Creative Home Improvements

Got a referral to help us with the projects a first time home buyer would need on a house that was 40 years old. Co-​worker swore they were fair, quick, and able to do anything. They rattled off a number of diverse projects they had done for them over the years: roofing, window replacement, new addition to the home. Sounded good. Did I mention they were literally down the street from us? I love local — and liked the idea of working with someone right in the community we chose to live in.
We met after getting a few quotes on a roofing job. Loved the quote, and they seemed to understand our reservations as new homeowners in choosing materials and made recommendations to help us come to the right choice. Yes, they got the job — and did an outstanding job on our roof. Great price, quick service, local crew. What more could you ask for?
The next year, after saving up, we called them back in for a quote on two bathrooms. We needed tiling removed & replaced with a new drain pan in the shower, grab bars reinstalled for a handicapped relative who occasionally stays with us, a new sink and fixtures installed. The shower would be where the old one was. We purchased materials for all of the above. They suggested a new light fixture, which they could pick up for us. They pointed out that the shower handle needed another small amount of pipe installed. We trusted them to do this.
They said no job too big for them, and gave, what we thought, was a fair quote. Trouble started when the owner admitted that he had more than 1 job going at once, and he would put a new guy on the job. Reassured me that he would be checking up on things. He was complaining about the other client, an affluent person who was demanding. I wondered what he thought of us, and what he said about us to others. It was the start of my feelings of discomfort.
Husband was leaving the area on a job, and paid him in advance for the work. As someone who has worked on projects within homes, he asked me to keep my distance & let the professionals work. Huge mistake!
The home had excellent plumbing. We had a professional plumber friend inspect everything, and he noted that everything in place was in great shape. Told us some were pulling it out and replacing it with plastic as the copper was valuable, but that he wouldn’t touch anything. Fast forward: demo day on the first bathroom. They ripped out all of the perfectly good copper pipes, and «disposed» of them without asking. As I was trusting them to work, I did not take a look for a few days, and did not catch it.
The positioning of the fixtures matched where the copper pipes in the shower area. There was no reason to do this. I asked why they had been torn out & replaced. «That’s what we do,» citing that this is what everyone puts in these days. When I questioned why they did not re center the expensive think that we bought underneath the vanity, they said it «because you didn’t ask us to.» Would have seen the obvious thing to do, and easy as they had pulled out all the piping, right?
The tile work was the biggest disappointment. Sloppy does not begin to touch it. See attached photos. They tried to pull the heaters away from the wall to tile underneath it and caused a leak. I had to call in a professional plumber to repair this before they would continue as they were not up to the task. The plumber took a look at what they were doing and encouraged me to look elsewhere for the other bathroom.
Insult to injury, they didn’t clean up, and expected me, who was recovering from a back injury, to seal the tile work that they had completed as they were rushing to their next job. They promised to drop in later in the week to put in the grab bars, but never showed or called again. I later found out they had tossed out the grab bars we asked for them to save. The light fixture they had selected & installed began to rust within months. Classy.
We hired them because they came highly rated, and were in our community. I never would have considered that they would dump us for the «big job» in Stone Ridge for «demanding» clients, but they did just that.
Synopsis, if you have something that does not need attention to detail, such as a roof, go for it. If it is something that you want quality work evident when you look at it, up close, this is not the crew for you.

This company does the best work you can find in the area by far. They are prompt, thorough, and you can’t beat the fact that it is a local small business. They work hard to support the community so I support them. Check out their site to see some of their work you might see the work they did for me. I always recommend them to friends who need any work done.