Jim Hicks Home Improvement

Do you work for this business? Unlock this free profile to update company info and see who's viewing your profile.

• By Scott H.

  November 5, 2022

  Kitchen Remodel

  $96,000

  I would not recommend this company due to issues with communication, timelines that were not met, and quality of work.

• By Scott H.

  October 24, 2022

  kitchen remodel

  $90,000

  To anyone considering doing business with Hicks Construction, we would urge you to run. For us, this turned out to be a nightmarish experience where a 12-week project dragged out into the sixth month, and there were serious questions about financial management and integrity. We ended up having to finish the last pieces of the project (including range installation, correcting plumbing issues and coordinating final municipal inspections) on our own.

  It is difficult to express all the problems in one concise review, but they include:

  *Communication, with slow or no responses. This company will expect you to use email as the primary form of communication. If this sounds cumbersome, clunky and unworkable - it is. They will not take your calls or answer voicemails. You project manager may respond to texts, but it's not guaranteed. They will not be available after hours or on weekends, even if you have an emergency.

  *Quality of workmanship. We had delays in our project because one wall was not plumb, which delayed cabinet and countertop installation. Another wall was 4 inches too short because no one looked at the plan. We failed electrical, plumbing, and gas inspections.

  *Respect for your home. There were various surfaces and items in our home damaged by the crew.

  *Resolving issues. Jim, the company owner, is an expert at deflecting blame back at you, the homeowner. When his crew inadvertently cut through a drain pain under the AC unit in our attic, the project manager let us know and said they would replace it. Later we checked and found what looked like a homemade patch job. When we questioned it, their answer was a real shock: Jim told us we had authorized this as a "value-engineered solution." When we responded by saying it was impossible to consent to something without awareness and that this type of deceptive behavior did not meet with the licensing standards of the contracting profession, Jim threatened to stop work on our project. The pan was finally replaced after a lot of arguing and finger-pointing.

  *Timelines. There is no ethic of standing by your word with this group, so things don't get done on time, if at all. They will fail to show up and may or may not explain why.

  *Payment of subcontractors. This is especially troubling because Hicks uses a bi-weekly draw system where you pay him as frequently as every two weeks, depending on the pace of work. Jim will tell you this is needed so the company can pay their subcontractors for completed work. In reality, you may find out later, as we did, that they are not paying some subcontractors at all. We learned that our local heating and air company that installed our new gas line had never been paid. This not only prevented them from returning to connect our new gas range, delaying the end of our project - but they were also getting ready to send us to collections and seek a mechanical lien on our home over the $3,000 bill.

  This review is to help prevent another homeowner from having a bad experience and squandering a lot of hard-earned money with a dishonest contractor. Jim may be recommended to you, as he was with us by our interior designer. When you meet him, he will say all the right things. He'll give you the impression that your project will be a priority. He will make a big deal of his service in the Air Force, and he will act like he cares about veterans. He will be funny and charming. Don't buy any of it. In my case, being a Gulf War veteran who works in health care did not make any difference in terms of how I was treated. In my assessment, Jim only cares about his bank account.

  Read more