leaky sink. Scott estimated an additional $50 to replace the P-trap, but it turned out to be much more. No more leaks!

Scott's customer service was excellent. He called two minutes after I looked up contractors on HomeAdvisor and was over in 30 minutes to pick my blinds to have them repaired. His installer was very good in reinstalling them. I will call him again.

Scott is amazing. He always answers his phone, or calls right back. I hate contractor's that I can't contact!! His estimate was VERY reasonable, his work was great. He really stays on top of the job and all his guys. His tile guy, Dave, is awesome. He did our shower, glass tile, corner seat, etc. and it looks fantastic!!

Scott was great with us - very flexible and excellent about keeping his commitments. We ended up with a gorgeous bathroom.

Scott is a great guy in my short association with he and his services. He was nice, clear and informative. He arrived on time and did a good job, including clean up. I think the stars say it all. Ginny

Scott did what he said he would, when he said he would. One of the blinds had an issue, he got it fixed for me at no extra charge in 3 days! Scott thinks in terms of long-term customer satisfaction, not just in terms of getting through the job at hand....

Scott was excellent. Met his commitments, was on time and a pleasure to work with.

Scott Ruth did a fine job for us. He was a bit late returning our blinds.