FINN-C.E.M.

Coordinated: <br />     Tile Man <br />     Plumbing <br />     Painter <br />     Service Master [who moved furniture out of rooms being repaired] <br />     Rug and Tile Floor Man [he really needed to be kept in line].  <br /> Was actually ahead of schedule until the rug man slowed things down.  It was a tight time frame, but he's bringing it in on time.  He also provided us with recommendations of other vendors we needed. <br /> He was very knowledgeable and was a tremendous help to us.  I would recommend him to anyone needing a contractor. <br />

Dan Finn was great from the beginning.  I believe that he was extremely fair and very conscentious about controlling costs on unforeseen problem, for example - inadequate venting that could have been very costly if Dan didn't really think outside the box and still pass code inspection.  I have used Dan on several smaller items with great results since the kitchen remodel. <br />

Overall the experience went well - I would contract Dan Finn again for structural work. With his engineering background, he has a firm grasp on what needs to be done for structural work, and his subcontractors did excellent work. He also guaranteed his work on our center patio, which few will do - those leaks are difficult to find and correct. He explains the work that needs to be done and why. My only real complaint about Dan is the with his time management. I understand that weather and unexpected delays for other jobs - or mine -  make it difficult to give precise schedules. But I would rather be told that something could take up to three weeks and have it happen sooner than be told one week and have it be later. Overall, I would use Dan again for structural work on my home. <br />

The contractor, Dan, clearly loves his job.  He did a remarkable job at a remarkable price.  Daniel Finn, the owner, said he had 40 years in the business.  I was so impress with his services that I told my neighbors about him, who also used him for things at their nearby homes.  Someone else could have easily charged 3 times as much as what Dan charged.  I got the feeling that Dan loves his job as a builder, and is happy in his work.  His forty years of experience as a builder was great.  People can trust Dan to do a good job for them.  He is a perfectionist and insists that the job be performed correctly. He is very responsible and dependable.  He knows what he is doing.  Daniel Finn appeared to be a very honest, hard working person. This is the type of guy that Angie's List was made for.

We had to do a seismic upgrade to our small one-storey house and had previously consulted with two structural engineers on the scope of the job. We decided to just bolt the foundation and strengthen the post-to-beam connections. Whereas other contractors who looked at it tried to upsell us on shear-walling and whatnot Dan saw the engineer?s point: That, given the small size of our house, shear-walling was beneficial but was not necessary. He got himself into the very-tight crawlspace and looked at it thoroughly (some contractors would only peek at the space with a flashlight - Dan crawled on his belly and was very gentle with the duct-work from our furnace). <br /> <br /> The bid was very reasonable, though I did have to call him a couple of times to get him to write it up (I have found this is just part of working with contractors - the squeaky wheel gets the grease - we used to think it was a red flag but we are older and wiser now). And, wow, Dan got in there and banged the work out in two days with just an assistant.  I got on my belly (inspired by Dan?s example) and found the work to be excellent.  He also walked us through what it would take for us to do the shear-walling ourselves. <br /> <br /> Overall this has been the most positive experience we have had with a contractor since we bought the house 10 years ago.  We will definitely be asking him to bid on future projects and I hope to work with him again

PROS:   Dan has been in construction for a long time.  He is very knowledgeable and likes to share his insight.  Dan is very approachable and responds quickly when in contract.  Dan has a good attitude and wants to please his clients.   Dan does a good job of directing others when he has a crew.  Dan informs the homeowner of any issues and is fast to respond to solution –especially if they are surprises.  Dan’s work does pass code and he has a good rapport with the inspectors.  Dan is also up for a challenge.  His shining moment with us was that he was able to hoist a 10 ft sliding glass door to the roof of our house (3 stories tall) and then dropped it down the back on the deck.  He also did good work on several structural beams that had been eaten up by termites.     CONS:   Dan has a poor relationship with time.  He is not very organized in terms of scheduling and is not very orderly in terms of keeping his area and your house clean.  Dan is personally not good with “finish work” or plumbing.  We ended Dan’s contract after noticing one rather big item on a Friday afternoon near the end of our project (item #3 below).  That weekend we assessed everything and were amazed by how many things that were done poorly in the previous 2 weeks—we were in the “finishing” phase.   .  Our issues compounded the moment that we started to give him more deadlines and allowed him to do “finish” and plumbing.  Instead of being honest about what he could do and how quickly, he rushed and did work that was sub-par.  For instance, we would give him one week to do something and he would do it the night before the inspection.  There are several noteworthy items to point out as to why we would not use him again—all of these items resulted in paying someone else to repair what he had done.   1)       He allowed the dry-wall crew to go over bumpy walls (nails still protruding from the studs which warped the finish of the drywall).  Since the extent of the warping was not fully noticeable until after skim coating and painting, we did a lot of work twice.     2)       His plumbing was not accurate to the dimensions of the sink and the centering with the wall.  I blame this happening due to the fact that Dan was plumbing at 8pm at night without much light.  He did pass inspection but the sink that I had purchased weeks in advance did not align with the plumbing AT ALL.  Since the dry wall was already up, skim coated and painted, we had to completely redo this piece as well.   He also failed to reinforce where the pedestal sink would attach.  He had told that he would absolutely do this.  Not…   3)       Dan penetrated the French slider door jam (door was $7K) with a 4 inch screw when attempting to make trim for it.  Essentially, this means that Dan cannot screw straight (when it is needed most) and damaged a part of the door that is visible and very much functionality.  It takes a lot of faith to purchase a $7K door and I cannot believe that he was so careless on such an important, expensive item.    ABOUT US: My husband and I are both technical workers with vast amounts of Project Management.  I am a perfectionist and very much involved in all design decisions.  I constantly ask questions and provide dimensions and input.  I am not always right in my views but every other contractor has applauded my involvement since it leads to things being done correctly and to my standards.  Unfortunately, we let our guard down (relied on Dan) when our jobs were becoming rather intense.  At that moment in time, quality control needed to be at its best ( with the finish work and plumbing).  Overall, we do not feel that Dan “has your back”.  Be prepared to inspect all work.

I was satisfied with what he did.  He finished the work in 4-6 weeks.  It is one of the construction works, which makes the house very dirty; but once it is done, any person will forget the dirt.  I haven't compared his price with anyone.  The quality looks fine.  He is very pain taking and perfectionist.  He seems to know what he is talking about.  He seemed to be right out initially when I called.  He started when he would.  He pretty much finished when he said he would.  He pretty much came on time when I expected him to see him.  He came when he said he would.  He is very professional.  He is very busy.

He had a helper, and he did the work fairly speedily.  We had some concerns about whether or not he was going to show up because he wasn't the best at communicating.  He would tell us that he would be there at a certain time, and then he wouldn't be.  However, he did a great job.  He is very knowledgeable about what he is doing.  He doesn't always communicate well or show up when he says he will, which is somewhat irritating.  I thought his price was good, although I didn't get any other quotes.  He responded to my questions with great detail of information.  If I thought I needed something taken care of, he would show up rapidly.  If he didn't think something needed to be fixed, he would try to assure me over the phone.  He doesn't start work until later in the day, which is perfect for me.  His criteria for urgency might be different than mine.

Everything went outstanding. He's over qualified to be a general contractor. He is very knowledgeable, honest, punctual, and does oustanding work.

I was actually quite suprised how well and smooth everything went. After we spoke with Dan about what we wanted - he presented to us only a couple days later, what his plan was step by step: and he pretty much met the time frame that he presented. If he had to change something or if something came up that wasn't in the original scheme, he let us know promptly. The workers never left the place dirty or their tools laying around, and we were able to still use certain parts of the bathroom while the work was being done. I think there was only one day that we weren't able to use the bathroom at all, and Dan let us know in advance. He was very professional and respectful to our demands. The price was a little more than what we original wanted to spend, but it was well worth it. I would definitely refer Finn Construction to my friends, and we're hoping to use them again once we're ready to expand.

This is a totally unsolicited recommendation to endorse and validate the knowledge, ability, integrity, and effectiveness of Dan Finn, general contractor. He is a college educated CM (Construction Manager) who just completed and competed with 41 other bidders on a project for my personal use. I would highly recommend this contractor to accomplish any construction project. I am a 65 year old Architect. I have never provided such a posting prior.

They started in September and finished in March. They were some issues once or twice but he took care of them.

He did not prime the wood and Gecco material is bubbling off. Additionally, the price I paid was far and above what I should have paid.  The contractor put on the invoice some 40 or more hours I know he did not work.  I did the books and tax returns for the company, and the contractor owed me a lot of money for the services I had rendered. He deducted the bill from what I owed him, and still has not paid me the rest.  His license has been suspended for non payment of other suppliers of goods and services.