Lefko Contracting did a 1st floor remodel including an entire kitchen remodel. They did not obtain permits at project start, contrary to what owner told us. Owner, Ted Wagner, called one afternoon and said he was obtaining the permit and never did. Also, he told us inspectors were coming on various days; the inspections were never scheduled. We work during the day, so we could stay home all day to verify. Our foundation was trenched to move plumbing and electrical and there was no inspection of the plumbing and electrical before the trench was closed. We were told the inspector was the arriving day the trench was closed.
There was no project management, organization or schedule. Everything was haphazard, measurements were wrong, cabinet holes for plumbing and outlets were mis-drilled. None of the promised deadlines were met. The project ran months late and we were promised completion prior to two different sets of guests arrivals.
There were many quality issues. For example the backsplash tiles were not correctly placed and the grout is chipping and falling off. Our china cabinet was damaged and the owner denied it. He then said, he was too pissed to come the next day and didn't.
There was no attention to detail. We had to point out a ton of issues, forgotten items. We ended up functioning as project managers, so we had to spend a lot of time out of work. There were never any lists and things were constantly forgotten. We had to start making lists.
Subcontractors complained to us their dissatisfaction with owners. There are communication issues between the owners and they will nag for payment before job completion. They really only care about getting their money and not about customer service or the quality of the job.
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