Homesmith

The Homesmith, LLC ran by Greg Trotz is a business that I
would absolutely, unequivocally avoid at all costs.   Major
issues:  quality of work, no showing on
scheduled work days, failure to purchase/provide materials services, NO
LICENSE!
Our Story:
Mr. Trotz came to our home, gave a fantastic estimate for
replacing our windows, adding windowsills, and a few odds/ends jobs ($8700 with
$5200 up front).  He seemed very
personable and can sell himself well. 
Once the work started (Feb 2013), he and his crew initially worked on
the small odds/ends jobs, not the windows, as he stated those were on order.  Shortly into March (nearly 3 weeks from when
he started), Mr. Trotz informed us that we needed to replace the siding on our
home due to rot and warping.  The home had
cheap T1-11 siding, which we knew did need to be replaced at some point.  At this point, we agreed to go ahead and add
siding into the project (+$4600 with $3000 up front).  The siding started to go onto the house;
however there were numerous scheduling delays, no shows, and even a point at
which they installed the WRONG siding materials.  Mr. Trotz then, after tearing all the old
gutters off for the residing project, told us that we needed new gutters.  We paid yet another $700 for new gutters, in
full.  All of the siding was finally
complete by May 5th (over 2 months from the original contract date),
but we still had NO WINDOWS.  More
scheduling delays ensued.  Then, on April
12th, Mr. Trotz brought 2 windows (of the 29 windows needed), and proceeded to
build them into a window box on the front of our home.   This window box is still not complete to
this point has not been flashed or sealed properly.  Further no shows continued as we pressed for
the final window install to occur.  We
believe he has NEVER ordered the windows and that the money he took as a
deposit for those materials went elsewhere. We have since fired him.
 
Our Opinion:
After nearly 3 months of calling, texting, and begging for
this man to prioritize our project and complete what we had ALREADY paid for,
we are left with a home that has been re-sided and has new gutters.  We still have no new windows, and the 2 that
he did install are done incorrectly and we have to pay to have them fixed.  There are shingles missing from our home,
which during the rainy season is unacceptable. 
The aluminum wrapping he did near the soffit was done poorly and looks
cheap.  A number of the odds/ends jobs he
started are sitting unfinished, some were never started.  We are currently looking into how the siding
was done, as we have suspicion that it, too, was done incorrectly.  Since firing Mr. Trotz, he has not contacted
or responded to us.  He left his tools at
our home (just a couple of small items) and has not attempted to collect
them.  He owes us some of the money back
that we paid him up front and we don?t expect he will make any attempt to
properly settle up the contract on this issue. 
He has pretty much vanished and left us with a huge mess, both emotionally
and physically, to clean up?and with less money than we started this project
with.  After doing some research and
calling the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, the copy of the license he
provided us is FAKE and he has not had a legal contractor?s license since
2010.  We have filed a complaint.
Additionally, we are pursuing charges of fraud and theft with the police.
We cannot stress enough for EVERYONE to avoid this man and
his so called ?company?.  His sole
intent, as we see it, is to scam people out of their money.  Do NOT be fooled.

beware

Terrible. He really did a con job onn us. He did do a good job on my rental property deck and other work on some of the rentall properties I own. He also built a shed on our property that still has some issues with the roof line. He lives in our neignorhood and his kids go to our catholic school. He smiles and talks the talk, but his work was poor at best. Simple things like wiring a doorbell took months to correct. I learned that the electrical work was not done by licnesed electricians nor licnened carpenters. It caused alot of pain to my family. Until the last straw with the basement. I wanted to beleive that it would turn out alright. I was wrlong. Never trust anyone and never give them more than 10% - If they balk - tell them to walk. Another thing - If a contractor says "I will take care of it" - Please make sure you undersatnd what that means - "Cost or No Cost" Many times that was an added cost that I got that was way over my budget. I am now left with a big hole on the side of my house and the threat of water that can continue to comprimise my basement.