On The Level Renovations

We had 3 contractors visit our house to review the work we were asking for and Mike seemed the most professional and personable. We needed a new range hood installed over a new gas stove and to this day, it leaks condensation every time we turn it on on a cold day. We even went into the attic ourselves to wrap/insulate the ductwork to prevent the dripping but it was the way Mike installed it that is the problem. Not to mention he nearly burned our house down when he was first working on it. I had driven off to get coffee for all the workers at the house because we were also getting plumbing work done at the same time and when I got back, there was a burnt tarp on the front step (also left burn marks on the flagstone which is still visible) and the existing glass top cookstove was cracked and had burnt tarp stuck to it. Apparently Mike didn't realize the stove was on when he laid the tarp overtop! Also, the new vent system was very heavy and he didn't have anyone to help him so he propped the unit on a series of boxes to get it up high enough but in doing so, he bent the vent covers which you can still see. We found that he seemed unhappy to be doing the work although we certainly didn't push him. He took full breaks and even left early. He sent me to the store to get supplies and ended up keeping pieces that were extra. He kept talking about getting out of the business and how it was too hard on his body. He complained about the heat in the attic and basically complained about everything. I just kept trying to sound encouraging so that he wouldn't leave us stranded mid job. In the end, we paid him $600/day for 5 days and he wasn't worth it. he didn't compensate for the wrecked cooktop which we were planning to sell and he certainly didn't work hard enough to get $600/day. While he may be good for simple plumbing jobs or other small (easy) jobs, he did not live up to his reputation and now we are forced to fix the stove venting problem which he created. Extremely disappointed.