Never finished job.

This spring I had several small construction projects that I needed completed and after reviewing Angie's list, I hired Nick Limoge from Down to Earth Handyman Services. The first priority on my list was to build a wooden step/decking over an old existing cement step. Nick came and assessed the job and said it wouldn’t be a problem, sent me a quote and we scheduled the work. When he finished the work, at first glance everything looked fine, I paid him and he left. I physically had to leave the house an hour later, and when I walked down the steps I realized there was something wrong. The step tread was way too narrow and the steps too steep. Only half of my foot would fit on the step at a time and you had to exaggerate your step up on one of the stairs. Before he had left I had mentioned the steepness of the stairs and he kept saying that he did the best he could do because of the “grade”. I had my brother (industrial/commercial contractor) come up and look at the steps and evaluate the stairs as I am not a contractor. There were several code violations. Nick had cut the boards too short on the top step/decking and they fell about 1.25 inches short of the top step down creating a large gap and a trip/fall hazard. The first step down had a 7 inch rise and the 2nd step had a 5.5 inch rise, and these should have been equal distances apart. The stair tread itself was only 7 inches wide and should have been at the very minimum 10 inches, preferably 12 inches wide. He also didn’t build the stair stringers correctly. Instead of regular stair stringers that would allow the pressure treated lumber to sit on top of each step cut out he cut two wedges and nailed the step into the side of the wedge on each side so the only thing that was supporting each stair was the nail. As a result, over time, with continuous pressure, the stairs would drop out/away from the rest of the deck. He had built one of the stairs like a box step so at least that stair was futher reinforced but the last step on the bottom was already bending in the middle each time you used it because there wasn't any additional reinforcement other than the nail. The railings and banisters were also uneven widths apart. My brother said that if anyone fell on the steps he didn’t believe my home owners insurance would cover me because the steps were not built up to code. I messaged Nick immediately, told him that the steps were not within code, the piece about my liability as a home owner and asked when he could return to fix it. The day came and went and I didn’t receive a response. I messaged him the following day and his response was, “I’ll come out some time this week”. It was Sunday when he responded so I asked what day specifically so I could be there, no response. I messaged him again the following day (Monday) and said that at this point I preferred that someone else redo his work, but that I also understood that he had the right to correct his mistake. I told him that he had the option of sending me back $200 (approximately 2.5 hours of labor and materials) to cover the cost of someone else having to rip them apart, and rebuild or he could come and fix them but I needed to know which day he was coming so I could plan to be there. His response was, “I don’t believe my stairs are that far out of code. I don’t find it necessary to tear them all apart to add a few inches.” He also indicated that he wasn’t going to send me the $200 because that would mean he would “have done all that labor for $75”. Incidentally he charged me $450 for labor and $250 for materials so I’m not sure where the $75 came from even if you subtracted the $200. He said to rebuild the steps the side railing posts and balusters would have to be removed. I reminded him that it wasn’t my problem, I had hired him to complete a job for me and relied on the work to be done up to code as he was insured as a contractor. I again outlined all of the measurements and areas that were not up to code, reiterated that I was in a position of being liable and told him that if he didn’t come and fix this by Wednesday I would be forced to take legal action. At this point he must have actually looked up the code because he finally responded several hours later stating he would be out Wednesday to fix the code issues, increase the tread to 12 inches, that he would rip a board and make the top flush with the first step and he would reinforce the stringers. He however said he wouldn’t fix the steps to make them equal spacing because he wasn’t outside of min/max code even though they were randomly and unevenly spaced. Not once did he ever apologize or take accountability for any of these issues. I believe the only reason that he even fixed the mistakes he had made was because I threatened to take legal action. Needless to say he did come out when he said he would and he did bring everything up to code, but while he was here to fix the issues he was blaring his music (I live in family neighborhood) and throwing things around. When the job was complete it was obvious that he had jury rigged the rest of the upgrades by piecing multiple pieces of board together so my steps look visually unappealing, and the top stair squeaks when you step on it. Based on this experience I would not recommend or hire this contractor again.

Nick just did a ton of work on our new home that needed a top to bottom renovation. He was knowledgable, reliable, easy to work with, and everything turned out beautifully. We highly recommend.