P.J. Davidson Interior

See scanned letter
*** & ***
Kitchen Remodel: Response to Complaint Filed

The following shares my response and clarification to the complaint filed by *** regarding the Kitchen remodel performed at their home, XXX-XXrd St, West ***

The original letter from Revdex.com, dated March 1st, 2018, arrived in the mail after the response deadline date of March 11th. I reached out to *** and another notice was mailed. . . I believe we have assessed that the best way to contact me is via email, as the mail system seems to be delaying the notices. I have also had issues getting this information submitted due to internet issues and the loss of information once I typed it into the Revdex.com response box. This document, which I will download is a safer attempt to get the response to you. . . my apologies for all delays.

I will address the complaints within categories to allow for easier review:
Timeline: The agreement to commence with the project was in the form of a signed proposal for the cost of the kitchen
project, dated on September 9th, 2017. This proposal was signed by both *** and *** showing their
agreement to the total cost of the kitchen remodel, ($36,207.00) based on the approved kitchen layout and the
products, finishes and labor, as described in the proposal.
NO schedule or finish date was specified at the time of the signing of the proposal, as the *** still
needed to complete their appliance selections (I am not an appliance dealer), and no schedule could be
developed until the arrival date of the cabinets was known, so there was and never would be a contractual
commitment to finish by a certain date. At that time, I told the *** the time frame would be at least a month
or more, if all went well, and that I would develop a tentative schedule or game plan, once I had received the
acknowledgement from the cabinet company, specifying when the cabinets would be shipping.
Once the potential date the cabinets would arrive was known, I developed a tentative schedule sketched out on
a calendar, to map out a game plan, mostly for my own use in pre-scheduling subcontractors. I shared it with the
*** to give them an idea of how I was planning for the renovation to flow, if all went well. This, of course,
is dependent on a multitude of contingencies, including discovery of unexpected conditions and the solution for
those conditions, the ability to schedule labor accordingly, and the assumption that all product arrives in good
form.
The Cabinets were ordered on or about September 21st, after the homeowners had finalized their appliance
selections, for which I only offered my opinion and feedback for the appliances, and how they would fit into the
kitchen plan. As I said, I am not an appliance dealer.
The semi-custom, European style cabinets selected by the *** had a 6-7 week lead time, which is longer
than is typical for most of the cabinet styles offered by this manufacturer. They were scheduled to arrive
sometime the week of November 6th, 2017.
Unfortunately, one of the main base cabinets arrived off of the truck, damaged on the drawer box & front, door
and the cabinets box, and was unable to be repaired to an acceptable standard, so a new cabinet had to be
ordered. . . the lead time in receiving this cabinet was 4 weeks, not the normal 2 week replacement policy that
*** usually follows. I came to understand through the process that part of the reason for the long
lead time is due to the fact that this manufacturer orders the actual doors from another manufacturer and their
ability to fabricate, and ship, this style of cabinet is dictated by their receipt of the doors and drawer fronts from
their vendor.
I explained to the *** that this damaged cabinet was beyond my control, but I had reacted quickly to get a
new cabinet on order and we would proceed with finishing as much of the work as we could, pending the receipt
of the replacement cabinet. This meant that we would not be able to install the Engineered stone countertop
and the backsplash tile, as well as finish some of the trim work until we had received and installed the new base
cabinet. Replacement cabinet was ordered on 11/13/2018, acknowledged on 11/16/2018 and due to deliver the
week of 12/18/2018 (4+ weeks from the time I ordered it). At this point, obviously the tentative schedule is not
possible any longer.
In addition to finishing what we could, while waiting for the replacement cabinet (see list below), I provided, at
my own expense, a temporary laminate countertop, sink and faucet along with installation and plumbing to give
them the ability to use the kitchen, while waiting. This temporary set up was not in my proposal or agreement,
but provided due to my compassion *** the *** were without a functioning kitchen.
I also coordinated having most of the appliances delivered at this time, to set the *** up to be able to
live in the kitchen. They were almost fully functional in the kitchen with the temporary set up by 11/30/2018
List of activity while waiting for replacement cabinet: temporary set up of countertop, plumbing & appliances
Continue installation of interior doors, & trim Flooring installation electrical trim
paint of trim, ceiling and walls (matching of existing color in DR) small trim out items

In my attempt to finish as much as we could while waiting for the replacement cabinet, and in consideration of
the subcontractors being able to accomplish an amount of work which made their trip worthwhile and
would not impede the replacement of the cabinet, a lot was accomplished, but there was not enough work
to be accomplished in the extended time frame to have someone there every day of the 4+ week time frame.
The replacement cabinet shipped on 12/18/2018. I pre-scheduled the trim carpenters to finish (12/21/2018), as
well as the final countertop installation (12/22/18), delivery of the rest of the appliances and plumber
(12/22/2018, which was a Friday) so that they, again, were still functioning in the kitchen. The new base
cabinet was installed by lifting the temporary top up enough to do so. The temp top was only removed the
morning of the Quartz countertop installation, so the *** were not without water or function in that
kitchen except during the day of 12/22/2018, while they were at work. Tile backsplash installation could not
be completed until after 12/25/2018, out of consideration for the holiday, the *** and the installer's
schedules.

Cabinets broken, Hardware installed in improper location, resulting in inability to open door:
The *** approved the layout of the cabinets, after much discussion on the attributes of the layout and what
they afforded them in storage & function, prior to signing the proposal.
The broken cabinet is explained at length, in the information above, about the timeline and is not the fault of
anything that happened on the job site.
The cabinet hardware selection was made by the *** During installation of the hardware, we realized that
the projection and length of the hardware, placed horizontally on the door, hindered the ability to open the small
cabinet door next to the wall, to a full 90 degree opening. A small filler was originally planned to go between
this cabinet and the wall, but had to be eliminated due to the loss of dimension and wall plumb-ness after the
original pantry closet was removed. The trim carpenters had already drilled for the 2 posts of the hardware on
the small wall cabinet, but held off on drilling for the hardware on the lower cabinet. Solution: I reordered a
door, again at my expense, to replace the door for the cabinet that was drilled for 2 posts. Lead time was
several weeks to receive. We have found a small single post ***, that coordinates with the other hardware to
allow the doors to open a far as physically possible, given the location.
Failed to properly install under cabinet lighting:
All Under cabinet lighting was professionally installed and in working order, with the exception of under the
cabinet above the sink. The cabinet above the sink is higher, or not in line with, the other wall cabinets and I
believe it was an oversight on the electricians part. I have offered options to remedy the situation and Mr.
*** has told me he is okay with it as it is. . . does not want to add the lighting to the cabinet above the sink.

Workers Failed to appear at job site for 6 weeks, throughout the entire project, the contractors displayed inadequate workmanship resulting in reworking several projects.
This is simply, blatantly false. Please reference my comments about timing and work accomplished in my
response to the timeline in the first section; where and why the delays happened and what I did to alleviate as
much frustration and inconvenience as possible. If necessary, I can share the dates of when the subcontractors
where on the job and what work they were performing.
The workmanship by the subcontractors is more than adequate. . . . .the *** have a beautiful new, kitchen
with updated aesthetic that appeals to their European senses, that is much more functional than their original
kitchen. It has been fully functional, for use, since November 30th with small changes to complete the project
happening throughout the time after, as those changes could be performed.
There was one incident that I can recall in which we had to slightly move the location of the wiring for the range
hood because it was not exactly in the place the appliance installers needed it to be. I had a subcontractor at
the house the very next work day to move the wiring by 2-3 inches. The electrician who wired for the hood had
full access to the specifications and installation directions. It is very possible the wiring was roughed in correctly,
but got moved slightly during the drywall renovation. These things happen. It was remedied and the installation
of the hood was rescheduled as quickly as the appliance install company was able to accommodate. As a
reminder, I was not responsible for the purchase of the appliances, but only coordinated the delivery and
installation of them by the Appliance dealer's installers.

There are still a few very small outstanding details that have not been completed, but I have been advised by Mr.
*** to wait on completing any of these items, until after the three of us, Mr. & Mrs. and myself, can sit
down and discuss the situation together. I have only provided a final invoice as of late last week, on the request
of Mr. so that he could review it. In total, the invoice ended up only slightly over the original proposal, due
to one approved addition during the project. I have absorbed any additional costs (+$1,500) that were incurred as
additional work by subcontractors, additional products, etc. with the exception of a few items. These plumbing
items, I had reserved for reinstallation, saving them in the garage, and they were thrown away by the homeowner.
I believe my absorption of these additional costs, constitutes a 'discount' to the client.

I will finish by sharing this: Mr. has been my direct, and most times, my only line of communication for the progress, changes and updates throughout the execution of this project. I have had very little interaction with Mrs. I don't believe she truly understands the order of events and what has to happen, in what order in renovation, nor does she present an open mind to try to understand what causes things to change on the job site.
Mr. was not involved with the filing of this complaint and was unaware that Mrs. had filed it. She did not discuss it with him prior to, nor did she share the information with him after filing the complaint. I was the one to inform him of the notice I received.