Handy Home Improvement Services

From the beginning, Claude, the owner of Handy Home Improvements never had a handle on anything he claimed to be capable of. A 350 sqft kitchen floor installation (brick pavers, herring bone pattern) was bid as a 3 day job. Nearly 10 days later the project was finished, but not without major problems and oversights so unprofessional it was almost criminal.

The agreement was for me, the home owner, to provide materials (about $1800 in bricks, mortar and grout) and pay $1500 for labor. On day one, Friday, we paid half ($750) upfront. We were then told the team would come back the next day. They would work hard and late to get this done by Monday.

On Saturday, no one showed up until 12, and the three man team worked until 6. Hardly the effort we were promised. On Sunday, just one man showed up at 8, and he left before noon. He also severely messed up the pattern. I called the owner, showed him photos and we were assured the pattern could be fixed the following day. Monday came and no one showed up. NOBODY! Finally, after an angry call to the business owner, he sent his foreman over at 2 in the afternoon. We talked for 2 hours, while no one worked because no workers were present, and was promised work would start Tuesday and the problem would be fixed.

Tuesday came and the workers were late. These guys just did not know what they were doing. The bricks were still being laid improperly, and many of the bricks were not adhering so they kept popping up. For men who do this for a living, they just are not showing any talent. I stayed home from work until they showed up and after I left, so did the team. They just walked off the job!

The business owner was never present nor did he show up to remedy the situation or even supervise. So, to make matters worse, my pregnant wife had to come home from her job mid-day to watch guys who were supposed to be doing their job stand around a do absolutely nothing! Or in most cases, she came home to workers who weren?t even there.

Claude did not come to our house until that weekend (7 days into the project) when I demanded our money back. That was the only time he came with a crew ready to do any sufficient work. His guys stated work and 10?and then left at 3.

This job, before we even reached the finish line cost my family a lot of money in duplicate and unnecessary materials, plus the time we had to be away from our jobs to watch supposed professionals do, time and again, very sloppy and incomplete work.

What had been done to this point, especially considering the time wasted and the delayed finish far outweighed the $750 we paid. We did not pay him any more money but found someone else to finish the job. It happened to be his foreman who, during the project, left the company Handy Home Improvements. Granted that was a weird position to be in, but he was the only one getting the job done so we were comfortable continuing with him.

In the end we had to live with a significant portion of the lousy work just so we could get our house back in order a more than two weeks later than we were promised. Stepping back from this whole mess, there had not been more than 20 hours worked in the first 7 days of the job! I also missed two whole days of work, I can?t express how aggravated and enraged I was to have my pregnant wife come home many days to watch the team stand around!

I personally had to take up the work that was incorrectly laid. After dealing with my own work issues (9-5), it is unbelievable that I had to come home to keep working until 10 in the evening. For the time it took to install it all, and the financial and physical headaches endured, we really could have done the job ourselves. We can?t express this enough. We do not recommend Handy Home Improvements to anyone! You can learn to lay tile flooring yourself cheaper and faster by watching a ?You Tube? video!

I found this company from Home Advisor, then confirmed they were on Angie’s List. Needed someone to put up tile on tile mat sets. Claude Villegas came out the next morning and provided an expected estimate. The next day and the day after, his contractors were late to arrive, but the finished tile was beautiful. Another of his contractors painted the door trim. There were spots of grout left on the floor and paint edging that needed to be corrected. This was to be corrected later, but did not get done. I decided to use them for the upstairs bathroom remodel as well to limit the number of unknown people in our home. They were to start the following Monday. The contractor never called or showed. Family issues. Claude said that he’d have another contractor come out on Wednesday. Tuesday night, he and the contractors showed up, so he could show them what needed to be done. They started on time, on Wednesday morning. I decided to not have the tub removed and replaced and asked Claude to update the quote and asked for itemization. He didn’t want to do this and this seemed to anger him, although the request seemed pretty simple. I kept getting excuses as to nothing would really change since a tub switch out didn’t take much work, which everyone knows is not true. Then he didn’t want to itemize because I was “already getting a discount” that I apparently wasn’t made aware of and “the tile is not larger than 4x4”, which it is. Something didn’t sound right. I was already frustrated with the previous no show (waiting) and tardiness (waiting). After speaking with the onsite contractors, I then found out that they met Claude on Tuesday night at my door. They have never worked with him before. He allowed complete strangers into my home around my family and knew nothing about their work history or if they were thieves or could lift a stick. In addition, he hadn’t paid them according to their contract, before work started, making me liable for a lien on my home if that fell thru. I fired Handy Home Improvement Services immediately. I paid the contractors myself and they have not to this date, received a penny from Claude. After termination, one contractor sent me an email and stated that Claude threatened to put a lien on my house for cancelling his services. Seriously? Never again. Put your money and trust in another legit company, but not this establishment. It is a one man show. He finds contractors, or in my case, complete strangers looking for work, and gets a cut off their unsupervised work. $12 an hour to be exact.

The contractor, Claude Villegas, sent unprofessional and inexperience workers.  I had money stolen.  They gave me the money back but said they are not claiming that they did steal the money.  He wasn't on top of the job.  He was not available during the day to oversee the job and workers. 

The remodel was terrific. The workers put tarps in walkways all the way to the outside porch. The workers understood what they needed to do and work fast. The total remodel took three days. Wow. The company even dusted the area.

Protected the entry way to the outside of the house. Terrific attitude of workers. We left the house to pay bills and the workers were busy and completed as estimated. Beautiful work. Replaced tub, plumbing, electrical outlets and exhaust fan. New vanity and mirror. New exterior window. Insulation and drywall with texture and painting. Cleaned the areas and dusted. I was left a clean house and couldn't tell I had a major remodel.