ACS Seattle

The complaints we’ve listed below are in regards to a vaulted ceiling remodel of the living and dining rooms in our home, started in Oct 2014.
1) A structural inspection found 8 fairly substantial flaws. The inspector noted that the job in many ways showed shoddy workmanship. We repeatedly asked ACS to return, but their responses included vague time frames and we became concerned that they might not finish the job (or might drag it out). In the meantime, half of our roof had no insulation (while we awaited the repairs) and outside temperatures were starting to reach freezing at night, so we were anxious about getting the job completed. At this point in time, we filed a BBB complaint.
A history of previous mis-​communications and mistruths by ACS led to the delays and our predicament of a cold unfinished house in November. Those complaints are listed briefly below:
2) A mistake was made in the structural engineering drawings, and was discovered during the first day of ACS’s work on 10÷1÷2014. The structural part of the job was scheduled to be completed in 2 days. During the first day, ACS offered an alternate solution to us, indicating to us that this was the only solution and that it had been reached via communication between ACS and the structural engineer. Although the solution presented wasn’t in keeping with the original design intent we really wanted, we reluctantly agreed, based on trust of their expertise. ACS went ahead and installed much of their solution on that first day. The next day we found out that the structural engineer hadn’t known of his error or that ACS’s solution was being implemented, and he then fixed his error by drawing up for us a new design that met the original design intent. We asked ACS to implement the engineer’s solution, and they charged us for a «change order», which ended up costing approximately $ 4800 to cover one work day, one day of «lost» labor and about $ 250 in materials. ACS never conceded to any fault in lying to us about their lack of communications with the engineer, and in implementing their structural changes without a drawing revision from the engineer.
3) While the structural changes were initially being done, the Structural Inspector arrived to check an air flow question we had, and observe the project. We were unsure at the time if it was considered an official inspection. We relayed to ACS that the inspector gave a «green light» for structural and air flow. Green light meant proceed with rest of structural and not ‘approved’, but was misinterpreted by ACS. The text message was sent in the middle of the day while structural work was still far from completed, and as a professional contractor ACS should should have known that there was no way the structural inspection could be completed until the structural work was complete. ACS reported that they had talked with the inspector and that it was OK to install insulation. The insulation was installed and the inspector arrived following this. Inspection failed, due to him being unable to inspect properly because of the insulation present. ACS would have charged a second fee to remove and reinstall, so we opted to remove it ourselves. In addition, the quality of the insulation installation was marginal, so we decided to re-​install it ourselves later. For example, the baffles we’d been promised were not installed (ACS hadn’t passed along that info to the subcontractor) until we insisted on them. The resulting fit was so poor, we wound up replacing them anyway.
Update 2÷15÷2015: ACS did return to complete the structural repairs and passed second inspection. Because of the aforementioned issues, we re-​installed the insulation ourselves, terminated further work with ACS, and hired another contractor to finish the drywall. ACS did not agree to our terms to terminate the contract, attempting to charge us $ 4945 more to cover insulation and drywall work which ACS had not completed. We offered to pay $ 2102 (for the insulation materials and our interpretation of the contract terms including 20% of remaining non-​completed work). ACS then threatened to file a lien against our house unless the $ 4945 was paid. We determined the only feasible way to prevent the lien against our house was to have this resolved in small claims court. We also realized that we had been generous in paying ACS $ 2000 for a «day of lost work» (not called out or covered in the contract) that ACS had included in the change order bill near the start of the job. We billed ACS for this amount, preparing to go to small claims court. At this point, ACS called us and finally agreed to settle this outside of court. We agreed to pay $ 1000 to ACS and record the BBB complaint as closed satisfactorily, in return for ACS agreeing to not file the lien against our house. Both sides signed a statement agreeing there are no further obligations from either party.

Gary Gutierrez and ACS Seattle did a complete basement remodel for us and while his price was very competitive, unfortunately you get what you pay for.
My biggest complaint is that he just didn’t seem to care about doing it right the first time because as long as it was fixed, as per the contract, his attitude was that he was doing his job. He once said to me «I don’t care if we have to do it six f***ing times, the contract says we can fix it as many times as we need to»
To his credit Gary was indeed willing to fix things six times over. However, given the volume and nature of the issues, it was hard to want to continue with the process when the same issue was «fixed» over and over again and basic things like a non-​level and non-​square window, an obviously unlevel floor, or unattached hose bibs needed to be pointed out.
Here is a quick list of issues that we had. Most of them were eventually fixed, but all of them had to be pointed out to get addressed.
Communication:
* Very little communication, went on vacation for 3 weeks didn’t answer emails or deal with issues. Later told me he didn’t call me because he didn’t like talking with me, which is understandable since I was generally angry with him for not communicating and being careless with my home, but dealing with issues is what being professional is all about
* Speaking of unprofessional, he at one point suggested that I abuse my wife and children
Plumbing:
* Copper pipe improperly put through studs without spacers or proper clearances.
* Connected copper directly to galvanized piping
* Placed plumbing below joists and in front of a window and then argued that it would not affect window operation, later back tracked on this statement and said it was because they didn’t want to drill holes in the joists
* Later mis-​drilled holes in joists, thereby drilling twice the number of holes as necessary
* Connected hot water to toilet, left it like this for several weeks
* Left house without water, no communication, made us call plumber, which cost $ 250, plumber reported Gary for using an unlicensed plumber on contractor permitted work
* Because of unlicensed plumber, permit suspended, I had to call to say I did the work and clear permit
* Plumbing failed inspection the first time
* Gary asked for a change order to fix failed plumbing, later backtracked
* Used PEX instead of copper as specified by contract, did not refund for difference
General:
* Bedroom window «fixed» 4 times, still not level or square
* Framing in hallway crooked, corners not straight
* Floor leveling took three tries, each time I was told it was done only find it was
not, caused more than week delay
* Mis-​drilled door stop in the bedroom fixed with caulking
* Bathroom back-​splash was a piece of board nailed with finishing nails,
* Bathtub surround is so far off wall that it can be pushed off the caulking with a several inch gap

Gary is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I hired them to do excavating and they tried to screw me. Even his own workers didn’t want anything to do with the guy after learning what he was charging me. After threatening to take him to court he agreed to lower his price (he admitted he was over charging). Later I learned from several reputable excavation contractors that I could have had it all done for half of what he charged me.
DO NOT hire this guy. He will give you a low bid to get the work, and then run the bill up on you. After you sign the contract, you will never see him again until he wants more money. Guys like this should never be in business.

Great team and amazing work! I asked Gary and his team to design a set of Ashiatsu bars for my massage practice and with just a little bit of information (measurments and a general idea of what I wanted) his crew showed up ON TIME and got started. They were done in 4 hours and left the space very clean. I was so happy when I saw the finished design that I literally cried. This crew at ACS exceeded my expectations at a price I could swallow. Thanks guys! Top quality. BRAVO!