ComplaintsforAnthony’s Painting and Remodeling

• Initial Complaint

  02/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Date work began was 1/25/2022 Floor tile was installed improperly the first time. When he removed the tile for the second installation, Bryan spent a day grinding off the mortar inside my house without sealing off doorways, which allowed mortar dust to cover every surface in all three stories of my house. We were not home while he was doing this grinding. When we left him, he was scraping off the mortar with a chisel. The mortar dust was everywhere when we returned home. He reinstalled the floor a second time and multiple tiles are loose again and the grout is missing and cracking. The storm door was installed incorrectly using pallet wood instead of two by fours. It had to be reinstalled with a new storm door. He also cut my front door too short, which cannot be fixed without replacing the door. Because of breathing issues that I have, I had to immediately purchase an air cleaner for each floor of my house since mortar dust has silica and was causing me breathing difficulties. All curtains, bedding, and outerwear in the adjacent room, had to be laundered. We had to have professional cleaning of our living room furniture. So far we have spent $400 for clean up of the mortar dust on furniture, floors, walls and ceilings, and that is not quite one floor of our three-story house. The estimate is that it will be at least an additional $400 to complete the cleaning. The tile floor still needs to be repaired. These costs do not include the hundreds of hours of cleaning and laundering that we have done ourselves. *Please note that the cost of the tile and storm door was quoted via text as $1100 and I added on the installation of shut offs(which were satisfactorily installed) at a cost of $150. That brought my total to $1250.

  Business response

  03/08/2022

  Hi, I received a complaint in the mail on behalf of **** ******* ** ****** *** I installed ceramic tile on a closed in porch connected to their living room front entrance. It was installed when we had the freezing rain, and snow the week of the install. The first issue with the install was that once the carpet was removed I let them know the floor had tongue and groove wood which appeared to be in decent shape besides staining. I suggested to use luan to give the mortar a fresh bed to lay on. After talking with *** ******* she had said since the bathroom had just been tiled. If it could be laid without luan let’s do it. She was working her home business and at the tax return location to help pay for the work being done, and that it would more then likely take til April to make the funds back. Advised to please allow atleast 24 hours for it to setup before completely cleaning and putting the furniture back in the room.  After installing the tile and leaving the job site within a day or two I got a call saying the grout was cracking from between the tile in the center of the room. I spoke to them and agreed to come back and reinstall. Upon entering the room there was several pieces of furniture back in the room already which I happily moved back into the living room while retiling. And not sure when it the haze on the tile was fully removed or when furniture began being put back or if the furniture was lifted across the floor or slid. The process was to remove the mortar and grout from the tile that was used in order to reuse the tile instead of discarding the used tile and purchasing new ones. They said because of the weather I could remove the grout and mortar from the room that was being retiled just to cover the window that is connected to the living room. It is about 4’ x 4’ and connects the two rooms with shelves that she stores misc. nick knacks on. As well as covering the doorway that connects a storage room and coat room on the left side that used to be a hallway. I taped plastic over the window and doorway and opened the windows on the left and right side of the room to try to relieve some of the dust. Again because of the weather outside they agreed to this. The doorway that goes from the enclosed porch into their living was to remain closed, which it did. After working throughout the first day removing the mortar and grout off the tile with a wire brush attached to my grinder she had came home from work. We noticed upon her entering the living room door dust was traveling into the home from underneath the door into the living room. The reason I state under the door is you could see a layer of dust about 2 feet long in front of the door when opened. She had called and said they had spent 3 hours dusting that evening when her husband came home from work and purchased 2 air purifiers because she was sensitive to dust. And asked when I came back the next day to please find a way to remove any more from the remaining tile to please find a way to do so outside. The following day the remaining tile had been clean for reuse outside as well as using remaining tile that was left over from the previous install so that it was less that had to be grounded she had stated if they needed to reuse the tile in the future her husband can grind them off if I wasn’t to use them on another job for them. The second day was made cleaning the rest of those tile and preparing the floor with the newly purchased luann to lay tile down. The luan was laid down with two boxes of roofing nails so that the heads laid low enough on the luan not to interfere with the grout or mortar and lay flush since luan is only slightly more then 1/8” thick. If screws were used the head would protrude or because the thickness is shallow it would drive thru the luan. Even after using the two boxes I went back and laid finish nails where there seemed to be any issues. I then ran seam tape on all joints to make sure they were sealed and no movement. And on each seam I ran what I call a zipper pattern where I ziggazagged the nails back and forth on all seams. While waiting on her husband to come she FaceTimed him and showed him the images and how many were laid down and where. When he got home he looked and agreed it looked better and was satisfied as well. That evening we even went to their first floor kitchen and she had stated that after work was completed they wanted to replace the kitchen sink and either replace counter or tile the counter. As well as in the spring to install a bay window in their kitchen to look out over their garden and chickens. Everything appeared to be fine and normal. I continued to lay the tile as I did the first time and every day it was looked over and advised if they had any questions to please let me know. After getting about halfway through the room  I had walked outside for a few minutes break and upon entering the room I noticed ********** ******** on his knees and he had stated it looked like one of the tile had moved or popped up, I got a chisel from the truck and showed him the tile was secure. He agreed at that point with that tile and said perhaps it was the floor. Because we noticed the floor had several dips as well as a high spot. I continued to lay the tile the rest of the week. Several times throughout the week ** ******* stated it looked and felt 100% better even when walking on it. Upon completion I had asked them not to walk on the floor for atleast 24 hours as stated on the grout and mortar packages to allow it to cure enough to setup. I also advised during both installations the same thing. And asked if they could use the rear entrance to their kitchen to allow it to dry. They agreed, however not once while I was there doing the work did they sue the rear entrance. During the first install they had stated ice had frozen on the sidewalk and stairs going down the side of the house and the neighbor has piled snow in the way which also froze. So I tried to make a path straight thru from the front door to the living room door in case there was an emergency or they could not use the rear entrance. The second time installing I also requested the same thing to please use the rear entry. Again I was there on the days **** returned from work and she entered they the front door. And on days ** ******* came home he as well entered they the front door. Even though it is their home if doing work at the entryway I would have suggested to knock and ask if it was ok or clear to come through that entrance or to go around since I stated multiple times to please do so. Upon completion I again asked that they wait to fully clean and dust and to wait to put the furniture back in. She said she was going to wait u til Monday this time to move the furniture back to give it adequate time to set. When leaving nothing else was stated about any issues with dust before or after. Or any other issues. Several days to a week later I received a email and text stating there was issues and they wanted insurance info and they wanted reimbursed for a cleaning crew, the air purifiers, grout,mortar etc. it was a very demanding and I felt rude response. After emailing back a day or two later. She felt what I had stated in the email was not satisfactory. I’ve saved every communication between us. As I offered to go back a second time I would have been willing to try and remedy any issues until I received the email the way it was written. While there for the second time ** ******* even thanked me for coming back  and trying to remedy the situation. He was outside shoveling the sidewalk when I went outside to smoke and had stated this at that point. He said” I appreciate you coming and trying to make it right most people would have said your own your own or not come back. I told him I try to make everyone happy and havnt had issues before that I didn’t want to start now. “ again not once before it was claimed that there was grout flaking from between a few tile was anything ever mentioned about any type of refund for cleaning or dust or air purifiers. Until I had said I tried to fix it a second time and did not ask for any type of compensation was I asked about reimbursement in her email. The first install took slightly over a week as well as the second install. The evening I left the site I had left a chisel and another item at their house and said I would stop back to pick it up if possible and she had agreed. Several days later when I received the email was the next communication I received about the job. I do t know when the property was cleaned when I finished or when the furniture was being put back in the entryway since she said the furniture was in the living room and she would like it to be put back. The other thing I question is the day I walked in and Joe was on his knees and thought the one towel was loose I question if any tile was pushed,altered, or tried to be moved during the time of setting up either. After sending the email that I took offensive I advised I felt there was nothing more I could do due to the way the email was written as well as trying to fix any issues a second time.
  
  Sincerely,
  Bryan A******
  Sent from my iPhone
  

  Customer response

  03/08/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]

  Many facts that Bryan stated were incorrect. When I left for work the day he was beginning to remove the tile for re-install, he was using a chisel and not a wire wheel to grind off mortar. When he told us to not use the front entrance for 24 hours, we waited 2 days. We did not use the back entrance while he was working because when I arrived home he told me where I could walk and which tiles could not be stepped on each day. In fact he marked them with blue tape. Originally when we discussed luan, I told Bryan to let me know if it was needed and he told me it was not necessary. After the tiles did not stay secure the first time, he told me that it was probably a mistake to not use the luan. No furniture was moved into the room until after the time Bryan said it was ok to do so. The day he used the wire wheel, it was a pleasant 50 degree day. The snow and ice situation was during the first install. There was much more dust in my house than Bryan is stating, as can be seen in the pictures I submitted. The tape that Bryan used on the seams is thin and does not do anything to prevent movement. As we have discovered by research, screws should have been used instead of nails to secure plywood or luan to prevent movement of the sub-floor. The fact is that even though we thought that the floor looked better after the second install, we saw within days, without walking on it during that time, that there was grout missing, cracking, and over a dozen tiles were again loose. The tiles are extremely uneven so that you can even catch your foot on the edge of several tiles. Several weeks later we are still in the process of cleaning the massive amounts of dust on 3 floors of our house, with 3 air cleaners running 24 hours a day. The grout is disappearing between the tiles due to movement, tiles are loose and the floor will still need to be replaced or repaired. 
  
  Regards,
  
  **** *******

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