Houston Custom Carpets

I am very disappointed in the both the quality of workmanship from the Houston Custom Carpet contractors and from the lack of contractor scheduling and oversight by Houston Custom Carpet personnel. HCC contractors show up without notification. Several contractors with little or no English language capabilities resulted in misunderstandings. HCC seemed to rely on me, the home owner, to ensure construction was per contract. I had to bring the following issues to HCC attention:

1. Newly installed wallpaper damaged by sheetrock contractor ($150.00). Several areas of sheetrock required repair. Repaired and now OK.
2. Tub Deck too tall. I discussed height of deck with carpenter and he said the height was required due to tub selection. When plumber arrived to work on plumbing, he said that deck was much too tall for tub and supplied required height to carpenter. After carpenters lowered deck height by ~ 8”, plumber indicated that deck was still 4” too heigh. He added X-tra mortar to compensate for deck height. Kohler specs call for 18.5” deck height - Actual is 22.5”. 4” is quite a bit of X-tra height for 70 yr old.
3. During quote process, HCC salesman indicated that broken drain pipe for tub would require chip-out to repair. Instead an inner pipe was used. Potential to reduce drain water flow / trap debris.
4. During quote process, discussed an odor coming up from shower drain with HCC salesman. It was agreed that the gooseneck would be replaced. Gooseneck was not replaced. Plumber stated that no odor would not be present when water was in gooseneck. Shower was used every day prior to flood and odor was present in old shower, indicating that gooseneck was not holding water.
5. Shower seat specified was “open underneath” so that access would be available thru shower for repair of whirlpool motor if required. Tile contractor installed a pedestal seat covering half of access for whirlpool motor.
6. Base boards not installed correctly / tile not aligned with wall. Tile was removed and and baseboards were correctly re-installed. Tile no longer appears to not be parallel with wall. Carpenter was going to re-install damaged baseboards until I pointed out damage. Now OK.
7. Vanity top supplied by contractor was warped. Contractor stated that cabinet frame was warped when it was actually the vanity top. Contractor tried to make warped vanity fit by grinding backsplash to match. Top straightened and now OK.
8. Grout lines in shower and on tub deck were 1/16” - 1/8” below level of tile, requiring re-do. Tiles on shower floor have sharp edges. Grout lines after fill-in, in shower and on tub deck were rough. Sanded grout is normally specified for joint sizes of 1/8 inch or more, while non-sanded grout is best for joints of less than 1/8 inch. Non-sanded grouts are easier to clean. I showed the non-english speaking tile contractor the grout in bath #2 and indicated that was what was required. I was not sure that he understood, and showed him the box of grout used in bath #2. He indicated that what he was using was the same. It was not. Grout has been redone and is now OK, but new grout requires sealing and is not silicon, mold resistant as quoted.
9. Shower drain cover was 1/2” - 5/8” below level of tile floor. Drain has been re-done and is now OK.
10 Access door was painted painted shut.
11. Stained window sills had white substance underneath clear top coat. Re-done & OK.
12. Gloss top coat on half-wall top has dull spots. Re-done & OK.
13. Skips in caulk. Re-done & OK.
14. Wall receptacle cover did not cover gap between sheet rock and electrical box. Pointed out to sheet rock guy, he added mud but cover still does not cover gap. 12/19 - Painter applied caulk between wall and outlet cover without removing cover. I removed cover, filled in voids and cleaned and replaced cover.
15. Concrete left on top of flower bed brick wall. Mostly cleaned.
16. Blocking in wall for grab bar was not documented. Bar installer said that blocking was not required!! No consultation for bar selection. Would have preferred a plainer bar.
17. Hand shower holder cap broken. Replaced & OK