I hired C & M because I was impressed by their website, and pictures. Even though I saw reviews that were negative, I still gave them a try.
First off, they took about a week longer than originally said and didn't communicate the delay with me. I had to reach out to them for an update. This wasn't a big deal for me but something you should know if you're considering them.
Second, and this is where it all went bad -- the day they brought my doors and drawers back and lacquered my cabinet bases. Basically, the job is terrible. My cabinet doors and drawers are actually in worse shape now than before they touched them. I asked them to fill the hardware holes because we are going with a new style hardware. They filled the holes on the front of the drawers and doors but left them unfilled on the backside.
Every time you open the doors, you see holes that shouldn't be there. And this is a huge deal, especially since they touted they were the best and that my cabinets would come back better than from the factory.
In addition to this, my cabinets door and drawers actually have gouges in them that weren't there before. In fact, my cabinets were in perfect shape -- we only wanted to change the color from a stained wood to white.
And one of my doors has a slight crack now. Clearly attention to detail and true quality work is not in their wheelhouse.
On top of this, you can see through to my old cabinet color in some spots and there was a bunch of over-spray onto my new wood floors.
The biggest thing I noticed right away was that the doors and drawers they took with them are a slightly different shade of white from the cabinet base that they lacquered on site.
When I called and spoke to Craig Jr., and explained all the problems, he immediately got defensive and instead of telling me he would fix the situation, began to explain that they have time into my project and wanted to get the balance they were owed. Instead of going back and forth, I got off the phone and told him I'd call him Monday (This was a Friday). Later that night, Craig Sr. called me, and then called again the next day until I finally called him back.
He seemed very eager to fix the situation and wanted to come out right away to correct what was wrong. Said he wanted to use me as a reference and make me happy. I want to believe that he was genuine, but somehow I doubt he would of been that eager if I didn't owe a $2,000 balance.
I told him I'd think about what I wanted to do and would call him Tuesday of the next week. In the meantime, I had several people come over to look at the cabinets, including an independent company. The independent company told me the reason my cabinets felt like sandpaper was that the did not spray them in a "negative air" room. And they pointed out several other issues I didn't notice that would affect the longevity of the finish.
So the more days that went on, the more issues I saw with the cabinets. At this point I didn't feel like they were capable of fixing this. BUT, they tried to sue me in small claims court that was two hours away from me for the balance so instead of going through all of that, I let them come back to fix things. BIG MISTAKE!
Well, the cabinet doors are still a different shade of white than the cabinet base, some doors are a different shade of white from other doors and the cabinet base, there is over spray, and the lacquer rubs off semi-easily. I don't think the sanded the wood properly or primed the wood.
Well, I ended up paying them the balance, and that was a BIGGER mistake.
When I got home to see the "fix", I called and asked them to come back again to fix everything again, and they agreed to. Well, the day before they were to come out to fix things again, they called saying their shop got broken into and they can't come but that they would call in a few days to schedule a new day.
Three weeks later I had to reach out to them because I never heard from them again. Then it took me three days and three calls to get them on the phone. Finally we rescheduled a new day.
Two days before they were to come out for the third time, I called to confirm the time of day. No answer. I called both Craig Sr. and Craig Jr. over and over, even texting them. No answer. Then around noon on the day they were supposed to be at my house I called from another number and got them on the phone. They said to call them Monday as they were on a big job and could not make it.
Before I let Craig Sr. off the phone I asked what the color was and the brand of lacquer. Craig Sr. said it was from Sherwin Williams and he didn't have the color but it could be matched.
That's funny because I gave them the exact color to use and it's very obvious they did not use the shade of white I requested.
As I thought, they aren't eager at all to fix things after they are paid in full. Don't be a sucker like me and fall for their "I used to finish baby grand pianos" and "the nice guy sales pitch".
C & M Restoration Reviews
I hired C & M because I was impressed by their website, and pictures. Even though I saw reviews that were negative, I still gave them a try.
First off, they took about a week longer than originally said and didn't communicate the delay with me. I had to reach out to them for an update. This wasn't a big deal for me but something you should know if you're considering them.
Second, and this is where it all went bad -- the day they brought my doors and drawers back and lacquered my cabinet bases. Basically, the job is terrible. My cabinet doors and drawers are actually in worse shape now than before they touched them. I asked them to fill the hardware holes because we are going with a new style hardware. They filled the holes on the front of the drawers and doors but left them unfilled on the backside.
Every time you open the doors, you see holes that shouldn't be there. And this is a huge deal, especially since they touted they were the best and that my cabinets would come back better than from the factory.
In addition to this, my cabinets door and drawers actually have gouges in them that weren't there before. In fact, my cabinets were in perfect shape -- we only wanted to change the color from a stained wood to white.
And one of my doors has a slight crack now. Clearly attention to detail and true quality work is not in their wheelhouse.
On top of this, you can see through to my old cabinet color in some spots and there was a bunch of over-spray onto my new wood floors.
The biggest thing I noticed right away was that the doors and drawers they took with them are a slightly different shade of white from the cabinet base that they lacquered on site.
When I called and spoke to Craig Jr., and explained all the problems, he immediately got defensive and instead of telling me he would fix the situation, began to explain that they have time into my project and wanted to get the balance they were owed. Instead of going back and forth, I got off the phone and told him I'd call him Monday (This was a Friday). Later that night, Craig Sr. called me, and then called again the next day until I finally called him back.
He seemed very eager to fix the situation and wanted to come out right away to correct what was wrong. Said he wanted to use me as a reference and make me happy. I want to believe that he was genuine, but somehow I doubt he would of been that eager if I didn't owe a $2,000 balance.
I told him I'd think about what I wanted to do and would call him Tuesday of the next week. In the meantime, I had several people come over to look at the cabinets, including an independent company. The independent company told me the reason my cabinets felt like sandpaper was that the did not spray them in a "negative air" room. And they pointed out several other issues I didn't notice that would affect the longevity of the finish.
So the more days that went on, the more issues I saw with the cabinets. At this point I didn't feel like they were capable of fixing this. BUT, they tried to sue me in small claims court that was two hours away from me for the balance so instead of going through all of that, I let them come back to fix things. BIG MISTAKE!
Well, the cabinet doors are still a different shade of white than the cabinet base, some doors are a different shade of white from other doors and the cabinet base, there is over spray, and the lacquer rubs off semi-easily. I don't think the sanded the wood properly or primed the wood.
Well, I ended up paying them the balance, and that was a BIGGER mistake.
When I got home to see the "fix", I called and asked them to come back again to fix everything again, and they agreed to. Well, the day before they were to come out to fix things again, they called saying their shop got broken into and they can't come but that they would call in a few days to schedule a new day.
Three weeks later I had to reach out to them because I never heard from them again. Then it took me three days and three calls to get them on the phone. Finally we rescheduled a new day.
Two days before they were to come out for the third time, I called to confirm the time of day. No answer. I called both Craig Sr. and Craig Jr. over and over, even texting them. No answer. Then around noon on the day they were supposed to be at my house I called from another number and got them on the phone. They said to call them Monday as they were on a big job and could not make it.
Before I let Craig Sr. off the phone I asked what the color was and the brand of lacquer. Craig Sr. said it was from Sherwin Williams and he didn't have the color but it could be matched.
That's funny because I gave them the exact color to use and it's very obvious they did not use the shade of white I requested.
As I thought, they aren't eager at all to fix things after they are paid in full. Don't be a sucker like me and fall for their "I used to finish baby grand pianos" and "the nice guy sales pitch".