Moran Residential Remodeling

MRR, Colin Moran specifically, helped manage the process from the very beginning, starting with helping to find the right architect and assisting me with permits and variances. He also supervised the entire project; contracting, directing and overseeing any work he and his crew didn’t do personally. Collectively they took down several walls, ran all new plumbing and electric, installed central air, converted the heating, renovated/expanded the kitchen, renovated/relocated 2 bathrooms, built a new master bath and walk-in closet, replaced the staircase, installed all new windows and doors, replaced the entire roof structure, put new siding on the entire house, added on a front porch and portico and rebuilt a crumbling sunroom. I had no choice but to live in the house during the entire renovation (a little over a year) and they did everything they could, went well out of their way, to make my life as comfortable as possible. As a first time home owner, there were many instances when I felt in over my head. Colin was very helpful guiding me in the right direction and his design sense is incredible! It took longer and cost more than I thought it would but I understand that is true of just about every renovation. Bottom line: I couldn’t be more thrilled with the end result. As my neighbors (and passersby) will tell you, it went from the worst house on the block to the nicest!!

~ The tile in the shower must be
ripped out and replaced. The tile comes in sheets that measure approximately
11and quot; x 11and quot; with glass tiles that are 3/8and quot; x 1-5/8and quot;. In
addition to grout missing in several areas, despite having been regrouted
numerous times, the grout lines are grossly out of line. Instead of looking
uniform the tiles are twisted in such a manner that not only are they not
straight but they are also cantered at such an angle as to jut out as if they
were laid over a bumpy surface, when in fact they were laid over new Durock.
The tile sheets also have a and quot;jeweledand quot; tile which is faceted. The
majority of these faceted tiles have grout dried in them which negates the
and quot;sparkleand quot; effect they are meant to show. This work was done by
one of his laborers and not a professional. Two tile professionals inspected
the work and said that in order for the shower tile to look like it was meant
to look it would need to be ripped out and installed. A third tile professional
stated that if we could live with the tile improperly installed we could pay to
have someone grout the tile yet again and completely clean the grout from the
surface of all the tiles.
The backsplash in the kitchen has
many of the same defects as the bathroom—missing grout, tiles askew,
protrusions—that the bathroom has but not to the same degree. The edge
where the backsplash meets the wall was not and quot;finishedand quot; but rather
left raw.
~ Moran insisted that the walls be
painted prior to any interior work. As a result, in addition to the charge for
painting the entire house, we were also charged for and quot;touch-upsand quot; due
to construction and had to also purchase the extra paint to fix where they had
to cut into walls. The areas that were and quot;touched-upand quot; were done so poorly
that it is completely obvious and the walls/ceilings look like a patchwork
quilt. This completely ruins the finished paint. After that they then
re-spackled many areas in almost every room in the house. Additionally, the
moulding was painted after it was affixed but painters tape was not used. The
results are that the semi-gloss paint from the moulding is also on the satin
paint of the walls, flat paint of the ceiling, and on the tile floor.
~ Although the invoice stated that
caulking was done, there was not one ounce of caulk put up. After the moulding
was installed we noticed gaps that would have been made unnoticeable by proper
caulking. We were also informed by a professional that the caulk used was not
the correct type for the job. The contractor had a worker caulk only after we
complained but the was after, a laborer and not a professional that we paid
for, had already painted the moldings—leaving drips, smudges, and brush hairs
clogging the enormous gaps. The cuts on the molding are jagged, gaping,
and the moldings don't line up. All base, chair and crown molding have to
be replaced and the walls underneath need to be repaired before new molding can
be installed. This has been up since January and there has been no attempt to
fix it.
~The kitchen cabinets were installed
in December. In spite of an invoice which says all doors were adjusted some of
them still don't close properly. The crown molding on the top of the cabinets
was installed so poorly that not a single corner lines up and another grossly
obvious seam was left in the center of the cabinets at the least inconspicuous
spot.
~A few weeks ago when they finally
installed the molding to the doors, they unhooked the smoke/carbon monoxide
detector. My husband, a NYC firefighter, was at work and he texted Colin
Moran about it. Colin Moran didn't come over to re-hook it up. He said it would
be re-hooked up the next day when the workers were finished. When they hooked
it up it was then done improperly.
~ The person that he had spackle the
house left dried spackle droppings all over the house. Our front door was
covered with spackle as were several windows, including the base of the bay
windows. As a result, they are torn up from the removal of the dried spackle.
When we initially informed him of the sloppy work we were told, and quot;You paid
for good, not neat.and quot; This is an unacceptable answer for someone who
considers themself a professional. It was weeks later when he finally had a
laborer clean it up. In spite of this there are still areas not fully cleaned.
~ Our front door had to be
and quot;adjustedand quot; and re-insulated. So much foam insulation was injected
that the frame has been separated. We also now have a visual space and a severe
draft coming from under the door.
~ The new windows that were installed
on the 2nd floor were installed incorrectly and are drafty. Instead of being
installed flush to the outside of the house so as to have a sill on the inside.
The windows were installed flush on the inside leaving a sill in the outside
where snow and moisture can build. When we asked why they were not installed
like all the other windows in the house (which he did not install) we were told
it was because they were a different brand. Brand should have no bearing on
installation. The siding company needed to adjust the way the siding was
installed to prevent water from rotting the window.
~ Portico still isn’t complete. A
completely different color shingle was used than what is already on our roof.
It is obvious even at night. When we told Moran that the columns needed to be
installed prior to the siding being done he sent a worker to do it. We do not
believe they were installed properly with an L bracket. Where the portico roof
was to meet the columns was left unfinished. The support contact point was
about 1/3 of the width of the column. When we asked him about this he asked if
the siding company could fix it. They did but the caps for the column were not
secured with the correct hardware. As such it looks horrible.
~ Three closets (coat, washer/dryer,
utility) were framed out in our mudroom. None of the three have openings that
are the same height. The coat and washer/dryer are side-by-side and separated
by a mere 8and quot;. It is unfathomable how this mistake was made. These closets
were not made deep enough so as to be able to have a bifold door installed on
the washer/dryer closet without a major alteration. The bifold doors were cut
down on both the washer/dryer and utility closet in such a manner so that no
two are the same length and several are cut on an obvious angle as opposed to
perpendicular to the floor. When we had mentioned that the bifold door didn't
work his response was that it was because of the doors we had chosen. As a
and quot;professionaland quot; and licensed contractor I feel that this is
something that he either should have realized before hand or, once it was
installed, informed us of the issue and not left it as if it were a job well
done. You could clearly see once the job was done that the door would not allow
the washer/dryer doors to function properly.
We made several attempts to get this fixed by him since January
and he said he would do all of this. We finally had no
choice but to tell him to not come back anymore last week on either 3/24 or
3/25 because too much time had passed and we need to get this fixed by a
professional. He has let us down too many t

Will post more on completion!