ATW Interiors

Hello Revdex.com, The complaint from my recent client has no meritShe is personally upset with me and is setting out to be compensated financially for her disappointmentI have responded to both she and her husband about the complaint and have attempted to reason with her about itThis was a $15,job and I was not able to stay and finish because she did not want me toThe job involved a master bathroom which needed to be renovatedMy contract included demolition of old tile along with fixtures and installation of new fixtures and tileThis included the material for all the tile work which totaled $The tile work is the specific part of the job where there is a dispute between usI started with the shower which was almost complete at the time of the disputeAfter the shower I moved on to the main bathroom floorMy client was breathing down my neck to get this floor finished by a certain date which I told her was going to be difficult to accomplishI got in a hurry and consequently did not perform my best work which I still feel badly aboutWhen she pointed out the problems with the workmanship on the floor tile I agreed with her and gave no excuses for itAt that point she wanted me to collect my tools and leave the jobThis is a first for me.This is also my first complaint at the Revdex.com as far as I knowMy client did not give me a chance to make things right with the floor and so I leftShe stated that I could leave and never come back and never talk to them again but that she hoped I would do the right thing and" pay them back all the money I owed them." My response was that I am not the kind of person to leave without resolving the problemHer husband and I settled on the amount of $as an amount for me to pay them back for the floor that I messed upWithin a week I was able to raise this money and write them out a check for $This was very painful to do but I made it happenHer husband was surprised when I handed him the check for that amount so soonAs far as I could tell I satisfied my obligation to them to make the problem right on my endIn retrospect I should have had him sign an agreement that I had fulfilled my obligation but it didn't seem necessary at the timeHind sight is 20/When his wife told me I owe them more money I said that her husband accepted the check from me and did not tell me that this was a preliminary paymentWhen I asked him about this he said that he didn't know what to say to me about his wifeHe also said that she was not happy with him accepting the amount I gave himIt seems that I was caught between a marital dispute concerning this matterHere is where the problem with my client liesSince I messed up the floor it opened me up for further criticism by her and countless other "experts" who inspected my work and conclude that it was all sub-par and needed to be torn outShe claimed that the new shower I constructed was going to leak and therefore needed to be torn outI never agreed to this and it was a mistake to tear out a perfectly good showerI told her that the only way for her to prove that my new shower would leak is to fill the base with 4" of water and then we would all know the real storyShe had a new contractor tear out the new shower that I had just constructed without first testing it for leaksI do have photos of the shower at the state it was before it was demolishedAny tile contractor that I am associated with would accept the shower that I made for them even though her "panel of experts" would disagree with this assessmentI told her that the "problem" with the shower part of the job is my word against her'sThe floor is a whole separate issue from the shower which has been dealt with completelyI tried to tell her that she needed to learn how to negotiate about this but she did not agreeShe wanted all her money back, end of storySo we had to agree to disagree about the showerI also told her that I have built hundreds of showers in central Ohio and that none of them leak, yet she "believes" that the one I built for her would have leaked if they ever would have tested it out before destroying itI feel that I have done the right thing here and that my client, specifically the wife, is being extremely unreasonableAs far as I am concerned this dispute should not count against me when it comes to my rating at the Revdex.comThank you

I am rejecting this response because:The contract that we had with Andy W [redacted] with ATW Interiors will follow my response. My goal is to be brief with my response but provide you with objective information. In regard to the installation of our master bathroom floor, we have admission from the contractor himself that he did a poor job, which is corroborated by other contractors and confirmed by our pictures. Therefore, I don't think that we need to spend time proving the floor installation was substandard. Since he has admitted fault with the floor and agreed to repay us for the floor, then I think the point of contention is the amount he has repaid. He gave us $5500 for the floor, however, he charged us more than $7500 to do the floor, which is similar to the amount that our new contractor charged us. I will outline the estimate that we paid Andy for the floor based off his contract: For estimate purposes, we will consider the floor to be approximately 1/3 of the demolition, tile work and tile material and 1/2 of tile prep. Our tile material was $6200. 1/3 Demo $733 (1/3 of $2200) 1/2 Tile prep 1300 (1/2 of $2600) Heated floor 2250 1/3 Tile labor 1167 (1/3 of $3500) 1/3 Tile material 2067 (1/3 of $6200) Total for floor $7515 Therefore, we submit that he still owes us $2515 for the floor (subtracting the $5500 that we received).In regard to the shower, the point of contention is that Andy thinks his shower installation was up to standard and our disagreement is based on professionals in his field. Fact: Andy intended to place a water barrier over the shower bench and shower curb but forgot. Instead of offering to redo the shower, he offered to finish the tile installation and see if it would leak or fill the shower with water and see if it would leak. Our opinion is that he did not want to admit fault and bear the expense of redoing the shower. We had other contractors inspect his work and give their opinion, but in an attempt to get an unbiased opinion, I contacted the Certified Tile Education Foundation (CTEF) where Andy got his CTEF certification. The reason that we chose Andy is because he was a designated CTEF tile installer. I spoke with [redacted] (###-###-####) from CTEF in regard to the certification process. He informed me that the most common place that showers will leak is the shower curb and bench. Therefore, since Andy has admitted that he did not place a water barrier over the bench and curb, and we have one of the most qualified professionals in his field say that those are the two most common places that showers will leak, then I think that we can assume that the shower should be redone to ensure the dry shower that we deserve and paid for. We know that we should give the contractor a chance to redo his work if it doesn't meet standard, however, our confidence in Andy as a qualified tile installer and professional was severely damaged. The only way to place the water barrier in those two areas is to remove the shower that was installed and redo the installation with a complete water barrier in place, including replacing the $500 drain. I will outline the estimate that we paid Andy for the shower based off his contract: 1/3 Demo $733 (1/3 of $2200) 1/2 Tile prep 1300 (1/2 of $2600) 1/3 Tile labor 1167 (1/3 of $3500) 1/3 Tile material 2067 (1/3 of $6200) Total for shower $5267Therefore, we submit that Andy owes us $2515 for the floor and $5267 for the shower, which adds up to $7782.Unfortunately, since the floor and shower had to be redone, we had no choice but to replace the wall tiles surrounding the tub as the quality of installation by our new contractor was dramatically different than Andy's installation, another significant expense that we incurred. Although we feel that we should be repaid the entire $9500 still remaining, we will agree to $8000 and consider the dispute resolved. I provided the number for [redacted] with CTEF so that you can confirm the information about shower installation with an unbiased qualified professional in this field. I have pictures documenting the poor floor installation and lack of water barrier on the shower curb and bench, but it may not be necessary since Andy has already admitted fault with the floor installation and omitting a water barrier in two critical areas of the shower. The points of contention that you will need to resolve, in my opinion, is the amount of repayment for the floor and if you agree that the shower should be redone, the amount that Andy is responsible to repay us. Please provide the appropriate email address or cell phone if you would like me to forward the pictures to you. Regards, [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:The contract that we had with Andy W[redacted] with ATW Interiors will follow my response.  My goal is to be brief with my response but provide you with objective information.  In regard to the installation of our master bathroom floor, we have admission from the contractor himself that he did a poor job, which is corroborated by other contractors and confirmed by our pictures.   Therefore, I don't think that we need to spend time proving the floor installation was substandard. Since he has admitted fault with the floor and agreed to repay us for the floor, then I think the point of contention is the amount he has repaid.  He gave us $5500 for the floor, however, he charged us more than $7500 to do the floor, which is similar to the amount that our new contractor charged us.  I will outline the estimate that we paid Andy for the floor based off his contract: For estimate purposes, we will consider the floor to be approximately 1/3 of the demolition, tile work and tile material and 1/2 of tile prep.  Our tile material was $6200. 1/3 Demo $733 (1/3 of $2200) 1/2 Tile prep 1300 (1/2 of $2600) Heated floor 2250 1/3 Tile labor 1167 (1/3 of $3500) 1/3 Tile material 2067 (1/3 of $6200) Total for floor      $7515       Therefore, we submit that he still owes us $2515 for the floor (subtracting the $5500 that we received).In regard to the shower, the point of contention is that Andy thinks his shower installation was up to standard and our disagreement is based on professionals in his field.  Fact:  Andy intended to place a water barrier over the shower bench and shower curb but forgot. Instead of offering to redo the shower, he offered to finish the tile installation and see if it would leak or fill the shower with water and see if it would leak.  Our opinion is that he did not want to admit fault and bear the expense of redoing the shower. We had other contractors inspect his work and give their opinion, but in an attempt to get an unbiased opinion, I contacted the Certified Tile Education Foundation (CTEF) where Andy got his CTEF certification.  The reason that we chose Andy is because he was a designated CTEF tile installer.  I spoke with [redacted] (###-###-####) from CTEF in regard to the certification process.  He informed me that the most common place that showers will leak is the shower curb and bench.  Therefore, since Andy has admitted that he did not place a water barrier over the bench and curb, and we have one of the most qualified professionals in his field say that those are the two most common places that showers will leak, then I think that we can assume that the shower should be redone to ensure the dry shower that we deserve and paid for.  We know that we should give the contractor a chance to redo his work if it doesn't meet standard, however, our confidence in Andy as a qualified tile installer and professional was severely damaged.  The only way to place the water barrier in those two areas is to remove the shower that was installed and redo the installation with a complete water barrier in place, including replacing the $500 drain.  I will outline the estimate that we paid Andy for the shower based off his contract: 1/3 Demo $733 (1/3 of $2200) 1/2 Tile prep 1300 (1/2 of $2600) 1/3 Tile labor 1167 (1/3 of $3500) 1/3 Tile material 2067 (1/3 of $6200) Total for shower    $5267Therefore, we submit that Andy owes us $2515 for the floor and $5267 for the shower, which adds up to $7782.Unfortunately, since the floor and shower had to be redone, we had no choice but to replace the wall tiles surrounding the tub as the quality of installation by our new contractor was dramatically different than Andy's installation, another significant expense that we incurred. Although we feel that we should be repaid the entire $9500 still remaining, we will agree to $8000 and consider the dispute resolved. I provided the number for [redacted] with CTEF so that you can confirm the information about shower installation with an unbiased qualified professional in this field.   I have pictures documenting the poor floor installation and lack of water barrier on the shower curb and bench, but it may not be necessary since Andy has already admitted fault with the floor installation and omitting a water barrier in two critical areas of the shower.  The points of contention that you will need to resolve, in my opinion, is the amount of repayment for the floor and if you agree that the shower should be redone, the amount that Andy is responsible to repay us.  Please provide the appropriate email address or cell phone if you would like me to forward the pictures to you. Regards,
[redacted]

Hello Revdex.com,  The complaint from my recent client has no merit. She is personally upset with me and is setting out to be compensated financially for her disappointment. I have responded to both she and her husband about the complaint and have attempted to reason with her about it. This was a...

$15,000 job and I was not able to stay and finish because she did not want me to. The job involved a master bathroom which needed to be renovated. My contract included demolition of old tile along with fixtures and installation of new fixtures and tile. This included the material for all the tile work which totaled $8500. The tile work is the specific part of the job where there is a dispute between us. I started with the shower which was almost complete at the time of the dispute. After the shower I moved on to the main bathroom floor. My client was breathing down my neck to get this floor finished by a certain date which I told her was going to be difficult to accomplish. I got in a hurry and consequently did not perform my best work which I still feel badly about. When she pointed out the problems with the workmanship on the floor tile I agreed with her and gave no excuses for it. At that point she wanted me to collect my tools and leave the job. This is a first for me.This is also my first complaint at the Revdex.com as far as I know. My client did not give me a chance to make things right with the floor and so I left. She stated that I could leave and never come back and never talk to them again but that she hoped I would do the right thing and" pay them back all the money I owed them." My response was that I am not the kind of person to leave without resolving the problem. Her husband and I settled on the amount of $5500 as an amount for me to pay them back for the floor that I messed up. Within a week I was able to raise this money and write them out a check for $5500. This was very painful to do but I made it happen. Her husband was surprised when I handed him the check for that amount so soon. As far as I could tell I satisfied my obligation to them to make the problem right on my end. In retrospect I should have had him sign an agreement that I had fulfilled my obligation but it didn't seem necessary at the time. Hind sight is 20/20. When his wife told me I owe them more money I said that her husband accepted the check from me and did not tell me that this was a preliminary payment. When I asked him about this he said that he didn't know what to say to me about his wife. He also said that she was not happy with him accepting the amount I gave him. It seems that I was caught  between a marital dispute concerning this matter. Here is where the problem with my client lies. Since I messed up the floor it opened me up for further criticism by her and countless other "experts" who inspected my work and conclude that it was all sub-par and needed to be torn out. She claimed that the new shower I constructed was going to leak and therefore needed to be torn out. I never agreed to this and it was a mistake to tear out a perfectly good shower. I told her that the only way for her to prove that my new shower would leak is to fill the base with 4" of water and then we would all know the real story. She had a new contractor tear out the new shower that I had just constructed without first testing it for leaks. I do have photos of the shower at the state it was before it was demolished. Any tile contractor that I am associated with would accept the shower that I made for them even though her "panel of experts" would disagree with this assessment. I told her that the "problem" with the shower part of the job is my word against her's. The floor is a whole separate issue from the shower which has been dealt with completely. I tried to tell her that she needed to learn how to negotiate about this but she did not agree. She wanted all her money back, end of story. So we had to agree to disagree about the shower. I also told her that I have built hundreds of showers in central Ohio and that none of them leak, yet she "believes" that the one I built for her would have leaked if they ever would have tested it out before destroying it. I feel that I have done the right thing here and that my client, specifically the wife, is being extremely unreasonable. As far as I am concerned this dispute should not count against me when it comes to my rating at the Revdex.com. Thank you.