THIBEAULT PROPERTIES INC

I paid THIBEAULT PROPERTIES, INC. to install 684 sf of cork flooring in my home. Owner Lewis THIBEAULT convinced me he had experience with cork flooring, but he did not. He advised me to buy the wrong type and amount of cork material and his inexperienced installers glued it down improperly. They did not tell me that they let my cat walk on the glue. I got home from work to find that the toes on each of my cat's paws were glued together. My cork floors were lumpy and uneven. Lewis said he would fix it one of two ways ? for an additional $1398 or $1582, plus tax. I told him neither option was acceptable and asked that he reimburse me for $4849 (his $2087 bill plus $2762 I'd paid for the wrong materials). My lawyer advised that I sue in small claims court as this $ amount was below the $5k limit. The issue was resolved by THIBEAULT PROPERTIES, INC buying the correct type of cork flooring and installing it over the glued cork tiles. The flooring is pleasing, but the installation does not look professional.

As I indicated, I only got a quote from this company but after seeing the quote it was unclear as to real price so I held back. Then when I observed the results of a neighbor who did hire them, I decided not to even consider them and am very glad I went elsewhere for my entire kitchen, home remodel.

He didn’t have many reviews on Angie’s List. He was awful. We had a flood in our bathroom and our insurance company made us tear out all the walls in the bathroom and it went out into the floor. I had laminate flooring and we had pull out all the laminate flooring and we decided to go with tiles. So he had contracted people who did the tiling and it was a really bad job. In fact I had to make him redo one room almost in its entire. My surprise after that was I got extra bill for extra tile that he took. It’s really awful and people should know not to use this guy. The tile guys when they came back to fix areas and on the final visit they told they were carpet man and they didn’t know how to do tile. Then I asked them why they didn’t tell me on day one. I don't want to force people to do anything if they are not qualified to do. It was very disturbing. The only way to fix it is to have the entire floor pulled up and redone. Even when they repaired stuff that they screwed up, I got presented with a bill. They did a shaving shelf in the bathroom and I wasn’t aware of anything like that. It wasn’t done properly and I had to have it redone for $350. Because it was an insurance plan, they have a software program. So it is the price the insurance company said. The guy went on vacation in the middle of the work and even his own people couldn’t reach him. He called me one day and said that it was going to be finished the next day. Then he asked whether I would be giving the cheque to his guys but I told him to come and check but he said that he has seen many and didn’t have the need to see one again. They were very unpunctual as they always said that they would be here by 8am but everyday it would be 11am before they should up. I would not use them again.

He didn’t have many reviews in Angie’s List. He was awful. We had a flood in our bathroom and our insurance company made us like tear out all the walls in the bathroom and it went out into the floor. I had laminate flooring and we had pull out all the laminate flooring and we decided to go with tiles. So he had contracted people who did the tiling and it was a really bad job. In fact I had to make him redo one room almost in its entire. My surprise after that was I got extra bill for extra tile that he took. It’s really awful and people should know not to use this guy. The tile guys when they came back to fix areas and on the final visit they told they were carpet man and they didn’t know to do tile. Then I asked them why they didn’t tell me on the day one. I want to force people to do anything if they are not qualified to do. It was very disturbing. The only way to fix it is to have the entire floor pulled up and redone. Even when they repaired stuff that they screwed, I got presented with a bill. They did a shaving shelf in the bathroom and I wasn’t aware of anything like that. It wasn’t done properly and I had to have it redone in $350. Because it was an insurance plan, they have a software program. So it is the price the insurance company said. The guy went on vacation in the middle of the work and even his own people couldn’t reach him. He called me one day and said that it was going to be finished the next day. Then he asked whether I would be giving the cheque to his guys but I told him to come and check but he said that he has seen many and didn’t have the need to see one again. They were very unpunctual as they always said that they would be here by 8am but everyday it would be 11am before they should up. I would not use them again.

I hired Mr. Thibeault instead of other contractors for a couple of reasons. We are both from southern New England so I believed he would be dedicated to the process start to finish (not so much). I come from a family of brick and stone masons (at least 4 generations). My father did a lot of side work throughout his life. I wanted to hire a smaller outfit as opposed to the large remodeling contractors in the area. Mr. Thibeault was a bit higher in price. Due to my aforementioned reasons I hired him anyway. His subcontractors ranged from excellent to dismal. Just after (I believe), inking the contract he notified me that he that he was going to Disney World for a couple of days during the job. He claimed it was his first family vacation and it would not effect the job timeline or end result. He has a young son so I could relate to that in a way but at the same time he should have scheduled the job for a week later or so as I had a fully functional bethroom before he started. Unfortunately as it has been 2 years since initial job (I had to get Thibeault back several times last in early 2010) so I don't recall the names of all subcontractors. He still NEVER resolved the problems with the paint cracking and bead board pulling away from the wall. 1) older man- TEAROUT *FAIR* The older gentleman that came out to rip out the original bath (circa 1951) did a fairly good job in that respect. Unfortunately his only help was his girlfriend's 13-14 y/o son who spent the majority of the two days getting in the way. This man was supposed to remove some wallpaper in my kitchen but after 2 days of the kid I had enough.* Mr. Thibeault said he wasn't going to use him again but I find that doubtful as the guy works CHEAP! 2)FRAMING - WALL CONSTRUCT- *GOOD* I am guessing Mr.Thibeault hung the drywall and blue board (shower). I don't remember anyone else on the job for this as he would not have paid the guy who did the Wainscott work too many $$$ As it looks much better than the 1951 original I was impressed but as the board work bulges out in spots I am guessing perhaps the underlying construction drywall might have been a bit warped or not secured completely? 3) PLUMBING- I can't remember the name of the plumbing company. *FAIR TO GOOD* I would not hire owner I do recall the main plumber on the job was one of the owners who was more concerned with his musical career than he was in his plumbing work. He proved difficult to keep focused as when he was notified there was a problem he was slow to respond.There were a couple of delays between the shower pan and other plumbing issues not being ready for the tile guy. Dave the plumber's assistant did most of the work. A young guy in his early 20's he was hard working, conscientious, and an excellent craftsman. 4) WAINSCOTT/BEAD BOARD INSTALLER- no idea of name *GOOD* I thought I was impressed at first until I watched him take full pieces he bought (I assume) and made many cuts. I believe that is partially responsible for the existing problems on walls as there are many seams. It looked really sharp for the first 3 months or so but there are places that look as if another couple of nails might have helped as it is pulling away from the wall in spots. 5) TILE- Tom ...... *EXCELLENT* Tom did a great job with the tile in shower and bathroom floors. He told me how and when to spray the sealant on and it looks great. There was some settling and subsequent cracking throughout the grout that he came back and repaired in a timely fashion. I hired him to do additional tile work in my house. 6) ELECTRICIAN- Hector- *GOOD TO EXCELLENT* Hector is a knowledgeable, hard working person who took care of all the electrical connecting for the bathroom job. 7) PAINTER- *LOUSY* A guy in his 30's maybe who I am guessing was a hire for this job probably based solely on price. You get what you pay for, not what I paid for but for what Mr. Thibeault underpaid apparently. The paint is cracking, developing what appear to be water spots (on bead board) in several places on the wood. The other contractor that recently looked at the brown staining told me that it is probably the resins from the wood seeping out through the paint. That likely could have been prevented had it been primed with Kilz first. GENERAL CONTRACTOR- OVERSEER- *FAIR* Lewis Thibeault- I had a schizophrenic relationship with him as there are at least 3 different people involved on his end. Lewis the salesman, Lewis the overseer and repair guy, and Mr. Thibeault the obsessed accountant. Lewis can be likeable and when selling himself sounds knowledgeable. In fact he seems to know his business. I strongly believe the problem is he forgets that remodels of smaller baths and such probably got his business off the ground. He has done some higher end jobs and in my opinion he just can't bring himself to give complete effort on a small job in an older house. He seems more interested in getting to the next benchmark to get another paycheck.The very jobs that keep his remodel business going to allow him to bid the bigger jobs that he posts on his website get hurried. Specifically the following issues reflect my rating: - the install of the shower doors is bit sloppy. The clear silicone was a necessity it needed a bit more attention to detail as in some spots it is globbed on 1/4 inch wide and other places it might be 1/16 inch. If he brought help to hold the frame in place the end result might have been much better. - Lewis claims I told him to install the vanity light UPSIDE DOWN. That is really not true. As I recall he made the cut out for the medicine cabinet without measuring for the proper distance for the light to be put in correctly. He had to orient it upside down or redo a portion of drywall cutting into his profit. I recently had another contractor look at the bath work and he definitively stated that the "vanity light was PLAINLY installed upside down" - at the end I asked Mr. Thibeault about the door knob and hinges as it made no sense to me to put the old dated junk back on with a sparkling new room. He did then attempted to get the $9.00 from me! I was insulted and then some as he required 35% up front, then 35% at (50% completion- MUST BE NEW MATH- 50% complete/70% pay), then the remainder at punchout. He is the epitome of punctuality whenever it is time for him to get a check. - Following my reflections on the job and the contractor's obsession with the almighty dollar (in his pocket) I was probably a bit of a pain in his gluteus maximus trying to get him to make the little things right and give me my money's worth. In the end had he just came back and addressed the cracking, discoloring paint, on the Wainscott board right the first time, (still not right and discoloration is occurring in many spots) I would not recommend him to others. Instead once he was paid in full he had no desire to return to fix the several issues that I will have to address whenever I go to sell this house if the market ever recovers. I will attempt to post pictures but it is tough to get the cracking paint (seams?) to show up with the detail of the Wainscott and white paint. In conclusion if you have a small bath remodel like mine (7.5'x 7.5 LxW max.) try someone else as it is my belief that Lewis Thibeault lacks that attention to detail that he probably utilized when starting out and now it gets lost in the shuffle of overscheduling work. The man is obsessed with money. As my father used to say, "he squeezes buffalo nickels so hard they get diarrhea". In hindsight I should have insisted on a different week instead of around the Thanksgiving holiday. Next time the "imagined little guy" will be on the outside looking in on my repairs/remodels.

What I like a lot about them is that they were the 2nd or 3rd people to give me an estimate but they were the 1st to get the written estimate to me.

Sent a stucco person to estimate the job, estimated, arrived exactly when scheduled and did the work. Suggested a completely different handling, than others had suggested and it worked extremely well. Insulation board was placed over old stucco and then a new lath and then the new "Efis" (a plastic type product) was put on and looks just like stucco and then was painted.