We hired Reimagine Builders to finish our basement and the work was completed about 3 years ago now, I'm finally getting around to a review based partly on recent events so please read to the end if you care to.
The initial consultations with Bo were very good hence we decided to go with them to finish our basement, nothing lavish, 650 sq ft, 1 bedroom , an office and a bathroom. We also did our own electrical (my father is an electrician) so I can't speak on that front in terms of quality of work or experience possessed.
We decided to have the basement insulated to help with sound transfer and it didn't seem like they really knew what to do, I say this since the cold air returns were insulated and I had to remove that and tell them not to do it again (when I checked the night before drywall was going up).
The plumber and tile guys were good, though about 2 years after the basement was complete the toilet started leaking (bad seal) and we had to get that fixed, never occurred to me to file a warranty claim on the work so we paid that out of pocket.
The painters were absolutely horrible, Bo even made a comment that he had been having issues with them; resulting in Bo and Josh having to come and paint some of the basement after I'm assuming the painters refused to come back for a 3rd time. The material they used was horrible (later confirmed by another painter we've had come in) and it flashed horribly. I really hope they're not still using the same painters.
Just last week one of the air diffusers in the ceiling fell down, they had been screwed in to the drywall (no plugs, just straight up screwed in) and I'm actually happy the one fell down as I go to looking and they had used a 4 inch diffuser vent for a 5 inch duct ... so I went and checked the other 3 vents and 2 of them had the same problem. So for the past 3 years I've been heating and cooling the basement ceiling (when the vents are closed as they typically are in our basement). This took $55 in parts (the right parts) and 30 minutes to correct, why on earth they couldn't be bothered to do it right the first time is beyond me and honestly the reason I'm finally writing a review. During the renovation I came down lots to check things out (see comment about insulating the cold air returns) and I never thought to bother with something so seemingly simple so that's my bad I guess.
Overall I don't have anything truly bad to say about my experience, it was in some respects what I expect in this city. The trades were nice (minus the painters) as were Bo (mostly) and Josh but it seems nobody cares much for the quality of their work and I found myself basically having to do what I hired Bo to do; or at least one of the jobs I expected him to do. Fair play to Bo this was around the time he was having a child so I get that he was busy doing other stuff, but given that we hired him for the work someone from that side of things should have been doing the quality control I found myself having to do. So I guess my bottom line is that I wouldn't necessarily avoid this company, but I would very much want to educate myself on what should be happening and how things should be done then verify it gets done that way.
Cheers,
- Approximate cost of services:
- $40,000.00
- Company Response
Hi Tyler,
I am very sorry to hear your frustration with the basement. I sent you an email and would be happy to fix any of these issues for you under your comprehensive 5-year warranty, and would certainly have sent someone if I had known about your issues.
I have spent some time thinking about your review this morning and it really gave me a chance to reflect on how our company has grown and improved in the 3 years since your project. . Being our first negative review in many years, I was a bit caught off guard and really disappointed, but after thinking about it further it really provides an opportunity to show our growth.
Since starting our company in 2011, we have strived to improve our quality every single year. We have improved the quality of materials each year, and for many years my mandate was to always replace our weakest trade. I remember your basement well because there is no question the paint job was not up to our standard which is why Josh and I came in personally to finish the painting (we did all the painting ourselves from 2011-2015). I decided then and there that yours was the last project I would be lifting a brush in, and we set out to replace the painters with a top-quality trade immediately. I am happy to say that our new painters LaBlanco Coatings have been excellent and have been with us ever since. At that time we also switched from the Sherwin Williams HP2000 product to the Qualico paints which are far better for the flashing. We also switched to a higher quality primer rather than a mixed product which was superior also.
I am very proud of the crew of trades that we have. The vast majority of them have been with us for years now and we have not had to replace anyone since then.
Another major change we made right around that time was hiring Peggy as our full-time office manager. She is responsible for all of the scheduling and supplier coordination and is a true rock-star for us. She is the most organized person I know and having her on board since mid-2017 has allowed me more time to focus on improving the business, and Josh more time to supervise the sites in-person.
Here are a list of other upgrades we have made since your project in 2017 to improve our quality:
1). HVAC - We improved our HVAC to use all diffuser boots for our ceilings registers. This ensures that the problems that you had there with them falling out does not happen.
2). Plumbing - Up until 2017 we used imported faucets for our bathroom fixtures. We now use only Delta fixtures with lifetime warranty. The toilet we now use is an upgraded American Standard from Canyon Plumbing. With any toilet you can still have faulty flappers from time to time, but that is fully covered under warranty and I can always have someone out quickly to repair those.
3). Vanities - We used to use an imported vanity that was a lower-quality and shipped ready assembled. Since mid-2018 we have had all of our vanities custom-built with wood boxes, German hinges and off-cut quartz or granite countertops.
4). Paint - The Qualico product we use now is an excellent product.
5). Shower Glass - We have switched from the Home Depot kit doors, to all custom installs from Showers With Steve which are superior in every way to what we used to use and what most companies continue to use.All that said, I am truly sorry for your bad experience. I have always strived personally to separate us from how other local contractors operate and your review will push me to be more vigilant than ever in that regard.
I do wish you had reached out to us under your warranty to correct those issues, and would be happy to have them corrected now. I would also be happy to cover the costs you incurred fixing them yourself.
Sorry again for your dissatisfaction with the job.
Best regards,
Bo Fric
Reimagine Builders (Owner/President)