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Expo Bathroom Remodeling Projects

Expo Design Center • Bathroom remodeling • Kitchen remodeling • Other remodeling • Flooring • Installation foul-ups • An installer's view • Refunds & exchanges • Customer service • Returns/refunds • Low-price "guarantee" • Contractors' advice • Insider's view

Stuart of Fort Worth TX (12/30/03):
We remodeled a bathroom and used a designer who recommended a local hardware store to order plumbing and sink fixtures as well as subcontractors to do the work. While visiting the Expo store, we got a quote on the Hansgrohe shower fixtures, two sinks, a toilet, silestone vanity sink countertop, and the Grohe vanity sink fixtures. The price was about the same as the hardware store but Expo guaranteed that their subcontractors were trained to install their products and they guaranteed their work. So, we were sold on the one stop, one shop concept and went with Expo.

When the first plumber showed up late in the afternoon to do the rough-in work, he proceeded to drip solder and flux on our bedroom carpet. After speaking to the Project Coordinator, we replaced him with a second plumber to do the finish out work. When the second plumber showed up he was in a hurry to get in & out. The first morning we used the completed bathroom, both vanity sinks leaked and my wife discovered that the temperature control Hansgrohe shower fixture could not produce hot water. I pulled out the literature on the Hansgrohe fixture, read it, got my tools and opened up the fixture and calibrated the thermostat so that it would produce hot water. Then, I took my tools, got under the sink and tightened the drain fixtures to stop the leaks. Apparently the plumber was in such a hurry he never checked any of his work.

Earlier, when the "carpenters" arrived to install the silestone countertop, they did not finish the job on their first visit. My wife and I were entertaining guests that evening and when we arrived home, our unfinished master bathroom was a total mess. But, the real insult was that one of the "carpenters" used a chewing tobacco product and left a cup of spit and tobacco in the shower which had overturned and stained the tumbled marble flooring we had just installed. Plus, these guys never swept up the sawdust and scrap 2X4s on the bathroom floor. When I looked under the counter to inspect their work, I discovered that they could not cut a 2X4 straight or nail the sink braces at right angles. A six year old with a toy hammer could have done a better job than they did.

I called and complained to the project manager and one of the "carpenters" showed up and picked up the tobacco product and cleaned the shower floor but failed to sweep up the rest of the mess. But wait, it doesn't end here.

Within a week, the outside wall containing the shower fixtures began to show signs of water damage. Then, the fresh paint on baseboard began to peel as if it was water damaged. I called my paint contractor and he said peeling paint is a sign of water damage. I next called the tile guy who came to the house and filled the shower stall with water to inspect the shower pan to see if it leaked. It did not. Then we cut a hole in the dry wall about where the shower spray head was located and discovered that the plumber had not used teflon tape or plumber's putty to connect the shower head pipe to the plumbing. It leaked water everytime the shower head was operated.

I called the project manager who told me he would have to check with his manager to authorize repairs. At this point, my patience was exhausted. I explained to the project manager that I would contact my plumber, my drywall person, and my painter and that when they completed the repairs, they would send their bills to Expo for payment. I suggested that if his manager didn't like that proposal, we could go to small claims court and see how a judge might look at the situation. Then next day he called and said that his manager had approved my proposal.

The irony of the leaking shower and damaged wall was that the bathroom remodel was initiated due to defective remodel work done 7 years earlier. When the tile guy confirmed that the water damage was not due to a leaking shower pan, I had to laugh, because the alternative was to start crying. So, the only satisfaction I have now is to write this story only to warn others, if you think Expo can supervise your remodel project, think again. I would NEVER recommend anyone use their services. What a shame because their stores do carry some very nice products. You would be a fool, however, to believe any of their claims about installing their products.

Allen of Fair Oaks CA (10/29/03):
I recently placed a special order for ceramic tile for a bathroom remodel from Expo. When I asked about the procedure for notifying me when the order comes in and picking up the tile it was indicated that they would call me when it came in and that it would be delivered to my residence. I assumed this was a free service as I did not request delivery.

If I would have been aware of the deliver charges I would not have purchased the tile at the Expo Center. There are many tile outlets in Sacramento and surrounding areas that have comparable or higher quality tiles at competitive prices that do not have a manditory delivery and charge for special orders. During this year I made thousands of dollars in purchases (cabinets, appliances, building materials etc.) from the Home Depot Stores I have never had to pay for a manditory delivery charge. The policy of no option on delivery of tile should be amended.

Bill of Winnetka IL writes (3/27/02):
Oh my, I wish I knew about this site before I contracted with Expo to remodel both of my bathrooms. At first, my wife and I thought it was a great concept Expo was proposing. They would assign an interior designer to help map our bathrooms and pick out the material for both the rooms and in addition to the interior designer, we will have a project supervisor to act as a liaison between ourselves and the contractor.

To have an idea of the timeline we experienced, we started in July. Scheduling the visit with the interior designer, took us about 3 weeks. Once we met, we were able to pick all the items for the bathrooms. We waited another 3 weeks for a quote, and since we did not hear back, we called and were informed the interior designer no longer works in this location. They apologized for the lack of notification, and assigned a new person.

We received the quote 2 weeks later. Everything looked fine, now we had to wait for the labor quote. That took another month, since Expo�s contractor was too busy to see the house at an earlier date. All right, took another 2 weeks to receive the labor quote. Material cost and labor cost were within reason and decided to move forward with Expo.

They asked for the entire amount up front, which we were a little suspicious about the request�but paid it. They told us, once we paid, work would start within a month and assigned a Project Coordinator to work with. Two weeks after we paid, we were told the material wouldn�t arrive on time, so they had to delay the start date by 2 months. We tried to get some of the money back, but the manager said he couldn�t do anything since we didn�t pay using their credit card. I guess it�s our fault for paying up front.

During the month of December, we were informed the construction is delayed again, and cannot start until January. Oh, by the way, our Project Coordinator was reassigned to a different Expo facility and we were assigned a new individual. Since my wife was due in January (we wanted the bathrooms done before the arrival of our son) we had to push it into February. During the month of January, Expo reassigned a new Project Coordinator and told us the start date of our project is Feb 25th.

My wife called the Project Coordinator in February to make sure everything was a �go� and was informed by the Project Coordinator that he was being reassigned to a different department, which was good for us, since he stated he was never trained to be a Project Coordinator. Oh brother. Our new Project Coordinator arrived at our house, unprepared, and wanted to know what we were doing to the bathrooms.

After a heated discussion, the Manager of Expo called and said everything is on schedule and the work should be done in two weeks. When the contractor showed up to start, he informed us the project would last until April 2nd. Expo misread the project calendar. Two weeks was the scheduled inspection, not the completion date. Unfortunately, the contractor didn�t have an idea about the building codes within the township and didn�t adhere to the plumbing guidelines. We had to pay extra since the additional work was outside the scope of the project. The due date is still April 2nd, let�s hope for the best.

For two bathrooms, this project started in July and will be completed in April. Ten months!! I think the concept is sound, but their execution is just terrible. I would never, never use Expo again.

Damage Resulting
Let's see. Had to pay an extra $2500 to replace the plumbing. Another $1000, to fix the holes in the walls where the plumber had to access the pipes. Emotional distress for my wife, who was pregnant.

Naomi of Santa Monica CA (7/29/02):
Our $12,000 bathroom remodel experience started in January 2002 when we went to Expo and asked them about doing our bath remodel. At this point we were told that they were exceedingly busy and wouldn't even be able to do an initial design for another 6 weeks. We weren't particularly pressed for time so we made an appointment for the beginning of March. We did walk round the store at this point with one of the designers and choose some tiles and fittings.

In early March we went back and paid the $750 retainer and walked around with the same designer that we saw in January and picked out exactly the same things again. Nothing much happened for a while and then we called and were told that everything had been restructured and that our designer no longer worked for the company, after a few more phone calls we were assigned a new designer and we had to go through the picking everything out phase yet again. Eventually we got some drawings and quotes for materials and labor.

We ordered the materials and arranged for a pre-construction meeting, we are now into Mid-June (6 months after our initial contact with Expo). At the pre-construction meeting everyone turned up late, we tried to get a time frame for the job, one person told us 3 weeks and someone else told us 6 weeks. Now this bathroom is very small (it has a toilet, shower stall and sink with vanity which includes one set of drawers) we were getting everything taken out, the shower was going to be tiled, floor tiled, new vanity and sink, new mirror, recessed lighting and painting. This did not sound like 6 weeks but we�d already paid the full amount so didn�t have much choice.

We were leaving to go on vacation back to England at the end of June and didn�t want the contractors in the apartment while we were away. Expo contacted us and told us that the demolition would only take a couple of days and could they do the demolishing and fit the cabinets before we went away, so that the countertop could be measured up and would be waiting for us when we got back. This sounded fine to us and it would finally get things moving, a lock box was fitted on our gate with a set of keys inside and the contractors started work on 6/25. 2 days later when we were due to leave the demolition was half done, no vanity fitted and no counter top measured.

I called Expo and the project supervisor told me they would carry on while we were away, I told him that wasn�t acceptable as we have cats and I didn�t want to lock them up, he�d just assumed they could carry on even though I�d explicitly said no. On 7/9 they go back to work. Within a couple of days we have the first flood and come back to find most of the toilet roll, all the paper kitchen towels and a hand towel from the kitchen have gone missing. We presume there has been a little water accident but there is no note and when we call the project supervisor he knows nothing about it.

3 weeks into the job we have the second flood and come home to 2 messages from our HOA to say that there is water pouring into the garage below our apartment. Again I call the project supervisor who knew nothing, call the contractor who knows nothing, the contractor eventually gets back to me and says that the people working on the job have been fired, he�s going to put new people in and everything is going to be back on track. During this time a copy of our front door key goes missing from a coffee table, again no note and nobody knows anything about it. Eventually we get a story about the key falling off the key ring that they had and them not being able to find it so they just take another one!

We complain again and Expo seems surprised that we want to get the locks changed, but do agree and say that the contractor will pay the bill. We delay getting them changed (a big mistake) as we�re really busy at work. On Saturday 7/27 we discover that our digital camera ($572.25) has gone missing, this camera has all the pictures from our vacation on it. I call the project supervisor and designer a few times over the weekend and speak to 2 different store managers. Nobody seems to know what to do, we�ve had no real apology and all the store manager seems to want is the receipts for the camera. So we got the locks changed ($138) and spend the entire weekend worrying about what else may have gone missing.

It�s now Monday morning (7/29) I had to call the project supervisor, he�s told the current construction company that they are off the job, and he�s still trying to find other people to complete the work. The store manager calls and leaves a message to say that she is still looking into the matter. 17 days worth of work and 6 1/2 months after this all started and we have a vanity unit that already has a couple of chips in the door, a sink where the plug doesn�t work, a shower base with small seat constructed and some new pipes for the shower and a partially replaced heat-venta-light.

Anne of Crownsville MD writes (1/18/02):
After signing the "Project Design Process" contract with Home Depot where we agreed to pay $750 retainer for the assistance of Ms. Marcus to design our 4 bathrooms in our new home, we found that the Expo refused to honor their own contract in that they would not give us the bathroom drawings, layouts, artist renditions for our bathrooms despite the fact that the contract specifically states that once we pay the retainer AND spend $5000, we can get those drawings UNLESS we are in a kitchen design, and must first pay for the cabinets.

Well guess what? Despite the clear language of the contract, and despite the fact that we had a BATH design, NOT kitchen, the EXPO would not release the drawings. We spent $6600 in fixtures and they wouldn't release the drawings. I stopped our future order of several more thousand dollars until Kitt, of the EXPO New Jersey office, at 732-926-2928 got involved.

Still, all of the higher-ups refused to release the drawings, saying that they don't want to be held "legally responsible" if someone built the bath based on the drawings. Other design centers simply put a disclaimer on their designs saying that they are "artist renderings". I had to complain to five different people, all saying that despite the contract I was wrong. In fact, I was told that it wasn't a contract but something given to me to sign to indicate that I understood what the process was.

I'm an attorney, my husband is an attorney, we understood our rights, but were told that EXPO's poilcy was that we can never get the drawings. In the end, I had to sign a waiver that I wouldn't sue EXPO if we built our bathrooms based on their designs. (Remember, I already had their technical drawings as to where the drains should go, where a sink hole/pipe should go).

Additionally, their prices are great on plumbing items like sinks, faucets, tubs, but their prices on cabinets are outrageous. For a double vanity for our master bath, they wanted $4000 for an 81 inch long cabinet. For our son's two vanities, one 36 inches wide and one 30 inches wide, they wanted between $1600 and $2200. For tile, they charge $7.50 to install floor tile, and $11.00 to install wall tile. Most reputable tilers through tile stores charge between $3.50 and $5.00 per square foot.

Waste of time, rude and uneducated help. My design person always made comments like she was going out of her way to make an appt. with me, or that she stayed up until midnight working on my plans--like she was doing me a favor and not that it was a business relationship.

Linda of Vallejo CA (1/11/02):
My $10,000 marble bathroom installation project began the first of June 2001. I am requesting a full refund at this time for all materials and labor. My bathroom project was approximately 100 sq feet of marble tiles installed on the floor, the shower pan, the entire shower from floor to ceiling and from the floor halfway up the wall behind the toilet and another wall adjacent to the shower.

The tiles were breaking when they were cutting them to size and caused a shortage of materials. I reordered the tiles to replace the damaged tiles THREE TIMES causing delays over a month. The contractor stated there was a weakness in the tiles causing the breakage. I found many cracked tiles that had been installed. The cracked tiles were replaced and regrouted. After inspecting the installation again, WEEK AFTER WEEK, I found more cracked tiles.

After each replacement and regrouting, there was more damage. The grout is now at least three shades of grey due to the reinstallation and regrouting. On September 1, 2001 there were still several cracked tiles and three chipped tiles on the floor caused from the domino effect of replacing damaged tiles. After three months of disruption and damages, I had to put a stop to the fiasco. Every time they repaired damages, they made more damages. It is possible that this repair process could have continued until the entire bathroom was replaced.

Shelley of Plano, TX, writes:
On 9/24/99, my husband and I contracted with the Plano, TX Home Depot Expo store for a bathroom design and remodel project. As of 1/ 13/00,we are still not complete, still waiting on some products that are on order (which were originally ordered wrong) and various other cosmetic things.

However, the main issue at this point is that we have a sink that leaks and bathtub pipes that leak in 2 places. I called and reported this to my project manager who left a message on our home recorder sometime Tuesday (We received it late on Tuesday night because we work.) that our contractor would be out sometime on Wednesday.

Didn't give a time estimate and didn't ask if this would work with our schedule. However, we scrambled to change work meetings, obligations, etc. to accommodate this because we have company coming to stay with us for 3 weeks and really want at least the leaks fixed.

All morning my husband was home and no one showed or called. This is the 3rd time we've had an incident like this! Still haven't heard from our project manager and won't unless I call.

We have spent $14,000 on this project! We had to pay all of this money up front before they would start the project so we feel like we don't have much leverage. We actually had lower bids from others but decided to pay more and go with Home Depot for the "service and reliability". We regret the decision and are wondering how many more missed appointments will occur before we get a completed project. We're totally stressed out over this and with having to miss so much work and it's still not over.

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