LESTER NOWAK - OLYMPIC KITCHENS OLYMPIC FURNITURE, KITCHEN RENOVATION DISASTER! ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Illinois

18 MARCH 2011

Lester Nowak, Coordinator of Olympic Kitchen, presented himself as a capable, Sear's Sub-Contractor of 20 years, gave 3 good cabinet install references and had a BBB rating for us to look at (which listed a license number for/from ?).

He said that he could do the scope of the kitchen remodel and we volunteered to do the electric (our trusted source). He could do the removal of soffits, organize/order all the appliances, vent relocation and water vent for the sink. NO problem. He assured us it would all be taken care of and we wouldn't have to stress over anything. The contract was simple but eventually came undone at the end.

He did provide the ARISTOKRAFT cabinets we selected - Eastland in "saddle" color. He never quite had on him or sent over or gave us a kitchen remodeling drawing. He DID NOT order our list of appliances nor did he take their specs into consideration for his secretive drawing. The "contract" stated that OKitchens would provide all supplies and labor so as to install our cabinets. Initial payment was $5,850. When the cabinets arrived, we paid the next quarter; $2,925.

He asked for additional funds later and for payment of supplies and for a guy who came in to patch drywall - all without any receipts for us to see. His prep for install was not adequate and TWO other professionals judged the work to be a hack job. We took pictures of the problems along the way too. When asked to level the floor, he used trash as "shims" for cabinets. When asked to use plywood in the empty spaces where the old cabinets were, he yelled at us. When asked to meet the inferred deadline of March 3 at 12:30 p.m. for granite countertop measurements, he did not. He really wanted to get out of our project and in his rush used a toe-kick as a vertical "filler" between our stove and sink so the drawers would open without hitting the oven which projected out 28 5/16" instead of the regular 25"! OMG. When asked to meet the project deadline of March 4th at 1 p.m., he did not.

Critically understaffed / unmanned, Mr. Nowak was repeated asked by us to bring on additional help as it was apparent ONE person could not do this job. NO organization. ALL IN ALL, he did not complete the kitchen. He kept referring to his validation and employment with Sears (we have a case file open with them at present) and the corporate office can't find record of his employ. We checked with BBB, home improvement license and references before contracting him. BIG MISTAKE. We paid him $3,500 (a little above the remaining $2925.) to get him out of our home AND he did threaten us with a lien as he hadn't paid for the cabinets - that was a lie - or his friend, "John's" labor on drywall. Didn't the first line of the contract state, "..."Contractor", to furnish labor and materials necessary to install kitchen and/or bathroom cabinets..."?

And even a week after his departure from our home, ABT told us today that the stove hood couldn't be installed because Lester used a washer/dryer flex hose of 4" diameter when the vent should have been 6".  So NOW, we have to pay more to correct his mistakes.  

TOTAL DISASTER.

CAUGHT HIM USING TRASH TO SHIM UP CABINETS!

KITCHEN SINK ISN'T EVEN CENTERED ON THE WINDOW OR WITH THE NEW PENDANT LIGHT OR THE HEATING VENT!  

THE NEWLY DRYWALLED WALL IS BOWED and the GRANITE GUYS ARE AMAZED AT THIS POOR WORK.

LESTER DIDN'T EVEN PATCH THE FLOOR WHERE HE BROKE THE TILES.

PLEASE BE WARNED ABOUT THIS OLYMPIC KITCHENS / OLYMPIC SERVICES / OLYMPIC FURNITURE.