REYNOLDS CORP

Background - I met Mike Reynolds at Home Depot while purchasing supplies for some drywall repairs I have been in the process of completing. We chatted for a bit about a larger drywall project I didn't feel comfortable e doing on my own which was to re-texture a large portion of the ceiling near my entryway which was repaired very poorly by the previous homeowner. I contacted Mike and asked him to come out and give me a quote. He was prompt and courteous during the quote phase. He explained that a very large portion of the ceiling would have to be scrapped off and redone so the whole ceiling would look cohesive. His verbal quote was for between 900.00-1100.00. A few days later he came with a written contract (one line) with a price of 1100.00, I'm not entirely sure how we went from a range of 900.00 to 1100.00 to the high end price on the contact but I figured it was to ensure if the job took the time to put it at the higher end that he was covered contractually, ok no problem. At the time we signed the contract we were also having some painting done near the site of the re-texture so we told him we wanted to wait a couple weeks to allow the paint to cure before had a bunch of drywall sanding done near it. Also for note because it's relevant later in the review this work is being done in front of the 2nd level staircase, and the front door. The Job - When scheduling Mike told me he would call on Saturday prior to the week we had tentatively scheduled the work, no call (in my experience all contractors seems to suck at communication). So I contacted him on Sunday to finalize the schedule which we set for Wed, Thurs, Friday as he expected the work to take three days due to the drying time of the drywall mud. The set expectation was that Mike would arrive between 9 -10 AM. Wed. Mike called at around 10:30 AM and said he was running late...no kidding, and that he was on his way and should be there in approximately 15 minutes, his actual arrival time was around 11:30 - 11:40. Again contractors are notoriously un-reliable when it comes to scheduling often especially on smaller jobs like mine because of other work so this can be easily dismissed. Mike was by himself and worked approximately 2 hours. Thursday - Same deal with the schedule he stated that he'd be here 1st thing in the AM but was around 2 hours late. I called Mike later that day and explained that it would be great if he could call before his arrival time to express that he'd be late. We have an infant and have to drag up to her room all the food, her hi-chair, etc so that she can be fed while we lose access to our 1st floor because the stairs are taped and draped off for the work. He at that pointed babbled at me about how mud needs to dry and he can't give an exact time for when he'll show up. Apparently, he thought I was stupid and can't reason that without coming to the house he can't possibly know if the mud was dry or not, and if he knows how long it will take said mud to dry based on experience which I would certain expect to be the case he should be able to reason out what time to be there in which case his explanation in either sense doesn't hold much water. In any case if you set an expectation and cannot met it the professional and polite thing to do is call before your late, not after. So Thursday Mike had a helper, and the two of them worked approximately 1.5 hours (for those keeping a tally we are up to 5 man hours for the job so far). Friday - I called and asked him to reschedule for Monday because on Wed he offered to spray some texture on a wall that I was in the process of repairing and I needed a bit more time to complete my work. Monday - Mike showed up with his helper to finish the work. He was on time that day for which I was grateful. That day his helper worked approximately 4 hours, and Mike who had to leave to purchase a new nozzle for his texture sprayer worked approximately 3 hours possibly a touch more. So total time put in on the job was approximately 12 man hours total. Tuesday - Neighbor knocks on my door and tells me my hose is running. We haven't been at this house for long so we don't have a sprayer on the outside hose because well it is winter and who thinks about that kind of thing in the winter. Mike left the water on full blast after washing up his gear after the job. I contacted Mike and told him, he preceded to lecture me about A) not having a sprayer and B) that he really wasn't sure it was his fault because he's never done that sort of thing in the past. Except I had to tell him to turn the water off previously when he was done mixing the mud and just left it running to put stuff in his truck and talk with his helper while he had a smoke (and yes I am counting time the helper was smoking as "worked" time). I sent Mike the details of my meter readings and an approximate amount of what he owed a whole 38.00 bucks and change. Now two weeks later after promising to pay for his mistake no check, and honestly I don't expect one. The net: The work itself, Mike did a great job, my wife and I are very happy with the outcome. The ceiling is well blended and you are not able to tell there was every a large patch done on the ceiling. The cost - At approximately 95.00 per man hour I feel that I was outrageously overcharged. When I questioned the cost because based on the time spent on the job I thought the cost should be closer to the 900.00 estimate he gave verbally I was again lectured about how no contractor would be able to sustain themselves and make any money at less than that rate. I'm sorry but I think that is a huge pile of steaming BS. I have encountered many a contractor doing far more complicated work for much less than that rate. The man - After dealing with him on this job I noticed that he likes to attempt to "blind with science," this is to say that he'll throw a bunch of contractor jargon at you to I think sound impressive. If he does something wrong he'll make excuses and try to push blame on to you or someone else. In my experience he's not a stand up guy or I'd have a check for 38 bucks because he left the water on, and I would have heard "hey I'm sorry" not well you should have had a nozzle on there. My final word - I'm glad this was a small job at a relatively low cost. I am happy with the work but I would not hire Mike again, and would certainly never consider him for any kind of a larger project. I do not recommend him, the lack of professionalism doesn't warrant a recommendation.

I had high hopes of working with Mike in the beginning. His first job of installing some hardwood floors and assisting with framing in an exposed loft went well. Then everything went to h***. I prepaid in full for a kitchen remodel, which was given a two week time frame. When I returned home twelve days later - NOTHING had been done. I should've run away then. After that, discussion of work, missed days, and then finally mounting costs, surprise invoices for amounts never discussed, and eventually repeated demands for "More Money" without providing additional documentation for work done. To top it all off, a state inspector for Washington Labor and Industries stopped by, and when I told him who the builder was, he informed me that Mike Reynolds did not have any valid license, bond, insurance, and has actions pending against him in the state. He stated that I was not to pay another dollar to this provider and that he would have the State Attorney General contact me to take my information and file a report. Now I have a partially completed project and a huge mess with this loser.

I chose them because I had met him a long time ago and had seen the work he had done on his own house and liked it. He is just as picky as I am and does good quality work.