Cnh Construction

N J.

Looking back, it's hard to believe this actually happened.

Hired Hector to do some minor stucco, plywood and drywall repairs. Initially he was responsive, enthusiastic and seemed to be a great guy. His price was very high, but it was a small project, I wanted it done quickly, he was available so I gave him the go-ahead. All the signs were looking good, and then disaster struck.

Before he installed the plywood, I asked him to secure some metal nail plates over the studs. Essentially, these protect electrical wiring that is run within the studs from accidentally being penetrated once the wall is installed and someone doesn't realise where the wire is. The plates are metal strips so they stop any nails or screws from going through and damaging the hidden wiring. Everyone knows that nail plates should be installed with short screws. At least I thought everyone did.

After he finished for the day, we noticed problems with some of the electrical circuits. Eventually discovered that, instead of using short screws, he had used full length nails, long enough to reach and damage the very wiring that the plates are designed to protect! He managed to nick 3 circuits, so they had to be repaired. This is a mistake that not even the most inexperienced handyman would make. It shows a fundamental lack of understanding about basics of construction, not to mention common sense.

But it got worse. Since he'd already applied the plywood wall, I had to have him cut an access panel, so we could access the wiring to deal with the issues. Instead of using a shallow cutting tool, he decided to use a circular saw, cut too deep, managed to nick a 4th circuit, but even more seriously cut through the back of the main electrical panel. By cutting too deep, he literally came within a quarter inch of cutting into the main electrical bus bar, which was charged. According to my electrician, that would have caused an explosion that would likely have decapitated him and severely injured me as a bystander. Again, mistakes that even a rookie wouldn't make, showing at minimum recklessness if not outright incompetence. The irony is, while he was cutting. I questioned his use of the saw and offered him my multitool which has a shallow blade, but he said he was fine, had set the blade shallow and knew what he was doing, so I let him go ahead. Ended up having to get my electrician out to open up another part of the wall and fix 4 damaged circuits.

The icing on the cake, so to speak, was when I fired him and asked him to leave my property. He refused. Not because he wasn't paid, he already had $2500 and hadn't yet done that much work. Not because he left tools on my property, because he hadn't. He just simply refused to go! He then started yelling that I was threatening him, even though I was not, and if you saw us side-by-side you would see how ridiculous it is to think that anyone with my physique could threaten him. In any event, he decided to call the cops on me, not sure why. I called the cops too. When they arrived, they promptly established that I was not threatening him, and of course he had no right to remain on my property, so they escorted him off.

My neighbour came round afterwards, to tell me she heard what was going on and was truly dismayed for me. Part of me was looking around for a hidden camera, because this sort of thing generally doesn't happen in Orange County.

Anyhow, suffice it to say that I don't recommend Hector. He comes across as a nice guy initially, but the risks are not worth it.

Eileen K.

Hector just replaced our toilet. He was very thorough, came with an assistant, and was very personable. We had gotten higher bids, but his price was reasonable and I recommend him highly.

Lauri H.

We bought a house with an exterior door that had a half inch gap between the door and jamb making it easy to get open even when locked with the bolt. We contacted Hector at CNH to install a new door. When he looked things over he said that he could fix the framing on the existing door having us the cost of the (returnable) new door. He did a great job, the door is now secure and doesn't have a big gap. Hector was fast, cleaned up and saved us a lot over the cost and installation of a new door. Highly recommend.

Karly N.

Hector replaced an interior door for us and painted and made it brand new in a few hours. He did a great job!

Jennifer A.

My experience with Hector and his crew was very positive. His work ethic is impeccable and he demands the same of his employees. When Leo did the tile in the bathroom I was thrilled that he had so much pride in his work. Our bathroom remodel turned out very well and I'm quite happy with it. I will definitely call Hector for other jobs as they arise. I'm already making my list.

Cutberto H.

We are so happy we found Hector. We were so impressed with his work and the bid was so affordable that we were able to re-roof our home before the rainy season and remodel our children's rooms to copy styles we found on Pinterest. He can execute any design you show him.