Adept Remodeling

Scott Pruitt was very confident and upbeat about the work to be done. He claimed he could "slap it together" in a day, so I added a few more details to the project if he could get the main portion done in a day. I should have paid attention to "slap it together." I went to Home Depot and purchased the materials because he did not have enough capital to purchase what he said he needed, but throughout the project, he often misjudged his own needs and I had to return to Home Depot. I was uncomfortable with that; I was also uncomfortable with Scott Pruitt's remark about the plumber who had recommended him. He said he could do the plumbing work and undercut his friend. At the end of the first day, he asked for cash. Usually, I do not pay for work until I am satisfied, but I did anyway. He brought a helper on the second day, and they were three hours late. Once again, he wanted cash. I asked what had happened to the $200 I had already given him, and he said he had to have his truck fixed, a truck which continued to break down and make them late. They were also late on the third day, and by that time, I knew they did not know what they were doing. I began to question all the 2x4s slapped together without any provision for finishing. He tacked screening into a window without creating a frame. He tacked it directly to the 2x4s. He used a nail gun on everything and destroyed some expensive finishing molding I had purchased. He put so many nail holes in the ceiling they looked like dotted lines. When I asked him about that, Scott Pruitt said I could just slap some wood putty up there and paint it to cover all those holes he'd made. The ceiling was not wood, but that did not seem to bother him with regard to the solution he suggested I perform to cover up his handiwork. They took down then reassembled a downspout, but when I came out to see what they were doing (I did not dare leave them alone), the downspout was 18 inches off the splash plate. I asked what that was about, and one of them answered that he didn't have enough downspout to have it go all the way down. The guy did not even tell me the problem; he just went off and made a decision on his own, never telling me that once again, they had misjudged the material needed. They hung two screen doors in the doorway, then later, one of them decided to realign the door frame and did not even verify that the doors closed. Of course, they didn't close anymore. There was some outside siding that they just nailed on with that nail gun, but they did not account for the molding to go around the door frame. I made them remove it. They had so many 2x4s around the door frame that one side of the door frame was thicker than the other and slightly to one side. I made them remove the extra 2x4s because they had just "slapped" them in there to cover up a seam between the door frame header and the roof rafter. They used roof tar to seal around the porch roof where it met the house roof, but they did it all backwards according to roofers I called in to fix their work. They sorta put flashing up there but they did not secure it to the chimney. It had to be replaced. On the night of the fifth day, it rained and the brand new patio roof leaked so bad that water built up so much behind the finished walls and the ceiling that the new materials I had bought were being damaged. I refused to let Adept Remodeling return. I had already paid quite a bit and put up with late arrivals and excuses, but he still wanted paid in full for work I was going to have to pay to remove; I paid him half knowing his shoddy work was still going to cost me even more. I should have known all would not be well when I gave him $200 in cash and his buddy remarked: "Now we can put some beer in the fridge." Also, they both came down with colds together. All kinds of reasons for being late. By the time they realized I was not happy, I had a long list of complaints about the shoddy work, shortcuts, failure to communicate issues, and their tendency to make uni-lateral decisions without consultation. Also, they had no plan; they did not sketch out anything to define the measurements and materials. They did not secure my approval for modifications. They literally thought it was OK to "slap it together." I called several roofers to see what could be salvaged. One told me it had to come down. Another would not touch it. Eventually, one took on the assignment, removing all but the patio roof rafters and doing the job properly. Now the project increased another $1500, but at least this guy knew what he was doing, knew what materials he needed and purchased them himself, and completed the patio roof in less than a day. Adept Remodeling is not qualified to do the work they claim they can and they certainly are not adept, except at the electrical work. Scott Pruitt may have the tools for other remodeling, but his real skill is at electrical projects. Don't let him do anything else.