FIRST GENERAL SVC

We were required to use First General by our insurance company, as this was an insurance claim for water damage.  I would not recommend this company to be used by anyone.  If your insurance company requires their use, ask for another contractor.  First General took a project that they promised would be completed in 5 days (once the cabinets were built), and turned it into 34 DAYS that I had to live without a working kitchen.  Their subcontractors were fine, including plumber, electrician, and cabinet maker,  but the work done by First General was handled by incompetent workers.  Their project manager was rude and unprofessional.  Their customer service is terrible- I waited 30 days for a follow-up call after their project manager stormed out of my house in anger.  Their bids on work were over the moon:  they quoted $1500 to INSTALL butcher block counter tops, not including the actual counters, just the labor, quoted $850 to paint the TRIM in the kitchen - I got a professional painter to paint the entire kitchen, including trim as well as my bathroom, including vanity, for $250, and we were quoted $125 to remove 2 folding doors, that I personally removed in 10 minutes.  I acknowledge that remodeling is never easy, and projects miss deadlines, but First General made this project an absolute nightmare.  My only recommendation is that you avoid using them.

This contractor was referred to us by our insurance company. Should have known it wasn't going to go as planned when the general didn't attend our "contract signing"; and in fact was hard to find throughout the entire project. Insurance was paying for part of the roof - but since replacing half a roof isn't ideal -- we had a personal stake in this project as well. First project was the chimney. Subcontractor parked his vehicle in the middle of my front lawn and then grumbled at me when I asked him to move it. He wasn't using it for tools or materials and my driveway is quite accessible. General never told contractor he was supposed to take chimney down to the base - which would have included moving our furnace in the basement. So that work didn't happen. Whether or not it needed to, or it was just another bill for the insurance company to pay was potentially questionable. When contractor finished tearing down the chimney, he did not wait for the Town to come inspect as is part of the building code here. When asked, the general told me the town inspector was "being a pain". And not to worry about it. Chimney is rebuilt from ground level up and we go to test the fireplace. Can't open the flues because of HUGE debris from the demolition sitting on top of flues! Call to the general goes unanswered. We get a tire iron out and chip the debris out of our fireplace. Now it's time for the roof. Roofing sub was great (I'll review them separately) but again, due to lack of communication from the general, our bathroom vents are cut through the top roof - not out a side soffit that we had all agreed on. Again, no communication from the general - and I suspect he never set foot on the property while this part of the project was going on. Now we are getting p***** and moving the calls up to the same guy who "sold" us the contract. He's quite responsive; and assures us all is going to be OK. Three months into the start, we are now awaiting repair of brand new gutters and siding that had been installed the summer before. Because of the new-ness of the work; we request that the original contractor come out and do the repair work. After all, we do want it to match exactly in materials and craftmanship. General, comes out reluctantly to meet with siding/gutter team and has no idea what is supposed to happen. There are new holes in the siding where new electrial box was rehung to code, but he has no idea what to tell them they are supposed to do despite the contract being quite clear about expected repairs. So original contractor does what he thinks needs to happen. Sales guy comes back and indicates that's not at all what was supposed to happen and starts to fuss at original contractor. Meanwhile - now our well pump has decided to start malfunctioning. Be it from trucks and dumpsters being parked on top of it; we will never know. And we don't blame First General for the damage - we had no idea where the well head was (house purchased in estate and no records to be had). So we now get to pay to fish around to find the well head, dig it up, and replace the pump. It's June. The tree fell in November. Once we got the huge hole filled back in, First General is no where to be found to now fix the lawn as was part of the contract. We are quickly running out of time for the re-seed weather. After repeated, frustrated phone calls, the general, the sales guy, and his son show up to throw down some top soil, seed and hay. Grass sprouts in patches and it's time for hay to come off. No one is returning calls to get the hay removed. We are now growing hay weeds in the lawn. We finally removed the hay ourselves, but now have a lawn that consists half of grass and half of weeds. We are as done with this contractor as can be. But we want a signed, notarized document that he has paid off all of the subs that did work on the house. First, this request came as a surprise to the office manager as "no one has ever asked for that before". Then she sent no less than four, incomplete signature pages that we were supposed to accept as their proof of payment. Meanwhile, we're holding on to the last $2K until the job is completed to our satisfaction (as per the contract). In NOVEMBER - nearly a full year after the original tree fall - she finally emails me the final payment signature page we needed. Unbelievable. So; long story - but this group is beyond ridiculous as far as commitment to service goes. I would never hire again!