Gillespie Construction LLC

We hired James to demo our builder's grade shower, bathroom cabinets, and flooring and install new tiled standup shower with doors and tiled floor in our master bath. The custom made cabinets and marble countertop with sinks were installed by others. James was always on time and performed the majority of work himself. Unfortunately, the project ran more than one month over schedule with sub-par work. Specifically: * Didn't turn off water prior to cutting through shower drywall, nicking a water pipe, and causing water damage to our basement fceiling, flooring, and couch * Glass shower door installed incorrectly, causing water to seep outside of shower door agter completion * Glass shower door secured to sill with clear silicone, not screws, which loosened within a few months * Tile on shower floor replaced twice due to insufficient grading during installation * Silicone applied around all inside corners of shower wasn't smooth. In addition to being unattractive, it became a trap for mold despite weekly scrubbing A year after installation, I sent photos of the completed shower to another contractor to fix the silicone and shower door. Here is his reply, verbatum: "After looking at the pictures I think you need more than caulk replacement. Thats caulk job is really really bad and unfortunately its silicone on most of it. The tile job is below average and we won't caulk over that and guarantee are work or the fact that anything won't be damaged during removal of existing caulking. Sorry we can't help with the caulk but if you decide to replace the tile we can talk." We eventually found a contractor to remove the silicone in the shower and replace it with caulk. The shower door had to be completely removed and installed/secured according to manufacturer's instructions. I would never, ever hire him again to do work in our home.

Met Jim at worksite October 18 to discuss renovation of 730 square foot condominium. I explained all the work that would be entailed and told him the project needed to be completed by the end of the calendar year. He said he would like the job, it would take 8 weeks and be completed by December 12. I hired him and paid a deposit. Relying on Jim's assertion of his completion date I hired a moving company to move my possessions into the condo on December 19, allowing him an extra week to finalize the work. Upon my arrival the unit lacked a bathroom vanity or sink, hot water in either the kitchen or the bathroom. The old kitchen cabinets and countertops which were supposed to be replaced as part of the project were still in place. The two bookcases that were part of the project, an existing one to be stained and another to be custom built, were not ready as promised. Without the cabinets or the two bookcases many of the boxes I packed could not be unpacked. With all the unpacked boxes taking up space in this small unit I could not set up my king size bed. Most of my first month here was spent sleeping on the couch, sneezing on dust and taking cold showers. Three months later I'm still tripping over many of those boxes, which are still stacked up in my living room and now falling apart under their own weight. It's pretty embarrassing to have guests over when you still have boxes stacked up three months after moving in. The project, now in its 6th month, has ground to a halt despite my repeated requests for Jim's attention. He has not worked here at the worksite since February 13, and that was the first time in weeks I'd seen him. He told me to expect someone over to work on February 23. Then he postponed the day of, until February 27. Then he postponed the day of again... We had a brief conversation on March 6 and he hastily dropped off a piece of the bookcase on March 8. That's all I've seen of Jim lately. He has not responded to my last few attempts to reach him via phone or text. I can't even say for sure if I'll ever see Jim again. When he has asked for money I have not subjected him to excuses nor delays. Jim has been paid in full. In fact he's collected $2,500.00 more than what our contract calls for. As of this writing, March 19, work left to do includes: dishwasher installation (first attempt failed), washing machine installation (Jim lost my owners manual) and construction of plywood plumbing cover, construction of bookcase, installation of handles for sliding closet doors, bathroom outlet refinishing (first and second attempt failed) and more than a dozen 'punch out' items such as touching up paint and trim in various places. The bookcase I hired Jim to construct for me was to be built to my specifications, which I agonized over for weeks before submitting to him. He told me he had to make it smaller than I had planned on in order to fit it into the building's elevator in one piece. The bookcase was built but somehow a kerosene spill forced its demolition before it could be delivered! A second attempt at building the bookcase was made, again in Jim's reduced size. However because Jim failed to measure correctly it would not fit in the elevator. Jim chose to literally SAW my new bookcase INTO PIECES and try to see if he could piece it together later. He delivered one piece of it but the others including the base are still missing. I still can't put my items on it. Jim had never installed a dishwasher in a kitchen with stone countertops before and did not know the correct procedure. Rather than research it on the internet where the solution is easily found, he chose to jerry rig the installation by using very long screws, almost entirely exposed, coming in, from, on the right side, my new wooden cabinets and from, on the left side, drywall, to hold the dishwasher upright by the plastic inner lining, which is not designed to hold that weight. This installation is already failing. He has not returned to address it. If he does I shall have to point out the correct procedure to him. As to the overall quality of the work, it generally turns out to be acceptable in the long run if you're willing to accept minor blemishes but it requires that I monitor the quality of the work myself and point out the bigger problems that I see to them. It's a frustrating and tedious process. I would much prefer that they would monitor their own work and save me the trouble. Most of these mistakes are clearly obvious. Spots on the wall where the old paint shows through. Big drops of unwanted paint are left on stone countertops, walls, floors and trim on a regular basis. The 'measure twice, cut once' rule is not always followed. The only explanation for this is that there is insufficient attention to detail. The bathroom faucet and the kitchen faucet both became loose days after they were first installed. I have many examples I could cite, which is troubling in a contractor. Another issue is the failure of Jim's crew to clean up after themselves. A white substance was left spattered on patio furniture and on my balcony. They left metal shavings behind when they drilled into the windows. Grease marks were left on walls. Update: An incredible coincidence! (or not): Shortly after texting Jim of my plans to post a review of his company, without my even mentioning what the review says, he reached out to me. He admitted to avoiding me lately. He promised to return to the worksite the week of April 8. I will continue to update this review and keep you apprised of further developments on a regular basis.

Arrived on time, gave an estimate.  Did work according to price quoted, cleaned up and were gone.