Ss Remodels

I was initially hesitant to leave a review, as I do not like to impact a business or livelihood with such few reviews, and many of these problems were because I was not stern enough to bring these issues up until it was too late. But each day I see issues with the finished product, and I need to get it off my chest.

We hired S.S Remodels LLC to complete a fairly standard “finishing” of our basement. We had a plan in place, and a decent amount of materials (drywall, 2x3s, 2x4s) were already purchased. We were framing the basement so that it would be square, as the foundation was not poured straight, adding a wall to our laundry room/to separate the HVAC, and adding a sink/toilet, which already had sewer and drain lines. Electric was already run, but we requested the addition of a switch for the bathroom. Fairly cut and dry, no huge surprises.

All in all, framing, adding two wall/doorways, priming (as they insisted they had to prime the walls), trim/baseboards and installing of the laminate hardwood flooring.

The positives: I appreciated that they actually showed up when they said they would, were open to discussing things, and got the job done quickly (which may also be considered a con now that I see the results). Sean seemed like a nice guy and his staff was fairly courteous and friendly as well.

The negatives: When I began looking for contractors, I did so because I knew if I tried to finish the basement myself, it would be a half-finished basement and there would be many areas I did not know how to complete or would complete incorrectly. Now as we begin painting and such, really paying attention to the details of the work completed, I realize what we got was a quarter-finished basement that we paid "professionals" for, when we could have achieved similar results ourselves for much less money.

Here is why I feel that way.

For starters, there was previous “framing” on the foundation that was incorrect, it wasn’t straight, the studs were too far apart nails weren't driven all the way in, studs were split, the heights were off, etc. This crew didn’t seem to mind and tied right into it without checking if it was correct....which it was not.

I mentioned several times the foundation was not poured straight, I pointed out areas that would need to be furred out to make things straight/level, this was not addressed and has led to wavy walls, a ledge around the foundation that in areas is slanted, has different heights, not lined up, and more. Overall just looks rushed and done poorly.

Then there are issues with:
-Terribly mudded corners, seams, patches
-Multiple screw/nail holes/random holes/dents poking through the drywall, trim, ledge, pretty much anywhere a screw or nail was used
-Wavy walls
-Wavy/angled ledges that don’t line up correctly
-Gaps in the trim/baseboards
-A joke of an electrical box cover
-A rushed access door
-Terrible choices on where the water lines for the sink/toilet were put in
-Outlets at random heights
-Things we were told would be done that weren’t
-Many other issues that look rushed, bad, or just incorrect all together including missing pieces of drywall, not taking into account dryer vents etc. (Please refer to photos)

As you can see from the photos, some of these complaints are nitpicky, but most of these are just not a good job. All in all, the job seemed rush and the attention to detail was lacking. I feel the price we paid did not match the services and more so level of service we received. We could have had similar results had we done it ourselves, for much less of a cost, which is exactly what we wanted to avoid.

Maybe it was a new crew, maybe this is just how they function? I'm not really sure, as we have only used them once. Unfortunately, I will not be finding out for any of our future projects, as we will look elsewhere for service. As previously stated, much of this was on me for not being sterner, but, at the same time, when you hire a professional, it should be done right from the start. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way with a quarter-finished basement.