Shadowhill Custom Wood Studio

My situation was unique. Rick had to tear out a mess, and make some changes. The process was frustrating, no fault of his. He struggles finding good help, because nobody wants to work. He is willing to teach this trade that will be a thing of the past. Be patient and give him grace. His work is beautiful and worth the wait for sure.

On January 8, 2021, I contracted with Rick Wallis owner of Shadowhill Custom Wood to make me a corner kitchen nook wall bench and table along with a separate bench for 3850.00. I had to pay around 50% down and we agreed that the work would be completed by the end of February. He measured and provided me with a very rough concept drawing but it had no details or measurements. It was not until the last minute that he let me know he was not finished and had a laundry list of excuses. I asked for my money back several times and he would not refund, said he didn’t have the money. I made a visit to his shop and sure enough he had done nothing. He had been lying to me all this time. The first part of May he came and installed the wall corner bench. It was not 100% what I was expecting and the color of the stain was not the color of the sample he provided to me. Both the table and the bench are too long, not to scale with the wall bench. The legs on the table wobble, stick out to far and are a tripping hazard. The bench is easily one foot too long and the very worst part it is the table and bench are a totally different color than the wall bench. . It looks ridiculous and I am embarrassed to have it in my home. It is very clear that while he may be a cabinetmaker he is NOT and I repeat he is NOT a furniture maker. He is a very poor communicator and so much of this could have been prevented if he would have asked questions, asked for clarification, sent me pictures when I asked for them and taken the time to design out the work. Had he built the pieces within the same timeframe he would have seen they weren’t to scale and that the stains did not match. He is a nice person I think but this has honestly been one of the worst, most frustrating experiences of my life. I asked him to fix the color and he said it wasn’t possible which of course it is, you strip it and re-stain to match but he didn’t offer to do so and at this point I am mentally and physically exhausted and just needed to pay him the rest of the money and be done with it. I will have to hire someone to refinish the table and side bench which will cost me even more money but I cannot have this in my home, estimates so far is over 1000.00 to fix, it is embarrassing that I have put myself in this situation. I trusted him and that he could do what he said and that was my mistake. His business is struggling and he is unreliable and not a man of his word. He blames everything on something other than himself and has a hard time telling the truth about where he is with things. If you don’t care about a delivery date and very little communication and only want cabinets made he can probably do that but if you are looking for reliability, honestly and quality furniture find yourself someone else. Post another review

We contracted with Rick to build custom kitchen cabinets for our home in September of 2019 and paid a 50% deposit. Rick estimated they would be complete by the end of November. He didn’t even begin work until December and then had to ask me for more money because he had spent my deposit already and didn’t have the funds to pay his bills and buy materials. More months, more excuses, and more draws later, he was finally mostly finished in March of 2020, three months late. Despite still owing us a spice rack and an upper and lower cabinet, I went ahead and paid the remaining few hundred dollars and paid him a 50% deposit to build a bookshelf and reskin a laundry chute. The work he did complete was beautiful and, while he was slow, he did eventually get it mostly done. Months went by and it was a never-ending string of excuses. Finally, after a whole year of waiting, we had enough and gave him an ultimatum a month ago: give us our money back, finish what we’ve paid for, or we’re taking you to court. Rick has still refused to complete a single item that he owes us and has left us with no choice but to sue him. It’s such a shame, because, what could have been a wonderful representation of his work, is marred by being incomplete and us having to take him to court to get our money back.