We do not recommend Jeff Durham or DMC.
PROS:
Jeff stood by his work up to 18 months later. His cabinet guy and stone fabricator are very good. The stone fabricator was able to squeeze 3 vanities, one wet bar, one tub surround, and one shower threshold out of one slab of marble. Plus we were told the tub surround would need to be two pieces due to how narrow two sections would be. Yet, somehow this guy got the tub surround in one piece. Remarkable really.
CONS:
The tile work is sub par. His wife is billed as a designer but she really didn’t offer much assistance. She tended to just agree with most of what we said without offering much guidance. The tile shops he recommends are expensive and we do not see the value or jump in quality to account for the extra cost. More on that below.
JOB SUMMARY:
We went with Jeff Durham of DMC because he had so many positive reviews, he came across as detail-oriented, and he had a portfolio that was similar to the look we were after. The first time we met, we let him know the tile work was going to be the most important part of this job and he assured us his tile guy was the best. The tile was our primary reason for using a contractor in the first place. We recognized our own DIY limits and went with a contractor that we felt could educate us and make the best choices for our needs. Therefore, we used his tile installers, his recommended tile stores, salespeople, and products.
When it came time to start the tile, his normal guy was busy, so he sent someone else. I should have sent him home as soon as he started but Jeff assured us it would work out. When he was applying the RedGard waterproofing membrane to the shower, it was obvious that it was not being applied in accordance with the directions on the container. See images 1 and 2. This is not a waterproof membrane.
Images 3, 4, 5, and 6 show some of the shower tile work after it was “completed”. Inconsistent grout colors, raw tile edges, uneven cuts, etc. The floors also had issues with inconsistent grout colors, uneven grout lines, etc. I had to point out that this was not acceptable and I sent the first installer home because he was not doing an adequate job. So Jeff sent someone else to finish the job.
I can only upload 4 photos, you can see the rest here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/z1v2xy18eh6v3vr/DMC-Photos-For-Upload.zip?dl=0
Once the tile was done, they tested the heated floor and it didn’t work. Jeff gave us the option of leaving it as is, and refunding our money for the heated floors or redoing everything at his expense. We appreciated him standing behind the work at this point. We still were not satisfied with the tile job so we elected to redo it at his expense.
He sent out tile guys that were more qualified to redo the job. The end job was better and the heated floors worked. During removal and reinstallation of the flooring, the brand new custom cabinets and trim work were damaged. See images 7 and 8. They were calling this complete until we called them on it. Jeff did throw in additional crown moulding as well as a $500 credit due to the delays and issues. This was not unrecognized or unappreciated.
After redoing the floors, the grout between the floor tiles kept coming loose. See image 9. We pointed this out and Jeff sent out a grout expert that did something to it. Again, we appreciated him doing something about it. Over the course of the next 18 months, the grout continued to loosen. With everything that we and Jeff had been through, we decided to live with it even though we were not satisfied.
In month 18, one of the tiles had so much grout come out from around it that it came loose and cracked. This tile is in the middle of our floor so we followed up with him. We started the request for repairs on October 30, 2018, and our floor was finally repaired on April 11, 2019 (almost 6 months later).
The repair crew was from a different tile company and at least for now, they seem to have done a good job. They think the floor may not have been prepared properly before the Ditra went down and therefore may be resulting in some high spots causing the tile to crack. They put in some real effort and ground the back of the tiles to alleviate any high spots and pressure points. This makes sense but I wonder if that may cause weakness in the tile that won’t show up until down the road.
When we first started shopping for the tile, one of the DMC recommended tile stores showed us a honed 4” x 12” for the floor that we were very excited about. Fortunately, we had some samples of that tile when we were at a stone yard shopping for our slab. There, someone said the recommended tile was a wall tile that should not be used on floors. We called the store and they confirmed it was a wall tile.
So, we went to a different DMC recommended tile store and explained what happened with the wall tile. When we found a new tile at this other store, it was also labeled as wall tile. Having already been burnt by this, we asked them to reach out to the manufacturer who confirmed it could be used on the floor. The tile guy who did the most recent repairs said the tile can be used for floors, but he would not recommend it.
Also, the tiles are not 100% flat. Some are slightly concave which also results in high corners that can cause the tile to crack when stepped on. The reason we used the DMC recommended stores instead of the big boxes was because we were told the service and quality would be superior.
I spoke to another tile guy who said the grout lines are too thin for a floor application with that type of tile. In his opinion, that is what is causing the grout to pop out. I know we specifically requested 1/16 grout lines, but the reason we hired professionals instead of DIY was to guide us in those decision making processes. Jeff claims he told us to go with a thicker grout line, and if I recall correctly, we did set it a little wider the second time to prevent some of the issues the installers had the first time. If we had been told the grout lines needed to be even thicker, we would have gone thicker. That’s why we hired pros.
As previously mentioned, we did not have any tile experience and went with Jeff so that he could help us make smart choices. We used his labor, stores, products, etc. If at any time, he felt there was an issue with our product selection, pattern choices, grout, etc, it was his paid obligation to educate us so that we could make a better choice. Knowing that the problem may be the floor prep does not provide us with the sense that this is the last time we will have cracking floor tiles. The fact that the entire floor may be set with a grout line that is too thin also tells us that we will forever be dealing with flaking grout causing the grout to look dirty even when clean.
Jeff said this is a “he said, he said” situation and there is no way to tell what is causing the cracking tile or loosening grout. However, this area was previously tiled and we had no tile issues prior to the remodel. We also have 5 other floor areas of our home with tile including 34-year-old builder-grade tile, a tiled deck, tile on slab, and tile I have since installed myself. None of these areas are having the same issues as the tile installed by DMC.
UPDATE: On April 29, 2019, another floor tile in a different location cracked. We followed up with Jeff who is unsure why this is happening. He said he doesn’t recall the floor tile being labeled as a wall tile. However, he ordered it and picked it up when the floor was done a second time. Every single box says wall tile on it. He said he would follow up with the store and manufacturer regarding the use applications of this tile and see if they would stand by it. He said he would follow up with us when he heard back. As of July 30, 2019, I have followed up twice and have not heard back. That’s three months without a response. This is fairly standard operating procedure for Jeff. He will tell me he never heard back from me. But, when I show them the email I sent, and he responds with, “Oh, I missed that one.” Plus, I have them whitelisted and I still check my spam and junk folders.
After almost two years of headaches, we believe this entire floor will need to come out again. This likely means replacing the floor heating system as well as the potential for additional damages to surrounding surfaces.
ON A RELATED NOTE:
We purchased new bedroom furniture and painted the master bedroom prior to starting the master bath job. In an effort to protect our new investments, we covered everything in painters plastic. We also put cardboard and towels down to protect furniture near the path the workers would take to protect against accidental bumps and damage. We thought we had gone above and beyond, but this wasn’t nearly enough protection. Instead of using the garage that I had emptied out for them, they used the master bedroom as a staging area. Setting tools and supplies on very thin painters plastic without any additional protection. Finishing nails were poking through the plastic and touching the furniture. Heavy objects were left on a memory foam bed for an extended period of time. The damages were minor and I was able to buff most of them out or use a furniture pen. But that should not be necessary and it increases the level of anxiety already experienced during a remodel. See images 11-12.
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