DUFFY CONSTRUCTION

I just don't know what to think about this outfit. They came very highly recommended. Initially we had a cordial relationship and planned a expansion of our kitchen and family rooms and living room as well as the replacement of outside shingles and windows. Our intuition indicated that we do the project in stages, just to find out what the initial results would be. We indicated to Duffy Construction that we would be doing the whole project in stages and started with the siding and windows. The contract was supposed to be completed in ninety days. It started in September of 2012 and didn't finish until June of 2013! Duffy Construction asked us several times about our choice of inside window trim. We told them a natural finish trim, the same as the rest of the wooden trim in the house which has a natural stain and polyurethane. Our contract stated natural trim. What we received was bare wood, no stain, nail holes not filled with putty and no polyurethane. When we voiced our concern that the inside window trim was not completed we were told this is their version of natural trim, bare wood and that the wood would age in to match the existing trim! We voiced our concern to the Duffy office manager and was told that the windows would be polyurethaned and it never happened. At last they said "There won't be any window treatment." From then on it was all downhill.The office manager sent unprofessional emails and accused us of having odd behavior and the like as if it was an honor and privilege for us to pay them to work on our house - not as you would expect in a coherent business model to work with the customer. The repeated insults by them resulted in us not continuing with them and contracting with another company. Besides acting in an unprofessional manner the business is extremely slow, The owner of Duffy Construction does all the work, alone. What should have been a project performed in a timely manner dragged on for months and we were given the excuse of being unable to do the work due to weather conditions, nine months of weather conditions! We understand that Duffy Construction had to place our project on hold so that they could go to out of the country to work in Turkey for an extended period of time or so that they could attend to other customers more local. The unstated message from them was that we didn't matter. Our order of two round topped windows seemed too much for them, it took months for them to have someone construct the special rounded inside window trim, leaving our two rooms in a construction mode for months. We were also informed by this outfit that the the Pella Proline Double-Hung and Casement Windows from page E of the Pella 2007 catalog, the Curved over Tilt Double Hung were "special order"! Really? When they finally were completed the plastering done around the bare wood windows was unsightly. Finally the woodwork around the windows exhibited poor fit with finish nails actually protruding from places at the top - where I'm sure they thought we wouldn't look. As this work project dragged on and on the personality of the contractor who was originally personable and friendly became sullen and eventually he would barely even speak with us. At the end of the project a final walk through with the contractor never even happened, He received his money (and just left never to be seen or heard from again). Yes, that's correct the owner and his office manager (and coincidently also his wife) wrote us an e-mail in which they complained about payment not being received, but Duffy Construction got all their money for the "work". Other nagging unresolved issues included a sloppy clean up of rain gutter hardware, nails, broken and discarded cedar shingles in the vicinity of our home; plaster and sawdust over the interior floors near widows where he "worked" and to add more insult, the trashing of many of our foundation plantings of irises, roses and peonies. Like a delayed incomplete job done with false promises? Then hire Duffy Construction!