SOUTHERN HOME CARPENTRY

Overall, I was rather unhappy with the service and professionalism of Mr. McKenzie. We were having our kitchen remodeled before we moved into our new house. We were moving from another state and I was not able to manage everything like I would have liked. The cabinet guy was also overseeing the remodel and chose the other contractors. I communicated with Mr. McKenzie almost entirely through email.

Mr. McKenzie gave me an original estimate with photographs that was very reasonable. I asked him about removing the tile where the new cabinets would be sitting. In the future I would like to replace the flooring and thought it would be easier if the flooring underneath the cabinets was already removed. Mr. McKenzie said that it was not typically done, and after asking around to some other flooring guys where I was currently living, I decided to leave the tile as-is.

I adjusted the estimate that was given to me, mostly removing a few unnecessary line items. I totaled up the new amount and sent back a signed estimate with the initial payment.

While in the middle of the project, Mr. McKenzie sent me some more pictures with comments explaining that a bit of unforseen work needed to be done. After chatting on the phone, his explanation was reasonable and I approved the additional work.

When the work was completed, Mr. McKenzie sent me some more photographs and I noticed that the walls didn't look right. After an email and phone call, it came to light that Mr. McKenzie had not read my email about color very carefully and had painted the entire room in what was supposed to be the highlight color. He went back and repainted it at no charge.

I found it days before we moved in that there was still debris in the back yard. Even though the debris removal fee was still listed on the signed estimate, since I asked Mr. McKenzie not to haul away the cabinets and appliances, he got it stuck in his head I didn't want him to haul the debris either. I called him up and he came out and hauled it off the day before we moved in. He told me he would have to charge me extra to come back out, but I never received an additional bill. It was probably because he reread the signed estimate and realized he had, indeed, charged me.

When we moved in, it was discovered that the tile had been removed from under the cabinets. I was shocked because (1) I never approved it on any estimate and (2) it didn't match the footprint of the cabinets. Evidently Mr. McKenzie decided to remove the tile at no extra charge; which I was very displeased with. If I thought he was still planning to remove the tile, I would have reiterated that I had changed my mind. Since I didn't know he was doing it, though, I never had the chance to give him detailed instructions and now we have ugly bare areas around the cabinets). If I still wanted it to be removed I would have paid him and explained that it might be 5-10 years before I can afford new flooring so he needs to make sure the tile is cut exactly at the edge of the cabinet. Instead, he thought I was having the floor replaced within the year so just roughed out the area.

Now I have bare and uneven areas on my floor that are missing tile. It wasn't worth arguing about any more because I didn't want the hassle of dealing with Mr. McKenzie again or meeting him in person. It's easier to just pay someone of quality to come out and fixed his botched job since he ended up doing it for "free."