ComplaintsforCherokee Home Improvements LLC

• Initial Complaint

  03/29/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I contracted with Cherokee Home Improvements, LLC on August 28th, 2020 in a contract for $43,36.40. An addendum to this contract was added on 11/12/20 in the amount of $4336.00. Although ***** ****** is the owner and license holder of the business, Kelly was the actual contractor who works under the company's license. The contract stated a completion date of 31 days. Instead, I went thru 7 months of trials and tribulations working with said contractor. There were many issues of poor workmanship and thus re-does, no timely management of material ordering, lack of control of subcontractors, ignored communications with both he and company owner, contractor no shows, etc I came closet to firing the contractor several times as it was costing me time, emotional stress and money. I kept the faith since I work with Kelly at my full-time job. After 6 months, my lender had to sign off on the renovation loan, or penalties would be imposed. I collected the funds and held them in hopes of getting the contractor to fulfill the punch list to my satisfaction before relinquishing the balance to him. On May 23, 2021, I met with the contractor to go over a few items of necessity. He agreed to completing them within the next 6 weeks, but "needed the final draw to do so". I handed over the check in good faith that he would follow thru. I have yet to see him return. It has now been over 10 months since that in person agreement. And now even more blemishes and errors in workmanship have shown thru. I have reached out to both the contractor and the owner upon numerous occasions but to no avail. The wrong material was used as my garage siding replacement, the sinks and tub look like they were never re-glazed, finishing tape is showing thru the ceilings where painted, and more. I wish to have a refund on items to be redone by a qualified contractor to my original expectations. Contract, estimates and communications are enclosed. I wish for a prompt arbitration to resolve this matter.

  Business response

  06/12/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 10, 2022/04/28) */ from:Grady ****** <************@gmail.com> to:"********@greatermd.bbb.org" <********@greatermd.bbb.org> date:Apr 26, 2022, 10:06 AM subject:Cherokee Home Improvements LLC mailed-by:gmail.com signed-by:gmail.com security:Standard encryption (TLS) Learn more :Important according to Google magic. Here is my response to the complaint filed against my company. Forwarded message From: Barry Hurley Date: Tue, Apr 26, 2022, 9:09 AM Subject: scan To: Grady ****** <************@gmail.com> Consumer Response /* (3000, 12, 2022/05/03) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) To Whom this May Concern: I am writing in response to Mr. Grady ******'s, concerning the above complaint. His response did NOT satisfy my concerns. It is obvious that Mr. ****** and I have different knowledge on what was written in the contract, what his supervisor, Kelly Pullen, offered outside of the contract, and the quality of the total project. I know of only two times in the 7 months of the renovations, that Mr. ****** came by. One was to post a permit on my door. This permit was wite-out modified with a different amount than the original received by the Town of Willards. I confirmed with the Town Hall that they did not modify it, and the fee would have been more if Mr. ****** fully disclosed all the renovations to be made. For his own revised Cost of Work that he increased from $22K to $43K (with the minimal list of work) the fee would have been increased. (See attached) The other time Mr. ****** came to the property was just to stick his head in the kitchen area, as seen by my daughter. I would think that an owner of the company would want to be more involved, communicated with his supervisor, and cared about the project being done under his license. There were issues throughout the course of the renovations with getting Kelly and subcontractors on the job, getting materials ordered, removing demolition and debris off my lawn, as well as basic management and quality of the job completions. Because of these issues, the project took way too long. This complaint is for work that is defective. Mr. ****** was paid in full for the job, yet it was never completed as per the punch list that his supervisor, Kelly agreed to. Since that time of almost a year ago, both Mr. ****** and Kelly have avoided my communications to repair/finish the poor workmanship that I will detail below. I would like to go thru the contract items and enter in our disputes on work done, at the same time: 1) The electrical contractor was difficult to get to the property. When it came time to place the fuse box panel in my dining room, it took him three tries (of three large holes) to accomplish this task. Time consuming on all accounts. 2) The plumber was apparently paid, I was told, and then would not return to complete the job of removing all galvanized plumbing to the scope necessary. It took many attempts, personal and professional observations, to accomplish this goal of work. 3) The downstairs ceilings are mainly open beams, except for the kitchen and furnace/powder room. Kelly primed and painted these without question. It clearly states in the contract, that all ceilings and walls will be completed upstairs. These painted ceilings and walls have bleed throughs of painting tape and mud, nail pops and cracks. This is not due to "previous wallpaper" at all. I have a gallery of pictures to provide. As for the boiler system, I had to bring in a second subcontractor to fix the "worn parts" that were dripping after the first sub signed off on it. I was also left without hot water throughout the Christmas holiday week (see text photos) when Kelly avoided my communications for a service call. 4) Kitchen: There was no stalling in the selection of materials on my behalf for the countertop or the flooring. The flooring pictures were given to Kelly way before it was time to install them. He failed to order them in a timely manner. The countertop laminate was chosen within a day or two of his request...just as the paint selection was. Because he didn't pre-order it, there was a large delay in shipment, and I was asked to choose an alternative. As for the sink, first, Kelly failed in construction to allow for the original banding to be placed back around it. Temporary molding was personally placed to make up for this. This has nothing to do with the actual work required of the sink itself. The main issue of the sink is that it appears to not even have been reglazed. It is dull, the blemishes are coming thru and the metal drain is painted. Also in the kitchen, Kelly proceeded to take out a whole baseboard heater length, when I requested that a shortened piece remain there under the bar. This deletes much needed heat for this northeast section of the house. And, Kelly had issues connecting the d/w and requested assistance of personal help in that. 5) Bathroom: Again, it clearly states that all walls will be painted which included the tiles. These should have been properly prepared with cleaning, mildew and mold proofing, sealing, primed and painted with a glossy paint. I have chipped paint with mold coming thru in the shower/tub area. The tub needs to be reglazed properly as well. Regardless of a foot going on the wet epoxy at end of tub, the entire tub has blemishes and peelings. It appears to the eye as if never completed. It is dirty and dingy looking. The grout is coming out, and the caulking is missing. The ceiling has bleed throughs of taping, mudding, nail pops, cracks, and crooked painted lines. Obviously, a professional was needed to do this job. 6) Insulation: After many attempts of missing/falling insulation, and personal checks of crawling under to approve it, the crawl space was finally completed and encapsulated with a vapor barrier. The attic insulation was blown in, but in piles. After observation, this was asked to be corrected and leveled out. The addendum asked for blown-in insulation in exterior walls. After finding out several, including the kitchen were not completed, it was asked again to be done as stated. It seemed that follow up was always needed to certify that jobs were done in a complete manner. 7) The wooden floors downstairs were requested by me to be finished last in the renovations. Kelly proceeded to make this a first project within the first month. Not acceptable. 8) Allowance for appliances was received 9) The 1 year warranty would begin when the punch list is completed. This has yet to be done. Although Mr. ****** keeps saying that they will make good on things, neither he nor Kelly respond to my requests to do so. Mr. ****** was paid in full on May 23rd, 2021 with the agreement to complete the finished requests. The lending company would have charged ME fines, not him, if I hadn't collected the final payment from them by their requested time. Meanwhile, more defects come to light. 10) The garage was to be totally scraped and painted. I would think that a sealer would have been used to allow the new paint to bond. Instead, I have a peeling, flaking, still distressed garage. (See photos) When the new sheathing was being attached to the garage for the replacement of rotted wood, I noticed that the laborers failed to put the barrier paper on. Thus, the sheathing was taken off and then done correctly with it underneath on the back of the garage. I understand now, that the siding used is OSB. OSB will swell, warp and degrade unless it's kept safe from sunlight and perfectly dry. No paint will do this, so why was it used on my garage? I keep hearing from Mr. ****** that I signed off on the work being done, for him to be paid. He also states that the inspector signed off on the final inspection. Please know, that this inspector told me that she was not in the construction field as being knowledged in it. She simply checked off her list if it was done or not...not specifically done correctly. Kelly consistently gave a strong "yes" to each one as we did our walk thru, while I was bringing up issues that needed to be addressed. Kelly assured both of us that this would happen, and I did have trust and faith in Kelly, still. I was also bribed throughout the project that if I didn't turn in the appropriate change orders or hand over the final payment, that the work would not be completed because the funds were needed to do so. Mr. ****** can place fault on personal assistance for work to be completed such as the hanging of the blinds, but yet he won't take ownership of supposed "extra work done" without a proper work order. Kelly was the captain of this project. I'm sorry that he did not communicate his renovation ammendments/offers made to me, also to Mr. ******. No one was "forced" to do extra work (vs. volunteered) nor have I refused to pay for any. I have asked for a ledger of additions/subtractions since day one. Any personal work done on the house was to assist Kelly who asked for the help, and it was given to keep the contract moving. In the Construction Contract that Mr. ****** provided, I would like to address the following: Article 2. Contract Time Before starting the Work, Contractor shall submit to Owner for review, an estimated progress schedule indicating the starting and completion dates of various stage of the Work. Never received. Article 4. Change Orders Any increase or decrease in the Contract Price, change in the Work or change in the Contract Time must be set forth in a change order... Not consistently done. Article 5. Payment Procedures Payment may be withheld for: 1) Failure to perform the Work in accordance with the Contract Documents; 2) Defective Work that is not corrected; or ... I Held final payment in request of punch list requirements Article 9.8 Use of Premises During the progress of the Work, Contractor shall keep the Property free from accumulations of waste materials, rubbish and other debris resulting from the Work. There was demolition and debris in a constant pile on my lawn Article 9.13 Contractor warrants and guarantees to Owner that all Work will be in accordance with the Contract Documents and will not be defective. This would start with the Punch list that has been neglected In closing, I would like to say that there are many false statements made by Mr. ****** who was never on the job. I do not appreciate the personal attacks, and find them equally unprofessional. I have a gallery of photos showing the defective work, and I have witnesses available as Mr. ****** has mentioned. They have never been asked of me before, but I will gladly provide. I would like to proceed with the formal arbitration. Sincerely, Tamara *********

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