I Need A Handyman

I just had Bob at my house for half a day handling various tasks and I thought he did a great job He was handy, efficient, and very reasonable! I will definitely have him back to take care of my next "To Do" list

I called on a Monday and by Tuesday my new mailbox has now replaced my old mailbox I Need A Handy man supplied the materials Fast, efficient, service I will be calling him for more work Thank you

I just had Bob at my house for half a day handling various tasks and I thought he did a great job. He was handy, efficient, and very reasonable! I will definitely have him back to take care of my next "To Do" list...

I called on a Monday and by Tuesday my new mailbox has now replaced my old mailbox. I Need A Handy man supplied the materials. Fast, efficient, service. I will be calling him for more work. Thank you.

Review: The contractor [redacted] agreed to and signed a contract to fulfill services to reface a fireplace with stone veneer, and replace the hearth with a brownstone hearth stone. The contract was signed on 3/6/2012, which stated the services to be performed and the contractor indicated that he had experience with such remodeling. However, during the course of the next month (until 4/6/2012), the contract failed to show up to perform the work, and when he did show up, demonstrated a complete lack of experience in performing such services. Original bricks from the fireplace were removed without any coverings in/around the areas of demolition, resulting in dust freely traveling around the entire house.

In addition, when the hearth stone was picked up by myself, the contractor cut the carpet around the area that the hearthstone was supposed to be installed, but did so without measuring and resulted in the carpet being damaged and completely destroyed around the hearth stone (~3 inches of the carpet was over-cut). In addition, during the installation of the hearth stone, the contractor failed to protect the stone from the mortar and, as a result, the mortar adhered to the sides of the stone and dried, thus destroying the stone.

When the contractor continued to cut and install the stone veneer, he did so in a manner that resulted in vertical creases between the stones 4-5 layers high. When being told not to do this, the contractor was hostile but seemed to listen. However, he continued to stack the stones edge to edge, resulting in additional rows/layers of vertical creases 3-4 layers high. At this point, it became apparent that the contractor did not know what he was doing and when asked, informed me that this was his first and last time he would be doing such an installation (at which point it became apparent that he actually lied about having experience with the matter).

During the 30 day course, emails were sent back and forth and the contractor continually postponed. Showing up for work sporadically, he would work for 2-4 hours and then leave and not return without any notification. The materials were left around, as were his tools, and our home was in a constant state of disrupt, clutter and filth. Failure to cover any of our belongings or the materials he was installing resulted in damages to those materials. After terminating the relationship with the contractor and hiring another professional to fix the original mistakes, several things came to light:

1. The original contractor used an incorrect epoxy to mount the veneer. This resulted in an entire box of stone veneer needing to be torn down from the fireplace and completely discarded (one entire box of veneer completely destroyed/lost).

2. The original contractor had broken 5 specific Massachusetts home improvement contracting laws between the contract signed and the misrepresentation of services.

3. The original contractor incorrectly/unevenly cut the mantle to the point that it needed to be completely re-cut to be fixed.

4. The original contractor had not covered the hearth stone while performing work and had actually damaged the stone past just the mortar adhered to the sides.

5. The original contractor had poured wet mortar out of his bucket both on the back patio and in the driveway next to the front of the house, resulting in it adhering to the surfaces on the consumer's property.Desired Settlement: Contractor pay for damages incurred and refund for the original materials destroyed. This is also in line with the results set forth by the arbitration case won and closed in favor of the consumer, which at this time the contractor has yet to respond to and can be seen through the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Practices (OCABR) website home improvement contractor arbitration information for "I Need a Handyman".

In March 2012, a contract was signed with I Need a Handyman ([redacted] - [redacted]) and half of the total contract amount was paid up front. The contractor stated that he had experience in the construction project that was described within the contract. However, over the course of the next 5 months, as work was performed, it became very apparent that the contractor had not (and admittedly reported that he did not) have experience with the project. Dozens of attempts were made to get ahold of the contractor as he simply did not show up for work over the course of the several months, and the project was never finished. One full box of materials ended up being wasted as a result of the inability to install the product correctly, and several areas around the house were damaged as a result of his negligence.

I filed a case with the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Practices for arbitration, which was won by myself to re-coup the money lost. However, the contractor failed to make payment on the lost case, and never fulfilled the obligation required by the state (proof of the lost arbitration case can be seen on the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Practices website – registered under the “I Need a Handyman” business name for home improvement contractor licenses). The contractor was found at fault for damages, negligence and illegal contract practices (4-5 Massachusetts general laws broken through the signed contract which was agreed upon per Massachusetts laws). The contractor has yet to fulfill his obligations as required by the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Practices.