Improved Space

Do not hire Brian to finish your basement. Hiring this company has been the worst experience we have ever had with a service of any type. *Summary* (more details below): We signed a contract in mid-Dec of 2021. He negligently wasted countless hours of our time over 2.5 months and then they pulled out of the contract at the end of Feb 2022. When Brian first came to our home for an initial consult, he came off as approachable and competent and prepared a floor plan on the spot. He came back with a price of $65K to finish our 500 sq ft basement including a full bath. He included an 8K *budget* for plumbing which we thought was a little odd but he reassured us that the chances of the plumbing cost going beyond 8K were very low based on his extensive experience. The overall cost was cheaper than other contractors, so we fell for the bait. We signed the contract a few days later and gave a check for 10% deposit which Brian cashed. Before signing, we told Brian that we were expecting a baby and that timing was important. He told us that he could start at the end of Jan 2022 or worst case beginning of Feb 2022 and that the project would take 6-8 weeks. That was great timing for us. In Jan, Brian and his project manager Devin (his son) came to do a walk-through to prepare for the project. Brian had brought the wrong floor plan to the visit and could not find the final floor plan on his computer. We brushed it off as we had the printed floor plan on hand and provided that. Devin then came back a few days later with a plumber from an independent company (Improved Space does not have their own plumbers). The plumber identified a couple of potential issues. Brian said that addressing these issues was not part of the signed contract so we would owe whatever amount extra it would come out to. The plumber came back with a cost of 10K for his work (not including the two potential issues which he would need to investigate further). Brian said his initial estimate of 8K was really close and complimented himself on his 15 years of experience. At the end of Jan, when I inquired about when the project would in fact start, Brian sent me an email (no phone call) where he buried as a third bullet point the fact that one of his carpenters quit and they could no longer begin the project in Feb. They could now schedule us for April 2022. We were highly disappointed and we called around other companies but everyone was booking 4 months out. I called Brian and he convinced me on the phone that this was out of his control and that they would still handle the project swimmingly in April. We agreed to move forward despite the timing being smack in the middle of expecting our baby. However, I emphasized that if there was any chance the project timing were to move again by a significant amount of time, I would rather they told us now so that we could get on a wait list with a different company instead. They reassured us that this time, they were certain about the timing. At the end of Feb, I called Brian to follow up as I wanted to take a pulse check on the project timing. Brian told me that he made a business decision to stop servicing the *north* (including our area of Melrose), that the project was off, and he would return our deposit. He said he lost Devin as a project manager because Devin was leaving to *fly helicopters* It was clear that in the interim, more lucrative projects must have came along (our basement is very old and challenging) and it was easier to pull out. They returned the deposit slightly short of what we initially gave (due to incompetence as I am sure they did not need the few extra bucks). Moral of the story: do not try to save money on an important project. Hire a reputable and competent company that will respect you and your time. Brian*s business practices including breaching a contract are unethical, unprofessional, and unlawful.

Construction has started and we are very impressed with the professionalism and thorough planning and communication. We are pleased with our choice to go with Brian and Devon.

Did a great job on our basement. Courteous, polite, respectful. Top notch professionals

I had a sitting room, walk-in closet and a full bath constructed in the basement. Key challenges were the installation of an ejector pump and navigating some duct work to accommodate the drop ceiling. The project manager worked with me to obtain the best design for the space. The duration was 6 weeks with excellent project management and coordination of all the different aspects of the job. All the workers were highly skilled, professional and friendly. Top quality. These guys know basements!

From the work I have seen from him through his previous work if your going to hire someone to do the basement they are the guys u want if u want quality

Excellent!! best in the business.

Brian and his crew did a spectacular job. We are so pleased with our newly renovated space. Through the entire project, we were treated with courtesy and respect and our final product exceeded our expectations! We highly recommend Brian and would use him again for other projects in the future.

We hired Brian when we decided to finish our basement this year. He was wonderful to work with, the project stayed on schedule, and the final results exceeded our expectations. We would highly recommend him!

we are very happy with how everything turned out.

I would hire him again

He's already done 3 projects for me, that's how good I found him to be.

Brian was the most knowledgeable contractor I spoke with about finishing my basement.