Calhoun Building & Remodeling LLC

We hired Calhoun Remodeling to install a tile backsplash in our kitchen and to also tile our fireplace surround. Mike Calhoun gave us an estimate of $350 for the kitchen and $125 for the fireplace. In August, Mr. Mike Calhoun and an assistant came to our home and took several days to install the tile for the kitchen only, and would come back at a later date to do the fireplace. My husband and I had purchased the tile and tile border for the kitchen ourselves in the amount that Mr. Calhoun told us we would need for the job. We had discussed lay out with him previously in July when he came out to give us the estimate. On the first day of the install, Mr. Calhoun talked me out of using the border we had purchased - said it would look too busy, and instead used some of the bronze tile inserts from the border as accent pieces. After the first days work my husband and I absolutely hated the way it looked without the border and asked him to remove the tiles that they had already installed. They came back on day 2 and removed what they had installed the day before, then re-installed more tile with the border that we had originally wanted. He charged us an additonal fee, which we paid. Overall the quality of the tile installation was good but the grouting left much to be desired. When Mr. Calhoun and his assistant left on the day they grouted, my husband and I spent three hours chiseling off chunks of excess grout that was left underneath our cabinets and on and around our appliances. We used a light colored grout which they did not properly removed from the grooves in the copper tile pieces in our border, and although my husband and I spent hours trying to remove it ourselves, it still remains 2 months later. Also, there are several large gaps in the grout underneath the window that he was supposed to fix when they came back to tile our fireplace and seal the kitchen tile. Which brings me to today, October 26, 2010. It took my husband and I some time to pick the tile that we wanted to use around the fireplace. We couldn't find what we wanted at Lowes or Home Depot, so we used a tile supplier that Mike Calhoun works with and Mike ordered the tile we chose and was supposed to order the grout we had picked as well. When Mr. Calhoun finally showed up this morning with his assistant and the tile, his demeanor was rude right off the bat, he said that he did not have the grout and was unaware he was supposed to order it. Then they began to lay out the tiles and asked me how I wanted it done since the tiles would not fit perfectly with out making some cuts. I showed him what I thought would look best and then asked him to to do what he thought would make it look good. He then became extremely agitated with me because I did not have this planned out before hand. He told me that he was not the "designer" just the "installer". I told him I didn't know how I was supposed to have planned it out since he had the tile, there was no way I could even attempt to lay it out before hand; and since I have no experience installing tile, I didn't know how to handle such challenges, which is why we hired him in the first place. At this point Mr. Calhoun became down right hostile with me, he said he was only doing this job for $150 dollars and he was not going to spend the whole day here. (actually, the estimate he provided us stated he would install the tile around the fireplace for $125). He proceeded to angrily tell me that "every decision in this house takes forever". I again told him that I did not understand how I was supposed know any of this before hand, he had the tile and he was the professional. At that point he snapped "fine then, we're leaving- here's your tile", turned to his helper and told him to gather their things. I then asked him why, if he didn't want to do the job, he didn't just tell us,so that we could have picked up the tile we already paid for, and found someone else to do the job. He angrily muttered something back at me which I could not understand, and then they left. My husband and I have had a lot of work done to our home since we moved in 11 years ago, and I have never had a contractor treat me with such disrespect and hostility as Mike Calhoun. Mr. Mike Calhoun and his assistant came into my house while I was alone with no one but my 9 pound dog, and he treated me with such disdain and anger that I felt fearful and harrassed in my own home. Now I have to find someone who's not only competent, but willing, to come out and finish the small job of tiling the fireplace and fixing and sealing Mr. Calhoun's shoddy grout job in the kitchen. That's o.k. though, as I will never allow Mr. Mike Calhoun to set foot on my property again.