Hernandez Drywall

06/02/10

Nice guy, but look elsewhere

by cacarlso at Citysearch

I hired Jose based on online reviews & his 100% satisfaction guarantee. I wish I'd gone with a different contractor. I hired Jose to remove the wood paneling in an office, replace it with drywall, and respray popcorn ceiling. He’s prompt and polite.

Jose came with two non-English-speaking crewmembers, both polite. They removed five heavy wooden beams, slid them out the window and rested one end on my grill, wearing a hole in the cover. Jose later replaced the cover and apologized. Demoed panels were placed on the lawn. They left attached panel scrap and exposed nails at carpet height. New drywall was installed over partially set-in nails, causing warping.

I used a shop magnet and turned up several nails on the lawn and several drywall screws on my driveway. Jose later apologized.

Jose’s crew did a good job re-spraying the popcorn ceiling, although our brick hearth was covered in white overspray. Took me ½ day to cleanup and should’ve asked Jose instead. Wavy drywall made baseboard install very difficult because flat nailheads supported the back of the drywall instead of the studs. Our primer&paint accentuated the noticable mudwork on the seams (I did my best to sand during prepwork).

Lastly, Jose mis-estimated the thickness of the drywall in comparison to the old paneling and needed to be asked to adjust the depth of the outlets and switch so their coverplates could be attached. He apologized and fixed them.

They installed trim on door and the mitered cuts did not line up and the trim didn’t reach floor. He used caulk instead of putty to cover-up the nail-holes and miter joints. Gooped it on so I needed to fix it. I didn’t bother Jose with this, not wanting another apology. He would have re-done the job had I asked.

Overall, it’s a lesson learned. In my opinion I did not get quality workmanship from Hernandez Drywall. I thought that the 100% satisfaction guarantee would protect me from problems like we had, but it turns out that there was just a lot of grey area.

• Pros: Courteous owner, responsive to feedback
• Cons: Lacking attention to detail, communication barriers