KD Construction Review

I normally would not put this review on my blog but, I’m so tired of dealing with dishonest, greedy people that I want others to be aware. If anyone is looking to do business with KD Construction, I will tell you my experience with them.

I am including an e-mail dialogue I had with Ken Douvier of KD construction. But if you don’t want to read all of that, I will summarize my experience for you.

We had some water damage/mold in our basement due to a pinhole in a copper pipe in a water heater. KD construction did the repair work after it was cleaned up.

To try to make a long story short:

I asked for detailed invoice on the work done. Ken said they didn’t have one, that they went off of what the insurance estimate was. This turned out to be not true, as he later produced it as per my mom’s request.

We were billed for sealing and painting of the ceiling in two large rooms. The bill was for over 1800 ft.² of ceiling that was never painted.

We were also billed for moving and breaking down furniture and hauling it upstairs into a storage container outside. There was never a storage container on site. No furniture was moved up any stairs. No games were broken down. The most that was done was moving furniture from one room to another as the carpet was installed.

The total bill for those items that were never done was over $4700.00.

The insurance estimate calls for a new cabinet for over $3100.00.KD construction opted to rebuild the box and reuse all of the old drawers, doors, and hardware. And still bill over $3100.00 for a new cabinet.

They will tell you satisfaction guaranteed, but when you are not satisfied with their work, they don’t do anything to fix it and still bill you the full amount even after asking for a discount because of poor quality workmanship.

The cabinet box was finished in semi gloss varnish and the wood looks like a much lower quality than the original cabinet. The doors and drawers are more of a matte finish and higher, tighter grained, wood quality. It just doesn’t match. It looks terrible. Then as you see if you read the e-mail, Ken has the audacity to tell me it looks great and I should think that it looks great also. First of all, for someone who writes an opinion blog, I don’t take kindly to people telling me what my opinion should be.

 When Ken was told that their work here was not complete, we are still missing a doorknob and an earthquake strap on a hot water heater pot. He tells me that there was never a strap and they will not replace the doorknob because they didn’t throw it out, the cleanup crew did.

When I send photographic proof that indeed a strap was on the pot, then he changes his tune and agrees that there was, but blames the cleanup crew again for removing it, when in fact we have another photograph that proves the strap was on after the cleanup crew left. Therefore it was KD construction that removed the strap.

Honestly, he made thousands of dollars, probably tens of thousands of dollars profit on this job (dishonestly in my opinion) and he is refusing to finish a couple measly items.

In his last e-mail to me he mentions coming here to fix our hot water. They did come, but did not fix the hot water. It wasn’t fixed until a couple months later. He also mentions an under mount sink that he says I requested. First of all, I would never request an under mount sink because I prefer over mount sinks. That is what we have in our kitchen. They told us they could get us a larger sink. Nothing was mentioned about under mount. And truthfully, I don’t think the sink is any bigger. If I would have known I was going to be charged for a new sink as part of the upgrade, I never would have agreed. I would have just preferred to use the old sink.

In my experience talking with Ken Douvier on the telephone, is that he talks a mile a minute and will not let you get a word in edgewise. And the only time he called is when he wanted money. I never had a conversation with him when he did not mention money. In fact, one of his crew members when requesting a check, made the comment that Ken likes money.

One more thing, there were several times when the time was agreed upon for them to come out here and they were quite late.

So, needless to say, I would not recommend doing business with KD Construction of Auburn,  Washington. They cut costs whenever they can, at the expense of the homeowner, i.e. cabinet, but still bill the insurance company the full price and charge for services never rendered i.e. ceiling paint, phantom storage containers, labor for moving furniture into phantom storage containers, etc. In my opinion, they are a greedy, dishonest company.

That’s my two cents.

If you’re still interested, you can read my e-mail conversation with Ken Douvier below:

Ken,

 

I received your invoice today. I do have a few items I want to discuss with you on the invoice. First of all let me say that I want to pay a fair price for honest work. I am in no way trying to get out of paying what I owe.

 

I do take issue with items we were charged for, that were not done. Please note the following items taken directly from your invoice:

 

18.  Seal more than the ceiling w/latex based stain blocker - two coats 1,120.52 SF @ 0.54 = 605.08

19.  Paint more than the ceiling - two coats 1,120.52 SF @ 0.62 = 694.72

34.  Seal more than the ceiling w/latex based stain blocker - two coats 709.50 SF @ 0.54 = 383.13

35.  Paint more than the ceiling - two coats 709.50 SF @ 0.62 = 439.89

 

Rental/moving

DESCRIPTION QNTY UNIT COST TOTAL

85.  General Laborer - per hour 56.00 HR @ 41.09 = 2,301.04

THIS IS THE LABOR TO MOVE ALL CONTENTS DOWNSTAIRS INTO A STORAGE CONTAINER WHILE THE CARPET

IS BEING REMOVED AND REPLACED AND THE DRYWALL REPAIRS ARE BEING COMPLETED, THIS INCLUDES

BREAKING DOWN THE GAMES IN THE PLAY ROOM, THE BEDROOM FURNITURE, ECT.  THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY IN AND OUT OF THE HOME THAT IS MORE TIME CONSUMING TO MOVE THESE ITEMS FROM THE HOME AND BACK INTO THE HOME.

86.  Job-site moving/storage container - 20' long - per month 1.00 MO @ 185.00 = 185.00

87.  Delivery charge (Bid item) 1.00 EA @ 180.00 = 180.00

THIS IS THE CHARGE TO DROP OFF AND PICK UP THE CONTAINER

n  -- -- -- -- -- --

 

The ceilings were not painted in the media room or ping-pong room. Perhaps a small portion where the ceiling abutted the walls that were repaired. But not even close to over 1800 ft.² of ceiling was painted in those two rooms which we were charged for.

 

There was no storage container delivered here. Therefore the furniture was not moved from the basement into a storage container. The furniture was moved from one room to another in the basement. Not nearly 56 hours worth of labor. No games were broken down. The most that was done was the ping-pong table is folded in half.

 

Please explain to me why we were charged for these services that were not performed.

 

Also, the math doesn’t add up on the granite upgrade. You forgot to include the price of the sink the insurance company allowed for. I believe it was $115.85.  Added to the $430 the total is $545.85.subtracting that from the $1200 invoice for the granite and sink we get $654.15which should be the price of the upgrade.

 

According to my calculations we were billed $4788.86 for work that was not performed by your company. This is the total adding lines 18, 19, 34, 35, 85, 86, 87. Even allowing for painting a small portion of the ceiling next to where the walls were replaced and for moving the furniture from one room to another while the carpet was installed, we were still overbilled by several thousand dollars.

 

Even taking the $1,654.15 for the deductible and upgrade into consideration, I still feel that the insurance company has overpaid you. I feel like you have not been honest with us. Billing for services not rendered is not an honest business practice.

 

Also, I’m still not satisfied with the cabinet. The quality is much lower than the original cabinet. I feel that it was dishonest of you to use the old doors, drawers, and hardware from the original cabinet and bill us over $3000 for a new cabinet.

 

And finally, I’m sure you are aware that you have not completed the job here. We are still missing an Emtek diamond crystal doorknob installed and earthquake straps on the pot by the hot water tanks.

 

Will you please review my concerns and reply as soon as possible? Thank you. Again, I am an honest person and want the same in return. Please just be honest and fair.

 

Sincerely,

 

Tammy Stone

Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 18:46:04 -0400
Subject: Re:
From: kendouvier@yahoo.com
To: drbarbiedpm@hotmail.com

There was no straps on the air tank there were only straps on the hot water tanks, and when it comes to the moving of items we put in the estimate what we think we will have to do but if we can get it done an easier way than that's good for us we will make some money on the entire job, I came to an agreement with the insurance company on a price to complete the job not with you so if I can get the job done with an easier method than that's great. Yes Paul said we still need a foot knob but the cabinets look great we have Picts of them and the cabinet maker agrees and so should you the cabinets were install for over a week before we installed the granite and if there was a problem you should have told us during that time before we installed the granite. I don't have the paperwork with me but I'm sure they only paid for detach and reset of the sink not pay to replace it with an undermount sink so my paperwork is correct. I will go over paperwork when I get back to the office tomorrow

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE DROID

From: Tammy Stone
To: Ken
Sent: Thursday, August 1, 2013 11:23 AM
Subject: RE:

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Ken,

as you can see in the above picture there is an earthquake strap on the water heater pot.

Also, to help you make sure that you get the right doorknob, I am including a link to emtek's website. http://emtek.com/Passage-Privacy-Knobs/diamond-crystal-knob It is the diamond crystal doorknob with oval rosette in satin nickel. That is the doorknob that was on the door that was thrown out.

Concerning the cabinet, I disagree with you that it looks great. I will forever cringe when I look at it. The box was finished with semi gloss varnish. And the  Original doors and drawers are more of a matte finish. It just doesn't match. The reason I was not able to go look at it before the granite was installed is because I was suffering from pneumonia for six weeks and was extremely ill.

I would appreciate it if you would consider discounting the invoice because the cabinet does not meet my standard of quality.

Thank you,

Tammy Stone 
 

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Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2013 13:01:54 -0700
From: kendouvier@yahoo.com
Subject: Re:
To: drbarbiedpm@hotmail.com

Yes your correct I just looked back at my picts and they match yours, but KD Const Inc didn't remove the air tank or strap and we didn't put it in our estimate to remove and reset it nor did we put anything about the strap, we would of put it back on but the demo company must of thrown it away because it wasn't there when we did the repairs, you can bill your insurance company to have someone come do it for you and you can also bill your insurance company to have someone re-level your pool table, we didn't put that in our estimate. Ive seen the finished work at your house by the picts taken and everything looks great, the cabinets look great also, the cabinet maker and my employees and the picts show a nice looking set of cabinets installed and we are happy with that.

 

.But for the rest of the job the insurance paid to detach and reset the the sink and we did that but you wanted a new undermount sink and therefore you have to pay for the new undermount sink we had installed.  Bryan said there was other painting that he did that wasn't on the estimate but yes he didn't paint some of the ceilings but that money goes towards the the money I lost negotiating with your insurance company to get paid for the estimate that KD Const Inc wrote up and you signed the contract with me and that also goes with the moving of the contents, if we can get it done quicker using a different method than that is good for us but if we have to remove everything outside then there is a buffer for that expense.  Your insurance company didn't pay the entire invoice that I billed them for work completed and we negotiated a much lower price than I wanted but we had to so we could get paid, so  my invoice is correct and I feel hurt that you would say we were a dis honest company, We came into your home and helped with getting you hot water ASAP during the demo and even came back over the weekend to pick up the part to have is repaired by a plumber at no extra charge, we came and worked on your schedule, we repaired over 60% or your water damage before receiving any money, we offered you an upgraded countertop at our cost, we had our plumber come out and repair the plumbing in the hot water tank room and repaired some plumbing in the wall also.  I feel we have been totally honest and professional and got the job completed quickly.

 

Just so you know with insurance work we write up the estimate on what we think it will take to complete repairs to a job to the best of our ability and sometimes we miss things but some times insurances like AMFAM don't pay everything or they force us to take less money for items and repairs so when we find ways to complete work quicker like moving items from one room to another instead of bringing them outside into a container we make of for some of the losses that the insurance companies do want to pay for.

 

KD Const didn't remove the door or knob or the air tank strap and they were missing when we came to do the repairs, you should bill your insurance company for these items.

 

KD Const Inc has no problem at all coming out and installing the strap for the air tank, and installing the new door handle but we wont do it until we receive our final payment in full, we have been upfront and honest on all the repairs, we have came to work on the dates we agreed on and will come finish the last 2 items that we didn't even bill the insurance company for when we receive the final payment in full. $1770.00