Dritek Services

Dritek does excellent quality work, when they choose to, but they seem to always leave something that they will do. They remodeled my kitchen in December 2014, and in the process I wanted to add crown molding and a window seat and Brandon agreed to this. In January they came back to remodel a bathroom and it is beautiful, but the electric outlet was tied to the switch, so when the light is off, the switch is off and the fan is on the same circuit as the light. I would like to use that outlet without listening to the fan when it is not necessary to have it on. That was going to be fixed, but wasn’t, nor did I have my crown molding or window seat, but they were going to get it done.
Because they do quality work, I decided to push my luck and hire them again to build a deck, a screen porch and put Hardie siding on my house. He was going to do a diagram for me, but I never got one, nor did I get any real details on the specifics of the style. We talked about the size of the porch, he knew what I thought I was getting, and he told me it couldn’t be that big, so I conceded to another size of approximately 12′ x 17′. The finished porch is 9.8′ x 13.5. There was no roof tied in when I left for work, and when I got home it was finished for my 13.5″ length. Those 3.5 feet make a tremendous difference in size when there are 4 doors on that porch. I was disappointed, but I didn’t pitch a fit, which in hindsight, was a mistake.
I selected my paint colors, but they didn’t use that brand of paint, so they «color-​matched» with another brand. Lo and behold, I find out the estimate was only for painting the house, not the porch, not the carport, not all new construction as I had assumed, just the house. Brandon did not purchase enough paint to paint everything, nor has he supplied me with any information I would need to get more, i.e. paint sample back, label from paint can…
They tore my original deck down in July and we are now in to November. They come to «finish» their work, and the porch is not painted, but they proceeded to put the screen up after I asked them NOT to, because I will now have to pay to take it off and have it reinstalled when I get that painted. Apparently they decided they did not want to work with me any more, because they installed the screen anyway.
When discussing the kitchen crown molding that I have waited for since December 2014, Brandon asked if I wanted them to paint it or would I just do the painting. I said I would paint it. Well they installed it, but did not finish it by filling nail holes or caulking the spaces at the ceiling. They got black marks all over my ceiling, so now the ceiling has to be repainted. When I asked about getting the crown molding finished to be paintable, he said that was my responsibility. I assumed if I agreed to paint it, it would be ready to paint, I am not a carpenter and I can’t finish it correctly.
In a year I have paid them around $ 80,000. and the doors they installed on my porch cost all of $ 21.98 and in less than a week they are warped and do not close well enough to close the latch. There is no hardware on the inside of the door, so the only thing to use to close the latch is the latch and it is not possible. The doors also drag on the floor, so you have to try to pull up on them to open them.
The last time I spoke with Brandon was when I asked him to stop installing the screen on Monday. (He is not on sight most of the time, so communicating is either phone or text.) On Tuesday he emails my «final» bill, but I am already out of town and don’t check my email. On this bill, he has deducted the cost of my window seat that I didn’t ever get. I don’t know why, just decided I didn’t need it I guess.
In the meantime, on the following Tuesday, I text about the screen doors and he tells me he will replace them and put hardware on the inside of the door. That night is when I finally get to all my old email and see the bill.
During the course of this construction, we talked about my window seat, and some additional work he agreed to do such as hang new interior doors, level out my backyard some with a load or two or dirt, haul some landscaping rock and I was thinking that would still happen until I see the bill. Where he has deducted the one thing I have wanted for almost a year now and obviously has no intention of doing any of the additional items. I email him, no response.
Repeated attempts to contact him have been ignored and this is with the fact that I still owe him my final payment. And I was supposed to believe he would get with me when he is back in town.
Dritek can do quality work, but all specifics need to be in writing. For instance how will the rails on the porch be finished; will they be typical porch rails, or merely lattice. Specifics as to what is included in items on the contract, such as what part of the new construction is included in painting; but most importantly what recourse does the client have when the work is not up to par.