J Christopher Construction

We’ve given «A» ratings to the eight other service providers we’ve used from Angie’s. But this company totally deserves an «F.» Their work was a total botch! (See full details below.) The floor of our bathroom (our one and ONLY) will have to be redone at some future date, but my elderly, ill and disabled husband’s health has worsened of late and we don’t know when it will improve, so we want our money back. Frankly, the stress of dealing with these people is only making it worse! They were surly when they arrived on the day of the work; and after the job was completed, the office manager was hostile, aggressive and intimidating on the phone when she became aware of our critique. And very importantly for anybody considering hiring this company, NOT ONLY were they impossible to reach four weeks BEFORE the job (either by phone, including messages left, or e-​mail — two times each, to confirm the work and supplies needed) UNTIL ANGIE’S LIST INTERVENED, BUT Chris Hunter ALSO couldn’t be reached DURING the work itself. (He wouldn’t answer his phone three hours into the job when I called to see if they needed more supplies. Fortunately, our handyman was working outside the house, so I called him and he handed his phone over to Chris, who informed me that they did, in fact, need more supplies, and needed them ASAP!)
Furthermore, AFTER the job was done and Chris had seen the damage a few days later, he didn’t return phone calls or e-​mails for more than two weeks — UNTIL I CALLED ANGIE’S LIST FOR HELP AGAIN! After Angie’s List got into the act, and after this company was informed of our overall «F» rating, they offered to redo the floor in tile so that we would remove our negative review. However, this new work would require my increasingly ill and disabled husband to stay again at a hotel — entailing the transfer and setting up of all his special needs equipment, supplies and special food — for two whole days and a night, and maybe even two nights, in contrast to the previous job which required him to be at the hotel for only 10 hours — which was difficult enough since he must rest frequently throughout the day and couldn’t bring to the hotel his hospital grade mattress with the alternating pressure redistribution system to relieve his spinal pain. A two day hotel stay is too great a strain for him at this time. He’s been hospitalized three times since December for heart and respiratory issues. No matter what some businesses will tell you, the «bottom line» is not all that matters. People matter too! We had hired J Christopher Construction (via an Angie’s List Big Deal for 8 «man hours» of construction work for $ 299.00) to repair the subfloor and install sheet vinyl for our 5×5 foot bathroom floor only after they came and saw the work to be done said that they could do the work, and that the «Big Deal» could be used for our job. Before the floor was finished, they asked for another $ 200 to complete the job, for a total of 10 «man hours» of work.
Here follows the description of their badly botched job:
1) There’s a large, hard bump (oval-​shaped, currently 5−6″ long and on a raised ridge with a surrounding depression) in the flooring mid-​way into the bathroom (about 24″ past the entry) which we feel quite prominently when we walk over it every time we enter the room! To make matters worse, it’s in front of the vanity where we must stand to brush our teeth or wash our hands. All this repeated and regular traffic will make their botch even more pronounced. Additionally, four nail-​head-​like bumps have appeared in recent days (two and a half months after the job was completed), and perhaps there are more to come. With the recent appearance of these smaller bumps, we have no idea how extensive the damage is, nor what the repairs will cost. Perhaps part of the subfloor will need to be replaced, instead of just the sheet vinyl and the underlayment. Perpendicular to the large, hard bump/​ridge is the increasingly visible joint of the either the subfloor plywood they installed or the underlayment directly beneath the vinyl — an approximately 24″ expanse. It’s a known fact that these defects will only become more prominent over time, possibly leading to rips and holes in the vinyl.
2) Four ceramic wall tiles were broken at floor level next to the tub during their work, and there is now a hole in the wall where the broken ones are missing, allowing large insects and ants to come up from the crawl space.
3) The floor vent, which is now one foot to the left of its original location, is NOT where it was and should be – in the center of the room. Secondly, the edge of this vent, which they incorrectly placed right next to the wall, is now covered with quarter round molding such that we cannot remove the vent in order to vacuum the duct; nor can we inspect the duct to see if it is properly installed. It also makes it twice as difficult for us to open and close the vent to adjust the air flow. This will have to be repaired