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