*** NEW UPDATED REVIEW 6.5 not 6***
This is another update this time to lower the rating that I had changed, based on a conversation that I had with the owner. Unfortunately, after that conversation, I was forgotten once again, and what was said to me did not happen. Glad the shed is done. I will deal with the issues myself and luckily do not have to have another shed built.
*** UPDATED REVIEW ***
I have updated the star rating of this review, but I would have preferred to make it 7.5 but there are no half stars.
This review is not intended to be offensive, mean or vindictive, it is just my perception of the events that took place during the work. I do not want any money back, I do not want anyone to come back and fix anything, I do believe that I paid a fair price for the service, the work was done well, but these are the pain points of my experience and I think they should to be shared. In hopes to help prepare someone else who is thinking of getting work done similar to what I had done.
I did a ton of research to find someone who would be the right persons to build a concrete pad and my shed. I had many conversation back and forth with Matt (his knowledge of sheds is very extensive), which overall was a typical experience, except that it felt like he was unaware of who I was almost every time we spoke, and I had to remind him of the job and who I was over and over, so my first issue is that there is a lack of procedure and process when he is keeping track of clients, and needs to have a better system.
We agreed on a large concrete pad, removal of a garden bed and re-leveling of the area to allow water to flow properly, and building the shed.
Day 1 of work - Was to prepare the site for the concrete pad, and pour the concrete. They arrived in the morning as expected and started the work at demolition of our old shed. This went off without a hitch.
Next was to dig out the area for the concrete pad, and that was done by the end of the day as expected and done quite well.
Day 2 of work - The concrete had now dried, and it was now time to build the shed and finish off the rest of the work. The shed took pretty long to put together and they were finishing as the sun was going down. But it was done and up and ready by the end of the day.
So aesthetically the shed and concrete pad were beautiful a great show piece to our backyard, and really did transform it. Getting rid of the bed also really made the yard look great.
Before I start talking about the rating, first off here are some things to understand if you are going to get a concrete pad and shed built from any company.
Expect the following:
- Your grass as you know it will be destroyed, from the constant trampling and back and forth of the crew
- Things will never be perfect and that is OK, as long as the pad is level and the shed is built correctly to the best of a humans ability
- There may be delays due to weather, traffic, or in my case Lowes sending the improper boxes for the shed. Don't let that ruin the experience
- There may be unforeseen accidents when doing work so prepare for things that will upset you, for instance when they were pouring concrete the wheelbarrow hit a lip and poured the whole wheelbarrow full of concrete all over my driveway, but it was taken care of quickly and cleaned up as best as they could. Just glad nobody got hurt, or it was any worse.
Why did I give the rating I did?
- The overall experience with the company was not my favorite, as I mentioned above the chaotic nature of the back and forth with Matt was frustrating, but obviously not a deal breaker, I understand that he is a small company with a limited staff, and has to handle a lot of it on his own, but that should not be an excuse when dealing with customers and making them feel like they are not worth your time to remember them. It does not make you feel like you are in goods hands. (I obviously got past that and still hired him)
- There was an agreed upon amount of work that was expected and it did not get done, I feel that it was not done because my job was budgeted to a specific amount of time, and it was easier to just say they would not do it, instead of having to come back, but again not a deal breaker, just a bit disappointing.
- During the removal of the framing for the concrete pad our magnolia tree was struck by a long framing piece and broke a large branch off of the tree, when I came out I was in shock, and when I asked how it happened. I was told "I have no idea, I never went near the tree" and "Oh it looks the tree is dying anyway". What should have happened is that they come to me and say that there was an unfortunate accident and we broke off a branch from your tree. Be apologetic, but instead they were defensive.
- Some things were done to our private property without asking:
1) They used equipment that was not brought with them and ruined them, such as my child's shovel that they used to clean up the concrete that had fallen all over the driveway
2) They used a bin that had a bunch of unique tree branches, that my spouse had been curing for two years, the branches were thrown away without asking. Yes you can read this and say but they are just sticks, but the point here is that the bin was not theirs to use, take, and dispose of the contents without the homeowners consent.
3) They had used a tarp that I had, which I did let them use, but after the job was done they had disposed of it because "it was too dirty", it's a plastic tarp I could have cleaned it. He did refund me money for the cost of the tarp, but should not have thrown it away without replacing it, or giving me the appropriate money back before having to ask for it.
- Issue with the concrete pad
There were no major issues with the pad, but there was one "minor" one that I brought up and I was dismissed of my worries. There was a portion of the pad that collected water (I have included pictures before and after the shed was on the pad), when I brought it up I was told "water collects on concrete it's normal and is not an issue". Not being a contractor I must take their word for it, and have to deal with this for the lifetime of the shed.
The biggest issues of all are the workmanship in regards to the building of the shed.
I found 8 screws in the shed on the floor that were not actually screwed into the shed, and many empty holes that required them.
I have included photos of the shed inside with just a few of the issues.
- The doors never closed properly, especially the door with the handle and trying to close and lock the door required both hands and a foot. I investigated as to why this may be happening and after further inspection the bottom of the door was missing a screw and was bowing and dragging on the kick plate which made it difficult to close the door, especially in hot weather. I wanted to remove the door and fix it, which proved to be even worse than I had thought, when they assembled the door they muscled the piece in bending the plastic guides an making the bottom piece not sit flush, I had to "straighten" the plastic to the best of my ability, in two places, and finally got it to sit flush and screw back in place, lucky I found the missing screw. Side not the hinges need a special tool to remove them, they took the tool and most likely threw them away. There are also many chips and cracks in the doors "but when I mentioned that I was told that the doors were in perfect condition when they left". Basically saying that I broke it, even though I never touched the shed except to open and close the doors and load in my stuff.
- The roof was not secured to the front portion of the shed, not a single screw was put in, but there were holes as if there were once screws in them. So I can only surmise that they misplaced(lost) some screws and then took those out to use them in other places.
- The door frame is missing two essential screws in the frame to hold the top piece of the frame down, those are still missing and the frame is not secure.
- When installed the floor sat flat, now one of the panels bubbles up, again was told to "drive a screw into it like they did". I don't have the tools for this job, and I understand it is not worth Matt's time to come here to drive a single bolt into the ground.
- There are many holes that are missing screws in general.
In summary the overall experience with this company was so so, of course the people who did the work, worked hard and there is no denying that, but they did not work careful. Understand that this was my experience and it only reflects that, if others had better experiences or don't find my experience to be genuine issues that is great, everyone's thresholds and expectations are different. I think there is a good breadth of knowledge and expertise that Matt has, but he lacks in customer service skills, and needs a better way to handle his communications with his clients. Unfortunately I would not recommend The Shed Installer Guys, but that should not stop anyone else from using them, just remember to be prepared for what is about to happen, and manage your expectations the best you can. It will make the experience better for everyone.
