A suburban man’s kitchen remodeling job went awry when newly installed tiles cracked not once, but twice. When he asked Home Depot to fix it a third time, he didn’t like the answer he got. So he called NBC 5 Responds.
His working years behind him, John Sorg was looking forward to spending time cooking in his newly remodeled kitchen. Instead, the recently retired Waukegan man says he spent time worrying about the cracks that popped up on the tiles of his kitchen floor four months after they were installed by Home Depot.
“I got down on the ground and I noticed cracks in the floor and they were running north and south,” Sorg recalled.
The work was still under warranty, so Sorg called Home Depot and asked them to send an inspector out to take a look. Which they did. Everyone agreed there was a problem.
"It wasn't done properly. So they said ok, we have to rip it up,” Sorg said.
Home Depot then sent the same installer back to re-do the job. Everything seemed fine, according to Sorg, until two years later. That’s when he looked down and couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“And I went oh man, you gotta be kidding me," Sorg said. “The grout was popping up from between the tile, the tiles were cracking.”
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The same problem, but worse: more cracks, chipped and missing grout and uneven floors. Sorg called Home Depot again and asked for a third new floor, but didn’t like the answer he got.
"And they told me well, we're going to replace a few broken tiles and then we will re-grout,” Sorg said.
Convinced the suggested fix was nothing more than bandaid, Sorg reached out to NBC 5 Responds.
"My mother actually was saying you should call NBC, I see them on there and they'll get it done, you know,” Sorg said.
After NBC 5 Responds reached out to Home Depot, the company did agree to replace the entire floor — for the third time — using a different installation team, a sturdier tile and a more expensive type of grout. Sorg estimates the new floor cost around $10,000.
"I couldn't have done it without you and I appreciate it,” Sorg told NBC 5 Responds. "You guys are a Godsend.”
Complaints against home improvement and remodeling companies are not unusual, according to the Illinois Attorney General’s office. More than 2000 were received in 2015, landing the industry in the number four spot in the top ten complaint categories.
In a statement, Home Depot told NBC 5 Responds it stands by its work and sticks with customers until the job is done right. The company said it appreciated the opportunity to do that for Mr. Sorg.
