Nelson Home Improvements

I expected to pay by the hour.  Ended up paying by the task and did not have a contract in advance of job --- BIG MISTAKE.  I also expected Rob and his partner at the time (Jeremy) to do all work, but he apparantly decided to become a general contractor in midstream.
The work was done over several months as Rob no-showed or made excuses for delays multiple times.  When he did show up he habitually sat around telling stories about serving in the military and made personal calls on his phone.  I told him I expected to see him sharing the workload.  I complained (alot) and he started hiring a series of guys to do pieces of the job... I think there must have been six or seven different people he sent at different times. One guy he hired as a "goodwill" gesture to do clean-up while Rob/Jeremy gave him lessons on how to lay floor tiles... needless to say the work was amateur. I had to insist on many do-overs and ended-up with marginal work.  Residue on tile surfaces took weeks of manual labor to remove --- ended up having to do an acid wash and lost intended grout color.  Breakfast bar counter surface isn't exactly level ---  screw heads pierce the underside and shims added after installation don't do much.  Ceiling air ducts removed for electrical work were misinstalled, twice.
At the end of the job Rob told me he fired everyone associated with the work done for me.  My whole experience with Rob and his venture into general contracting leaves me speechless.

Rob and Nelson Home Improvements showed up consistently the first week, but sporadically after.  They completed the exterior trim to garage to satisfaction.  They completed the subfloor to satisfaction for attic use.  The completed the outdoor faucet and sink to satisfaction. They completed the addition of the fans, but the electrical is not wired correctly.  They added the outdoor electrical outlet, but it hangs loosely and left holes in the drywall in the garage where they added wiring for the exterior outlet. The arbor covering was completed, but it’s not water tight and leaks.  They did not install the gutter as quoted.  In the midst of installing the attic subfloor, we hired them in a separate job to create a useable playroom/office space which is covered in a separate review.  The reason I am mentioning it here is that they started this work simultaneously before completing this job.  Had the issues surfaced before they started the other job, we WOULD NOT HAVE hired them for that one too. In addition to the before mentioned issued in the workmanship, Rob and Nelson Home Improvements became increasingly inconsistent on showing up for work.  They were not timely when they did show up and only worked for a few hours before they called it a day.  The above mentioned work dragged out for several weeks, well into the next job and AFTER I paid them, which brings me to my BIGGEST complaint and disappointment with Nelson Home Improvements.  Rob asked for payment on this job so he could keep his guys paid and working.  I MISTAKENLY did this on good faith since they had already started the next job for us and were well into it.  Rob came back to me and said that the one and final check I paid him did not clear $4400 and asked for another.  He clearly stated that the other check would be sent back to me.  I called the bank to ensure funding was available and gave him another check for $4400.  It was not until over a month later and AFTER he skipped out on me for the second job, that I learned that Rob and Nelson Home Improvements HAD indeed cashed BOTH checks for this job.  Upon learning this, I attempted several contacts to Rob and his additional contact listed, Krisitin (in the Angie's Ad list), to no avail.  Rob and Nelson Home Improvements skipped out on me and fraudulently took an additional $4400 of unearned money from me!!!

Rob and his crew were not punctual when they did show up to work and very inconsistent on whether or not they even showed up to work at all.  I had to consistently call after waiting several hours to find out they they were not even coming on several occasions.
There was no order to which they worked on tasks.  For example, Rob and his crew put in wood flooring and half of the space before they added a skylight, did any trim, or stained any trim or woodwork.  They worked on the floor, scratching it with fallen nails, tools, and other debris that built up as they cut additional materials in the space.  Any work debris was left to build up in the space, including materials and garbage.  They left additional piles of debris and work materials in the garage, leaving it unuseable.
The work that was completed is shoddy at best.  Lighting was placed where it was convenient vs. spaced correctly.  The dry wall is uneven and the seams clearly visible.  The wall corners are rounded although where is meets the rooking is squared.  Trim was put up around one skylight, but not the other.  The floors squeak terribly.  The wood floor was only put up in half of the space and Incorrectly at that.  The door into the space is unfinished and rams into the trim on one of the skylights.   I addressed several of these concerns while the work was being completed.  But Rob assured me that it would be perfect, that he was a perfectionist, and that I would be happy when it was all done.  Well, I am NOT HAPPY!!!   I basically have a big unfinished knockout on my interior space into a unfinished mess.
Yet, this is not the worst of my experience with Rob and Nelson Home Improvements.  On 10/15/12, Rob asked for another check to continue the work.  I paid him $3000 and he never showed back up again.  He did not, and has not responded to any of my phone calls.  I have also tried to contact his contact person (Kristin, listed on the Angie's ad) to no avail.  Rob and Nelson Home Improvements took my money and ran, leaving me with a complete disaster!  The work is only halfway finished, if that.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND HIRING NELSON HOME IMPROVEMENTS FOR ANY REASON OR FOR ANY PROJECT!!!