Fix St. Louis

We hired House Doctors to paint our bedrooms, spray insulation into the attic, and remove our basement dropped ceiling / install drywall with can lights All work was of above average quality, but my experience with the franchise owner was less than satisfactory, marked by poor communication and an estimate (on the final job- basement ceiling) that was way, way off The final invoice for that ceiling work was nearly double the quoteThe owner "cut me a deal" by halving the bill, which still resulted in a 50% increase over the original estimate The additional charges were blamed on soffit framing around structures (ducts and a support beam) that were "hidden" only by 18" acoustic tiles that took a few seconds to lift up and inspect the space beyond Even after the initial demo of the old ceiling (and a walk through with the franchise owner to discuss the very subject of soffit building), there was no mention of additional charges
I was very disappointed by the experience, and I personally do not plan to give House Doctors any further businessAgain, the quality of the work was above average- and for simple, straightforward jobs that take less than a day, they're a decent betBut if you're in need of more complex remodeling- something needing multiple days / stages and actual project management- look elsewhereI would not recommend using their services for those jobs

It was our pleasure to work with Ms*** on her aging mother’s home early this yearWe respect Ms***’s concern for her mother and willingness to help her with this project designed to deal with serious violations flagged by City of St Louis inspectorsRecognizing this was a difficult
situation, we made our own contribution to Ms ***’s cause by sticking with the original estimated costs despite discovering extraordinarily challenging, impossible-to-predict building conditionsOn several occasions we would have been more than justified to request change orders to cover our additional labor and material expenses, but we chose not to make Ms***’s situation more difficult.In a nutshell, here’s what this project looked likeWork began 12/6/and was fully completed on 1/19/when we received final payment, an indication that Ms *** inspected our work and was satisfied with itWe had been told that this work was needed because a City inspector found several serious violations, which we categorized in parts: Front Steps, Ceiling, Bathroom Faucets, Bathroom Floor, Rear Steps, Heating Floor Register, Basement Light Fixture, and Front Door.It is important to note the condition of this 112-year-old house, built in 1905, and located at *** *** *** ***Frankly, we consider this property to be heavily dilapidated, and a more than reasonable candidate for demolitionIt is very clear that it has not been properly maintained, noticeable by, among other things, the collapsing kitchen ceiling which seems to have been left in that condition for many, many yearsWe suspect this property’s poor condition is also the reason it has become the focus of City of St Louis inspectors.? ? The condition of the plumbing is particularly relevant in this caseThe pipes are vitually all originalMany show signs of heavy rust and serious corrosionWe observed long runs of drain pipes with missing or drooping brackets, creating misalignments that create serious risk for leaks, particularly when combined with the corrosionThere is a good deal of structure settling, placing additional pressure on the plumbingSome pipes run along outside brick walls with missing or crumbling mortar, leaving them exposed to weather conditionsIn short, the plumbing is in very fragile condition, and is vulnerable to failure at any time and for a wide variety of reasons.Concern About Leak on Kitchen CeilingA new leak has recently emerged on the kitchen ceiling, 8-months after we completed our workOur assessment is that locating and repairing this leak is outside our scope, and would best be performed by a plumbing companyThey would have more specialized tools and techniques for finding and repairing the leak, and a great deal more experience working with very fragile, very old structures in very poor condition.Ms *** apparently holds what we frankly believe to be a misperception ??" that this new leak resulted from our work completed 8-months agoWe offer a number of reasons that we differ:??" First, we completed work 8-months agoPlumbing work generally fails immediately, not months later.??" If there were a leak at the time we completed work, we would have known itImmediately after completing our plumbing work upstairs, we replaced the entire kitchen ceilingIt is inconceivable that we would not have noticed water.??" The work we performed in the bathroom immediately above the leaking ceiling area in the kitchen was handyman work, not at all about leaks and could not have caused leaksWhile it was work on a bathroom sink, we simply firmly secured this detaching sink to its wallThe only parts of this job that involved water were detaching then reattaching the water supply lines and drains, all of whose connections are visible, and not behind wallsSince there is currently no water coming from those connections, our work is not the source of the leak.Consequently, our conclusion is that Ms *** is dealing with an entirely new problem, and we are in fact not the best people to handle itShe needs to bring in a licensed plumbing companyAnd once again, it is not surprising that a new leak has emerged given the dilapidated condition of the property.Concerns About Passing the City of St Louis Home InspectionIt’s important to understand our relationship to the other parties in regards to City of St Louis home inspectionsThe key relationship is between the City home inspector and the homeownerThe home inspector dictates the needed repairs, and the homeowner has the responsibility for getting the work done by, among other things, hiring contractors.? We would never misrepresent our role or our expertise in this City inspection process by: 1) providing an estimate indicating that our responsibility was to get the approval of a City home inspector -- an inspector might CHOOSE to talk to a contractor to be accommodating, but has no obligation to do so; or 2) representing to the homeowner that we have expertise in how the building code reads, much less how the home inspector interprets itWe are simply in the business of fixing things given the direction of the client, the homeowner.Accordingly, it should not be surprising that have never actually been shown the home inspector’s reports, and even if we were, it is up to the homeowner, not us, to decide what to do with those findings.In regards to repairing the rear steps, our estimate reads “Add middle stringer, replace all stair treads, add risersNo painting.“ The middle stringer eliminated the bow in the middle of each stair tread, and the risers closed-off what is considered to be an unsafe gapThat’s exactly what we did and were paid forWe remain unaware of any way in which these steps do not now liwith the home inspector’s expectations.Concerns About Our CommunicationsMs ***’s statement “the owner has never called me back and all my calls and messages to the owner have been unanswered” is quite frankly a statementFor example, she and I had a conversation in which she provided the phone number for the City home inspector (incidentally, I called him, left phone messages twice but never got a call back, another indication that this is not my proper role)As a result of that conversation with Ms *** we sent a technician to look at the leak earlier this monthMoreover, our customer service rep Bridget has left several phone messages to Ms*** that have not been returned.So in sum, we are now at a loss to understand how we can be of further assistance to Ms***, and at a greater loss to understand why she would choose to file a complaint with the Revdex.comWe take our reputation extremely seriously and while we are thankful Revdex.com exists and are grateful for their assistance, even if your organization did not exist we believe we know what is right and fair, and how to run an honest business.We welcome your feedback and suggested next steps.** ***Fix St Louis

The owner of this business, Steve [redacted], is very unethical. He demanded payment before work was completed on our deck, banging on our door unprompted at 9am. Disturbing my teenage nonverbal severely autistic child and wife. My wife called 911 as she felt threatened. Faulty materials were used. Screws are missing everywhere, wood pieces are majorly cracked(pine), nails were purposely nailed from the inside of the rail, where you can see the nailheads. Our promised threshold, rotted area inside the door jamb, and missing wood pieces were never completed. He agreed to be finished in a month or two. We are still waiting for completion from a different [redacted]. Their executive [redacted] refused to cooperate, stating House Doctors West County is completely independent of the Franchise [redacted], and he has no obligation to help me in this regard. I have pictures of the faulty work performed and unfinished items.