JRB General Contracting

(We got a couple of quotes for other projects in 2018 but decided not to go ahead with those jobs so you'll see mention of this in the long email string)

We started out with a fully functioning washroom but it was in need of work. The tub faucet was leaking, the tub finish was cracked but it was not leaking and there was water damage on the wall, next to the sink. We suspected there was water damage on the outside wall. We pre-bought a number of items including the tub surround, tub and sink faucets, a gfci and a new light fixture. When we were ready to have our main bathroom rebuilt we contacted JRB General Contracting - owner Jerett ***. Jerett came to see what needed to be done and he quoted. It was agreed that Jerett would reduce his price, and we would pay for materials used where he provided receipts. Emails are attached - the original quote, the revised quote and what I believe is the last email communication we shared. The long email includes virtually every communication from the beginning until we switched to text. Please note the emails show that Jerett was aware of the Apr 30/19 completion date and that we made the house available at almost any time of the day.

We agreed to pay Jerett $550.00 up front with the balance being due on completion. We agreed to pay for materials when he provided the receipt and, that once he opened the wall up, that we'd agree upon a price for any additional work. Ultimately we paid $550.00 before the demo was started and we did pay for job materials when receipts were received plus we paid for labour to repair the East wall and to strap the South wall so the tub would fit nicely. All paid by cheques so info can be provided if required.

Jerett started the job quickly in March but after the initial demo, more often than not someone would wait at home all day when he said he'd show up but he rarely kept his word. Very often Jerett wouldn't respond to us or he would respond by arranging a time that he would come to the house but then often didn't show up.

The end of April came and went and the job wasn't complete so Jerett suggested coming evenings - I accepted. That wasn't working out so Jerett suggested weekends - I accepted. That didn't work well either so Jerett said he wanted to go back to evenings and again I agreed. The same pattern existed where Jerett wouldn't respond or he'd say he come to the house but then usually not show up.

Jerett replaced the light fixture with one bulb that hangs down in front of the medicine cabinet. He replaced copper water lines that I think were fine with something he called 'pex'. I don't know if this was necessary but I do know from talking with Jerett that he prefers to work with pex. Jerett noticed the pipe for the sink drain was plugged up so he replaced this piece. Then he replaced the drywall and painted it up. He said the imperfections would be covered by - don't know what they're called but I'd describe them as chrome covers that the water lines and drain pipe come through at the wall. The whole area of drywall looks kind of caved in. The chrome covers will not cover all this. The new drain pipe isn't centered with the water lines so I don't know if this is an issue. I have a pedestal sink to be reinstalled in that space so the water lines, the drain and the drywall are going to be visible and I suspect this will not look like a good job when the sink is installed.

When installing the new shower plumbing, there was some accidental damage to the other side of the wall which is in a bedroom. Jerett said he would fix it. He put mud on the area but it hasn't been sanded so it's not ready to prime and paint.

Our tub surround was bought years earlier so Jerett had us take it out of the box well in advance so it would relax. I believe it was out of the box at least two weeks before Jerret was ready to use it. Jerett said it straightened out quite well so he went ahead and started the install. He installed 4 of 5 sections of the surround. The edges lifted on all the glued sides. Jerett said he'd get stronger adhesive to get the edges of the tub surround to stick. I don't know if Jerett tried another adhesive but he was going to resolve the lifting around the outside edges by adding a trim - I agreed to this and he installed one piece of trim as a sample. No further work was done on the tub. I noticed lumps of adhesive under the tub surround are visible to the eye and to the touch and notified Jerett. I don't know if there's a way to even fix how this was left with the surround not adhering to the wall where it meets the tub - caulking won't fix this. There's also adhesive on the outside of the surround and I don't know if this is removable without damaging the surround. There are also spots of glue on the new bath tub that I hope can be removed but I don't know if or how. The water control handle is attached to the wall with the tub surround. I presume it's connected to the water supply but the shower head and faucet aren't installed. There is no waste water plumbing connected. There is no new drain that I've seen but old pieces of the drain were left in the basement. There's a piece of black drain pipe left in the tub as well as a number of other things.

I provided vinyl flooring but Jerett asked if he could use other product someone had given him that he had laying around. I approved. Once installed I saw a chip in the corner of one tile. Jerett said he'd fix it with wood filler. There are more tiles in the box that was left at my house so it should be replaced. The chip was not repaired and the tile was not replaced. In addition, there wasn't a piece of flooring cut to fill the gap between the toilet water supply and the wall.

Jerett asked if he could paint the ceiling, the trim and the door white. I agreed. I didn't realize Jerett also meant the medicine cabinet door. The ceiling, the inside of the door and the outside of the medicine cabinet door were painted with a flat white paint, whereas the rest of the bathroom is painted with a different finish, that's made for use in areas like bathrooms. The original colour of the door is coming through the layer of white paint so it needs at least one, maybe more, coats of paint to cover the original paint. When Jerett painted the outside of the medicine cabinet, he got flat white paint on the underside of the mirror. The mirror has a frosted edge around it so you can see the paint on the mirror and you can see that it's a different colour under the mirror. The mirror now needs to be removed, cleaned, the whole medicine cabinet door needs to be painted then the mirror can be replaced.

The gfci outlet hasn't been installed.

Baseboard type trim was installed. I asked for there to be no trim behind the cabinet so it would be flush against the wall like it had been previously. I suppose Jerett forgot because there is trim behind the cabinet so now the trim will have to come off, be cut then reinstalled. The window is currently without trim.

There are a few places where, when Jerett mudded the walls and sanded, where there are visible pock marks that were painted over.

During the initial demo, Jerett broke the toilet. He told me the toilet stuck to the floor and broke when he lifted it off. The person who was in the house at the time the work was being done said it sounded like the toilet was dropped twice because there were two crash sounds. We didn't discuss the toilet again until on his last visit to the house he brought a new toilet and installed it.

Jerett said finishing touches would include caulking the baseboard, installing trim around the window and caulking the window from the outside.

As of today, there is a toilet in our main washroom but there's no working sink or tub/shower. Reno related materials are still in the tub. There is still some fiberglass insulation, used contractor bags and a bit of garbage left in my garage.

I don't know what else to do at this point because we need the job finished so I came to you. Jerett hasn't been at the house to work since May/19, he hasn't replied to many texts and he hasn't tried to contact me. He was a nice guy and *** he never indicated he was abandoning the job. We've been very patient but we have an unfinished mess and something needs to be done. If I have to hire someone to come in and fix the issues and finish the job, I suspect they'll charge more than the remaining amount that would be due to Jerett upon satisfactory completion. Plus I'm afraid the tub surround, because of the lumps of glue on the underside and glue on the surface, might need to be replaced. I also hope the tub isn't ruined by the glue and paint on it. I don't have the means to pay more but I need a working washroom.

If required, I can provide the texts between Jerett and myself. Once the job started this was the primary method of communicating.
I have many photos from before the job started to where it sits now. I'll send some in the next few emails but if you need anything more just let me know.

When I can I look for a contractor to finish this work? If the quote to complete goes over the $550.00 remaining according to Jerett's quote, do I have any recourse?

Thank you for taking the time to read about these issues! If you have any questions or information please let me know.

Kind regards,
Jackie