SEATTLE SCHOOL OF FINE WOODWORKING

Mr. Matthewson wasted all our wood and used a lot of new wood to cover his mistakes. Mr. Matthewson said he could work with our requirements, which were double-paned windows, which were code, and he could install "spin balances" which are a type of weight system that replaces the old kind of weights and pulley system in most old houses. Mr. Matthewson had taught my husband how to make windows a couple of years prior, and so we felt confident that he was a man of his word. He also runs Seattle School of Fine Woodworking, at which he teaches people to build their own double hung sash windows. Mr. Matthewson gave us a bid of $5,000, because we were providing the wood. The spin balances would be extra for us, but he had to order them to size from a company in Canada and had to cut the router grooves in which to place the spin balances. He was slow at first, and nearly cost us a house loan, because the lender required that the windows were in place. He made 4 windows without glass, and we took a picture of these for the lender. So, we were able to obtain the loan. Meantime, he ordered the wrong size spin balances but put them in anyway, thus cracking the glass. The glass was the wrong size in several of the sashes. The router cuts were uneven. The outside of the windows had terrible gaps, and to fix this, all Mr. Matthewson did was place wood putty over the outside and repaint the windows badly. He should have replaced all the stiles, but chose to putty the mistakes he made. He put in a window that is BACKWARD because he cut the wrong angle on the sill, and just decided it was fine to put it in backward. He put in two cracked windows, one 30 feet off the ground, which I have to paint. Several of the windows are missing a crucial piece that is usually cut in one cut, that meets at the two sashes. These pieces were either glued or nailed on, and there is a gap that can leak in the rain. The points of the nails poked visibly through on several sashes. The two casement windows were put in incorrectly and with ROUND HEAD SCREWS in the hinges. Of course, the casement windows cannot close all the way. The windows, as they are, are in, but it took a year and a half to get them to this point. They are horrible and NOT DONE. We cannot proceed with any other part of our house addition until they are fixed. He told us he would not finish the job because we still held back $1,000. We told him that the job was not done, and we would not pay him for an incomplete job, especially with all the amazingly bad problems he has left us with. DO NOT USE THIS MAN. DO NOT TAKE CLASSES FROM HIM. HE HAS NO IDEA WHAT HE IS DOING.