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.

He took the deposit and ran.

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.