Ernies Home Repair & Remodeling

Asked for quote. Met with him and wife. Walked through the areas and described work wanted. He agreed that work desired could be done for quoted price. Labor only. Materials to be purchased by homeowner. No contract or written quote. Paid in cash at his request. For agreeing to pay in cash he agreed to tile very small 3/4 bath in basement as well as complete the two bathrooms as quoted.

Tiled 3' x 3' concrete block shower (3 walls),  5' x 4' bathroom floor and (3) 7' tall walls. Installed new hinged shower door. Tiled floor outside of bathroom 8' x 8' and area behind bar 3' x 8'. Floor outside of bathroom and behind bar were "extra". Quality issues discovered after the fact: tiles not level, wide variance in spacing between tiles, tile behind toilet won't allow tank lid to fit, tiled over access panel under sink so we cannot get to plumbing unless we break the tiles, didn't tile the floor of the shower, raw edges of cut tiles exposed on corners. Said installing towel racks, paper holder, robe hook, mirror over sink were not included in agreement. Two extra days paid for the floor tile outside of the bathroom and behind the bar. Told homeowner to paint the raw edges of the cut tiles to match the grout color. Left broken screw head from a the towel rack with the advice to superglue it in the hole and no one would be able to tell it was broken. Did not seal any of the grout. Did not haul off any of the construction debris so homeowner paid to have it removed.

Gutted hallway bathroom. Removed built in vanity, 2 small sinks, old toiled and tub. Removed 5' wall with doorway that was between vanity and tub/toilet area. Closed off second entry. Drywalled doorway. Moved toilet plumbing about 16". Installed new tub in same location. Installed new shower fixtures in same location. Installed green dry wall for shower stall and tub surround. Installed cement backer board for floor. Tiled floor & up walls 4 feet high. Tiled shower stall/tub surround to ceiling. Patched interior of closet wall torn out to access shower plumbing. Wired for vanity lights and ceiling light/exhaust fan. Installed prefab vanity cabinets. Set prefab sink/vanity top combo. Plumbed (2) faucets. Ceiling finish scraped off. Quality issues found after the fact: Have been advised that since no waterproofing or cement backer board was used in shower stall/tub surround that this will need to be totally torn out and redone to prevent mold. Tile is not level. Access panel in closet for shower plumbing drywalled over. Didn't replace built in closet shelves torn out to access plumbing. Didn't install mirrors over sinks. Vanity cabinets are set flat on floor with no toe kicks. No knobs or handles on vanity cabinets. Shower corners started cracking within two weeks (he did regrout them). Bright white caulking used on biscuit tub. Toilet tank sits about 4" from the wall. Patch on the wall where the door used to be is very poorly done. Grout not sealed. Informed that installing towel racks, cabinet knobs, robe hook, paper holder, and respraying ceiling/doing knockdown finish were all "extras" not included in original quote.    

Gutted master 3/4 bath. Took out 5' wall with doorway and 6' wall. Removed old toilet and tub. Removed built in vanity with single sink that was outside the bathroom. Moved tub and sink plumbing. (Toilet plumbing didn't move). Removed all original copper plumbing and replaced with PAX/plastic. Early in project identified need to reinforce flooring for stability which added about 10 hours extra labor not in original quote. Plumbed for walk in shower. Installed & plumbed new tub. Roughed in shower stall. Built 8' interior wall between new bath and bedroom. Wired for lights and outlets. Laid cement backer board for floor and tiled floor as well as 4 feet up the walls behind tub and vanites. Had to redo shower rough-in because of change in shower pan dimensions. Had to wait for shower pan to arrive and be installed so handyman agreed to homeowner grouting and sealing all the tile in exchange for the extra carpentry labor already provided. When shower pan was installed homeowner contacted handyman and was told that it would be an additional $1,200 to finish the job.

Didn't clean up after work. Didn't haul away debris. We think he did take the copper he cut out because we never found it in the trash pile he left. Homeowner has had to hire another contractor to spray and do knockdown finish on all the ceilings the handyman scraped off and left unfinished. Also have had to hire a carpenter to build the master bathroom shower stall and waterproof it since handyman did not do this correctly in the hall bathroom. Carpenter also fixed the unfinished inside and outside corners of the wall between the bedroom and bathroom so it could be painted. Master bath remains unfinished at this time. Handyman claims he is still owed $800 for "extra" labor already provided. Since there was no written contract or quote and everything was paid in cash we have no way to counter his claim so will have to find a way to pay him before we can save toward getting the hall bath fixed right and finishing the master bath. Horribly hard way to learn lesson about trusting someone's word.