Moss Building & Design

As expected, I called and emailed Carly M. and have received no response.

I am a very big fan of the work Moss does. I’ve had them do handyman tasks such as weatherproofing doors, repairing a broken screen door and correcting vents for upgraded bathroom fans I had installed. The work included running the ducting to new vents that Moss installed in the gable end of my attic. I’ve referred them to friends who had them correct water leaks in their sunroom and they were satisfied too.
This past fall we had them work with us to do a complete remodel of the first floor of our house. Work included complete demo of the kitchen, taking down walls, rerouting plumbing, installing new hardwoods & floor tile (not Moss), fixing a variety of problems that crop up in a remodel, and building out a mudroom off our kitchen. We threw a lot of additional work at them along the way and the Project Manager (always ask for Bob K.) took it in stride.
6 months later we’re happy as ever. For pics, go to their website and look for Fairfax Kitchen and Mudroom remodel or something similar.

I purchased 8 hours of a handyman thru an Angie’s List deal. Folks at Moss took care of my questions and told me they’d send someone named Stan. About four days before the appt, Stan called me. We discussed the day’s plan and material needed. On the day, Stan arrived on time and, frankly, made a difference by the time he left. It isn’t just the jobs that were done. It’s knowing every time I open certain doors, they’re fixed and working right, things are sealed that hadn’t been and my house is now just better. Stan was personable, a pro at all he touched, and helpful with his advice. If you need this kind of service, go for Moss. I will when the time comes again.

Let me start off by saying the final product was okay. The process? Horrible. It was 3.5 months longer than it should have been and resulted in a damaged hardwood floor.
When I started the project (redoing the tile in the foyer and kitchen, redoing the tile around the fireplace, adding a mantle over the fireplace, filling in some shelves with drywall over the fireplace to mount a TV, removing a large mirror — overall simple tasks) I was told this was a one week project. I thought that would be overambitious, but I was happy to hear it wouldn’t take months as I had anticipated. However, this one week project spanned four months because of Moss’ inability follow a plan, communicate, and keep their word.
The first red flag should have been that after they did the tile demo, they realized they hadn’t ordered new tile. I had provided the tile information weeks ago and Mark (the project manager who couldn’t manage) didn’t bother to order the tile. Once it was ordered, I received a call from Home Depot about a tile order because his team was unable to place the order and pick it up. I didn’t hire a contractor to order and pick up tile myself.
Shortly after the tile demo, I noticed our brand new hard wood floor had a number of scratches. The only explanation is that they DRAGGED the tile from the fireplace demo across the wood floor. We expressed our dissatisfaction and they promised they would fix it. Mark continued to promise they could fix it even though they took no action. Finally after all the other work was done (months later), this item remained. I scheduled a meeting with Mark. Instead of Mark, he sent a guy Terry. Terry was able to take care of the last few items for us, including repairing the wood floor. …which they fixed by coloring in. Which I could have done… If i had thought that was a reasonable solution. They finally agreed to deduct from the total bill to compensate for their poor work.
Do yourself a favor and find another contractor.

If I could give them no stars I would. After posting my first review of Moss, I received a phone call from Bob– he was very pleasant and asked the particulars about my displeasure with the tile they had installed. He agreed that the tile was not installed properly, wanted to know how much the new floor was going to cost, and felt there should be compensation from the company. He advised that he could not make a decision on what that compensation should be, but that he would get back with me, after several days, he called back and offered a «handyman for the day»… And said that was worth about $ 1000. I explained I don’t need a handyman for the day, and if it was worth $ 1000, than give me the money instead. Of course, he needed to consult with someone else, so he suggested having that person contact me. Several days later, I received a phone call from Paul. Paul insisted that customer service was very important to them and that a handyman was usually acceptable to most people. I once again explained that a handyman was not needed. He said he would get back with me… that was over a week ago. If you are going to reach out to people because of a review that they post on Unilocal and claim customer service is important to you, it should not take almost a month of phone calls with no result. You admitted your company was at fault, the floor cost over $ 5000 and lasted only 4 years… this is worth a handy man for a day? I was told I should have called Moss to replace it… why would I want a company who should have installed it right in the first place back to try and do it again?

We had been considering a kitchen remodel for years, but trying to figure out how to remove an unsightly bulkhead running through our kitchen always got in the way. Moss came up with a solution and oversaw a new HVAC system installation. Moss kitchen designer, Erin Hoopes, guided us through the process of choosing appliances, cabinets, fixtures and countertops and her expertise is apparent when you look at our completed kitchen — IT’S BEAUTIFUL. Our project manager, Marty Fletcher, was always very responsive to any questions we had and very accommodating when it came to changes we wanted to make. Marty always made us feel that our satisfaction was his number one priority. Terry and Lonnie did a fantastic job with the day-​to-​day work and their attention to detail was incredible. They cleaned up each day before they left, which meant a great deal to us, as we have kids and a dog. Speaking of our dog, the guys even took great care of our dog! Greg Ivie, the electrician, is the best you could ask for. He did so much wiring (including a new electric panel) and installed so many lights, fixtures, appliances, outlets and switches and it was all done perfectly. His knowledge of his trade is impressive. He even worked through one weekend when we were going to be out of the house so he could minimize the time the power would be off while we were home. Talk about great customer service — wow!

After I left three messages, they finally called me back and kept me waiting for six minutes while they presumably checked their calendar (couldn’t they have done that prior to calling?), only to tell me they didn’t have availability to give me an estimate for a month. It looks like business is good enough for them that they don’t have to take every lead seriously.

Moss came out to check a stain on our living room ceiling — we weren’t sure what was causing it. Frank the plumber came out and checked our master bathroom (which is above our living room) and the ceiling. He estimated that the issue was leaking from our master bath shower. He showed me why and how and answered all my questions about timing and cost. While there, I also asked him about a thumping noise we were hearing from turning our water on. He went through the possibilities and then did some quick checks. He discovered (correctly) that our PRV valve was not functioning correctly and would have to be replaced. That would require more work in our basement walls. All of this to say that Frank came out and fixed the PRV valve promptly (and saved us potentially $$$ from where it could have leaked). A few days later a Moss handyman came out to put in a new wall panel to cover the hole that the plumber had to create to get to the valve. We now have a nice panel that was created quickly and looks great and allows us to reach the main water shut off (s) easily. And, since the reason Moss’s plumber came out in the first place was to look at our living room ceiling, a Moss project manager came out and looked at the bathroom shower leakage issue. We agreed on a contract to fix the problem — we were told 4 days labor and minimal disruption. Not only is the bathroom fixed but personally I think it looks nicer and better than before (fresh tile, better drain, etc.) but the guys also fixed the living room ceiling drywall. All that I have to do is paint it! Overall, the work was done exceedingly well. When I had a question about the drainage placement, my project manager sent someone over immediately to look at it and fix it – Moss’s standards are very high, from what I can tell. I’d highly recommend them!

Moss called me on 3 days notice to cancel an appointment I scheduled 2 months earlier. Staff disregarded my explanation of how difficult it would be for me to reschedule.
On January 28 I called Moss and spoke with Linda, a member of the ill-​named Customer Care Team. I explained that I have a house in Arlington where I want the basement remodeled, and that scheduling a consultation is difficult because the property is rented. I further explained that the basement situation is «quirky» and would require someone with a real designer’s eye. She said Jason, one of the owners, would «by far» be the best person for the job.
Because we had to schedule around Jason, me, and my tenant, we set it up for March 26 — two months in advance.
On the afternoon of March 23 someone from Moss called me and said, «Jason has had something come up and has to cancel. Would you like to reschedule?» She also offered to have someone else keep the appointment instead of Jason. I pointed out that (a) I had scheduled 2 months in advance; (b) rescheduling is difficult because the house is rented, and © Linda had gone on and on to tell me that Jason was THE best person to help me design a remodel for a weird, quirky basement.
I felt that the Moss person didn’t care about my situation. She dismissed each of my concerns without truly addressing them. When I asked to speak to a manager she replied that all the managers would tell me the same thing. So I ended the call without resolution.
After thinking about it for a bit I called her back and asked to speak with Jason. Finally, she relented and said that it was a «family matter» that was causing him to cancel. Her tone make me think it was perhaps something grave and I started feeling guilty for pressing the point. I eventually got Jason on the phone and he explained that he did, indeed have a family issue in the sense that one of his family members wanted him to do something. It was far from urgent or bad and, in fact, he admitted that it was essentially just poor planning on their part.
After all of that Jason finally said he would keep the appointment if I really wanted him to, but not without a healthy dose of guilt thrown in. I decided that if he would be keeping the appointment reluctantly I may not get his best work product, so I politely declined.
Jason then proposed that I skip meeting with them and meet with an outside architect with whom they often work. On the upside I’d get actual architectural-​quality diagrams suitable to take straight to a builder. On the downside, I’m paying around $ 500 right out of the box rather than getting a sense of what the builder thinks is possible.
Since I was pretty disgusted with Moss by that point, I decided to take them up on their offer, meet with the architect and skip Moss. I’m sure I’ll get a quality product from the architect for my money, but the architect is limited in what designs he can give me because he has ideas that only a builder will know whether they can be done (like blowing a doorway in the wall of a bomb shelter).
I can’t believe that Moss called to cancel an appointment they’d made with me 2 months earlier. I’m deeply disappointed with the unprofessional way they went about canceling it. And I think it’s kind of crummy that Jason offered to keep the appointment — but only after letting me know how much it would interfere with his family plans. And now I’m paying around $ 500 for an architect’s designs (which I think will be very helpful) without knowing whether a builder can accomplish everything he suggested.

This is an update to my previous review, which, even though Unilocal hid it, encouraged Moss to reach out to me and make things right. Matt came out – unlike the original project manager – and reviewed the work that was done, found it lacking, and sent out people to fix it. I’m very pleased with Matt’s responsiveness – though puzzled by Unilocal’s burying the review so it wasn’t even listed – and I give Matt 5 stars. I’ve changed my rating of Moss from one star to three. As much as I’d like to give them four, I still feel that the shoddy project management and the extraordinary amount of time the original project took is something that Unilocal users should take into consideration. And I’d give Unilocal three stars, maybe two, for burying the review. What is up with that, Unilocal

Unfortunately my experience with Moss was much different than most others. They more than doubled the cost in the final bill without any warning or change orders sent to me to approve. I told them to cut off the budget when they provided a revised estimate in the last stage of the work, and then they jacked up the costs again — by 2x! The scope of the work never changed. They will not meet me half way or deposit my attempted payment for the amount I was told I would owe, and are threatening to send me to collections. Just an awful experience.

My goal is writing this review is to fully offer my highest recommendation for Moss Building & Design — if you are not convinced, then it’s a reflection of my writing, not Moss. We hired Moss to finish our basement. My wife and I had a grand design of a true family space — media area, play area for our young children, a sports bar, powder room, gym, and open up a walk up to the backyard. By the time we engaged Moss, we had met with other builders and felt comfortable with our design. After a false start with another contractor, we selected Moss to carry out our vision.
The construction industry has a well-​deserved bad reputation, and prior to Moss it was easy to see why — other contractors missed appointments, provided us with bids that were so high compared to others I think they thought we were «marks» or bait & switched their contract pricing.
There will almost always be issued with any construction project; they are practically unavoidable. The issue however is not what goes wrong, but how it handled and addressed? In this area, Moss (and specifically our PM, Bryon, was superb. Any minor item (we were fortunate to not have any major issues at all) was always addressed timely and to our satisfaction, even things that were our fault.
Moss works clean too — the entrance way from our front door to our basement was always covered in plastic and each night they left our house in great condition.
Everyone, and I mean everyone we dealt with was a total pro — from our Customer Care Manager Jodi to the Project Manager Bryon and all of the craftsmen who worked on our project were simply amazing.
Specifically, here are some of the things that highlight the type of people you get with Moss:
In installing additional switches, Blake moved the one for the furnace and air conditioning so it would not be turned off accidentally
We had a ceiling fan and light installed in the gym, and the switch had labels for «fan» and «light» — just a detail others may not have done
There would have been a loss of space under the stairs, except Jeremy suggested putting in a storage door to makes it accessible
I selected a faucet for the bar and later wasn’t sure I liked it, and Bryon told me anytime I wanted to switch it, he would do it for me
Our kitchen garbage disposal was not working properly and Danny fixed it in 2 min (completely unrelated to our project, so he went over and above the job)
Our yard was badly torn up from the walk up installation and Bryon insisted on making it right, despite clear language in the contract they were not responsible
One shelf in the bar area sagged a little bit, and Jodi insisted on having it fixed. This was 6 months after the job!
Bottom line, my family and I have the basement of our dreams and the project could not have gone any better. Learn from my mistakes — call Moss Building & Design first, and you will not be disappointed!

We used Moss Handyman Services and couldn’t be happier. For our project — creating a fireplace mantle — they sent us Dolan. He could not have been nicer, was good with my kids and pets, and knows his stuff. He completed the project in about 8 hours — including the time it took for him to get some of the materials for the project (we had not planned it in advance, it would take less time if we had. Our fault!). He was very polite and helpful, and cleaned up afterwards. We liked him so much that we’ve already referred him to friends. They were great to work with — I highly recommend!

Moss did a wonderful kitchen remodel for us. I would hire them if we need something else. They do not nickel and dime you.

We were having electrical problems ever since we bought our house. Mainly outlets that would mysteriously stop working, buzzing from our electrical panel. All said it needed to be replaced but couldn’t give me a great explanation as to why — other than it was old. I called Moss over and the electrician very clearly explained that sometimes the breakers would try to connect to the bus in the panel and could not connect because they were loose (and old) and that was causing the buzzing in the panel. So not only could they explain what the issue was, but also the cost for replacing the panel was about half of what other electricians wanted.
I have to say I feel like I finally found a company I can go to for anything that needs to be fixed in the house — big or small. I had my electrical panel replaced and they came out quickly, on time and finished on time. They offer home services beyond just renovations and I will be calling them again.

My husband and I tend to ‘do-​it-​ourselves’ but some things we can’t, or shouldn’t, do anymore. Our biggest fear when we considered handyman services for our portico repair, was becoming victims of some flaky fly-​by-​night operation. We wanted to get 3 estimates for this project, and Moss was the only one that came out immediately, and provided an estimate the day after Nathan came to look at the damage. The others took several days to send their proposals, which were not very clear in the details. Not only was the Moss estimate in the mid-​price range and reasonable, but it was a very professional and detailed proposal. At ALL times I felt that Moss staff were available and responsive to my requests and inquiries. I highly recommend Moss Home Services to anyone who values professional, reliable, follow-​through at a reasonable price.