Apex Plumbing Heating & Electric

Due to water/moisture damage of the floor and sheetrock and the backing of the ceramic tile in the main bathroom of a 3 bedroom unit, Apex was contracted to remove the vinyl floor, damaged portions of the subfloor and drywall, bathtub, shower-tub door and several rows of tile from the tub surround and replace with new subfloor, tile, and drywall and reinstall shower-tub door. Additionally, Apex was contracted to install motion detector/photo sensor lights in the carport and a new faucet in the kitchen.



The unit was being prepared for re-rental to new tenants on June 1, so it was stressed to the contractors from the beginning that they had only 2 weeks at latest to complete the work. They said they would only need 4 to 5 days at most. The work was originally scheduled to be completed for the week of May 16th, but due to a delay in the owner obtaining and delivering the tile, only the demolition was done during this initial week. As the tile was delivered to the site on May 24, most of the repair work was performed during the weeks of May 23 and 30, in a haphazard, last minute scheduling way. As the main licensed contractors were busy with other jobs, this job was primarily delegated to the tile person, who had very little training in the other trades other than tile work. The first problem was in scheduling as the owner lives out of the area and wanted to oversee some of the main work but because the contractors did not have any set schedule, it was difficult to coordinate with them. The tile person in particular said he would show up at specific times, but was either very late or did not show up at all. The second problem is the work was not finished properly, in one case the studs were installed crooked, so that the wall edge appeared to curve; in another case the nail holes to connect the drywall to the studs were poorly patched and could be clearly seen on the wall; and yet in a third case, the drywall had a major gap in it around the switch plate. Only after complaining did the contractors fix these, among other things. Unfortunately, much of the finish work and corrective measures had to be completed after the tenants were already occupying the unit.



Finally, the primary expensive mistake the contractor made is that the shower-tub door was reinstalled improperly. The owner discovered the problem after about 3 weeks of tenant use when upon inspection the new floor and baseboard were damaged as evidenced by water stains and tiles that were pulling off the floor. When a very careful water test was done to discover what the problem was, it could be clearly seen that the when the shower was on and doors closed, water leaked under the frame of the shower door where it is connected to the top of the tub. This is clearly a problem with improper reinstallation of the shower-tub door.



On the positive side: To date, the other work completed by Apex, namely the replacement of the kitchen faucet and the installation of the sensor lights in the carport, appear to be completed properly and currently work. I believe the reason these projects appear to be successful is due to one of the owners of Apex and a licensed contractor himself performed the work himself. When confronted with all the problems except the shower-tub door problem (in process), the contractor did agree to discount the fee for the work completed.

Excellent service, timely and cost effective.