RM Kerson Construction

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• By Anonymous

  October 16, 2014

  bathroom and kitchen remodel

  $100,000

  240 days

  Do you care about quality?

  If we could have done it all over again, I would have hired a contractor who cared about the workmanship of a finished product - in our case, a nearly $100,000 kitchen and bathroom remodel. This would be someone other than Rob Kerson, who was one of the contractors referred to us (now with tremendous regret) by our beloved realtor.

  What’s absolutely mind boggling is that Rob has refused to do a walk through to address my punch list. It’s as if he can’t face the blatant problems that we’ve repeatedly asked him to address. Instead, he would respond reluctantly to my emails letting him know about areas in the house that had been left unfinished, areas where the work that was done carelessly or instances where his workers caused damage (as in the case to our brand new washing machine). I understand it’s a lot of responsibility to manage a team of people, but isn’t that why a GC has an overhead charge? I also understand that in any remodel things may get overlooked and mistakes can be made - that happens. But if your reputation is important to you, then you’ll want to make sure that you follow up and fix any problems that you or a member of your team had caused. Here’s a list of all the areas that can only be described as subpar:

  Painting - We had asked to have every surface primed but only the kitchen and bathroom fully painted (for which I expect that all the surfaces should be smooth and finished). Not only were the painted rooms done poorly (nearly everywhere you look, you can see and feel the uneven surfaces, uneven corners, seams that weren’t properly caulked so that cracks appeared in months, dripping paint (now dried to the wall), some areas (such as the sides of a door frame) were completely neglected. When asked why so many areas of the primed walls (which are not expected to be perfect, but at least ready for paint) were still rough and clearly in need of sanding, he replied that while that after prime, you still need to touch up the walls before they’re ready for paint. Really?? Most infuriating for us, all the baseboards, trim and molding remained completely untouched. (According to Rob, since we did not specify the baseboards and trim to be painted, that’s why they were not done, and had I specified those areas, of course that would’ve been extra. Ok that’s fair, but AT LEAST YOU COULD’VE ASKED! THE TIME TO SAND AND PAINT IS BEFORE THE FAMILY MOVES IN!)

  Hardwood Floors - Steven the hardwood floor contractor was hired as a subcontractor by my general contractor, so I didn’t know anything about him previously. What I have learned is that if you’re flipping a property and looking for someone cheap and fast to go over your hardwood floors, or you’re sight-challenged, then you should be perfectly happy with Steven’s work. His team works fast (they’re very nice guys) and apparently he bids pretty cheap, and as a result, there’s little regard for quality and detail. But it will look good temporarily and as long as you don’t look too closely. A mere 3-4 months after finishing my floors the filler between the boards has become cracked and brittle so the cavities are no longer sealed. After nearly all the filler he used became dislodged, we then saw that plenty of sawdust from the sanding of the floors remained underneath the floorboards. With all that debris in there, no wonder the filler didn’t adhere for very long. Other things like hairs, dust and debris sealed into the floor, numerous spots where the application of sealant was entirely missed, and other areas where sealant had been carelessly splattered (such as on the wall and on the bathroom floor tile, where it’s left permanent discoloration on the tiles) are not things that Steven can be bothered with when we asked if he can fix his work. When I showed him all of the above after he finished my floors, he looked at the areas, feebly scratched at the hairs sealed into my floors with his fingernail, and said nothing. His response to the general contractor when asked about what he could do to remedy these issues was simply “nothing” and that he “stands by his work.” Seriously? With such poor quality work and lack of integrity, the only way this guy could be in business is to be cheap.

  Tile - Very nice contractor who came back out on two separate occasions to fix his mistakes (replacing a tile that was cracked prior to move-in, grout lines that are noticeably uneven, sloppy cleanup (grout left to dry and harden on the baseboards, etc). He never apologized and our grout is still uneven and in places it shouldn’t be, but we’re grateful that this subcontractor at least was willing to make an attempt to re-do his work.

  Through Rob Kerson I did have the pleasure of working with an excellent plumber, electrician and woodworker (all of whom either we’ve continued working with or would have no hesitation hiring again in the future). If only Rob Kerson shared that same work ethic or integrity.

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• By Tonip59

  June 7, 2011

  Rob has helped me many times. He has always been on time, done a top-notch job and I don't know what I would do without him.