LEDFORD'S CONSTRUCTION LLC

Ledford Construction is the reason I joined Angie's List to avoid contacting the wrong person again.

After gutting the bathroom, we had Ledford frame in a new shower, preparing it and the bathroom floor for us to tile. After they left, we found that the floor they put down in the bathroom was two-and-a-half inches higher on one side than the other just 12 feet away. In order for us to lay the tile, the concrete backerboard they put down had to be ripped back up along with the USB flooring beneath it (which is not recommended under backerboard for tile applications) and the original flooring so the problem could be fixed at the joists. When I urged Ledford to come back and help correct the problem, he got very defensive and said my house is settling. The house was built in the 1980's. He said "your floors will never be level." I took it upon myself to do what he should have done in the first place. It took me six months of evenings and weekends, but now it's level. Upon inspecting the ceilings and soffits where Ledford and his crew boxed in the new ductwork and put up the drywall, we found they were visibly out of square and unlevel to the point of being an eyesore. All the drywall in the bathroom ceiling covering the ductwork had to be removed, shimmed, and reinstalled. Likewise for the concrete backer board in the shower Ledford framed and prepared for us to tile. I kept track of the hours I spent fixing Ledford's mistakes that had to be fixed before our renovation could continue. When I got to 120 hours, I stopped counting, it was making me so angry. Before all this came to light, we also had Ledford level the kitchen floor so we could put down hardwood. After his first attempt, I pointed out the floor still sagged substantially. He then poured floor leveler on the slope, which didn't correct the problem. Then he had his crew level the leveler with more leveler. Finally, with the floor still too uneven for hardwood, I insisted they level the floor a fourth time, and at their own expense. They ripped up all the plywood and put it back down with shims. It was still not level when they finished, but I gave up on them and they moved on to their next unsuspecting victim. That was a year and a half ago. Today, after paying another contractor nearly $7000 to level the floor Ledford couldn't do on four attempts, our floors are now sufficiently level. Ledford also reframed a wall in the kitchen where a stairway entrance used to be. When he was done, the wall tilted inwards at one corner. One of the sheets of drywall bowed inward nearly three-quarters of an inch. The whole wall had a crooked, concave look to it that was visually unacceptable. When I pointed out the corner that tilted inwards and the sheet of drywall that bowed drastically inward, his comment was "you didn't tell me you wanted it perfect." His answer to the sheet of drywall that bowed inward was to fill it in with three-quarters of an inch of drywall mud from floor to ceiling. He is quoted as saying "a good drywaller with a twelve-inch blade can fix any problem with drywall." Eventually, I had to pay another contractor to remove the sheet and replace it properly. That means I paid Ledford twice to fix a wall, and still had to pay someone else to redo it properly. At least one member of Ledford's crew fostered contempt for our home and the challenges it provided. While installing a new bedroom door, he became so upset that it wasn't going smoothly that he blew his temper and walked off the job. While working on a drain for our new shower at a time Ledford's team was still on the job, our plumber found chunks of drywall stuffed deep into the drain pipe. While Ledford's fees are in line with those of other contractors, the quality of work he is capable of is well below the industry standard. The owner, Reid Ledford, is a nice fellow. He's just a lousy contractor who doesn't take responsibility for his mistakes. We paid him over $21,000. For that, he relocated two stairwells and installed 12 windows. Much of the rest of his work had to be redone.