Potomac Home Improvement

Owner Peter Ball told me the work would take between three and four months. At the ten month mark, it still wasn't finished. He also told me he had a staff of 12, but it was rare to see more than two people in the house. Things started well enough, with a three day demo. After that it was downhill. Almost all bath fixtures were substituted for less expensive models. An older furnace was installed when the contract specified a new system. Mr. Ball attempted to refinish the wood floors with poor results, and a flooring company had to be called in. Time and again, end dates were offered, and Mr. Ball had no trouble making promises he could not keep. Work in general was average, but finish work was poor. Mr. Ball ran out of money and stopped calling me. After ten months, I fired Mr. Ball and had others complete the work. If I had the January 14, 2015 review here, I definitely would not have hired Mr. Ball.

PHI never completed the job. The work is shoddy--not a straight wall in the house, soffit falls off on a regular basis, the plumbing and tile work was described by the county inspector as "the worst job" he "has ever seen." Never put the shutters on or closed the trim so animals took up residence in the attic and soffit. Stairs are a total disaster. The owner performed the electrical work himself though he, as it turned out, is unlicensed. He stole another company's permit number and worked under their permit. Don't hire these guys, your house will fall apart and the job will never be finished. The positive reviews are made by the owner himself in Facebook and online pages. Started work in October and stopped showing up for work on a consistent basis by January. Left entire roof open and uncovered during rain and snow, resulting in damage and mold.

It went horribly...Peter Ball the owner was inattentive, uncommunicative, and offered no supervision to worker.  Mr. Ball dropped worker off mornings and picked him up in the early afternoon.  The job was projected to take 2 weeks.  The work began off schedule. An amount was designated for fixtures, he spent approx. half on fixtures.  Receipts were not forthcoming.  He was slow to order items even though he had been provided the funds.  Tile was cut and laid incorrectly.  The wall tile protruded beyond the door frame. The floor tile did not intersect with the door threshold...which was filled with grout.   The floor tile did not intersect with the wall tile. Un even (dark brown)  caulk was spread along the (white) door frame.  Dark brown caulk was unevenly spread around the white bath tub and along the painted wall.  Grouting in the floor tile appears to be cracked or missing. The bathtub/shower faucet was installed improperly resulting in a steady leak.  The vanity was not fitted to wall.  The sink faucet installed was not the selected item.  The selected item needed a valve which had to be purchased separately which the owner did not do.  No detail was paid to measurements, so some items exceed what was needed while other items were short of what was needed.  The sink installment was flawed: no cut off valve, a large hole was left around the pipes.  The medicine cabinet was not installed. no towel racks or paper holder were installed. A substantial amount of the materials were damaged.

The job looked so BAD, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia Civil Division ordered the company to reimburse me $3675 (a judgment against the company PHI Construction Inc., the formal name of the company).   The company had been paid $10,000 of the $14,000.  I did not allow the company into the second BR.

Last, Mr. Ball seemed to be comfortable not telling the truth regarding the allowance money, slow to submit receipts, bought items that I felt to be damaged items (the bathtub). I would never recommend the company to anybody.  Guests are stunned at how very bad the job was  done.  They do compliment my choice of tile! 

I complained to Lowe's and, after much waiting and going back and forth (and getting "out of service" messages at Potomac's phone number), Potomac came back, and shifted the storm door to close most of the crack at the bottom.  To solve the unsightly space problem on both sides, I hired a handyman to fill the space with wood and putty, and painted it. There is still a slight space open to the outside at the bottom of one side of the storm door.  The cost of Lowe's installation was extremely reasonable, and obviously did not include extra work. However, had Potomac warned me that the new door would fit differently than the older (20 years) door--which they mentioned during installation is common--I would have arranged for the installation to be done by someone who would have made sure it was a correct fit that looked good from the beginning.  It took many weeks and several visits, followed by having to hire someone else to fix the problem.

They are pleasant to work with. They are very respectful. They are extremely busy people. They are very competitively priced and very honest.