David E. Benner Fine Remodeling

The contractors estimated price was over the top more expensive than competitors. The contractor was selected because of a perceived reputation that turned out to be more fiction than fact. David Benner's interpersonal skills include reassurance and self confidence. This is quite disarming. Its easy to perceive this as professionalism. However, this doesn't hold when there are issues to be resolved with work. I found a pattern of denying that an item is a problem, an attempt to soothe one into acceptance of subpar work. When pushed to actually resolve problems, he spends more time advocating for his subcontractors than assuring issues are resolved. His Quality standards were ad-hoc. I once asked him why he was not catching and detecting errors in work performed. His response was that different customers have different standards of quality. I believe he just ignores flawed work. Unless I pushed, nothing was done. When effort was exerted to fix issues, it was just as likely that more issues would be created than resolved. I was very disappointed in this regard. David promises the highest quality of workmanship. My experience was that he cannot deliver. I'd avoid signing any contract unless the scope of work is specified in great detail with very specific ways to measure the quality of the work. I'd add contract provisions that he is responsible for costs regarding negligent behavior that causes rework. I'd identify and hire an independent inspector to check the quality of work before walls are sealed. The inspector should check for conformance to building code, damage to structure, and the agreed standard of quality. I made payments in advance. I'd hold payments until later in the project. In particular, I'd make sure the last payment is a large one and contingent on clear progress towards resolution of issues. Add penalties if work to resolve issues creates new problems.

The work took longer than planed, but all in all it went smoothly. All the workers were polite and did quality work.