Merino Home Improvement
Hyattsville, MD 20785 240-515-5712
Ratings
Consumer Ratings for Merino Home Improvement — 1 Ratings
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Contractors: Remodelers & General Articles
Thinking About a Home Remodel? Here’s Where to Start
Begin by carefully considering what you think you want and how you can get it. Weigh your wish list against what you’ll probably pay to fulfill it.
Planning a Home Remodel
If you’re adding new rooms, making substantial changes to the existing floor plan, or dealing with complex structural or functional questions, you’ll need to hire professional design help. There are several design options and combinations of options.
How to Check Out Contractors
Some homeowners leave contractor vetting and selection to their architects or house designers, but most make the call themselves, and rightly so: It’s the most important step.
Getting Prices and Proposals for Remodeling Work
Checkbook’s undercover shoppers asked contractors to bid on three different projects. Company-to-company price differences were striking. For the largest of the jobs, quotes ranged from $190,000 to $321,000—a difference of more than $130,000.
What a Contract for Remodeling Work Should Include
Once you’ve picked a contractor, have it prepare a written contract. It should include the following information for medium-sized and major projects; but even if your project is small, many of these points also apply.
Your Role During a Remodel
You can do a lot to help the job run smoothly, finish on time, and produce the best possible results.
Should You Buy Products Yourself for a Remodel?
You can use our advice and price ratings to pay less—often a lot less—for appliances, fixtures, flooring, plantings, and many other products that you can buy on your own, rather than having your contractor buy them for you. But should you?
Financing Options for Remodeling Work
You have several options to pay for your project. Cash certainly is the easiest: no applications, no forms, no appraisals, no debt, no interest. However, many homeowners borrow to cover large remodeling jobs.
More Articles »
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Consumer Comments for Merino Home Improvement
Nov 08, 2015
As other online reviewers have noted, their work was often sloppy (e.g., walls not plumb or square--by a wide margin; very crooked, uneven tiling; floor under a new vanity left unfinished with bits and pieces of broken tile) and there was poor communication between the Merinos and their workers/sub-contractors, which resulted in a number of mistakes (e.g., kitchen counter top with the wrong edge, new stair railing not properly designed or installed). Mistakes were reluctantly acknowledged, if at all, and blame was deflected to choices that we had made or to the age of the house or to the unavailability of better materials (e.g., the bathroom tiles that started sinking in after a few weeks was due to our not running the AC while work was being done in the bathrooms, or the very crooked tiling of the shower floor was because of our request that the drain cover be placed square with the wall!).
What was more disturbing was the corners that they cut. For example, a cheap plastic vent hood was used for the kitchen exhaust (it was hurriedly changed to a metal one only when I questioned whether it was up to code); very cheap pine board was used on the front door fascia with the excuse that the PVC board they said they would use was not available in that size (I found it at Home Depot with no difficulty).
Three different contractors examined their work and had nearly identical criticisms of its quality (one kind contractor came just to take a look-see upon hearing our tale of woe). Some of the flaws were only visible to a trained eye or only visible upon undoing the Merinos' work. We ended up having to rip out the shower they put in one bathroom and start all over. Fixing the sunken tiling in the other bathroom and the loose stones in our new front path is next on our list.
I suspect the numerous problems we faced were due, in part, to a newish, inexperienced crew being placed on our project, and to a lack of knowledge and expertise on the part of the Merinos. The father and son would routinely offer conflicting advice and opinions, and would on occasion dismiss the other’s advice. Tread carefully, especially for anything more than a simple job.