A&W Remodeling LLC

I would run away from this company, specifically, Richard James Ward, as fast as you can! Under the AZ Registrar of Contractors this company goes by A and W Remodeling, if you want to look them up. As of today, there are 2 outstanding complaints, 2 closed cases, and 1 disciplinary case. The disciplinary case was a suspension of the license. How do I know so much? Let me tell you what our experience was. We hired Richard Ward on 04/29/2019 to remodel our master bathroom, signed the contract, payed about 50% of the money. We asked him what would a reasonable completion date be, we left it up to him. He gave us a completion date of 3 to 4 weeks. Why did we hire him? He had done a couple of minor jobs for us and he remodeled our neighbor’s master bathroom, which looked good. After 6 weeks, we again asked Richard for a completion date, he said 1 more week. We told him our drop dead date was 2 weeks 6/28, after that no more access. After the 2 weeks were up, he was not completed by any means. So we kept on him and on him, the relationship became contentious, and we gave him a final date of 7/19/2019, 12 weeks later! Even with the 7/19 date, he was not done, he was rushing, and we even extended it by a day with his guarantee it would be finished. It was not finished, still quite a bit to do. After that, we locked him out, changed the codes to the garage and the alarm. Then we filed with the AZ Registrar of Contractors. A side note, on Monday after, we received a letter from a company in Scottsdale that said pay up or have a contractor’s lien put on your property. It stated all sorts of AZ statutes, which I looked up. It was not a legal piece of paper as it was not sent properly per the statutes. He wanted to scare us, so if this happens to you, look up the statutes, do not just pay.. So, what happened? Why was the work not completed? Let’s go over some items. When he started, he was there every day and made good progress. After the first 2 weeks, he would not show up for days, or just come over for a couple of hours. I know since I monitor who and when the alarm is turned off and on. There were weeks where he came over maybe 1 or 2 times only and for just a couple of hours. When he began, he had subs, a painter and a tiler. The painter did not return and the tiler was there for about a day and a half. From what we understand from the tiler, Richard was not paying them what was owed, so they quit. Richard now had to do the job himself and he is a lousy tiler. He tried telling us our walls were not plumb so the tiles were set well away from the wall, with the mud in the center only. He said he was filling the open space with grout (???). His grout lines were not even, some did not line up at the corners, and the grout lines varied in width. He used a scorer to cut all the tiles, not a wet saw. All the cuts around the windows were uneven, chipped, and looked terrible. One of the really strange things was that when we questioned him about why he was not working at the house, he stated he was “fabricating our vanity”. If that is the case, and how much time he was not here, he must have started with the actual tree and then created each piece of wood. As woodwork is supposedly his specialty, when we finally saw the semi-finished product, it appeared as if this was made in a high school wood shop, it look so amateurish. The drawer fronts were just a frame shape, something even I could do! This piece looked so cheap. We can only imagine that he was working another job or was out doing things he should not do, and not working on our job. When it came down to the last few weeks, it appears as if he threw something together. Even the very last week he was there, he did not show up at all on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Spent about 5 hours there on Tuesday, and about 3 hours on Friday, his supposed last day. Saturday he was there about 6 hours. Reason why so little hours? He told us that he was finishing up out vanity, the one he had already said he worked on fabricating about 20 or 30 days. Back to the Registrar of Contractors. I could not be there at the first inspection, but my wife was. I was unaware they can only inspect what you list, nothing more. Make sure you list everything when you file your complaint. I filed an addendum with them and on December 13th we had a 2nd inspection. She agreed with everything I had listed except a couple of items, which she could not see. She also asked Richard who did the plumbing and electrical, which he said he did, and she said “you do know you are not licensed for that” which he replied yes. She also asked him about pulling permits, which he did not do. Shortly after that the license was suspended. At this inspection he brought a new partner and we talked with them afterward. They gave us 100% of our money back and the only item we gave back to him was his vanity. We did this in order to get away from him. We agreed to not hold him liable for any of the work he did. Believe it or not, this is the short version. He was a nightmare and did not care one iota if the work was done or not, or even if it was quality. Remember I said we saw our neighbors? He had sub-contractors at that time and did not do the work! That is why it was better quality. He will tell you how talented he is and attract you with a good price, but beware. If you hire him after reading this, do not get angry as you have been warned!

Klynn Ward. I'm sorry last post about busted water pipe and new kitchen with granite top was me. Computer glitched. (Last name by marriage only and husband not related)

A&W Remodeling did my entire kitchen after main water pipe burst. New ceiling with lights, electric switches, tile, and beautiful kitchen cabinets. He talked my husband into large granite covered island with big wide drawers underneath for lots of extra space. Told him he was crazy and I hated the idea. Now I laugh cause everyone who comes notices it right away and loves it since it makes the whole kitchen look amazing and the drawers are wonderful. Yes it took a long time since he has other jobs already started but it was well worth the wait. I agree with the other person who said people want free but also don't have common sense since you know he has other jobs already. I found Richard to be honest and very direct which is why maybe some people don't like the truth. (Same last name by marriage only)

Richard remodeled my bathroom and the rest of my house. He did a great job and was up front on the cost or any extras that was needed to finish the job. I would highly recommend him. There are always people that are never happy and expect work done free.