The Basement Professor

Hiring the basement professor to do our paver patio was one of the worst decisions we’ve made as new homeowners. The job was slow (over two months to a complete project), done unprofessionally (the contractor challenged us on multiple occasions), and the work was shoddy.
The start to the project went smooth as a contract was drawn up, estimates were made, and a timeline was agreed to. We also chose our pavers and our paver design. Demo work was done in a timely manner. Then our pavers came in (Sep 30^th) and they weren’t the ones we ordered. We ordered an EP Henry paver called «Conventry I» and we received a «cobblestone» that turned out to be cheaper for our contractor. When we pointed it out to the contractor he had us point out the differences between the wrong paver and the right one (pictures in review). It was so unprofessional to challenge us that way and to put us in such an awkward position – and that was just the start of this nightmare project.
The contractor told us he made a mistake and would return the pavers. However we noticed that instead he mixed the incorrect and the correct ones up in the backyard. We noticed and after asking him several times he confessed to mixing them up hoping we wouldn’t see! From that point on we had to babysit the project — take off from work to stay home praying the employees would show up, and check in at lunch (to which we got an odd reply from the contractor that we kept weird hours).
Pavers were installed and being young, naïve, and trusting we paid for the project in full. The crew left a huge pile of trash next to our front door (pallets, wire, trashcan full of cement) and the following morning it rained… and it revealed all of the shoddy work that was done. These so called experts in patios never followed the steps of our contract nor the steps in basic paver installation. They didn’t tamp the land to lay level pavers. We reached out to the Basement Professor and it took us TWO MONTHS to get it fixed. Calls, texts, calls to the crew, calls to the contractor and calls to the home office were made. We emailed. Workers would be scheduled and not show up, we didn’t get call backs on our messages that we left with the office. It was horrible.
Besides the puddling in the patio and it not draining properly, the lines in the edge were crooked and curving, the dust that sits inbetween the pavers was missing in certain areas, the drain they installed wasn’t secured properly (it fell off the next day), the cuts done on the edge were done with the wrong tools and therefore weren’t uniform, and of course wrong pavers were used in areas that they tried to fix.
Simultaneously the excuses came rolling in. We heard from our contractor that there were several family emergencies, that he was «in the hospital and can’t even talk to you right now», that he was planning a funeral, that his warehouse was robbed, his truck was robbed, his home was robbed, that the entire crew and office came down with the flu and couldn’t get out of bed, that he was too irresponsible to take our job and he’d have to hand it to a family member, and of course that his baby was sick. He even told us that the reason for the bad work was because the crew was inexperienced… and later he told us they were unreliable (right after they were robbed) yet put those same inexperienced workers back on the job on the times they returned to fix the work!
Additionally in the demolition process the crew removed the concrete from the threshold of our door, which then was replaced with pavers. Thanks to the lack of tamping, leveling, and grading (all of which was contracted to) the threshold is no longer properly supported and we have a gap under the door. It’s great for letting the heat get sucked out from our cozy home and inviting in bugs and rodents.
Thankfully we kept excellent records, kept track of all communication (when returned) and the proof is in the pictures. In order to get the job finished two months later we had to threaten the company with a lawsuit. When the workers came back a few times the patio was left in worse condition (this was over the course of two months). The day the job was paid for we were left with an excess of pavers… when the crew came back they were gone. Also during the process our broom went missing, a metal brush scraper we use on paintbrushes (we’re home renovating after all), and I’m still looking for other possessions that have «disappeared».
Once the Basement Professor started deceiving us (week 1) I felt uncomfortable with him in my house and I felt unsafe. The amount of unprofessional-​ism and deceit was unacceptable and I would never ever recommend the company to family or friends.
**This is the same company on Girard Ave, aka their Fishtown location, so I posted my review there as well.**