Peachtree Restoration LLC

The work that was done on our screened in porch far exceeded our expectations. Peachtree Restoration went above and beyond to build a very well constructed, safe and inviting outdoor space.

I hired Chris Hutcheson of Peachtree Restoration to build and install built-in bookcases into my living room in Charlestown. He seemed professional and courteous at first, and as he had completed a similar job for a friend in my neighborhood, I felt confident that he could do the work. My project was a little more complex than my neighbor's because I wanted to include a shelf with doors to house a flat screen TV in the middle of one of the bookcases. She had just had bookcases with cabinets at the bottom. At the time of bidding the work, I hadn't yet purchased the TV and asked him what size would fit, given his measurements. He told me, so I bought a 42" TV, which he agreed would fit. Rather than wall mount the TV, he decided to build a "lazy susan" kind of thing upon which the TV would sit, and which would slide in and out and pivot so that the TV could be viewed from different locations in the room. Sounded great! He took about the amount of time he'd quoted to initially finish the job but had to come back 3-4 times for some finish work - painting areas he'd missed, installing knobs, etc. By the way, he said the paint job wasn't great because I chose "cheap paint" not because he did a shoddy job. I just bought Behr, what was at Home Depot. If he had wanted me to buy a different paint, he should have told me! I'm not a paint expert. That's why I hired someone. Here's where the problems started. I noticed that the TV was so heavy that it was making the wood bow - and therefore if you closed the cabinet doors, there was a gap. I asked if he could fix that... maybe stabilize the shelf or something.. and he said "Your TV is too heavy. You shouldn't have bought such a big TV." Excuse me? "I didn't buy the TV til I got your ok! I had even emailed him a link to the TV at Best Buy, so if he'd thought that was a potential problem, he could have looked at the weight online. Anyway, he also said that all of this coming back and forth was beyond the scope of the estimate and fixing the bowed wood certainly was and that he was now "losing money" on the job. What? He shouldn't have estimated incorrectly then! His mistakes shouldn't be mine to pay for. And by the way, if he'd just said "you know, I misjudged the cost of this. I think I might need an extra $500" or whatever, I probably would have given it to him. But he didn't. He blamed me for buying a TV that was too heavy and refused to fix his mistake. I calmly said at one point, "Chris, this is getting a little uncomfortable." and he said "You're right." And he walked out! Walked out, with a shoddy job that I had fully paid for. I subsequently had to pay another contractor $800 to fix his work - and buy the wall mount which should have been purchased in the first place at an additional $400. Do NOT use this man. This experience has actually put me off contractors for the past few years and is why I joined Angie's List. I have a bathroom that I really need to renovate, but I'm terrified of another experience like this one.

Work was done quickly and to the scope of the contract. He left the work area clean. No complaints.

From inside and outside of the house, we examined the windows together with Mr. Hutcheson, climbing ladders as I pointed out rotten wood in the corners of windows next to shingles, holes and gaps in the window jams and rotten window sills. We agreed that additional rot might be discovered over and above the quote when the windows were opened up. Hutcheson assured us he could do the job and that our satisfaction with his work was paramount. We were prudent and got another bid for less than Hutcheson?s but we went with him thinking that he was the right person for the job. When he finished the first window and asked for our opinion, we noted that he had missed the 1x2 inch hole in the window jam where water could get into window casing and wall. He complained that it was not in the bid and was outside of the scope of the quote but he offered to caulk it. We repeated that we wanted the rot in the windows repaired or replaced. We reminded him that we pointed everything out to him before he started the job and he agreed to fix it. He reluctantly repaired the hole in the window jam. He told us the next window was finished but this time he skipped the window sill that was rotting on one corner. This time he insisted that the window sill was not a part of the quote. We sat down and went over the proposal word by word when he admitted some words could be misunderstood and he fixed the window sill. A red flag went up. Did he skip or short cut other work? We told Hutcheson it is impossible for us to tell him the steps it takes to repair the windows because we are not carpenters. The basement window needed the sill and wood storm window repaired or replaced. After another long debate it became evident that Hutcheson might not have the knowledge, skill or ability to do the job so we told him to repair rather than replace. All that was left to do was paint the pre-made outside basement storm window that Hutcheson bought. We later discovered it did not fit! When Hutcheson finished the job, we paid him to his repeated assurance that our satisfaction was paramount. Sadly, we believed him. The day of reckoning came a few weeks later after the edge of a hurricane brushed the area and dumped rain exposing a small roof leak. The roofer noticed the window flashing and asked if we had done the repairs ourselves. He told us it was wrong, that the flashing on top of the window had been cut, nailed and siliconed together. He said that water would run down the back, settle on top of the wood frame because it had nowhere to go and work its way into the wall and eventually rot the wood. We were extremely upset since rotten wood was what Hutcheson was hired to repair. We had doubts about Hutcheson's work during the job based on his responses and actions but were now furious at how we were misled. We tried to get Hutcheson to return by offering him work with the caveat that we had some concerns about the quality of his previous work. So there would be no surprises, we emailed him pictures. The basement storm window did not fit so Hutcheson agreed to fix it. It took him a month to return. When we asked him about the window flashing he admitted cutting the original flashing off at the bottom of the shingle, sliding aluminum in as far as he could, overlapping the original flashing and then using silicone to seal it. Oddly enough he used brass nails through the top of the flashing and more silicone to close up holes made by the nails. We had one roofer, two carpenters and a handyman bid on repairing the window flashing that Hutcheson ruined. None of them had ever heard of any carpenter ?repairing window flashing? because it always is replaced, not repaired. They all volunteered opinions about the carpenter who did the window repairs. None thought that malice was involved because he could have done a better job hiding his incompetence. Hutcheson did sloppy finish work, took short cuts, reused damaged window trim, used rough cut wood where knots had fallen out, left gaps in the trim that needed to be caulked and the mess he made of the flashing indicate he does not posses the knowledge, skill and ability to do basic carpentry. The correct way to make the repairs was to first remove two rows of shingles over the top of each window, repair any rotten wood, replace old flashing with new, add Tyvek house wrap to the exposed surface of wood where shingles were removed, and then replace the shingles with new. We essentially paid Hutcheson to ?practice? on our home and then we paid someone else to do the job correctly. When we told Hutcheson what the other tradesmen said, he replied: "If your "carpenter" and "roofer" friends are so knowledgeable then you should have asked them to do the work from the start." The reader of this review should follow Hutcheson?s own advice - hire someone else, not him! Caveat emptor is Latin for "Let the buyer beware". Don?t fall for Hutcheson?s ?Restoration and Preservation Carpentry? sales pitch or you might end up paying an experienced carpenter to redo the job. We asked Hutcheson to refund $1000 and he said: ?I have not done anything to warrant a refund and it is not going to happen. This conversation is over.? He does not think he did anything wrong, but other tradesmen were able to clearly show us what he did wrong ? we have photos of all the work to back up this review. It is noteworthy also that he provides no physical nor mailing address on his website nor on his letterhead.