Silver Cloud General Contracting

Review: I contacted this company to provide me with an estimate for my downstairs bathroom. He and his son came out to provide the estimate and request deposit. I gave them 1000.00 on April **. He and his son came periodicially over the next 3 months to work on my bathroom. Periodically meaning they would show up one day spend a few hours say they were coming back and not come back for sometimes up to a week. My bathroom had mold issues which I was told would cost me more money.... at the end of the day I gave this man 4,0000. During the last week of July I was so frustrated that I just told his wife to come out and finish the plumbing on the tub as I had to hire a new contractor to do the painting. At the rate this man was going he was never going to finish and get out of my house. By this time I began corresponding with his wife via text messages. She assured me they would come out and take care of this. They did come out ,but didnt caulk the tub and the tub does not hold water so I contacted her a week later and I am still waiting for him and his son to come here and fix my tub. Additionally, this man had nothing but negative comments about my house and my purchases." I bought a cheap tub." "I buy the cheapest of products". "My house is the worse house he has ever worked on". "All he has his problems". I have never in my life experienced such abuse from a contractor that at one point I told him that I am a single mom and I am doing the best that I can. He didnt seem to concerned to take my 4,000 and not finish the job though. So to recap timeline and activities.. gave him a deposit of 1,000 on April [redacted] and over the next 3 months gave him another 3,000. He gutted my tub and closet near my tub, he did mold removal which led into the wall of the garage(small wall), he replaced that wall( but did not spackle or paint it- had to pay someone else to do that), he put tub in and all the pipes etc tied with doing that, he fixed one small piece of the floor, and he left. He did not spackle or paint the bathroom, put molding back around door where he removed it. He left it a mess and to his defense I told him to because I just needed it done but the point is we are talking 3+ months of time where he had complete access to my house and he never finished.Desired Settlement: I would like all my records for the charges and time spent here and I want him to come and fix my tub!!!!

Business

Response:

The business has responded, please read below.

I initially spoke with customer in early April and informed her that I was extremely busy and would have to fit her project into my schedule. I estimated the project which was originally to replace the existing non-working shower with a tub and tub enclosure. Customer was to purchase the tub and tub enclosure. She gave me a deposit on April **, 2014 of $1000 with the understanding that I would not begin any work for at least one month. In addition, on April **, 2014 my son and I along with truck and trailer went to Home Depot with the customer so that she could pick out an inexpensive tub and tub enclosure and she could pay for it herself. We then delivered it to her house. (Several weeks later when we inspected the contents of the boxes we found that the tub was damaged and we had to return and exchange it on 5/**/14– customer had thrown out the original receipt and it turned out to be a bit of a problem but the store did eventually exchange the tub).

Original estimate for the project was $2500 which included a $300 materials allowance. I understood that she was a single mother on a limited budget and told her that I would work with her as best I could. I also told her that until we opened up the walls we would not completely know what we were dealing with.

On May **, 2014 we began the surgical removal of the existing shower and outside wall and found many problems. There was black mold on the shower wall, the insulation and the exterior wall into the garage. After moving the items that were in the garage on this wall it was determined that the entire wall had to be replaced with a custom cut wall and insulation. Removed garage wall behind the shower that was rotted and molded. Took out and custom cut 8 ¼” boards to replace the rotted and molded wall. The right side wall to the tub was non-existent and the left side wall by closet was also all rotted and molded and had to remove old closet. In the garage threw out the molded and rotted cabinet. Also took away huge old refrigerator that was covered in mold (took away without charging)

Also, upon further inspection found that someone had done previous work and left a hole in the garage ceiling exposing pipes to the upstairs bathroom. Insulated and sheet rocked (no additional charge). Some other things that I did for the customer with no additional charge: as per customer’s request I stapled the couch skirting back together, replaced half the light bulbs in the house with CFL, cleaned out and fixed dryer vent (vent is venting into garage and should be changed to outside venting), customer lost her key to the garage door to house – I changed out the lock with a new one.

A discussion was had with the homeowner about all of the additional concerns and unexpected costs (these costs were not factored into the original estimate) and customer agreed to an additional $1000 for the additional work to fix the ceiling joist, replace the sheetrock on the garage wall and replace molded and rotted wood.

In addition, over the course of the project material costs went over the $300 allowance and customer gave me an additional $500 on 6/**/14 towards material costs for a total of $800 towards materials. I have printed receipts of $609.89 for materials purchased this does not include the additional materials I used on site that came from my own personal supplies which included: 4x8 green sheetrock, screws for lumber and sheetrock, spackle and tape, copper pipe and copper fittings, solder and propane, water valves, one roll R13 kraft faced insulation, 6 – R19 8’ pieces insulation, PVC pipe and fittings, 2 metal corner beads for sheetrock, bucket of premier patch cement, caulk, s-trap, diamond blades to cut cement to convert from shower to tub, 2x4 boards, etc – I estimate these materials costs to be an additional $700 for a total of $1309.89 in materials.

My total hours on the project are 108 hours [that is with two guys at all times] If you consider that the entire charge for the project was $4000 less $1309.89 for materials left $2690.11 towards labor. $2690.11 in labor / 108 hours = $24.90 average per hour. My normal hourly charge is $65 per hour which would have come to $7020.00.

The customer did purchase a low quality tub which made the installation much more difficult. If you looked at it wrong I was afraid it would crack. The stopper mechanism was plastic and not metal. The humidity and high temperatures in the bathroom made it difficult to work more than a few hours, leaving us dehydrated and our clothes soaked through. It took more time for the spackle to dry due to the humidity. I did three coats of spackle around the tub, around the shower walls and the ceiling adjacent to the tub. I used corner beads from my own personal supplies. I was prepared to do the final sanding and painting but the customer did become frustrated and eventually texted my wife on 7/** and left the following message: “I need him to do the plumbing and just go. I will deal with the sanding and painting myself. Enough is enough. The lack of professionalism is absurd. I am at a standstill with moving my mom because of this. Plumbing and go please. “

On 7/**/14 – I completed the plumbing work. I left off the esconchin over the shower head pipe so that the walls could be painted. Checked for leaks and that water was draining and worked.

On 8/*/14 – customer texted “tub does not hold water?? I need this fixed. This was a simple stopper adjustment that would have taken only a few minutes. Since, customer had advised me on 7/** to just finish the plumbing hook-up and that she would take care of the rest, I did not want to return to her home.

I fulfilled my end of the project with many additional hours and out of pocket expenses above and beyond what I was paid. I was not going back for a five minute adjustment that the homeowner could have done on her own with a screwdriver.

All that was left was final light sand and a coat of paint (paint which I was going to use from my personal supply). Again, putting the project over budget. Each day that I worked, I vacuumed and wiped down the bathroom. I also swept the garage floor and emptied the dehumidifier each and every day I worked. I also removed all of the construction debris from the property. I made every effort to keep the property neat and clean so she could park in the garage.

Prior to the start of the project, [redacted] kept telling me she was a single mom on a limited budget – I told her I would try and do the project in line but didn’t know what we might find once the walls were opened. After I began the project – she kept bragging about a $20,000 plus bonus that she was getting shortly and all of the additional work she wanted done on the house.

Just as I was finishing the project, [redacted] hired someone to come in and make an illegal basement apartment. [The doors to the room open the wrong way, the door installed was a non-metal fire door, no smoke alarms, no permits and in my opinion the work was sub-standard].

On 8/*/14, I received the following text, “Don’t come back. The Revdex.com will also be requesting a refund for services. You are not allowed to treat people like that”. I endured her calling me names, cursing at me and more the entire time I was working at her home. Then on 8/*/14 thru a text message, she informed me that unless I returned $2000 she was calling to report me to NJ Consumer Affairs and the building/plumbing department. I considered this a form of extortion and could have contacted the NJ State Police. I knew that she had already contacted the Revdex.com and chose to have no further contact with her. She then saw my son and me in the local Home Depot and waited until I left the store to ask him, “Who are you ripping off today?” In over 30 years in business, this is the first real problem that I have encountered. It was an uncomfortable situation working for someone who was so confrontational and pas sive aggressive.