Robert & Hollie Krantz

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I have never written a bad review before but I would hate to learn that anyone else ever had to go through my experience again with this company or this couple. Hollie and Bob appear very friendly and genuine and do not come off as slimy contractors you should avoid. However, whatever the reason, they fell through on nearly every promise they made me, blowing through deadlines (expected timing was 3 months and this project lasted 9 months before I finally had to fire and replace them before they did more damage), using the exact same team to do the framing, lay the floors, lay the sheetrock, do the molding lay the tile, etc. Special contractors were brought in solely for plumbing, electric, cabinetry and to install a skylight, and only after I complained, to do the painting. The tiling had to be redone several times due to the fact that the team had no idea how to properly install anything other than simple ceramics tile and thus my budget was also blown. Hollie was rarely available to come by and offer advice on materials choices (unless a check was due) and the team ENTIRELY disappeared for weeks on end multiple times during the process, usually without warning or explanation, despite my calls and emails. The foreman, who was very nice but out of his depth, was on multiple jobs and thus I often had one or two guys in my house with no supervision. The worst part was that when I started really noticing issues, which was when surface materials were being installed like tile and molding that are easier for a lay person to see, my worries and questions were either ignored or greeted with condescension or blatant denial. As a first time homeowner, it was easy to bully me and the result is that I have had to fix numerous items confirmed to be installed incorrectly after the fact. It would take too long to walk through the whole ordeal, and I have waited over six months to cool down, but some highlights to illustrate why you should avoid this company: 1. They didn't order the countertop slab I selected when they said they did and instead of telling me they tried to pass off another slab of a similar color (but 1cm thinner and not nearly as pretty) as what I'd chosen. Luckily, the woman at the slab company had my notes in her file and confirmed to me by PDF that may choice had been sold months earlier after I looked at it (we installed months later than planned due to work disappearances). 2. The glass tile I originally selected had to be torn down because they left the paper backing on, which didn't cover the entire back of the pieces, and so you saw stripes behind the tile when up. They tried to fix it before tearing down but the result was numerous bulging areas and gaps with excess paste. They ultimately said the tile had been defective. 3. The tumbled marble tiles I ended up putting up in the shower were not cut perfectly, which I ignored, but then one guy grouted the entire thing in one night and did not clean the tile off afterwards (it was gray and tile was off white) and so it was streaky and stained the next day so it resembled a public restroom. Not to mention grout was slung all over my newly installed cabinetry (that subcontractor did a good job FYI). This could not be cleaned or removed so after firing them I had to have the entire shower redone, plus I learned then that it not been properly waterproofed and there was already a crack in the shower pan due to bad subflooring, so thank goodness in the end. 4. They did not properly prepare the subflooring in my bathroom before laying the 1 foot tumbled marble tiles and I had at least 5 broken tiles before I had even begun using the bathroom since it was not level. They refused to fix this and ju st continued to remove and put down new tiles rather than fix the underlying problem. Since firing them, I had to entirely redo this. 5. The did not level my bedroom floor at all before laying the wood floors ( which I'm told would have been very easy to do) and thus I now have cupping throughout the space. 6. They moved the exhaust fan to a new spot. It seemed to barely suck air and I pointedly asked if they had put in a new hole in the roof for the steam to egress to. I was ignored and mocked a little for asking. My new contractor has confirmed after using the space where steam goes nowhere unless I open a window that when I turn on the fan the steam is simply getting trapped in the walls (leading to major condensation in places like behind light switches) as the vent leads NOWHERE. I am paying to fix soon. 7. I picked the style of a new front door from a catalog they showed me online and had them measure and order it so they could install it. After it sat in a corner for a month I brought in a carpenter I knew to install. He realized right away that the door that was ordered was nearly 4 inches too short for the doorway. When I asked Bob to return and exchange the door for the right size, he said he should not be responsible because the door he had ordered was "standard" size--he sent me a Wikipedia link to prove what standard size is. I explained that what mattered was the actual size of my 100 year old east Dallas doorway. He refused to pay for it and that's when I finally fired them. Please don't let these people into your home. They will smile and take your money and give you something in return that may look ok at first, but on closer inspection will cost you thousands in repairs. If I had not redone my shower, for instance I would likely have major water damage now, when a burst pipe is what forced me to start this project in the first place. Very ironic.