Giroux General Contractor

GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This experience started off well, but turned into a nightmare. Not only was the work on the fireplace unsafe and done illegally, but even the carpentry was unsatisfactory. Giroux used intimidation to grossly overcharge for work not even done. I filed complaints with the BBB and finally with the RI Board of Contractors, who told me there are FIVE other complaints against him at this time.
I hired Girous in October to do the carpentry work. A week or so in, Giroux offered to manage the subcontracting of the gas work to a fireplace specialist, including installation charges and a new gas line. This work was delayed numerous times and each time Giroux cited some difficulty and asked for more money to fix the ?problem?.   He became increasingly more difficult. By March, after I had complained and called several times, Giroux finally left me a phone message that the work was ?completed.? However, the fireplace didn?t work at all, and it was clear he had never actually called a fireplace specialist, and had never had his work inspected.    I paid $200 for a consultation with Joe Briggs of Briggs Family Fireplace. Briggs found there was no carbon monoxide filter installed. There were inadequate sealants and questionable venting. He also thought the unit might need to be reconverted to natural gas. Briggs advised me to tear down the wall to make sure the venting was up to code because as is, the fireplace was too dangerous to run.   
I was grossly overcharged. Our written contract specified $1750 to build out an existing wall to hold a two-sided gas fireplace, and for designing/installing two storage drawers and a shelf in the wall under the fireplace, and removing and replacing existing doorway moldings,  crown moldings, and thresholds.   Giroux additionally asked for a total of  $2500 for the fireplace installation and ?utilities,? which included running a new gas line and  an electrical line.  (No electrical line was needed and it was not installed.) I later got quotes from Briggs Family Fireplace and the Gas Doctor who each quoted $500 to install a fireplace unit and another $350 to install a new gas line, totaling only $850 TOTAL for the installation.   
I'm embarrassed to say I was unable to stand up to him. Each time I complained because the work was delayed, Giroux got angry and added additional costs, asking for money for more materials or to pay helpers. He never showed me the receipts I asked for.  One night, he waited in my dark living room, while my daughter locked herself in her bedroom, and refused to leave until I gave him more money. Obviously, I acted like a victim because I gave it to him, telling myself I'd go to small claims court to get it back. In total, I paid $4100 for the carpentry and fireplace installation, which should have cost much less.  
The work was not completed as agreed.  He put the fireplace too low to leave room for the shelf, which was never built. The storage drawers consisted of rough wooden boxes set into unfinished holes cut directly into the sheetrock. Nothing was finished or built to last, it is ugly, and it is certainly not the fine carpentry job I?d been led to expect. 
All three replacement thresholds are too narrow, one is built-up so high that people trip over it, (it should have been a reducing threshold) and the third should have been a flat-lying T-connector.   Baseboards were installed, in one place leaving a hole exposed in the floor. The crown moldings we?d agreed on were never installed. 
The work took way too long. Giroux began in October 2011 and estimated completion before Thanksgiving. He didn?t ?finish? until March,when he left a message saying the fireplace was 'fine'. It didn't even turn on! I called in a specialist and found the fireplace installation was so unsafe we risked our lives if we turned it on. Now the fireplace wall needs to be taken apart so that the gas lines and venting and pipes and installation can be inspected and probably replaced. 
This has been a nightmare. He started off doing a small job, installing solar tubes, which went well and he cleaned up beautifully. He began the work on the wall and had it framed within a week. Then something happened. He became unavailable and increasingly surly and difficult, with endless excuses. When challenged, he was defensive and then nasty. I began to feel threatened, my daughter was afraid of him, and I eventually knew I was being taken advantage of, but somehow still believed his promises to do a good job in the end.   It is embarrassing to admit how badly he fooled me and for how long he took advantage of me, and even worse to admit how much I paid him, even when I knew better. Hopefully, this complaint will keep others from being his next victim.u,

Went well - Todd is very nice and easy to work with. He and his employees do a great job,

Received a written estimate, which I appreciated. Todd explained everything well and was prompt when he came to look and give the estimate. Scheduling was a little bumby given varying schedules and this being such a small job, but we were able to work it out relatively quickly. Looks good and was matched well.

The work is very good. Attention to detail. Small and larger jobs are handled well. We were on vacation for this work and came home to a clean home. The work is beautiful. Very Happy. The sanding of all the doors made the oil paint look very smooth. Make the commitment to good prep for the paint job.. Makes all the difference..