Here is a very sad situation.  This is a basement that was finished by another contractor.  The contractor

was sued by the client for poor workmanship but the judge decided that based on the contractor's

statements his work was the

"...accepted standard in this geographical location" 

I will let you be the judge of that

The project started when a plumber whom I work with Mike Munson with Speedy Plumbing (*If you need

an outstanding plumber please drop me a line.  He has nearly 30 years in the business! and is excellent!!)

called me in to do some taping around a free standing shower he was replacing due to the absence of a P

Trap in the shower that this contractor installed.

I recognized that there were inconsistencies in the smoothness of the untextured walls and looked into it

further, here is what I found...

Here is what I saw when I started...

The understair storage room was sheetrocked and looks like this. 

There are wide gaps, no tape (other than what the homeowner put on the joints) and miscelleneous pieces

of sheetrock used

. 

**Due to expenses this area will not be repaired.

The sheetrock was placed directly on the slab throughout the ENTIRE basement.

This is one of the fundamental elements of hanging sheetrock it is NEVER to be placed directly upon the slab. 

The problem with doing this is it wicks moisture up and deteriorates the gypsum and destroys the wall.

**All sheetrock has been trimmed up so that it is 1/2"- 5/8" off the slab.

The handrail that was installed by the contractor DID NOT have returns on either end.  This is a code

violation and I do not know how this passed inspection.

** A new handrail has been installed that is the same as the builder's handrail

This is how the contractor matched up his trim with the builders.  There was no attempt at matching the

corners, pigmentation of stain or wiping of the trim after the holes were puttied.

**This trim has been eliminated and a new piece has been installed.  The reason this piece was not reused

is that the wall has been sheetrocked so  that it runs flush.  I did not want to curf cut this trim as it was

easier and looked much nicer to buy a new piece and make this one solid run of trim.

Here is an example of how the contractor hung the doors.  He used cutoffs from the extension jambs

around the windows (3/4" plywood)  and then used a chunk of 1/4" plywood and a shim.  This is a gap

of 1"plus.  The hinge side of the door is tight to the framing and the nails he used to secure the jambs were

nailed in mid air rather than through the shimming material.

Here is one of the most mind boggling parts of the project.  The portion of the wall on the

left is the end of the wall in the stairwell that was sheetrocked and finished by the builder

it is a darker color as it was painted khaki.   The portion you see on the right was painted

white and the sheetrock applied by the previous contractor is 1/2" proud of the builder's

sheetrock. 

"HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?"

Good question.

The finish dimension of the builders wall is 3 1/2" and the finish dimension

of the previous contractor is 4" .  The builder had used 2x dimensional lumber layed on

it's side and secured to the wall.  This eqautes to 3" as each 2" is actually 1 1/2". 

Then 1/2" sheetrock was applied bringing the finish dimension out to 3 1/2". 

The previous contractor came in and framed the wall with 2 x4's giving him 3 1/2"'s right

off the bat and then when he applied the sheetrock it brought his wall out to 4"! 

The  confusing part is that the builder's framing was exposed and he could see how it was

layed out so he could have matched the builder's work and had a flawlessly smooth wall.   

This edge of the sheetrock was actually made smooth by the homeowner using latex caulk and the

contractor did not even bother to make it smooth!

Okay, so for any of you who might be asking this is a contractor who has a

"professional handyman service with over 35 years of experience"

SO he isn't new!

and I would hope that in 35 years he would have learned how to propery frame and

match a wall but in this case the answer is no.

AND THE FINAL ATROCITY (trust me there are more but I think I have bored you enough)

The contractor hung all of his sheetrock vertically which is very acceptable due to a

suspended ceiling being installed.  The problem is in the seams and the screw lines.

This is a picture of just one of his seams

THEY WERE ALL LIKE THIS! 

He failed to properly fill the seams and also failed to properly mud over his screws

(which were sunk 3/8" deep into 1/2" sheetrock another vital mistake). 

Every stud was located screwed off and muded.  The area at the base of the stairs was

sheetrocked to infill the builder's area to make it a flush wall.  This is amazing that anyone

that has their business name....

"...Professional Handyman Services 35 years of experience"

would do work like this.  The walls were never textured and even if they were all these

flaws would have still been visible.  Texture does not cover serious flaws it merely breaks up the surface.

Here is a picture of the wall after it has been filled in taped, textured and painted.  The trim has been

reinstalled and the handrails have been reinstalled.

A new handrail has been installed on the other side of the stairwell. 

Returns have been done to match the builder's and are a nice touch.

Here is a picture of the rec room finished

A picture of the bathroom repaired and finished

Another picture of the rec room finished.  There are still some remnants of the previous contractor

existing in the basement but again due to expenses already experienced the repair was kept to an

absolute minimum.  There are door casings that were too short but had to be reused as the client

could not afford to replace all of the ills that were created by the previous contractor.

A picture of the egress window in the bedroom.  This window had to be reworked and insulated as the

previous contractor had installed the extension jambs severely out of square and also failed to insulate

around them.  This window was reassembled using the old casings.

Looking down the stairwell

I hope you see something in this project that may interest or inspire you.  If there is anything I can be of

assistance with please do not hesitate to contact me.  If you are interested in having a basement finished

I would be willing to prepare a free estimate for you.

I appreciate you taking the time to look at this project and others here or at

www.paragonbathrooms.com

Have a great day and a better tomorrow!