When I first met with David from Nobu, he seemed to be someone who would work with me to find the best solution to my problems. What ended up happening was essentially a disaster. The relief I felt when I no longer had to communicate with David was immense. We did a garage conversion for a studio.
The original quoted time was 3-6 weeks, and the project ended up taking about 3 months. 3 Months glued to my phone, waiting for any communication from David, praying that one day this project might finally end. One of the biggest drivers of these delays related to David’s communication. Half the time, and I mean half the time, I’d be expecting workers to come to my house, and nobody would show. We cleared out our driveway for work to be done, nothing would happen, I’d call David and he’d say “Nobody is there?! Let me call you back”. Then radio silence for two hours. I text him, and he was busy with something else. Then the big one was people showing up randomly. No warning from David, no communication, just someone walking to work in my back garage at 6:30am. At this point is when I became the contractor. I had to check in with David to ensure work was happening. I had to tell him my sprinklers needed connecting 10 separate times in order for this to ever be completed. His electrician would tell me he couldn’t do it, then David would say that the electrician would handle it. He’d show up, then say he couldn’t do it, and David would finally contact the person capable of doing the skill. I became the contractor ensuring work was getting done properly.
Another big driver of delays was terrible communication between him and workers. About half the time, work was done incorrectly, and had to be redone. The pillar in the studio was painted red instead of stained, so an extra day had to occur where workers removed the paint. The electrician wired things from our main house to the garage, and it looked terrible. David ensured me from the beginning it would be one cable. This had to be entirely redone and took another 2 days. Mind you, this is two days when the electrician was available, adding another week or two to the process.
The plumbing was clearly done improperly and now I’m having to deal with it. I stopped contacting David, because I’d rather pay $1000 out of my own pocket than have to communicate with him again. After about 3 weeks, I flushed the toilet, and water flushed out from underneath the toilet. The seal was broken, so I had a true plumber come and fix it. They said the flooring people had ripped the toilet out, and improperly sealed it when installing the bathroom flooring. Now, this toilet has been clogging on and off for the last month, and I’m having a plumber come out again to fix the issue. On top of this, the plumbing is leaking on the outside of the garage. Expecting to need to fix that shortly, which should be a fun expense.
The final workers that came to my house had the most “Get me the hell out of here” energy that I’ve ever felt. I asked them to do basic tasks that David said they’d do, like clean up the backyard that they had thrown trash around for weeks, and install a simple trim for the exposed bottoms of walls. Another instance where I became the contractor. The main worker got visibly frustrated and sighed extremely loud when I told him the work he was there to do. Not my problem, but of course it became it because of how terrible this contractor is.
David was also frequently out of contact, or out of cell reception. Many times workers wouldn’t show and I’d be afraid that I got completely scammed. Surprisingly this project did get “finished”.
When they “paint matched” the stucco on the garage to the color, it was comically terrible. I will be re-painting this myself since there’s just a messy outline of stucco where the garage door used to be.
After the workers were done, I just stopped asking for anything. I personally cleaned up the 53 individual cigarette butts that littered my yard, the subway wrappers, and the paint specs they threw all over my lawn. If I asked them to do it, it would never get done. They treated my personal backyard like a pig stye. Also, the grass in these photos is dead because David didn’t connect my sprinklers for 3 months, after multiple requests that it’s a top priority.
I’m fully expecting to have to entirely re-do the plumbing for this place. I’m hoping that the place is structurally sound, and won’t have major leaks when it rains. We’ll see. I’m prepared for years of fixing, and undoing the terrible work done by Nobu.
I will NEVER use them again, and I would tell anyone never to use them. Even if they quote you $500 for a garage conversion special deal, you’ll regret it. Worst experience I’ve ever had working with a company or individual.
Nobu Home Remodeling Inc
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