Review from Mike R.
Published:over 12 years ago
Prior to this job, I had never hired a general contractor to work on my home or property. I had either done the work myself or hired sub-contractors to do work beyond my abilities (ie ? masonry). I took time in finding someone I thought I could trust and who seemed truly interested in the job. I signed a contract with Renew Concepts in late July. Initially, Mark planned to complete the job by the first week in September. Work did not begin until the second week in August, but this was expected. Mark started with tree removal and the removal truck promptly broke down. It sat in my yard with my back fence removed for about 10 days with no progress made on any of the work. I believe the tree work was finished at the end of August. Driveway and yard excavation was next and this took little time. Unfortunately, weeks passed before any concrete was poured. The garage masonry, dry well, and underground electrical work was done during this time. The excavation, electrical, and well work seemed well-done but constituted only a few days worth of work during the weeks that passed. The patio and drive were poured in two parts. When the drive was poured, no work was performed during the initial curing process. After 2 weeks (I think) subcontractors came in to complete the garage roof and construction for the garage door. In October, the yard was then graded and the work was more or less done in the yard except for the clean-up and replaced fencing. Mark began construction of the composite deck and completed the relief cuts for the concrete and the drains for the downspouts. This took weeks. In early November, Mark completed the new fencing at the back of the yard and between the garage and house. The deck was also completed. Final clean-up was done in mid-November. All this work was of good quality and met or exceeded my expectations. Mark uses quality materials and is careful about his work and the work of his sub-contractors. The main issue, obviously, is that this job took so long to complete. My first payment was in late July and the final payment was Nov. 30. Mechanical breakdowns, illness, and injuries kept Mark from being able to stay on top of the job and time just kept passing by. I am a patient person in general, but the passage of time wore on my family and me. Frankly, except for the excavation and concrete, I could have done all of the work in the same time frame for less money. Mark did his best to make-up for the delay. He is a personable and intelligent business owner, but seemed to lack the resources to find solutions to the delays. He was unable to find another contractor to fill in when he was incapacitated and had a limited number of employees that he could trust to do the work to his satisfaction. Note: when Mark came by recently to fix a problem with the deck, he mentioned that he is looking for a manager. This may solve delay problems. There are other lesser issues with the work, such as multiple rebuilds for parts of the deck, but these were all solved quickly and to my satisfaction. The cost of the work was reasonable and Renew Concepts goes out of its way to recycle or reuse material, making the job a bit more environmentally sound. Mark was readily available by phone and tried to keep me up-to-date regarding delays and other changes. Even though the work took far too long, I never felt as if I were being scammed or deceived in any way. I checked that I would not hire this contractor again; yet, the work was good enough that I may be persuaded to hire them again on a small job to give the company a chance to redeem itself.
Services Rendered: I hired Renew Concepts as my general contractor since they seemed truly interested in the work and had the experience to complete the various aspects of the project. Mark, the owner, spent several hours with me on-site before even offering a bid while no other GC spent more than a few minutes discussing the work or even showing up when scheduled. Work performed: Replace driveway (4” bed with 6” concrete) Excavate and install dry wall beneath drive New garage floor New garage roof Masonry work on garage Restructure garage interior to accommodate proper garage door & opener Soffit and guttering on garage New 17x15 foot patio (4” bed w/ 6” concrete) New 6’x15’ composite deck Relevant wiring Grading of side and back yards New fencing (cedar panels and chain link) Removal of 8 trees and stumps
Garage Door Handbook