ReNew Concepts LLC

This was my very first contractor experience in the first house I have ever owned.  My realtor suggested her son could remodel the bathroom of the house I was interested in, which I figured would be ok since I didn't think that a realtor would recommend someone that wouldn't do a good job, let alone her own son!  Even though this is my first house, I am not a stupid person and I have had basic experience of home repairs in places I have lived before as well as relatives/friends homes, not to mention watching many a show on HGTV/TLC.  When I first met with the owner Mark, he seemed very nice, caring and knowledgable.  However as time went on, it was clear that was not the case.  At first, I just wanted the bathroom to be remodeled, but when I went to the final walk-through of the house, I decided to also do some drywall repair, bedroom carpet and backsplash. The day after the house closing, the work on the bathroom started, but I didn't actually move into the house for a little over 2 weeks later.  During this time, Mark was in contact with me about the progess and I was at the house a few times to check on the work, he also told me that a town inspector had been there and approved the electrical/plumbing (look for more on this later in the review). I noticed that Mark was making a lot of personal conversation with me and making remarks to the effect that we were going to be good friends and we would "all go out for drinks" after the job was done.  I found this to be somewhat odd and unprofessional, but I didn't think too much of it as I was in the midst of moving and just assumed he was a nice guy.  During the course of the bathroom work, he noticed that there wasn't much insulation in the attic and that I should add more.  I figured that would be best and to just go ahead with it while he was already there, although it was an added cost of about $1300. I also noticed the dryer vent was in bad shape and had him replace that too.  At the time I actually moved in, the bathroom had been gutted, reframed, drywalled/mudded, shower and floor were tiled but not grouted yet.  The grout was done in the next couple days, but I noticed in the shower that the application of the grout was not smooth and even, several areas were thicker and eneven than others.  I thought I should mention this, but wasn't sure if I should or not.  It is my feeling that Mark tried to be my "friend" as a way to get of potential problems like this that arose.  I finally brought up to him that the grout looked bad and he admitted that it did and that he was going to say something about it, although he hadn't and it was several days later after it was done that I brought it up. Apparently, it was his employee's first time ever doing sandless grout and didn't know how to do it properly which is why it came out bad.  Mark apologized over and over again, and said that he would do anything possible to make it right.  I told him I wanted the bad areas to be taken out and regrouted and he agreed.   However, at the end of the project when the grout was supposed to be replaced, he said he decided against it and only sanded down the uneven areas b/c it really "wasn't that bad", even though this was not what we had agreed on and he didn't ok the sanding with me before he did it.  Along the way of the entire project things kept popping up that I was unhappy with and he would apologize over and over again, but never really give any good explanations as to why the problems happened in the first place and that somehow it was MY fault for rushing him too much to get done, even though the delays that happened were only his fault.  Some of the other problems were scratching of the contertop that had to be buffed out, sloppy vanity caulk, bedroom shades that were hung off-center, hanging the bathroom door w/o painting it first and had to be redone, they didn't take everything down from the hallway ceiling when they painted even though I was told they would, 1 house key and a garage opener were "lost", the bathroom light fixture was installed off center with the vanity faucet and an employee's car leaked gas all down the driveway- staining it.  During the course of the work the drywall dust made the whole house extremely dusty, they used extremely thin/cheap plastic to cover up furniture, but only in the living room and since it was so thin the dust easliy got up underneath it so it did no good at all.  Also, he was late showing up a few times and offered no explanation as to why, then as he got other jobs, mine was pushed further and further back as he put other people ahead of me even though he got those jobs after mine.  There was several days when he/his employees didn't come at all.  All the while, I am living in a house filled with dust, dirty plastic covered floors, an unfinished bathroom and I have to wear shoes at all times just to keep my feet clean.  This project started on January 14 and wasn't fully completed until February 22 and even then I wasn't 100% happy, but I wanted these people out of my house so I could live there in peace!  There were some little odds and ends that he did come back and do, like the caulk along the tub, but he was still supposed to come back again after that and I had to keep on him and remind him all the time, and he still didn't come back to finish the final touch-ups.  I also asked him to give me a roof estimate to which he kept saying he would do "ASAP", however after almost 3 weeks he still hadn't done it so I went with a different company and now very glad I did!  When my roof was replaced I noticed that company had posted a permit and I suddenly realized that none were ever posted for the remodel which included plumbing/electrical work.  I specifically asked Mark, when he actually came back to the house to fix the bathroom light fixture that suddenly went out, if he had gotten the permits and he said he requested them and they "never came".  That sounded odd to me, so I checked with the Town of Normal to see if any permits were either requested or obtained and they said no!  Not only did he lie about requesting permits that never came(it only takes 1 day to get a permit actually and they don't mail them to you), but he lied to me about an inspection being done b/c they can't inspect something they have no knowledge of!  The worse part of it was, I checked the contract and he had charged me $450 for plans/permits that he never even got!  I got a partial refund of that amount from Mark, however the actual obtaining of the permits/inspection is still in the works with the city as we speak.  I could probably go on for days about everything I was unhappy with, but basically this guy is a wolf in sheep's clothing.  He tries to charm and be your friend in an effort to deflect from his low quality work, being late and problems that come up.  Although the bathroom looks fairly nice and is functional, I will always remember this as a negative experience.   I will never hire or recommend him to anyone.

Prior to this job, I had never hired a general contractor to work on my home or property. I had either done the work myself or hired sub-contractors to do work beyond my abilities (ie ? masonry). I took time in finding someone I thought I could trust and who seemed truly interested in the job. I signed a contract with Renew Concepts in late July. Initially, Mark planned to complete the job by the first week in September. Work did not begin until the second week in August, but this was expected.

Mark started with tree removal and the removal truck promptly broke down. It sat in my yard with my back fence removed for about 10 days with no progress made on any of the work. I believe the tree work was finished at the end of August.

Driveway and yard excavation was next and this took little time. Unfortunately, weeks passed before any concrete was poured. The garage masonry, dry well, and underground electrical work was done during this time. The excavation, electrical, and well work seemed well-done but constituted only a few days worth of work during the weeks that passed.

The patio and drive were poured in two parts. When the drive was poured, no work was performed during the initial curing process. After 2 weeks (I think) subcontractors came in to complete the garage roof and construction for the garage door.

In October, the yard was then graded and the work was more or less done in the yard except for the clean-up and replaced fencing. Mark began construction of the composite deck and completed the relief cuts for the concrete and the drains for the downspouts. This took weeks.

In early November, Mark completed the new fencing at the back of the yard and between the garage and house. The deck was also completed. Final clean-up was done in mid-November.

All this work was of good quality and met or exceeded my expectations. Mark uses quality materials and is careful about his work and the work of his sub-contractors. The main issue, obviously, is that this job took so long to complete. My first payment was in late July and the final payment was Nov. 30. Mechanical breakdowns, illness, and injuries kept Mark from being able to stay on top of the job and time just kept passing by.

I am a patient person in general, but the passage of time wore on my family and me. Frankly, except for the excavation and concrete, I could have done all of the work in the same time frame for less money. Mark did his best to make-up for the delay. He is a personable and intelligent business owner, but seemed to lack the resources to find solutions to the delays. He was unable to find another contractor to fill in when he was incapacitated and had a limited number of employees that he could trust to do the work to his satisfaction.  Note: when Mark came by recently to fix a problem with the deck, he mentioned that he is looking for a manager. This may solve delay problems.
 
There are other lesser issues with the work, such as multiple rebuilds for parts of the deck, but these were all solved quickly and to my satisfaction. The cost of the work was reasonable and Renew Concepts goes out of its way to recycle or reuse material, making the job a bit more environmentally sound. Mark was readily available by phone and tried to keep me up-to-date regarding delays and other changes. Even though the work took far too long, I never felt as if I were being scammed or deceived in any way.

I checked that I would not hire this contractor again; yet, the work was good enough that I may be persuaded to hire them again on a small job to give the company a chance to redeem itself.

He gave me a written estimate and kept within it. He was prompt and responsive. The only problem I encountered was a delay due to a physical challenge that was unavoidable. I found him to be very honest and always responsive.

Overall, everything went very well.

Smooth experience. No issues.

The job turned out beautifully. Both trees were trimmed to exactly what was needed.

I except the responsibility that I should have asked to be present when the estimate was done, but they came back and finished the job to suit what needed to be done.

I will endorse the service and professionalism provided.

The experience was overall a good one. The only issue that we had was with communication after the trees were cut down and when the stumps were going to be ground down for us. We had to call him to follow-up on when this would happen. Once we contacted NW trees regarding this, things were done in a very timely manner. We would recommend him again.