Mell's Kitchens

Aside from the fraud they committed with regard to collecting their money in full prior to completing the remodel (but we didn't realize it until Roman Marble advised us Jeff hadn't paid any money towards the $2100+ items they manufactured for us), below are the issues: 1) Several times I had to remind them to ?spin? the dials on our lock box because I came home to find they had left it on our combination?s correct numbers that unlocks it & gives anyone access to our house key, & thus our home & all of our belongings in it. 2) Original sub floor was clearly not fit to install a new bathroom on. It had slight rot damage to it, had pieces that appeared to have been replaced over the years by owners prior to us, & because of this had an un-levelness to it in several places. I had to point this out to Jeff, and tell him that it needed to be taken out and a new sub floor wood installed, because we could not afford to invest all the money we were on the total remodel cost only to place it all on sub quality sub flooring. 3) Wrong shower/tub handle?s mixer installed even though I showed him the Moen and Delta sets of plumbing hardware and told him the Moen?s handle was to be installed, & only Delta?s shower head and tub faucet were to be installed of its set. He knowingly made this choice on his own, & did not bother to call and tell me that Moen didn?t include a mixer in their set until I arrived home that day & he had already installed the wrong one earlier in the day. Correct mixer was finally reinstalled after I begged him to do so, & ordered one that would be compatible with the Moen handle. 4) I pointed out to Jeff that the original studs didn?t appear to be in the right position for the new medicine cabinets or wide enough for them. He ended up having to cut an area of the existing studs & install a couple supporting 2 x 4?s in the immediate area to accommodate the 15? x 26? medicine cabinets. Had I, myself, not realized this issue in advance, Mell?s would?ve been at least 75% into the final stages of the remodel before they realized it & it would?ve been too late to do anything about it because this issue would?ve had to been fixed before the new drywall was installed, finished & painted?.. This is just 1 of many lack of attention to detail issues on his part along the way, since he ? the experienced contractor - didn?t have the foresight to realize it himself, but I as the homeowner did. 5) Mell?s installed a 2nd light switch approx. 15-17? away from the bathroom door next to an electrical outlet which would be next to the main mirror. Advised them this was unacceptable & it needed to be moved. 6) Light for middle of room was advised by Jeff to be exactly centered in room. Once installed it was painfully obvious that this wasn?t sound advice from him, & the light actually needed to be centered left to right with the bathroom?s door & window across from the door. Once it was moved, it was very clear this was the correct aesthetic choice. 7) Ceiling?s popcorn finish mudded over for smooth texture. Jeff chose to mud over the popcorn instead of scrapping it off & mudding/spackling any areas that would need repair afterward, which is what would normally be done if the contractor isn?t comfortable completely removing the ceiling?s drywall. Scraping it off would?ve been much less work & time invested for him and would?ve created a more level/even surface to the ceiling. We now have a ceiling that is uneven & was noticed by the painter while he was repainting the ceiling. He had no idea why though. Only after he told me about it & I then explained to him that Mell?s simply mudded over the popcorn, he then expressed his shock over the decision to do it that way & said, ?ok, that makes sense as to why my roller kept getting stuck in several areas.? 8) I requested the pony/shower wall be extended out 34-36? from the beginning & again in a meeting had with them while we stood in the bathroom during the week of 2.23-2.27. I arrived home the day it was installed, on 3.4, to find Jeff made a decision on his own to not honor my request but instead to install the drywall for the wall so it would end right at the edge of the tub. When I asked him why he did so & reminded him that we had just discussed it during the previous week?s meeting, he stated that my request wasn?t a good idea because of potential water from the shower coming out & causing damage to the drywall. I advised him then that any future decisions to override my choices needed to be discussed with me 1st. 9) Drywall structural issues with (2) areas jutting out where it meets the ceiling on the pony-shower wall. New contractor has advised us that Mell?s cut the sheets too long which is why they bow out, & the only way to fix this would be to remove the tub that has been mudded in, remove the bullnose tile and floor tiles in the area, remove the drywall & reinstall the drywall & the other items again. 10) Drywall structural issue at the bottom of the pony-shower wall with an area a good ¼ inch being slanted backwards at an angle ? not straight, & was visible once the bullnose tile was installed. This had to have spackle applied, dried, sanded & the process repeated 6-9 times to build it out to where it wasn?t as noticeable. 11) Drywall structural/finish issues of a ?rolling? effect of mud/spackle applied in a corner of the bathroom. Not smooth/level. This could not be fixed without more time and cost for re-mudding & sanding to be done several times. 12) Countless drywall finish issues of pin holes, lines, divots in the ceiling and walls that they ended up leaving & painting them anyways. This has since been fixed and repainted as noted below in #21 13) Cracking in caulk around ceiling medallion was visible within 1st-2nd day of it being applied & painted. This was eventually fixed by them with re-caulking it. 14) Cracking in caulk and paint around the window?s new trim installed. This was visible within 1st -3rd day of it being applied and painted. This was re-caulked & repainted by the new painter hired. 15) Cabinets? ?boxes? were built with melamine even though the original vision and contract was to have real wood used because it was going to be stained. They never gave us a choice about this change to the cabinet?s material but just told us this was the best material to use now that we were having them painted. When I arrived home to find it installed, I addressed this with them & told them it looked like particle board. I was then told that they chose melamine because wood can be damaged with the moisture in a bathroom. I established that once again they made a decision that affected our vision of the bathroom?s design, without making sure I understood what the outcome would be &look like, & have me agree to that difference in aesthetics. 16) Cabinets? ?boxes? were also being painted with a roller instead of being painted with a sprayer, which I established from the beginning needed to be sprayed because I wanted a ?smooth as glass? finish on them. Mell?s insisted I would still have that finish. However, the new cabinet maker/carpenter has since advised me that I would never have had the cabinet quality & finish that I wanted because they choose melamine material and it doesn?t take paint well. The carpenter also advised me of several structural issues he found with the cabinet?s boxes when at our home to assess them so he could merely build drawers and doors in order for the cabinets to be fully completed. Thus, the cabinets? boxes have to be completely rebuilt with correct material & in a structurally sound way, as well as being painted with a sprayer. 17) Carpenter also pointed out that only (1) drawer (the vanity?s) has ?soft close? hardware installed, but Jeff verbally told me he would install soft close hardware for all (6) drawers and (2) pull out shelves for the cabinets. 18) Several floor tiles un-level once installed and set in mortar. Cannot be fixed without damaging the tiles. 19) Wrong bull nose tile was installed on the bathroom?s main wall. The tile chosen for the floor and bullnose were a challenge to piece together as a complete pattern and color match because the manufacturer had different color hues and patterns that didn?t match each other in each individual box. Jeff was taken into our office and shown the different stacks of tile that had notes on them indicating #1, #2, #3, etc. as our 1st to last choices because of this. The spotted/speckled tile was only present because we didn?t know exactly how many tiles were needed, but it was pointed out to him and explained that if he had to use it, to only do so under the vanity or where the toilet would be. There were still (5) neutral bullnose left that he could?ve/should?ve chosen instead. They will be removed and the neutral tiles installed by the new contractor. 20) A bullnose tile was installed where the air vent is. The new contractor will have to remove this completely so the air vent?s cover can be installed properly. 21) Mell?s told me they would fix the countless drywall finish?s imperfections that I had marked with tape, and repaint the bathroom. On 4.16 I asked if they were done with this, and Jeff indicated they were. I let him know then that there were some areas on the door?s wall that were still rough as if re-spackled but not sanded or repainted, he started to explain that they were like that because they were spot painted but he would look at them & fix them. 22) After this conversation I went into the bathroom & assessed the drywall imperfections/repainting supposedly done only to discover that very few of the countless imperfections that existed, were fixed. I knew then I?d have to fix them myself & have the ceiling & walls repainted otherwise we?d be stuck with them forever. 4.22.15 Fired him at the **11** week mark, we've since hired new team to finish it.

I wouldn't have anyone else do the work. It's him, his wife, and young son. They are the best I've ever had. They work together like a well oiled machine. They are there to work and do a great job.