Testimonials

Dramatic Update

Steve did a complete gut and replace of my kitchen 1.5 years ago, a $60K job. Steve did demolition, including moving a wall, hardwood floors, plumbing, electric, tile work, and all installation of cabinets, appliances, etc. Work was done on budget and on-time, and it was a pleasure to work with Steve throughout the process, including the 2 months he was in the house daily. Only problems were things like our cabinet supplier giving him some wrong measurements, and Steve dealt with the guy directly and made certain all issues were resolved quickly and appropriately. Steve was good at keeping the worksite (and rest of house) as clean as possible and also at making certain that we knew what was going on and that all the decisions we needed to make were decided on time so that he could do what he needed to do as well. So, in my view, very good management of the project overall and an excellent result.

It’s important to think about the subs who will do flooring, electric, plumbing, tile. All of the people Steve brought in were top notch. My sense in general is that Steve, even if he does things as inexpensively as possible, is especially committed to doing things not only right but at a high level of quality. This shows in the materials he insists on using as well as in his own craftsmanship and in that of the subs he uses. Our floor came out beautifully, the tile work is impeccable, and we have gone back to Steve’s electrician to do other work for us.

In all, I recommend Steve very highly. He would be my top choice for any future work we have done in the house.

 

Steve is honest and lives up to his word

We were very satisfied with Steve’s work. He pays attention to detail. He 
works well with the client, and he refuses to accept schlock. No cheapo 
fixtures or cabinets etc. If you’re looking to cut some corners, Steve might
 not be for you. He is stickler for doing the job right. 

Steve is honest and lives up to his word.

We had one expensive damage issue
- the painters severely scratched new and very expensive porcelain sink by
 leaving their paint scrapers in the basin. Steve made them make good on it, which required a new sink and a redo for the plumber as well, which he
 absorbed. He was careful about cleaning up, though there’s no way to avoid some dust 
and muss. The finished product was very satisfactory. There were some redos
 on paint finish which were redone without issue. He was always available when we had an issue and we stayed on a “reasonable 
time line.”  We’ve previously had contractors who disappeared for weeks or months on end
 without a trace. Sometimes things went more slowly than we hoped, often due 
to inspection and permitting issues. But for the most part we stayed close
 to our original schedule, especially given that we kept adding things as
 time went on. I cannot speak to budget exactly since the project took on a life of its 
own. Every open wall is an opportunity to do something else. But things 
always cost what he estimated, it’s just that we kept adding on and on and
 on…

Full disclosure: we know Steve personally, so we thought long and hard about
 doing business with an acquaintance. We worried about having to ask for
 redos or complaining about things. Everything was up front and 
above board with Steve, though we had few complaints. Hope this helps

 

A Place to Swing

Steve’s work is excellent. The work that he did for us involved having insulation blown into the walls, a complete stripping of the existing shakes, sealing the exterior of the house with solid foam insulation followed by Hardie Board clapboards. In addition to that work, we had new windows installed on the ground floor (with the old sash weight cavities filled in with foam). We also had an existing (and quite horrible) concrete porch removed and a new mahogany deck put on, including new stairs and railings, and we had a new basement bulkhead built.

We learned some ‘interesting things’ about our 100 year old house as the work progressed, as one might expect. For example, there had been a fire (probably around 1930 or so) that involved the front of the house. This likely was the root cause of the concrete porch that had been added around that time. In the 1950s or 60s, when a new top pad was poured, however, the drainage was neglected. Over the next 50 years this caused the sill across the front of the house to rot away. We discovered this during the demolition for the new deck. Steve’s solution for replacing the sill was very effective, and saved us the considerable extra expense that would have ensued from needing to jack up the house. These sorts of surprises always come up with old houses – but Steve was completely up front about any extras (such as the new sill), and we never had any problems with negotiations over the costs.

We used our yard for the material, and Steve was quite gentle with the landscaping around the house. We expected some damage to the front lawn – and had our expectations met It’s recovered this year and is equally as bad as it was before the construction.

The work took slightly longer to complete than we originally thought, but some of this was due to the weather (which will not be a problem for an indoor job), and such things as the sill. We stayed in the house throughout the project (with one 10 day vacation) and there were no problems.

The house looks great (we just had it reappraised for a re-fi and it came in higher than we had thought). Our heating bills this past winter were just a bit over half of what they were last year.

Overall the quality of the work was very high. The work- site was always cleaned at the end  of every day. Steve was very easy to contact when he wasn’t on site. His crew always showed up as scheduled and did a thorough job.

We’re planning on doing our kitchen and bathroom as soon as we can afford it. I wouldn’t consider having anyone other than Steve do the job. I recommend him unconditionally.