Scottish Home Improvements

This is a decision I'll regret for the next 20 years. I had such high hopes and expectations going into this. We remodeled a kitchen, two bathrooms and a patio. The plan going in seemed solid but the execution was sorely lacking. It the end, the pieces were all where they were supposed to be but with no attention to detail. I could have done this DIY, saved $30K and it would have turned out exactly the same. I thought I was paying for quality, but that is not what I got. Instead, I have a bathrooms and a kitchen that are already falling apart. They come in to fix the problems as they spring up, but it seldom solves the problem and always look like crap. The thing that made me most angry with Scottish was that I expressed my frustration with the poor quality of the detail work and insisted that the original crew not be allowed in my house again. Of course when the manager showed up the next day to "fix" the problems it was with the original crew. I was furious and it showed me that they just didn't care about our project and just wanted to get paid. Save yourself disappointment and frustration and use someone else.

Bitterly disappointing. Distressing. Infuriating. This describes our experience with Scottish Home Improvements.  

We hired them to remove vinyl and original painted wood siding from our 1939 house and to install new James Hardie siding. We hired them, the highest bid, because they are certified James Hardie installers and because they are "lead certified." I told Scottish my background was public health and that handling lead properly was very important to us.  We thought they were serious about lead paint hazards, and we assumed they'd do things right. Not so much.

Despite a positive lead test and a "lead fee per EPA" added to our contract, after one day of old wood siding removal, the ground outside was covered with paint chips.  Investigation of lead safe practices online revealed that we should have received a pamphlet on renovations and lead BEFORE they began working and that pretty much nothing on our job site resembled what I was reading about a "lead job".  

Shocked and super dang mad, I filled out the "report a lead violation" form on the EPA's website, but before I hit send, my husband and I sat down and considered all the consequences.  Our house had 1/4 to 1/3 of its siding removed.  What would happen if we filed a complaint with EPA?  Might they stop the job? How long might we be left with a house without siding?  

Second, after reading the fine print (and it literally is written in ridiculously small print) of our contract with Scottish, we realized that we had signed away most of our rights. Scottish retains the right to sue its clients, but by signing their contract, the client relinquishes all right to sue them.   More importantly, we couldn't 'fire' them.  According to the contract, they could find us in breach of contract and sue us if we kicked them off the job. We had to let them finish, and since we had to let them finish the job, we discussed the possibility that they would find a way to retaliate if we informed the EPA.   

Finally, we had a contractor scheduled immediately after our siding job to install an upstairs bathroom. We had no fully functional bathroom at the time, and we were desperate to get things in order.  One thing hinged on the other: If our siding job got messed up, the bathroom job got messed up, and if that happened, our contractor wouldn't earn the income he and his crew were planning to earn in March.   Plus, we'd be left with our semi-functional bathroom.  We felt like no matter which decision we made, WE came out the losers. 

So, with regret, we decided that the risk of retaliation, the risk of being left with a partially un-sided house, and the risk of our bathroom contractor getting caught in the crossfire was too great, and we did not report the lead violations to the EPA.  Instead I contacted Scottish and told them how furious we were.  I told them there was NO WAY we were paying nearly $1,000 extra for a lead job.  Our job was not treated as a lead job, they contaminated our property, so how did they dare to charge us extra for a "lead job"?

Too little too late, the salesperson said she'd send the lead pamphlet to us. (federal law says they had to do it BEFORE the job).  I told them to clean up the mess they made and AT LEAST put down plastic to catch paint chips going forward.  I also took loads of photos documenting the work site and the paint all over the ground.  For several days after I complained, they made an extra effort and even cleaned up at the end of the day.  The project manager said he'd replace our exposed weed barrier that they'd covered in paint chips. 

We kind of decided that if they cleaned up their mess and tried to prevent further spread of paint chips, we'd let it go, as far as the EPA was concerned.  But, toward the end of the job, they started being less careful again. Then they finished, and when the dumpster on our driveway (right outside our entry door) was removed, we found the driveway was covered in paint chips.  We spent a good couple hours cleaning up the paint chips on the driveway and  around our door to avoid tracking lead paint into our house.  We also discovered that when Scottish replaced our weed barrier, as they'd promised, instead of cleaning up the paint chips around the house first, they just put new weed barrier on top of the paint chips to cover them up.  

Upon seeing the mess on my driveway and the covered up paint chips, my fury returned, and with the job finished, I notified the  EPA.  I turned over all my photos and forwarded email.  It's too late for us, but I'm hopeful there will be some sort of fine involved to teach these people that they can't just play games like this and decide to handle lead safely only when it suits them.

To add insult to injury:  the contract we signed required us to allow them to place a sign advertising themselves outside our house. So despite our fury, to avoid being held in breach of contract, we had to shut up and advertise for them for the duration.  

 

Installed James Hardie siding on the entire second story as well as gables and replaced some fascia and soffit. Crew was professional and the job was finished promptly and it looks great.

Our experience with the siding crew was excellent--this crew was responsible for replacing all the siding and trim as well as painting the foundation to match the siding, installing outside lights provided by us and doing all the detail work (replacing house numbers, painting the front door, etc.) on the exterior of the house.  Our project manager, Javier, was proactive and responsive, and the work was done in a very timely manner and was of great quality.
Our experience with the remodeling division, which handled the rebuilding of our front porch and building a 45 sq. foot landing off our back sliding door, was not as positive.  There were numerous delays on both projects and our project manager, Wes, was not as responsive or proactive.  We wanted to have the same company handle all the exterior work, but Scottish's performance was uneven between the two divisions.  We paid a premium to have all the work done by one company and it was frustrating that the front porch/back landing projects did not give us the value of a seamless work flow that we were hoping our higher cost would buy us. 
When I got frustrated with the delays, I spoke to the staff at the main office and they were as responsive as possible and finally the job was done.  I would recommend the siding division without hesitation.  When it comes to the remodeling division, I have some reservations.

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The estimate was for the siding of my garage. She knew what she was doing and gave me a lot of information. I really appreciated her service; she really did a good job. I am sure that it was completely in line with the size of company that they are.

The installers began work a day later than scheduled due to complications at the previous job site.  They tended to arrive each day slightly later than they indicated they would.  John, the foreman, had estimated that our job would take three to four days, but it actually took seven days.  While the crew was a bit on the deliberate side, with lots of discussions on how best to tackle the various tasks, all of the work was done very well.  I could tell that it was important to John and  the other workers that the job be done correctly and to our satisfaction.   My wife and I are retired so we had the time to watch a lot of their work and ask questions.  They welcomed our attention to their work and gladly answered all questions.  Often, they asked us how we wanted something done or if we were satisfied with what they had done.  The installers' work was excellent, they worked hard,  were professional and very friendly.   I don't know if there will be any installation issues down the road, but I would be surprised if there are.  I would recommend Scottish Home Improvements to install replacement windows and to perform associated tasks.

The salesman was great.  His name was Joe Hogue.  I dealt with the owner, Martin, and his wife.  Their customer service was very good.  The prices were fair.

Scottish removed from the exterior of my 3 story, Victorian-style house all old siding & attached Victorian decorations;  discar

For the product, we didn't think the price was too high, but we couldn't afford the product. He was quite polite and had a great deal of printed material so we could see the different types and kinds of siding.

They were outstanding. They worked very hard to get us the best deal for our price range. The gentlemen who came over to do the work were exceptionally professional and skilled. They always consulted my husband regarding obstacles, changes or methods that they thought they could use to improve something. They were really good people. They put in the time and were very professional at all times. Their bid was not the cheapest that we got, but we were pretty impressed with their professionalism and the fact that they weren?t hard selling. Their efforts were more informational. We liked the company and that is why we decided to go with them.

Wonderfully. They took the time to add insulation when I decided I wanted it. They changed things when I asked. They fixed little things that I found I didn't like. The crew was good about asking my opinion when there were questions about how to do something. They did the job, the James Hardie way and that was what I wanted.