Great Wall Construction

Pros: Bid price was low. Contractor was flexible to changes sometimes. When client caused delays, contractor was flexible to come to work when client was ready. Contractor was able to "fill in the blanks" in the drawings when a detail was not provided. Work crew was friendly. Most of the detailing looks good from a distance but when you get close you see minor imperfections. Doors are square. Cabinets are square. There have not been many surprise repairs needed. When roof leaked 2 years after construction ended, the contractor reimbursed us for the payment we made to them for that work. We then put this money towards the replacement of the roof by another contractor. Cons: Bid price did not include many items that we expected to be included; i.e. protecting original wood floors and other finishes to remain from damage during construction. Communication was poor on many levels. Even though architectural details were provided, several times, the contractor did not follow the detail. The work crew did not speak english so the specs in the drawings were probably not read. Only the foreman read english so it was up to him to communicate the info to the crew and it just didn't happen enough. Plywood was left in the rain for almost a month, unprotected. Contractor then attempted to use plywood as finish siding despite the architectural drawings noting Hardiboard siding. Hollow-tile interior wall and original hardwood flooring was exposed to rain because contractor didn't cover them. Structural engineer was delayed getting details to the contractor so the contractor poured one footing without instruction, and it was not as large as it was supposed to be. Roof fan was not installed where directed, at the highest point of the roof pitch, where it is most effective. Roof leaked because the flashing was not installed correctly. While investigating the roofing, we also found that the nails used were too short and did not penetrate the plywood sheathing. This portion of the job was installed over an existing layer of asphalt roofing and the contractor didn't account for this extra depth when choosing the nails. Nails were also sub-par and had already started to rust after just 2 years. Debris was left on the ground for weeks at a time and then sank into the mud. 3 years later I am still finding nails and broken glass around the house. The lesson we learned is you get what you pay for. If you want better quality, you need to ask for better quality in materials and workmanship.

They original estimate did not include a lot of the work that we expected them to include. They had a lot of add on work. The price discrepancy was because they did not receive proper quotes.