DAVID HORVITZ

Timeliness: Poor - Original estimate - 2 weeks (1 week painting the interior painting, 1 week flooring) Actual: 3 months and counting. Punctuality: Poor - The only time Mr. Horvitz was on time was to to ask of payment. Mr. Horvitz did numerous jobs for me over the last 10 years. I'm a out of state landlord and requested his help in rehabbing a rental property. The job included: interior painting, carpet installation, and wood look tile installation. The job was supposed to take two weeks but he never completed the work. Mr. Horvitz assured me that the home's interior had been completely painted and sheet rock repaired. After the interior was painted the flooring (wood look tile and carpet) would be replaced. The aggreement was that I would pay him half of the total upfront and the second half after the job was completed. Mr. Horvitz continually asked for additional payments to " help with payroll". He also stated that "he had several jobs going and he was cash strapped." He informed me that "workers were at the house but they didn't have enough supplies to finish the job." After numerous advance payments, I had paid him in full for the entire job. I paid in total 13,750 and he did 7000 dollars (flooring only) worth of work. Mr. Horvitz never painted the interior of my home or did sheet rock repairs. He then promptly refused to answer my calls or texts(6 months and counting). Recommendation: RUN - I did business with him for 10 years, he did half the work and took all the money. If he could do that to a customer that gave him good business for 10 years - no ones MONEY is safe. Spend the extra cash, deal with a reputable bonded contractors, with real offices/addresses!

Timeliness: Poor - Original estimate - 2 weeks (1 week painting the interior painting, 1 week flooring) Actual: 3 months and counting. Punctuality: Poor - The only time Mr. Horvitz was on time was to to ask of payment. Mr. Horvitz did numerous jobs for me over the last 10 years. I'm a out of state landlord and requested his help in rehabbing a rental property. The job included: interior painting, carpet installation, and wood look tile installation. The job was supposed to take two weeks but he never completed the work. Mr. Horvitz assured me that the home's interior had been completely painted and sheet rock repaired. After the interior was painted the flooring (wood look tile and carpet) would be replaced. The aggreement was that I would pay him half of the total upfront and the second half after the job was completed. Mr. Horvitz continually asked for additional payments to " help with payroll". He also stated that "he had several jobs going and he was cash strapped." He informed me that "workers were at the house but they didn't have enough supplies to finish the job." After numerous advance payments, I had paid him in full for the entire job. I paid in total 13,750 and he did 7000 dollars (flooring only) worth of work. Mr. Horvitz never painted the interior of my home or did sheet rock repairs. He then promptly refused to answer my calls or texts(70 days and counting). Recommendation: RUN - I did business with him for 10 years, he did half the work and took all the money. If he could do that to a customer that gave him good business for 10 years - no ones MONEY is safe. Spend the extra cash, deal with a reputable bonded contractors, with real offices/addresses!

Timeliness:  Poor  -  Original estimate - 6 days (3 days carpentry, 3 days painting)   Actual: six weeks
Punctuality:  Poor  -  The only time Mr. Horvitz was on time was to pick up the check at the end of the job. Along the way, all appointments for him and for workers to show up were missed/tardy.  There were days when no one showed up after we were told they would.
Workmanship:  Below average  -  The carpentry was good, but the painting was very poor.  It took four attempts to paint the interior door jamb - the first three did not include spackle and sanding; parts of the outside took at least two tries to get it right.  There was an attempt to paint in the rain that left runny streaks...  The painter only showed up after 5:30 pm, and told us it was because he had another ?day? job.
Cleanliness:  Poor  -  Part of the job included removal of the old gutters and facia.  Wood debris, as well as nails, were left in the lawn.When the final spackling and sanding was being done, they did not remove nor cover a persian throw rug.  No drop clothes were used.  Sanding dust was not vacuumed.
Professionalism:  Poor  -  Mr. Horvitz did, repeatedly, ask if we were satisfied.  The trouble was, he rarely came to the job site to inspect.  When he finally did, we asked him if he was satisfied with the work - and he wasn?t. This led to two round of ?try again?. His workers called us two times asking for money as they hadn?t been paid.  The agreement was 1/2 up front, 1/2 on completion.  We made two interim payments "to help with payroll" -but still got the calls from the workers.Lastly, on the last day of the job, he added another 10% to cover things that we'd previously agreed would not be charged for things encountered but weren't in the original estimate.  
Recommendation: Caution  -  Mr. Horvitz came highly recommended from two people we know well.  We may have caught him at a time he was overcommitted, or had other issues.  He has, evidently, done very good work (in the past, for others), but, unfortunately, that wasn?t our experience. 

It went very well. The guys were punctual, polite and hardworking and they didn't make too much mess - it was less than expected. David came by on a regular basis to make sure it was all going well and that I was happy.