ComplaintsforDanielson & Associates, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  01/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We hired Danielson & Asso. to remodel our bath & demo started on 4-12-21. A few weeks in, we were not happy with some of the work & brought up our concerns to M** *********. We asked him to come to our house to see what we were unhappy about. He would not come & said the installer would address our concerns. The installer attempted to fix the tiles with not much success. ***** was only at our house one time during the entire remodel. The list below are the items that we find unacceptable: Uneven grout lines on the shower floor, specks of grout all over the tiles, tiles are crooked & squares are visible Uneven grout lines, lippage on shower walls, wood trim installed in shower. Drain is not in the center of the floor & shower fixture is not centered on wall. Hardware holes drilled incorrectly ruined our new cabinet door (***** Danielson said he would pay for the replacement, but he never did). No rubber shower pan waterproofing material installed on shower floor. Shower niche tile glued directly to drywall. No waterproofing at all. We have had two meetings with ***** about these issues. He was very defensive & had excuses for everything. We asked that he fix everything & he refused. ***** said that if we paid him an additional $2000, he would tear out the shower & redo. Danielson & Asso. will not stand behind their work, or admit that mistakes were made. We paid Danielson & Asso. $5149.45 on 4-29-21 $5017.00 on 3-24-21 We had the (Danielson installed) shower walls and floor torn out by a certified tile company. They showed us that not only was the tile job done very poorly, but Danielson and Associates just attached the tile for the shower niche directly to the drywall (see photo). No waterproofing at all. In addition, there was no rubber shower pan material installed (see photo). In a short amount of time, it would leak and completely ruin the drywall, bathroom floor and basement.

  

  Business response

  02/08/2022

  ****** and ****, we have received your complaint and will do our best to address the issues stated. Prior to and during installation, we expressed the difficulty in keeping consistency and the inherent problems with the tile you selected but were directed to continue with the product. Throughout this stage we received your verbal satisfaction and approval as work progressed. The shower trim was 100% PVC and is rot and mold free, we made this choice to visually minimize the ceiling height difference from the opposing shower wall. The drain was above a structural floor joist and due to the shower expansion the drain fell off center. We offered to correct this at an additional cost but were directed to continue asis. The shower fixture being off center is due to plumbing complications, which was brought your attention and offered to have centered at an additional cost. Again, we were asked to continue without moving the plumbing. Unfortunately, items like those stated above are not visually noticeable at the time of the initial quote and only upon demolition can we expose these types of issues. Our contracts clearly state that additional costs may occur upon demo. We as a company try diligently to foresee the whole project details however, it is not always possible. On the shower pan water proofing: the shower pan, walls, and shower niche were all waterproofed with a product called Hydro-ban. It is a product produced by one of the leading companies in the tile industry. We as a company have not used a rubber liner for the last 15 years and feel they are outdated. We stand behind the new-age, alternative product as we often see showers with rubber liners having moisture and mold problems later on. Please note, the custom glass order for shower, ordered and paid for by our company ($1800) cannot be re-purposed, as it was tempered and made to size for this project. Throughout this project we provided our professional opinion and strongly recommended the necessary corrections to provide you with a better end product. Unfortunately we could not move forward with our recommendations as you did not approve due to the additional costs. As for the $2,000 quoted to demo and rebuild, we quoted this with labor cost only in hopes to resolve this issue with what we feel was a reasonable and fair offer to replace. We are sorry we could not come to a more mutual resolution.

  Customer response

  02/09/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  

  ***** Danielson has not offered to refund even a portion of what we paid him. He continues to gaslight and make excuses for his very poorly executed remodel. The plumber we hired to move the drain and shower fixture to the middle had zero problems doing so. There wasn't anything in the way.  The installer was not experienced enough to be left on his own. The vast amount of communication that ***** claims happened, never happened.

  ***** And **** *******

  

  Business response

  03/01/2022

  ***** and ****, 

   

  It would be within our company policy to offer a refund in the event the customer was dissatisfied with a contractor supplied product or quality of work at the time of installation. However, since you requested the install to continue with your materials and gave us written and verbal satisfaction, we could not offer you a refund for the project (see the attached email at 85% project completion). Please also review the attached screenshots of our installer's communication regarding the tile irregularities.

   

  Additionally, our company has already incurred non-refundable expenses ($2,200) for the custom shower door that was templated and made to order but never paid upon receipt (responsibility stated in the attached contract). On the drain and shower fixture, as we have previously stated, these were not moved because the additional costs required to have this done were not approved. Please note, we would have subcontracted this to a licensed plumber as that is not a service we offer. 

   

  Our contract clearly states that, due to the nature of remodeling it is possible there will be additional charges once walls are exposed. That said, we try to scope the entire project details so a customer does not incur unexpected costs, however that is sometimes the case.

   

  Thank you, 

  Danielson & Associates

  Customer response

  03/03/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  Our question to you is, are you proud of the work you provided for us? We did express our dissatisfaction to you on at least four occasions. You were completely unprofessional and combative. All you wanted to talk about was how we previously said we liked it. Believe us, we wanted to like it so badly. We made a mistake in trusting Danielson and Associates to provide us with an experienced and competent installer. 
  

  The penny tile glued directly to the drywall is just truly appalling. Anyone can see in the photo that this is true, even though you vehemently deny it. Same with the waterproofing on the shower floor. The penny tile installation on the shower floor was just so incredibly awful. We are interested to hear how you can explain that away. 
  The bottom line is that this was a remodeling disaster. We are so very disappointed that Danielson and Associates would not make it right.
  
  

  Regards,
  
  ***** And **** *******

  

  Business response

  03/30/2022

  This is ***** ** ********* ********* of Danielson and Associates Inc. I am writing you this letter in regard to the complaint from ***** *******. We as a company have been in business since 1978 and take great pride in our customer service and the quality of work we perform. We go over and beyond to achieve this quality and commitment to excellence. We certainly realize that our reputation is extremely important in the success of our business and the continued welfare of our dedicated employees we hire to perform these tasks.
  

  Our current staff of employees have been with this company for 5-15 years. These individuals are highly trained and take great pride in their craftmanship. Before we even started the project 2 of my top employees, brought to her and her husbands attention the fact that the tile she selected for her shower was cupped and would not lay completely flat on walls and the dimensions of tile varied in widths 1/8” end to end. We explained to her the issues which would occur with “lippage” tile term when tile doesn’t lay flat to tiles below, above, or end to end. Also, when tiles are not true in dimensions maintaining consistent grout joint thickness is extremely hard with 1/16” joint line. We were directed to proceed and do the best we could.

  Upon getting 5-6 courses up the wall, my crew members again pointed out the difficulty we were having trying to maintain no “lippage” and inconsistency of tile dimensions relating to consistent grout lines, again we were directed to proceed and do the best we could. During the course of this project, I was on site 2-3 times a week during working hours to look at progress, deliver materials, remove misc. trash / demo etc. my son and I had many conversations with the homeowner and during the tile setting stages she never expressed disappointment with the quality of work. Many times she expressed complete satisfaction and also sent a text message to my son on how outstanding and pleased she was.

  It wasn’t till the glass company was ready to install the glass did she express a concern with tile. Please note she approved the cost of glass which she also requested a special coating film to be applied, which is an additional cost. The glass is specifically templated to the openings of her shower with 1 swing door and 1 stationary panel and cannot be reused. The reason is the panels and doors are not always a perfect rectangle as the existing walls are generally not perfectly plumb do to the age of house or during construction of house walls were not perfect. It’s not uncommon to have a wall out of plumb top to bottom ½’=1” in 8’-0”. And once the glass is cut and then tempered it cannot be recut to fit another opening. I directed my glass company to fabricate upon her request. When this dilemma arrived, the glass was already fabricated and ready for install. Since we could not install, I have paid my glass company in full for a product we can never use, which is in excess of $1600.00.

  In regard to the waterproofing of shower, the shower was completely waterproofed with a product called Hydroban made by Laticrete which is one of the leading suppliers of product for the tile industry. This product is approx. $120.00 per gallon as compared to pan liner at $45.00. ***** ******* keeps referencing the fact that we did not install a pan liner. We have not used a pan liner for showers in the last 15 years and have installed over a 100 showers using this product and have yet to have a call back for a leaking shower pan. We choose to use a superior product and pay the additional cost for quality. Apparently, her installers are still using a product that the industry used 20 years ago and are not aware of the far superior products on the market.

  In reference to the cabinet door that got drilled mistakenly for door hardware. She gave the installers a bag of handles to install the hardware, never did she indicate that the door handle for pantry was a different size. My crew member drilled it for the style of hardware that was in the bag. I told her I would replace the door at my cost, however it was a honest mistake and we were not made aware that different size hardware was present. However, when things went awry and the fact that I paid for glass shower enclosure I feel compensation was more than paid in full.

  When we met, she demanded that I replace all the shower tile at my cost or give her $3500.00. I indicated to her had we installed her shower in a unprofessional way that I would certainly replace at my cost no questions asked. However, I also indicated to her that we brought these issues in regard to tile issues prior to even starting the install, shortly after a few courses of tile were installed and was directed by her both times to continue and do the best we could. I quoted her a price of $2000.00 to demo the tile shower and start new from scratch with a different tile selection. Please note that cost quoted would not even cover my cost of labor to perform this service. 

  In closing I think we have answered her continue complaints in a very professional manner. As stated previously we take great pride in or craftmanship and have many outstanding reviews from our previous customers. I could give you many references to call, for projects we have completed in just the last year and you will consistently hear the same raving reviews of our professionalism and high quality of work. At this point in time, I really don’t have any idea where this ends as we could continue to banter back and forth. This is the first time in my 45 years of business that I have been in this situation. I would certainly appreciate your input on how we proceed. It seems in todays social media and times, that anyone can slander your name and reputation by the stroke of a pen and many times even though you are completely blindsided by the allegations they are out there without your ability to defend them.

  
  Respectfully yours,
  

  ***** ** *********
  

  Customer response

  04/04/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  

  In reference to the cabinet hardware, I made a special trip home from work to show the installer which handles went where. I separated the handles and put the larger ones in the cabinet they went on, and the smaller ones on the vanity. The installer was with me and watched me do this. 

  
  

  M** ********* claimed that he was on the job site 2-3 times per week and this is simply not true. My husband works from home and his office is right next to the bathroom. He was aware of who was in our house. 

  
  

  These photos speak for themselves, and I have many more that I did not include the first time. We truly wish that we did not have to file a complaint. No consumer wants to do that, but we felt it necessary. The saddest part is the sheer denial of all the mistakes that were made and the massive untruths in your responses to this complaint. All of this could’ve been avoided had you stood behind your work.

  
  

  There has not been an offer to resolve our complaint.

  
  Regards,
  
  ***** And **** *******

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