Quality Custom Construction

Terrible. Easily the worst contractors I have dealt with. Gave down payment in early October 2012, work to be completed by Thanksgiving. Work did not get completed until June 2013. Josh's helper Bob shows up 11-6-12 with a lightweight claw hammer, probably 8 ounce, with a cracked handle and a chisel and nothing else to tear down a 20 foot chimney. In two days he makes very little progress. Then, with little to no discussion, his friend comes over and helps him destroy the entire chimney with a sledgehammer. I would have been really p***** if I hadn't already been considering a complete teardown. Josh made very temporary weatherproofing and then they disappeared. Didn't answer phone for over two weeks. 8000 pound pile of rubble piled 4 feet tall and 10 ft dia across main pathway between house and garage. Totally lost faith in him at this point. Teardown is the easiest, least skilled part of the job. Ended up calling 2nd contractor to haul off debris. Only took them one day to show up and three hours to do the work (Beard and Sons Concrete). 11-28-12 Josh starts pouring footing. He had problems getting his mason to show up. Had to use his second choice. Then second guy disappears. Blamed weather for not getting things done. True to some extent. Can't mix mortar in freezing temps. But there was plenty of nice days. Went through entire winter with only a piece of sheet metal between the outside and my living room. Was 15 degrees cooler in LR vs rest of house. I could tell if the wind was from the north standing in the living room!! And they still haven't started on porch roof!! He repeatedly said that part was only 3-4 day project. Went through entire winter with nothing over back door/steps. Snow and ice constantly over steps, doorway etc. No place dry to store grill, garden tools, kindling etc. Finally gets serious and "starts" project last week of April after I threaten to call lawyer. Finished chimney looks like a cub scout project when completed: Mortar joints vary from 1/4" to 1" in places, generally too wide everywhere, about 1/2". They did not use any tools. Applied mortar with bare hand and just used finger to clean-up joints instead of tool. Mortar flush in some places, undercut with finger sized radius in others and occasionally square groove like its supposed to be. Didn't use spray bottle with water to help mortar stick at all. Neither guy had any bricklaying experience, let alone fireplace building codes and knowhow. Some mortar joints were loose within days of being laid. Individual bricks are visibly crooked. Used no taut lines. Entire chimney had a 2 inch slant over two feet before I had them redo it. Final product was 3" wider on one side vs the other. Did not clean mortar from brick faces after finished. Grayish "runs" on exterior when finished. Mortar splashes/stains on siding, driveway garden area where they mixed mortar up. Used cheap grade of mortar. I left note taped to early layers of bricks instructing them to leave gap for siding behind bricks. They totally ignored it and stacked bricks clear up against the framing. I'm considering tearing down and redoing entire outer layer of bricks. Flashing where chimney meets roof had gaps big enough to drop quarters in, even after me b******* and their second try. Old flashing was in excellent condition and they could have easily reused it. The painted, formed, professionally installed, and proven leak proof flashing was still tucked under the roof shingles from 6 months ago. But they weren't that smart... Instead they used flashing 12" up the chimney. Gobs of black tar. Overlapped flashing wrong direction. Had to point it out to them. Many poorly sealed overlapping pieces vs the original large continuous piece. Looked like sh*t. Crown flashing had ragged sharp edges (not formed or neatly folded and did not slant away from flue toward outside edges. Gobs of tar here too and a totally unnecessary cut in sheet metal that was poorly sealed with more gobs of tar. Generally is out of proportion, off center and unaesthetic. And in their supposed area of expertise (the porch roof): Half dozen or so exposed roofing nail heads. Shingles curl up at roofs edge, don't drain right. Some shingles crooked by over one inch. Staple gun set too high, staples go nearly clear thru ceiling paneling. Ceiling paneling was bowing over 1" and blew off in first big wind. Edges of paneling were stapled to nothing in places. Some staples 1" apart, some 24" apart. Some caulked. Some not. Ceiling joists were pulverized at ends in places with 8-10 nails. One ceiling joist split big time during construction. Had to point it out to Bob. He just scabbed on a piece of wood. No structural strength right where it was needed most in middle of long span. Mass quantities of staples, nails, trash in yard after final clean-up. Little or no clean-up day to day. To be fair, Josh seemed to know what he was doing but his flunky helper did most the work. Josh did finally finish the job and remained civil through-out the ordeal.