Cross Renovation

Overall, just an OK experience. In Cross' defence, the job was a difficult one. I had a contractor walk off the job and Mike came in and agreed to finish the work. They were very helpful and the guys were always professional and courteous. They found and corrected several mistakes that the other contractor made. Their electrician was top notch. There were several items that went wrong: 1) I did tile on the floor and 1/2 way up the walls in my hall bath. They made a measurement error and caused a tile mis-match in the bathroom of 1" for the ogee on the walls. Instead of tearing it out and starting over (which would have been a huge deal), they fudged it and tried to hid the mistake. It's not hard to see the mistake, even standing outside the room. 2) Had a mis-understanding about the bath cabinets that cost over a month in down time - Mike made me eat the cost of the cabinets as well. He swore it was my fault but I honestly don't remember authorizing those cabinets. 3) The caulk around the tub grew mold behind it within a month or two of the job being finished. I asked Mike back to repair it but he said it was my fault (i.e. it was caused by soap scum and we weren't cleaning the shower properly). I think this is bunk. He claimed the mold was on top of the caulk and just scrubbing it would cure the problem. He's wrong. We scrubbed for hours and hours - it is definitely BEHIND the caulk. The only way that can happen is if moisture gets behind it. And the only way that can happen is if the tile/grout is not sealed properly. I asked him to reseal the tile/grout but he refused. He told me it was a common issue on previous jobs (i.e. owners not properly cleaning the shower) and he has had previous complaints from owners about shower mold. I've owned plenty of houses, new and used. I've never seen that issue before. With multiple complaints, you would think he would figure out that maybe he's doing something wrong - but he's a stubborn guy. Some of the things that went right: 1) Mike made a great suggestion in the downstairs powder room for a paint color. Really improved the look of that bath 100%. 2) Mike's roofer fixed an issue where the previous contractor used regular shingles instead of rubber roofing over a dormer with zero slope. Water was pooling on the shingles and would have frozen/caused a leak 3) The electrician found a live, exposed wire behind the drywall in the bathroom that the previous contractor left there. Getting a hold of Mike by phone/e-mail is nearly improssible. I lost count of the unanswered phone messages or e-mails I left. Very frustrating! There are actually a couple of small items from the job left undone that Mike agreed to complete - however, I have just given up on getting them to come out to finish them. I will have to get another contractor or do them myself. Too bad. I think they have a lot of potential as a company but the customer service portion of the job could really use some work.

See above.