Don’t Risk a Remodeling Nightmare

The Internet is full of homeowners’ stories of remodeling nightmares due to unscrupulous contractors and poor project management. Consider just a few tales of families who entrusted their homes to the wrong people:

• One homeowner in upstate New York went with a big-box home improvement store to handle his kitchen remodel. The store sent a contractor who was actually trained just as an electrician. The store’s kitchen designer did not allow enough clearance to open the refrigerator door. Workers installed the exterior door and weatherstripping improperly, damaging the brand-new cork floor the first time the homeowner opened it.

• A San Diego family encountered an endless stream of problems with their master bedroom suite addition. Over months that followed, plans went missing, inspections cited numerous code violations, and leaks left the house with extensive mold damage. The homeowners eventually learned that none of the subcontractors on the remodel were licensed.

• Another homeowner reports complete lack of supervision during her home remodel. Because of poor management, the countertop fabricator didn’t order enough granite, workers put stone veneer on the wrong exterior wall, a heat register had to be moved three times because no one knew where the kitchen cabinets were supposed to go, and walls were removed without the homeowner’s approval.