Full "take it to the studs" remodel of approximate 400 square foot kitchen / dining room area, included upgraded electrical and plumbing, new cabinets, countertops, floors, and high end appliance installation (not all of this was completed -- see below).
.The very first thing you should know about Dean Geary is this: He is not a licensed general contractor. While the license number he uses to prove his credentials may be valid, please, please take the time to telephone the Contractor's State License Board and speak to someone in person. You will find out that the license number may be registered to the Dean's business. But you will also find out that the CSLB does not recognize Dean as a general contractor, as it belongs to the general contractor who owns it -- who is someone else entirely. As of the date of this review, license number 926901 is owned by Brian Curran dba Brian Curran Electric Company, which was inactivated on November 5, 2012. If, after you have done that, you are still interested in doing business with Dean and Wendy Geary, I offer the below information. You will likely meet Dean at a home show, farmer's market, or other place where a booth can be bought and a sales person can attend. He will have some very large books containing photos of some beautiful kitchens. You may be struck at how earnest he is. Yes, you might think, he does have that salesman-type way of talking. But he seems like he really wants to earn your business, and seems so sincere. So you meet with him and a few other contractors. And because you might actually begin to like him, and are sucked in by the prospect of a quick turnaround time (because who wants to be in construction any longer than you have to), you decide to give Dean your business, and hand over a $1,000 check for your deposit. This is where things start to go wrong. First, what has he told you? if it's anything like what he told me and my husband, and the other clients I have spoken to, it's this: 1. He's fully licensed and bonded; 2. Your job will take 5 weeks -- 6 weeks, "TOPS." If it's any longer than that, he'll pay you $100 per day; 3. He will never raise your price. Once a price is set, it won't change. He won't come back to you for more money; 4. He uses no sub-contractors. He has a cabinet shop and a granite shop in San Jose. The only thing he does not do is HVAC and roofing. Everyone working on the job is "my guys" ; 5. You are his most important job, and he will be personally on-site every day. As you might guess, all of the above are lies. After the first unofficial quote, the written estimate came back 15% more (this was after the "I will not change my price" speech). We actually figured this was okay, because the original estimate provided seemed much too low and was more in line with the other quotes we received. After he brought out the cabinet guy and Brian Curran*, the quote was then raised another $2,000.00. We okayed this, as well, because we did want extensive cabinet work. (**Brian is brought in as the "electrician." But you are never told the license belongs to him. And although I will let Brian speak for himself, it is my personal belief that Brian is a standup guy that was suckered in by Dean like the rest of us. In fact, although I have fired Dean, Brian is doing everything that he can to ensure that the job is completed correctly and to my satisfaction.) Now we're ready to go. Demolition takes place approximately 2 weeks after we hand over our first $15,000 payment. That evening, we receive a call from Wendy, Dean's wife (as of this date, Wendy Geary is listed as CFO / Owner of Bay's Best on LinkedIn). Our kitchen is taken down to the studs. Everything is out. Flooring ripped up, sheet rock torn out. Nothing. It is in that state that we hear that Wendy has made a mistake on our contract and the job is actually $5,800.00 more. To be fair -- she seems genuinely upset. But we did wonder about the timing of all of this. After sleeping on this for a night, we were able to work out a compromise -- bottom line, it would cost us another $1,200.00. In reality, however, they recovered much more than this, because they padded some of the other numbers. So we proceed. I won't go into more, because this review has to end some time. But I will say this -- 1. He instructs his workers to rush to milestones without completing the necessary steps so he can pick up checks per the "contract"; 2. He is never on the job and has no idea what is going on; he will quote you the cost to put in the cheapest materials, and despite stating that any additional cost to upgrade at his cost, he charges a double or triple markup; 3. You find the above out because you find those same boxes at the local Home Depot, because that is where he shops; 4. He makes his workers front the money for materials or demands that you pick them up yourself. 5. He collects money for work up front, but pays his workers for work done in arrears. 5. Firing him was like a bad break up. It was a 45-minute conversation filled with stern words on my part, and promises to change, manipulation and begging to reconsider on his. After you do so, he will threaten to file a lien on your home, even though you have [over]paid him for work that has not been completed. 6. Yes. I have a complaint with the CSLB pending. It is now the middle of the 12th week, right before Thanksgiving, and my extended family just might be going out to celebrate it for the first time ever.
