Elite Exteriors Inc

Run don't walk from Elite Exteriors.

 

After the sales presentation, contract and down payment everything goes downhill from there.  Our contract was signed in March and actual work didn't start until 6 months later.  That would not have happened without weekly calls requesting status since the owner never returns calls and when commitments are given they are rarely met.  It became very obvious that the owner vastly oversold his capabilities and when input was provided there were more excuses than one could imagine.  The rebuilding of the deck structure went ok but the installation of the very expensive composite deck did not go well.  Hidden fasteners were to be used for the decking but in several places his subcontractors screwed through the top of the decking.  In addition, after all the decking was installed we identified a defect with many of the deck boards.  When the defective deck boards were called out the owner suggested that we handle the defective deck board claim directly with the manufacturer.  Really?????  We refused and insisted that the general contractor handle the problem. The contractor ended up replacing the defective deck boards but the installation process was not done well.  Many of the deck boards were either cut too short or too long.  It was very obvious that the only thing the owner's subcontractors cared about was getting onto the next job and getting the final payment. Now there is decking that is bowing and corner boards that are popping loose due to inadequate expansion space. The owner has been called numerous times and several emails have been sent but there has been no response.  This is in despite of his so called contractual "Life Time Guarantee" which at this point has been totally worthless.

 

In summary, it has become very clear the only thing the owner cares about is getting a signed contract and your money.  He is a very poor communicator and does not live up to his commitments.  The hourly rate charged for his subcontractors is outrageous for the work provided.  The owner has a million excuses for everything including blaming his clients who have had complaints.  I believe the complaints were more than justified due to his poor communication and work performed.  There are real reasons why this business is rated an "F" by the Better Business Bureau and other dissatisfied customer comments.  Do yourself a favor and stay clear from this less than reputable contractor.  I have had more satisfaction from the worst used car salesman.

I began with no problem as all of the rotted framing was exposed , and,dealt with.The project took some time due to the inclement weather.The first problem came when one of the helpers had slipped off of the scaffolding, and, tore my satellite cable from the dish. I had not noticed it until my wife had used the TV , It was one of two cables to the dish. I mentioned it to the help, and eventually to John Ramsdell, the operator. He assured me that it was going to be taken care of. The next BIG mistake was when they installed soffett under the small roof awning in front of my front door. I had a screen door that opened to the outside , and, swung underneath the awning asit opened. The crew had installed the awning soffett without checking to see if it would make the overhang too lowfor the door.. This miscue had forced me to take off hte screen door to get out of the house. John's response was a big job that he would have to charge me for. I told him I did not see it that way,and, he should have known. When they left, all that they did was, clean up,and go. After 2 days, I raised them on the phone to tell them about a ladder that they had left, and, all of the gaps in the siding, the cables, and the soffett. They came while I was sleeping from my 3rd shift job, got the ladder, and left.  I ended up fixing the cable myself. The screen door is still off.

When I agreed to purchase siding from Elite Exteriors - Ramsdell made it sound as if he had a large crews with multiple people to do a job.  One guy showed up, made a disaster zone of the front yard and took almost 6 weeks to finish.   One day I found the guy (named Lou) installing the siding without the house wrap insulation.  He played dumb and said something like..."oh yeah, I guess you'd want that huh?".  Long story short - when Lou was done I noticed a few gaps and grey mud like splatter on some parts of the installed "Bella Stone".  After repeated calls - Lou came out when no one was home to fix the gaps.  When I got home the gaps were filled in but now the stone in those areas was notably discolored.  When I called about it - Lou said he had scrubbed the mortar in with a stiff wire brush and I needed to wait because the discoloration would eventually fade and blend in with the rest of the stone.  
Well - that never happened.  In fact everything else began to fall apart - big gaps started forming and mortar falling out between the stone panels, glued areas started coming undone, vinyl shake panels began slipping down revealing jagged uneven cuts - it looked (or should I say still looks) awful.  I spent a year trying to get them to come out and repair the work - i even sent them a letter with color photos so they could see for themselves. I finally resorted to filing with the BBB - during which they actually resorted to personal attacks and slander.  It was crazy.  One minute their claiming it's a warranty issue, then saying they'll make repairs then back to saying its the manufacturers problem not theirs.   A manufacturers rep came to inspect the house and even said it was the install.  i filed a warranty claim with the manufacturer (just to be sure) and got a letter saying the siding is not defective and was installed below both industry and manufacturers standards.  I had three other siding companies come and inspect - all said the same things - the install was bad. Even after all that did Elite Exteriors and Ramsdell accept responsibility?  No.   I  finally gave up and filed a lawsuit.  I've been dealing with this nightmare for years.  This month it finally went to arbitration and I was awarded enough to finally repair the job.  Even the arbitrator wrote in her ruling that the installation job was "shoddy".  But guess what, they STILL refuse to take responsibility and have filed an appeal of the ruling - so now it will go to trial.  I'm hoping a judge and jury can finally help end this madness.  
But as I said - don't take my word for it - just check them out with Washington Labor and Industries and Washington Superior Court cases.  I'll attempt to upload some example photos of the job they did on my house so you can see for yourself their definition of  "quality" and "service". 
PS - at the same time they installed the siding we paid to have a front deck built (from materials we had already purchased).  That fell apart to.  As a safety matter we had to hire another contractor to rebuild it.

UPDATE (4/17/14): an out of court settlement with this company was reached       

Work and time within reason as issues came up. Accept this but Quality was always there and "not" a concern.

I contracted with John Ramsdell of Elite Exteriors in Bremerton WA to replace all siding and repaint the entire house. I purchased a house with engineered siding and had to replace it in the entirety as it was installed incorrectly by the builder and was now failing. I chose pre-primed cedar because of my bad experience with the engineered products and their poor performance history iin western Washington. 

The construction crew showed up as scheduled and 4 days later the house was completely sided and caulked. Two hours after the construction crew left, the paint crew showed up and went to work. Several days later I had a newly painted home.

I was very satisfied with the job. The construction crew worked a steady 8+ hours every day. They picked up after themselves and took refuse to the dump daily. There was never any debris on site. They had a dump trailer and everything that had no value went in it. 

They used stainless steel ring nails to prevent rust and installed blocks for all exterior lighting, faucets, and electrical outlets. I'm retired and had lots of time to watch the job. Everything they did was quality. They even brought their own sheet metal shear and break to the job so they could create custom flashing for every situation. 

The paint went pretty much the same. Crew picked up after themselves daily and never left debris on site. All trim paint was brushed on and cut in without the use of tape.

 I have friends with rentals and I passed this information on to them.  If I ever had another building in need of exterior work, I'll call Elite. They did exactly what I contracted for expeditiously.  

Al Frey
Bremerton, WA

It took longer than we expected because of the company having too many other jobs to keep up with. The crew was relatively friendly and professional. They did a good job on the siding but not as well on the painting.

Baised on my experience on this project, I recommend avoiding this company.

I have paid them a down payment and I have had no work done. This contract was for 08/01/05 and I have contacted them several times for not delivering and then they stopped returning calls and I have not heard back from them. The last time I spoke with them was around July 2006. I asked them for a refund and that is when they quit calling me back and I have not heard from them since. The sales pitch was the only positive thing about the company.