Plum Creek Electrical

OVERALL: the project was started on 3/3/19 but as of 5/13/19 the project is incomplete; multiple efforts to get them to finish the work have been unsuccessful. The contractor has been paid the full amount (roughly $15K) less $500 (his suggested "hold-back”). The incomplete items are: finish the trim on the drywall, correct the electrical outlets, install the carpeting on the stairs and cleanup the construction debris outside the house. Three other contractors associated with this project have all finished their parts with a minimum of hassle, usually within a few days of starting. Problem arose during the installation: PROBLEM 1: HV/AC pipe rerouting: When the HV/AC pipes were re-routed, our furnace stopped functioning on a particularly cold day. The indoor temperature fell to 62 degrees. I placed an emergency call (it was a Saturday) to a HV/AC specialist. He pointed out that the way Plum Creek had rerouted the furnace exhaust HV/AC pipe left a dip in the middle, where condensation water was collecting. This was blocking the furnace exhaust pipe and the furnace pump, sensing the obstruction, was shutting off as a safety measure. The HV/AC specialist advised that the furnace exhaust pipe must be rerouted to slope continuously upwards as it exited the basement. After Plum Creek followed this instruction, the furnace resumed functioning. PROBLEM 2: Dry wall installation: The drywall subcontractor (Tim Siebert) did not follow the contracted method and instead took a short cut, which would have saved him money. I noticed that he installed “pink roll” insulation between the studs using duct tape applied to one side (only) to hold the “pink roll” insulation. A part of the yet unfinished work revealed that the insulation had come loose and folded down (picture available on request), meaning there was no insulation in parts of the wall. I showed him the contract, which called for a different method and asked him how he expected the “pink roll” insulation that he had installed to hold up over the years, supported on one side only by a flimsy piece of duct tape. He agreed to redo it using the contracted method. While I appreciate his willingness to redo the work as contracted, this sort of problem should not have arisen in the first place. I was relying on their expertise to avoid these problems. PROBLEM 3: The 7” spacing: The contract called for making a bulkhead access panel around the water line plumbing. To simplify the construction, they avoided the bulkhead (and associated turns of the drywall) and instead spaced the drywall outer edge at 7” from the basement wall. This sacrificed basement space in favor of their cost-cutting short cut, and led indirectly to a fireplace related complication, see below. PROBLEM 4: Fireplace related: The fireplace was originally on Plum Creek’s list of work. I am glad that I got an independent contractor to do this part. Plum Creek evidently did not like this; on some occasions they pointed out that any damage to their work by the fireplace contractor would entail additional cost on my part. I perceived this as needless pressure on me to expect further bills. Coordination with other contractors was a critical part of this job. They got into a needless argument with the fireplace contractor by suggesting a method of installation that, had it been adopted, would have resulted in a fireplace that would not meet local code and would have to be redone (entailing expensive stone removal and reinstallation when I tried to sell the house). I am so glad I hired the independent fireplace contractor. Plum Creek wanted their wall to come out 7” from the basement wall, which would have meant the fireplace would have to be recessed behind the dry wall. To avoid this, Plum Creek suggested filling the back of the fireplace with fire-brick, to move the whole thing forward - this would have resulted in the flame not being directly below the vent - a code violation. PROBLEM 5: As is true with most basements, there was some clutter and objects that needed to be moved around. There was no mention of a separate cost for this work in their estimate and unfortunately, I missed it. During the first week Mr. Soper told me, to the effect: “Hey, I am not paying these guys to move this stuff around; you need to take care of them”. This should have been factored into the initial estimate. My wife and I are both senior citizens, and moving all of the clutter on a Sunday was a strain on both of us. PROBLEM 6: They were paid roughly $5K before the job started. Midway Mr. Soper made a request for an additional $5K. I asked him if that was in the contract. He said no. I decide to pay him, as I felt pressured; the last thing I wanted was an unhappy contractor. This and other dealings with Mr. Soper were stressful to me, as they represented deviations from an agreed upon contract. Before the contract was signed he would use the phrase "no problem" quite profusely; once the work began, he seemed to be looking for problems and reasons for getting more money out of me. PROBLEM 7: the electrical outlets are poorly installed. They do not rest firmly against the dry wall. The latch on the door to a storage space does not close properly. The trim has not been installed on the dry wall. The carpeting has not been installed (this item alone was listed in the contract as a $1400 item). UPDATED 7/2/2019: The process was smooth until after I signed the agreement. The work was spread out over about 6 weeks (starting 3/6/19) and is at this date (7/1/19) incomplete. Rather than give a long review, I will let the results (pictures) speak for themselves. They show the work "completed" by the contractor at the time I had to fire them as they had shown no activity for over six weeks and had missed two appointments to finish the work, without showing the professionalism to tell me that they were not coming as scheduled. The flooring was done by another contractor, as was the fireplace. These are the high points of the project that I get a lot of praise for. They did the drywall (incomplete - as one can see from the pictures the trim is missing) and the cupboards. For $15,000. The electrical outlets are loose - one example is in the pic. They set me back $15,000. I have to now get another contractor to remedy their work and finish the stairs (see pics). Yes. This is how bad they are.