HEWITT PAINTING/CONSTRUCTION

I hired Dale to paint our foyer and hallway downstairs.  He was to then paint up the stairway to the second floor and paint that hallway too. 

The work was average.  There were several spots in the plaster that needed to be patched and he didn't do a great job on that.  The wall wasn't sanded down well so it's bumpy.  There was one large section where he didn't do a second coat -- we could see through to the first coat and it was splotchy.  We asked several times for him to come fix the spot and he never did.  So prior to a family gathering at our house, my husband painted the second coat himself.   

The worst part was that he somehow made a giant brush stroke into the white ceiling in a section of wall at the top of the landing where the stairs curve.  I didn't notice it for several months until one day I happened to look up.  It's not possible to fix -- the former owners didn't leave any ceiling paint that matches.  We would have to repaint a large section of the ceiling to make it look right.  Now every time I go down the stairs I can't help but look at it.

I would not recommend Dale for any work whatsoever.

Dale Hewitt started the remodel on our kitchen in July 2011.  It was a nightmare from the start.  Dale was the overall contractor but had a foreman, Jeff, who is his nephew.  The other person working on the job was their employee, Chris.   

1.  We paid Dale $5000 to being the work and he put all $5000 on a home renovating store gift card in his  name.  That came back to bite us in the end when he didn't spend the entire amount.  I asked several times for an accounting of all the expenditures.  I was forced to go to the store on July 19, 2011 for an invoice where I spent more than 30 minutes at the contractor?s desk discussing the situation with the store manager.  Because this was all under Dale's account, we had to go through several people to get a copy of the invoice.  When I added the invoices together, the total came to $4270, a shortage of $730.  In the end, when we needed to replace materials that his crew ruined, we were unable to use any of the $730 balance because it was in Dale's name.  We couldn't even get store credit in our own name. 

2.  We understood that Dale was to take care of all of the aspects of this project, including the plumbing and electric ? even if it was subcontracted.  However when we needed to install a shut-off valve on the two water lines that we found behind the cabinets, it was up to us to call a plumber.  Fortunately we already had a relationship of many years with a local plumber who we called to install the shut-off and cut the pipes.  However a couple of days later, Jeff asked us to contact the plumber again to replumb the sink.  I was surprised because I assumed this was part of the labor that Dale provided but I called the plumber.  He came out on Monday, July 11, 2011 to take out the old sink and move the pipes to prepare for the new one.  While he was at our house, Jeff and Chris asked to borrow his tools.  The plumber gave Jeff and Chris his phone number so they could call when it was time for him to return and install the sink before the granite could be templated correctly.  No one ever called the plumber and he came out on two consecutive days to check ? making sure he didn?t miss a deadline.  The plumber finally called us on Sunday evening, was unable to reach us because we were en route from vacation, so he came out on Monday to see what had been done.  Not only did Jeff and Chris fail to follow up with the plumber, but we felt obligated to pay him for the two times he came out when no one was here so we could maintain the relationship we have had with him for over 20 years.  Additionally, had we known that we would be calling in our own plumber ? even though it was supposedly included in our estimate as is common practice with most contractors ? we would have added that to our budget.  The extra work by our plumber cost $370.    

3.  The project was running approximately 2 weeks behind and we had a scheduled vacation.  Dale promised they would work while we were gone.  For at least two of the 5 days we were gone, no work was done.  Dale claimed he didn?t have funds to purchase more materials even though I specifically asked before we left if I needed to leave a check with our neighbors in case he needed more money.  Jeff stated that they didn?t need more money -- but half way through our vacation, he called me for another draw.  On the last weekend of our trip, we went out of out way to come back by our home to drop off a check for $1400.  That check sat there all weekend ? he never came to pick it up.  Then when Monday arrived and we expected Jeff and Chris to show up and start working on the next phase of the kitchen, they didn?t come.  When I called, Dale stated they would be there in the afternoon.  But then I got a text from Jeff saying they weren?t coming at all on Monday.  When Dale returned to our house, he stated the delay was because he was waiting for a check to purchase materials and for the flooring to come in.  However, Jeff said that the flooring was not an issue and that he had plenty of things to do until the flooring arrived.

4.  We asked for an accounting of all supplies, hours spent on the job, and materials he had not used.  Dale not only refused to do this, but he outright accused me of not trusting him.  I was never able to get a complete invoice with detailed charges. 

At this point we were very concerned so we had another contractor come over to look at the kitchen and we were alarmed at what he found.  We then asked two more contractors to come over and also inspect the kitchen.  All three contractors stated this was one of the worst jobs they had ever seen.  We fired Dale and hired a new contractor to fix the mistakes.  We basically had to rip out the entire kitchen and start again.  These are some of the things we found:   

1.  When we inspected the cabinets, we found several problems.  Numerous nail and screw holes are in the back of the cabinets, showing the many attempts to hang the cabinets.  The sink base was tilted ¼ inch forward.  The wall cabinets on the west side of the kitchen were hung at a different height than the ones on the east side.  The cabinets on the west side of the kitchen were not hung plumb against the wall.  Because our home was built in 1910, the plaster walls are not straight.  In order to get the cabinets plumb, shims had to be placed behind the ledger board before screwing the ledger board into the wall.  In one place, more than an inch of shims were used to make  the cabinets plumb.   One of the cabinets is split in the back where it was nailed to the wall.   Although it won?t be noticeable once the counter is in place, it compromises the integrity of the cabinet and will shorten its lifespan.  The cutouts for the plumbing in the sink base were jagged and not professional.  The base cabinets on the west wall did not line up with the wall cabinets.  The large base cabinets were screwed to the wall at opposite ends leaving two gaps that needed to be filled due to the size of the smaller cabinet.

2.  As the new contractor started to take the cabinets down to rehang them, he found that they were simply nailed through the leger board into the plaster walls with regular nails.  There were no anchors and the nails only went into the plaster about 2".  The new contractor was able to literally pull the cabinets off the wall.  Had this not been caught, any member of our house, including our three small children, could have been seriously injured if a cabinet had come off the wall from the weight of its contents.    

3.  We had originally drawn the plans for a normal 1½? overhang on our granite countertops.  However, Jeff, the foreman, called the fabricator without my knowledge to say the overhang needed to be 10 inches!!!.  Fortunately, the fabricator had to come out again to re-measure on July 20 after we had fired Dale.  We looked at his original measurements.  He asked if we intended to have a 10? overhang and I told him we had asked that there be more of an overhang so we could use the counter as a work or eating space.  However, he stated that a 10? overhang would nearly prohibit use of the drawers.  We would literally have 2 or 3 inches reach inside each drawer.  Additionally, a 10? overhang would have made it impossible to reach into the upper cabinets without standing on the countertop or using a ladder.  Fortunately we were able to change to a 1½? overhang but that mistake could have cost us hundreds of dollars.

4.  When Jeff and Chris installed the laminate flooring, they chipped the laminate -- but installe

They are very bad, very terrible. Do not have them do any work for you.

Not good.  He was to pay me back, but I kept calling him several times.  Finally, he have me some money back, but I had him do some painting for me, so we called it even and I would be done with him.  I will NEVER hire him again for anything!

An entire novel would be required to describe it in all of its horribleness. Do not use this contractor for anything.

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