RHI did just about everything wrong. The estimate to complete was four months; it took them over twelve months. There was no superviision of the jobsite; the vice-president was supposed to do this, but was only there when a huge problem, usually involving money, came up, and he could rarely be reached by phone. Individual subs usually knew their job, except the framers who put up the outside wall with the window sideways, then had to tear it out when I pointed out the error. The concrete block wall came up so high it had to be cut for the door opening. This left ten inches above floor level, and meant a step on the inside wall to accommodate the insulation.
One man was sent to hand dig an eight-foot deep trench to the original footings. It was fortunate he wasn't in the trench by himself when it caved in. The required "safety fence" around the excavation was a piece of plastic snowfence stuck on a flimsy stick. The framers used the styrofoam insulation panels to walk on, and broke them up. These were then used to "insulate" the poured concrete slab floor. It is cold in winter. The drywaller used my two saw horses to hold materials, then threw them in the dumpster when he was finished.
All in all, it still makes us sick when we think of the Royal treatment, and especially when hearing the ads encouraging you to "let Royal look after everything - just go away for a holiday, and we'll do it all for you". Nobody should ever trust this company to do it right, especially without you overseeing every move they make, and you will have to be familiar with every step of the construction to know how it should be done.
