Parker Home Improvement

Workmanship was good.  Not punctual at all. Job took 4xs longer than quoted.  Communication was definately lacking.

Problems were encountered basically from the start.  We signed a contract on 3/30/12.  He stated at this time the job would take about 1 to 2 weeks.  On 5/10/12 we made a down payment.  I was going to replank my decks but was diagnosed with cancer.  Mr. Parker said he would do the decks for 400.00 and we provide materials.  We agreed and paid him cash.  They started on the decks on 6/8/12.  The work they performed on the decks was horrible and had to be torn back off and done over.  He did fix this problem.  He finally started the siding on 7/16/12.  We had no idea he was starting as he did not communicate with us through out this job.  The only time he seemed to want to speak with us is when he wanted additional funds.  He did this on 7/21/12.  We did not want to pay him additional funds due to poor workmanship and constant delays.  Many times we found workers not on the job or not able to perform work due to not having proper tools or materials.  One worker slept in our hammock.  I allowed them to use some of my tools.  Trash and materials were left in our driveway the entire summer.  On Aug 6 he called my wife and was rude to her.  I called their office and asked that he make all further communications with me.  This was ignored.  On Aug 9th he arrived to state the job was finished.  I told him to perform a punch list as their work was horrible.  He would not do this and made me show him their errors in workmanship.  Siding was cut too short and some did not even go into the channel.  Channeling was cut and installed improperly.  Soffit was cut too short and hung down.  The decks were still not completed as the railings were never finished.  On 7/21 we paid him an additional 3,000.00 as we hoped this would motivate him to complete this job.  The gutters were still not installed as of this date.  Remember now this started on March 30!  We had asked several times for warranty paperwork.  The end of August i called to ask Dan when this job is going to be finished as he wanted his final payment.  He was then rude to me.  I told him i would see him in court.  We did go to court.  We owed 1,000.00.  The courts ruled in our favor and provided us the 1,000.00, court costs, and ordered the warranty papers be provided.  The judge stated how poor the work appeared in the pictures.  This was the worst experience i have ever had with a contractor.  Make sure if you do use this company that you are specific in your contract.  Pin down your dates, work, and amount.  I do not endorse the use of this company.

I had two major issues with Parker Home Improvement.
The first was a botched hardwood floor installation and second extreme difficulty getting a deposit refund for work not completed.   
It began with Mr. Parker giving us an estimate to install hardwood flooring (From Lumber Liquidators) for our entire downstairs.  Before the work was started we decided to install tile in the kitchen area instead of hardwood flooring.
 
Let me begin by saying the installers Mr. Parker sent out were very nice folks. 
However in my living area there was a raised seam between two of the plywood subfloor panels.  My wife pointed it out to the nstallers and they said it would be fine.  After the installation a ?hump? and noticeable opening of the hardwood floor seam
appeared.    When we contacted Mr. Parker about it I asked several times in e-mails, on the phone, and in voice messages
how he was going to fix it and he simply would not answer but said ?his guy? would fix it. 
The fix required cutting out several rows of hardwood flooring (which I was required to buy?seemed like Mr. Parker would have picked that bill up).  The repair guy sanded down the area with an industrial belt sander then replaced the hardwood flooring but of course since it was not on an end the last row of flooring had to be cut at an angle then glued down.  The seam is still there but not as noticeable and I?m just hoping the glue holds.  The repair guy said the installers should have taken care of the problem BEFORE
they installed over it.
 
On a side note the folks Lumber Liquidators in Toano were great in that I had to buy more flooring and since I didn?t know how much I over bought and they did not charge me a restock fee when I took the remainder back.  They even commented that it seemed to them that Mr. Parker should have purchased the extra flooring required to fix their work.
The second problem was getting a refund.  We initially intended to have Parker Home Improvement install the tile in the kitchen but changed our mind BEFORE any work was done.  So I requested my deposit back from Danny Parker. 
Literally ? and  I?m not exaggerating ? it took a number of phone calls (not returned); e-mails (not answered) asking for the refund on 11/16; 12/12;  1/9;  1/10; a registered letter (that he signed for) on 1/10; and another registered letter on 1/25 both demanding my money back for a check to appear.  The last letter indicated I would contact the BBB if payment was not made by 1/31 and when it did not appear I contacted the BBB.  Sometime in early February the check did appear. 
Danny Parker?s a nice enough guy but he didn?t back up his work as I expected a good business man would have.  I would never use his business again and I will advise anyone who asked me about it to steer clear of him.

Danny Parker (owner) visited us, took measurements, and provided additional suggestions as we discussed what we wanted done. He provided an estimate which was slightly higher than other installers. The reason we selected him was references from other neighbors in the area. Once the installation began everything went relatively smooth throughout the week of installation. There were two installers thoughout the install, however on two days there was only one, which, obviously, slowed down the effort with less workers. We felt it strange that Danny did not stop by during the installation, just to see how things were going.
Prior to the installation the materials were deliverd several days before scheduled, however this was an issue with Lumber Liquidators, since they wanted to empty their warehouse for the next month. Fortunately we had already begun moving things out of the area. One thing that concerned me was the delivery of the materials. It was a hot day and only one individual arrived to offload the truck. There were 59 boxes of flooring and if I did not assist in unloading the truck the delivery would probably have taken several hours.
The installation began on time and lasted 7 workdays. Only one problem with teh installation was that a vent was covered by the felt by one of the installers and subsequently covered by the flooring. The thing that bothered me was they threw out the floor vent that we purchased which makes one think they were trying to cover up a mistake. We discovered the issue over the weekend and informed both Danny's office and the installers on Monday. The issue was resolved quickly with no discussion. The only thing that they could not do was reinstall the sink which was due to inlet tubes being welded to the faucet. If noticed earlier we could have purchased a new faucet and had them reinstall instead of myself. Not a big deal.
Overall, our experience was very good and we would use them again. The team that actually installed the floor were top-notch. As with anything done in the house, homeowners should and must watch what is going on to ensure everything is done to their satisfaction

The original technician wanted to install over particle board which is
never recommended and is a part of hardwood installation 101 with lumber
liquidator.  After complaining to the owner, they decided to
complete the job correctly.  They did a less that satisfactory job and
left my house in a mess with saw dust everywhere.  They damaged my wood
trim, scuffed walls and used damaged boards that had to be replaced
later.  They did return and replaced the damaged boards.  They lost the hardware for some doors that were removed during
installation.  The parts were not available at a local hardware store and had to be ordered.  My husband and I paid for and installed the hardware and hung the doors.   I would not recommend this company for any services. 
Their approach is less that acceptable, quality and service are lousy.

I had a very poor experience with this company.  The company was unorganized and they had very poor communication.  The project started June 25, 2012 with the agreement for completion by June 27, 2012.  It is now September 14, 2012 and the work has yet to be fully completed.  There were obvious concerns with the knowledgebase and abilities of the service men to complete the work.  For example, I initially needed to tell the serviceman that a moisture barrier must be installed between the floor and concrete.  This was because the serviceman thought the moisture barrier was attached to the flooring but it was not.  Some of the service man did not have the proper tools to complete their work.  I ended up lending some of mine to them to complete the work.  Furthermore they did not return all of these tools.  There came a point when one of the subcontractors informed me that he had fired the gentleman that had been installing the floor.  However, later that same day this ?fired? worker returned and resumed working on the project.  During the course of this project, my wallet disappeared.  I filed a police report naming some of these servicemen.  I was charged $300 to have a half wall removed.  The company removed the wall but did not complete the job as I was lead to believe they would.  This left exposes electrical wires, which I had to hire others to eventually fix.  The company said they did not charge me for the removal of this wall but they could not explain what the $300 payment entailed.  They also could not provide an itemed receipt.  Overall, I have made numerous attempts at all different levels of this company to resolve these issues with no success.  I do not recommend this company to others.

see above

Prompt response to estimate request, on schedule site work, excellent results.  Minor issue promptly rectified.

They gave me a very good price and I want to go with them since the guy who was here appeared to know what he was talking about. I also know that they do some work for another company. I think they were in the Toano area. I think they do custom flooring, but they are branching out of here. The cabinet guy told me that he was a test case for them. If he didn?t do a good job, then he was never going to install cabinets for them again. However, I don?t have anything to be done in the kitchen. I have told them that I would not make any decision whatsoever until I get some personal references. I read online that they had 1 complaint in the past 36 months and that was resolved as well. So I don?t think that they fly by night. They quoted me $1500 for the labor and I felt that it?s low. We had investigated since we have some water damage and so we wanted to get our kitchen redone. The quotes we got were extremely high and one man was really rude. He said that I had a horrible kitchen and should pass it on to the next person without spending any money. However, I didn?t do anything since I figured that there is a way of working out things. I then heard this horrendous crash the other night. The cupboard that had all my dishes and glassware in it had sort of come off from the wall. It didn?t touch the counter below, but it went forward with such force that it broke all my glasses, dishes and it also broke the linoleum floors. It was so hard that we had to really unscrew them to get them out. The cupboard had been up there for 8 years. If it was poor installation, then it would have got damaged before itself, but we don?t know what made it do that. It?s very depressing to be in our kitchen now since the linoleum has got discolored and I don?t have any place to keep my dishes. So I went to a store and checked out some wooden cabinets and the guy there recommended me Parker Home Improvement. There was a guy who came out from Parker. They really want the business since they are starting up in this area and that quote is only for the flooring and other stuff. The installation of the cabinets is not going to be that much more on top of that. We weren?t certain at that moment as to how many units were needed and their prices are based on that. So that will be higher and I can only afford that, the flooring and the cabinets. They seemed really nice and also seemed to know what they were talking about. I have had some interactions with other companies and with handymen. So I kind of know what they have to do. I presume that I would use their services again.