From Brian Lohse.
Buzz Home Pros
We hired John a couple years ago to install Hardie siding and some Versetta stone. Cost was significant! John's a good guy and salesperson, but his workers were not very experienced and made many costly mistakes that I am still dealing with 2 years later (detailed below). I'm not exaggerating when I say that most work was completed when there was 12-15" of snow on the ground. I suspect that John wanted some sort of "spiff" or "bonus" from Hardie siding hence his rushing to do this job before 12/31 while it's snowing.
First issue that arose is that a worker wanted to use a ladder and scaffolding on a day with wind gusts of up to 65 mph. The ladder fell into the neighbors house before the worker could secure it. The ladder damaged the siding and punched a hole through the wall. John put a "patch" on the siding that day. With the high winds, ladders shouldn't have been used unless they were securely fastened to the house. It was unwise to try to put up ladders/scaffolding in 65mph winds. 2 years later John still has not repaired the neighbors house. The mis-matched siding patch is still on the neighbors house (See pic). I am speechless why he still hasn't done anything about it!
Second problem is that an 18 year-old with no masonry experience was installing new stone. He used the incorrect type of cement/mortar for the job and used so much that the mortar oozed around the face of the stone so that you could hardly see the stone. The install was wavy (not plumb or straight lines) and multiple colors of mortar were used. Ultimately we demanded that the stone be removed and installed correctly. John hired a another man that jack-hammered and sledge-hammered off the stones. It took a week and was a mess. This demolition damaged interior walls due to the jack hammers and sledge hammering. The stones were eventually replaced and the job looks okay (not great, but okay). The first attempt at the stone work was a joke and we felt like we'd been duped!
Third problem was with Hardie siding on one side of the house that didn't line up and wasn't installed parallel to the ground. It had to be removed and reinstalled. It's now okay.
Fourth, When installing the siding, the installers used nail guns that punctured the lines to our a/c lines. The lines could not be repaired unless the entire wall was removed plus the old refrigerant is extremely rare and expensive. A new a/c system had to be installed because new lines had to be run. John paid a portion of the replacement cost, but had his installers more careful and not nailed through the lines, we wouldn't have had to replace the whole system.
Fifth, on the north side of the house, the siding has had odd "discoloration." It is as if GRSW used James Hardie reject siding! All over this side of the house there were patches of white. If you know about Hardie siding, the coloring should last 25-50 years, not 6 months. There were probably a two dozen spots, each the size of a quarter, that were white or rust. John sent a worker to paint over them while I was gone one day. John informed me that he would give me touch up paint to do myself in the future, but he's never given me any touch-up paint. He also told me that he was going to have a James Hardie rep come to our house to explain that the discoloration was normal. This meeting with Hardie has never happened... my guess is that Hardie isn't going to tell me it is normal!
Sixth, it wasn't noticed until recently when a water sensor alarm was installed in my crawl space. I believe moisture/snow gathered behind the siding, melting, and then making its way to the inside of the house. It appears to be coming in above the foundation wall, so about the only way this could happen is that if it is coming from behind the siding. Until this siding, our crawl had been bone dry. (See pic of water actively dropping).
Seventh, it is minor, but 5 of the shutters they installed next to the windows have fallen. I've had to get an extension ladder to re-attach.
I'll update if anything changes.
Proceed with caution!
