DFW Improved

2022, we had 2 contracts with DFW. They gave 2 identical model shingles as choices, which their subcontractor disclosed. Instead of addressing this, the salesperson accused us of defaming. After roof replace, it still leaks. They quoted $900 for a non-existent hole and estimated $25k for a bookcase, which their designer valued at $7k.Instead of submitting the agreed supplement request, they skipped steps to cut water-damaged drywall then turnaround told insurance that it was done. He started to threaten legal action.
We sent out numerous issues: broken air pipes, cracked roof rafters, missing insulation, roof holes. We escalated to upper manager who responded that that is their best team. DFW initiated separation, during which they sent 4 individuals unexpectedly to our house, claiming to inspect and demanding money. DFW filed a lien, sent a demanding letter stating they would auction our house and “sue Vigorously”, despite the mediation requirement. Under pressure, we filed a small claim, where the lien was placed. DFW filed simultaneously in the higher Court, demanding a new amount of $59k, providing no explanation.
According to the DFW co-owner's email, we owed a total of $1k. Their lawyer attempted to justify for more, citing that a significant portion was allocated to his fees. They declined a $60 public mediator. We have never been late with payments. In fact, DFW made an error by crediting the blind work twice. We brought this to their attention, they spent extra time investigating. They inflated the amount to $22k by falsely claiming work on the wall texture from the actual 10% (bottom 1 foot of wall) to 100%. The lien amount completely overlooks the $35k payment we already made.
This incident has resulted in legal fees, stress, and significant delay expenses. Despite our efforts to settle, they persist in prolonging the dispute. This incident has involved 3 courts, 1 mediation, and upcoming arbitration/trial. We have records supporting everything above.

DO NOT USE FOR ELECTRICAL!
I have not used their services for any other trades, however, their master electrician (Mike White formally Black Diamond) is dishonest and unethical.

We did a whole home remodel. Mike quoted a specific scope of work, and later refused to acknowledge that he guaranteed that they would run new circuits where needed in the home. I had to dig out the original quote to show him where it was in print.
They did lazy and careless work and Mike was rarely present on the project and never did a thorough review of his journeymens' work. Switch boxes all at different heights, outlet boxes (some only 3' apart over a counter top) at diffferent heights, junction boxes EVERYWHERE when not all necessary, boxes placed outside of manufacturer's specifications (detailed plans and specs sheets for all appliance and fixture were provided in every workspace; AND we reviewed them with Mike and his journeymen prior to commencement of work and throughout the duration of the project.)

One of his guys electrocuted himself on a 50amp circuit for our range, because they left the wire hot while it was still loose in the wall. Dangerous for them and dangerous for my family.
Mike refused to fix any of their mistakes without a battle. He would lie about what code requires/allows to avoid correcting his mistakes (which I would have to call the city on the spot to call him out on his lie so that DFW Improved would make the correction.)

In the end, we had to pay another electrician out of pocket to come in and test ALL of their work and correct some of their work prior to closing up the walls with sheetrock. (I personally fixed the easy stuff like box placement, which sometimes required running a new wire, because DFW Improved placed boxes too high and cut the wires too short.)

This was a nightmare to deal with, and I didn't get much help when I would call the management/owners of DFW Improved to hold the electricians accountable.

We hired DFW Improved to complete a major remodel of our 1950’s Dallas home that included a new master bath and kitchen, as well as the addition of a half-bath and re-texturing/painting of the entire house.

Despite a 20% premium to other bids, we selected DFW improved based on their good rankings and a personal recommendation. This was not our first major remodel and we wanted things to be done right and with as few headaches as possible. What we found, is that DFW Improved is just an average contractor with all the usual headaches and are absolutely not worth the price.

Just a few of the problems we ecountered with DFW Improved:
1. Lack of understanding of the permitting process: The project manager assigned had never pulled a permit with the city of Dallas. This lack of experience was evident throughout the process from forgetting that permits were necessary in advance of work starting to not knowing that plans had to be approved by an engineer. He was continually caught off guard by the requirements of the city throughout the project.
2. Lack of attention to detail: As an example, the cabinets were installed in the kitchen prior to tile and backer board. This resulted in the cabinets being too short for a standard size dishwasher. To fix this, an extra piece of wood had to be attached to the top of all the lower cabinets. The appliance installers we hired seperately caught this mistake but unfortunately the cabinets had already been painted. While this mistake was ultimately fixed, it added an extra and unnecessary seam in all the cabinets, along with very evident touch-up paint, that can be clearly seen. This should have been easily avoided and is evident of the lack of oversight and quality control that we saw throughout the process.
3. Poor sub-contractor work: We expected that given the size of DFW Improved operation’s they would have relationships with quality sub-contractors that would show up and do a good job. That was not the case, as the electrician they initially hired did not show-up repeatedly over a three week period and the work he did manage to do was poor quality that did not pass inspection. We lost three weeks of valuable time, while no other progress was being made, before they ultimately fired the
electrician and hired another one.
4. Failure to abide by the contract: The contract we signed with DFW Improved stated that they would provide us with a construction timeline at the pre-construction meeting. Despite asking for this repeatedly, it was not delivered until two months into the project. We were told initially that the project would probably take two months - it took four. The contract also required DFW Improved to clean up the work site daily, but we found the house trashed on many occasions. The contractor told us cabinet hardware would not be installed although the contract specifically included it. After rechecking their contract, they installed the hardware.

Regarding our overall experience, given the size of DFW Improved we expected to avoid some of the issues of dealing with a one-man-band contractor. What we found was that management was completely ineffective. About half-way through our project (two months in) we reached out to management to express our frustration with our project manager and how the project was being run. After that meeting, management refused to take any action. During the rest of the project, which took another two months, management never once followed up to see if things improved (which they had not).