All Around Construction and Repair, Inc.

Although Ben presented a professional demeanor prior to securing the project as well as provided references, which I called,  it went downhill quickly from there.
His work on the front porch was not terrible, however, we are still concerned weather he addressed the underlying issue of the foundation. There were also issues with alignment of boards and he left the sides of the stairs open with visible crumbling bricks from the demo spilling out from the sides. He indicated that he would complete the steps when he returned to work on our bathroom. We were still giving him the benefit of the doubt at this time, but of course hindsight is 20/20 and we now wish we had not allowed him near our bathroom remodel. 
The bathroom reno has been a nightmare. Ben's lack of communication during the project created a stressful situation for our family. He did not show up when he indicated that he would. He did not perform the work that we requested and what little work was accomplished has to be torn out and redone. 
After expressing concern over his work, process and timeline, plus several unsuccessful attempts to contact him and two days of no-shows we terminated his services.
We reviewed his work with a professional contractor and have discovered that we will need to tear our the shower tile. The tile is uneven, pieces were falling off the walls and/or were missing, corners did not line up, etc. The flooring is also uneven, incorrect spacers were used so the tile does not line up and the corners and pieces that wrapped around door frames were not cut correctly. There was also no cover placed over the exposed toilet plumbing so sewer gases were seeping back into the house. Our request to have our shower head repositioned was ignored. 
Because this is our only bathroom, we have been staying in a hotel for the past 7 days and we are still nowhere near being able to move back home.
My assessment of Ben is this: he has some skills in home repair. He has the ability to produce a professional bid. He has NO SKILLS as a project manager, does not have a skilled team in place,  nor does he demonstrate respect for the homeowner who is paying for his services. I think he was in over his head on these projects and mislead us into believing he could do this job. It became obvious to him and us that he could not. On the last day he showed up, he stepped out for a bit and returned with a very strong smell of alcohol on his breath. We never heard or saw him again after that.

1. Project went well.  Workman/owner was well organized, informative, cooperative and prompt.  He also cleaned up work area as possible before finishing for the day. He also made recomendations of what might need attention in the future.