Craftsman Direct Handyman Home Improvement

The work went ok. I asked him to mount my tv and he drilled several holes into the wall looking for studs instead of using a stud finder. Then he chipped paint off the wall hanging some hooks and left scuff marks in several places. He was nice enough and did the job but then made a comment almost like I was asking him to do too much. Overall, it was alright but I don’t think I’d recommend them to anyone or at least not the guy who came to do my work.

Poor. Everything was poor quality. Said work was under warranty and never came back to fix it. Unresponsive and unreliable. Always late. I would never recommend this company to anyone.

They did an awesome job. They always do.

Horrible. This is the worst company, Bobby built a porch with a roof that leaked. I tried for over a year to get Bobby to fix it, when it became obvious he wouldn't or couldn't (as he stopped returning my calls), I contacted the company owner Lee Smoak. Lee jerked me around for a few more months before admitting the roof was built wrong. He looked me in the eye and said "I will make this right" and he hasn't. He agreed to pay for a roofing company to come fix it and he would pay the bill. Baker Roofing came and did a great job fixing Craftsman Direct's mess. I received the bill and send it to Lee. He did not pay. I received a late notice and asked Lee about it. He said it was on "oversight" he paid part of the bill. As of 7-21-16 now more than two years after the original work was done, I am having to pay the balance of a bill to another company to fix the mess left by this company.

They did a really good job. I have a contract with them to come back to do more work. I found them reliable and knowledgeable.

Outstanding work. Review above statements. <br />

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Kevin Goodwin went beyond his responsibilities of what he had to do. He was very kind man. He is a very decent and hardworking human being. He repaired an issue that another service provider caused. I cannot say enough good things about this man and company. I would highly recommend them!

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The entire trim had to be removed and replaced.  While this sounds simple the workers had to install a roof jack type scaffold due to the angle of the roof.   The trim was removed, replaced, sealed and painted.  The workers were very thorough and cleaned up as if they were never there. <br />

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Estimator came the day after I called.  Repair people were here the day after I agreed to use their services.  On time both days that they were here.  Did a nice job, left no mess, and were unfailingly polite.  Would not hesitate to use their services in the future. <br />

The first visit was to gather info for a bid on the project including which materials would be needed. The second visit was installation. He was a little late getting here but clearly explained why he was late. The actual work went well, he cleaned up the work area entirely and I am satisfied with the results.

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I hired the Craftsman Direct to build a Gable Roof over my second story pre existing back porch. <br /> The estimate process and everything went smooth. Kevin came over several times to take measurements, talk about the projects and contract. He was arrogant but had a decent price. We agreed on a project and he noted the project would be up to a month out. Within 2 weeks he contacted me to ask if they could start earlier. I agreed and they came over and started. From then on the work was done sporadically and was completed over the course of a month. There were a lot of issues so easiest if I just think of them in order. <br /> Main carpenter (Kevin's brother) is a nice guy and seems to know his work. His work looked good. However the two did not communicate well. There were several items throughout the build that I am glad I work from home or it would not have been done right. I would check on the project and notice that items that Kevin and I had discussed were not being done. They did not know what type of wood was going on the roof or what kind of siding material was going to be used. Lots of little things that I had to confirm to make sure were done as agreed. There were also many items that look fine to the naked eye but are not done correctly or should have been done differently. (example. new flashing is not even with pre existing flashing) <br /> Carpenters got in a heated argument one day and one was fired on the spot and then the team left for the day. <br /> Carpenters did not have a good idea of schedule. They would often say they were leaving for the day and not sure what day they would be back cause they didn't know the schedule from Kevin. They also often worked short days. <br /> In order to install part of the roofing, my existing roof had to be cut. While a 16 foot by 2 foot section of the house was exposed a storm came through and water was pouring into my kitchen through the dry wall. The workers did not do anything to help with the water coming inside. They worked outside to get it covered but nothing on the inside. <br /> Payment schedule: <br /> First payment upon contract <br /> Second payment upon roofing completion <br /> Final upon project completion <br /> First payment was done on time. <br /> Second payment was paid early as the framing wasn't done but Kevin pressured to have the amount paid as the framing was "close to completion and will be finished soon" <br /> Third payment was also done early as Kevin said most of the work was done and would be done in the next day or so but it was about the weekend and he wanted payment. (Huge mistake on my part to pay) <br /> I hired painters to come in and paint the new roof project as well as do some other painting. Craftsman direct then decided to have them do some of the interior drywall work patching. Craftsman direct underestimated the amount of patching and work and underpaid the painters after agreed to having them do the work. The Painters also noted that the insulation where the leak had occurred during the build and the drywall were wet and the drywall noticeably had staining across the entire piece. I called (1Sep15) Kevin to ask for him to ok the fix of the drywall as we had previously discussed. He denied having this conversation and said he would need to look at the damage. He said he would be over the next day. As all payments were submitted I informed him that his remaining wood supplies and ladders that were currently on my property would need to stay as collateral until the project was done as he already had final payment that he had pushed for the previous week. He called me immediately and said I had gone off the deep end and was trying to steal his equipment and the issue wasn't his problem. He was argumentative about the entire thing and I tried to explain that since all payments were done but the project wasnt over that I had no leverage in getting a final project and therefore I wasnt trying to keep his stuff but simply leave them on my property so I knew he would finish the project. I also offered up the suggestion that he could get his stuff and but give me back the final payment and I would hold until project was complete. He did not agree to ether and said he would be over within 2 hours. When he arrived at my house he was rude to me and the painters who were also here. He asked to talk to them and go over the work. He and one of the painters went into my attack walkway at which point he asked one of the painters to lie to me and tell me the damage was not that bad and there was no wet insulation. The painter told him he would not lie about that and told me shortly after Kevin left what happened. While still there Kevin denied the option of replacing drywall and instead said he would use kill x and then patching and gave the painters 50 dollars to do the work. He did not pay for the material and I ended up having to pay the painters for the material. (All this damage was cause of the water flowing in from Craftsman direct having the roof exposed) He then called me a liar and for saying i went into the attack the night before with the painter, that I did not know what I was talking about that I was in the wrong for asking for the drywall to be replaced and that he was in the right. He continued to argue about the project and demanded the painters (who don't work for him) to put the ladders and wood on his trailer. He was rude to them belittled them and continued to argue with me. At that point I told him that I had already paid the full contract amount and this what I was afraid would happen. He would not uphold is agreement and contract. He continued to argue and I then I also informed him that not only was this an issue but his crew never cleaned up when they were done with roof and that I had to clean up. My deck was stained from where they were working and they didnt attempt to pressure wash or clean up at all. They also took my push broom with them when they left as well as some of the painters supplies. Kevin continued to argue and I asked him to leave my property. On the way out I told him this was my concern and that he was liar a only worried about the sale and his response was "I must be good at selling cause I got you". <br /> As of today (3Sep15), The drywall has been painted and is leaking through again. I do not expect they will come and fix. I do not have my push broom (not that big of a deal but aggravating after everything else) <br /> I guess there is my lesson learned. If you decide to go with this company make sure you absolutely write everything out. What exact material he will use, what vendors he might subcontract to, project will be done within certain timeframe from starting and whatever you do, do not pay until you know for sure everything is done. <br /> I am sure Kevin will get on here and call me a liar again. If you want details or more information let me know and I will be happy to share. <br />

Arrived on time, carpenter was very professional, work was completed to a very high standard, work completed on time and they cleaned up after work was completed. <br />

EXCELLENT!  I couldn't have asked for a better team in Mike and Steve.  They were top notch professionals and the quality of their work is flawless. I am so glad to have discovered them and will definitely hire them again for any future work.  I have been referring them like crazy to anyone mentioning a home repair/remodel job.  These guys have been working together for 20+ and have a great camaraderie with one another.  They were fair and offered smart solutions and I felt extremely comfortable giving them my key so they could come and go while I remained at work.  No issues.  I highly recommend them.  You go through Craftsman project manager to get to them and the responsiveness was a little slow, but not too bad considering they were super busy.  Love working with this group. <br />

I contacted three different providers to give quotes on adding a 12'x16' deck extension to the existing deck. This would be about 1.5 feet off the ground and covering an existing concrete slab. Craftsman contacted me and scheduled Kevin H. to come out to perform the estimate and he did so on 08-Jun-2015. Kevin's demeanor was professional and he seemed knowledgeable and focused on providing what I wanted. We received the estimate from him 3 days later for $3300-$4000 labor and $750 materials. We were told at that time that scheduling was 1-2 weeks out. While Craftsman was the highest bid, we decided to go with them because they seemed knowledgeable and slightly more "polished" than the other potential contractors, and one of the important factors for us was that they could start work in 1-2 weeks as we were eager to get the deck finished so we could do some other projects around the deck.  <br /> On 14-Jun-2015 we sent the email accepting the proposal and on 15-Jun-2015 Kevin confirmed receipt and stated Laura would send over the contract to sign and schedule us. He re-affirmed that we were 1-2 weeks out on the schedule. Later that day, I received a follow-up email from Kevin informing me that the engineering plan they would work from is my responsibility and provided me with the name of an engineer and told me I will pay the engineer directly. This was the first time that I was told I had to separately contract, schedule, and pay for additional services outside of the bid. I was told at this time we would hold off on the contract until the engineer came out and provided a more concrete plan so the contract could be more accurate. I was assured at that time that we would keep our place in schedule so we didn't go to the end of the line. We weren't happy with this development but moved forward.  <br /> I contacted the engineer (which I am not sure that was needed for such a small deck project) and he agreed to come to the house and meet me on 16-Jun-2015. He arrived on time and gathered the information for the engineer plan. He indicated that the plan would be to me on 18-Jun-2015. When I didn't receive it by 22-Jun-2015 I contacted him and he said he was finishing it up and would send that day. I later that day received an invoice and was told that I couldn't have the sealed plan until I paid the invoice. I paid the $210 and on 23-Jun-2015 finally had an engineer plan which was shared with Kevin.  <br /> Finally on 01-Jul-2015 I received a contract to sign. The contract included $3,358 in labor and an estimated materials of $850 (a minor increase of $100, but certainly acceptable as the first was done without the engineering plan). It is worth noting that one of the reasons I went with this highest bid was because of their scheduling estimates which were to begin work within 1-2 weeks. At this point we are at 2 weeks + 2 days. <br /> Kevin confirmed some information and informed me that he would order materials and have them delivered to the house and that work would begin on Wednesday, 08-Jul-2015. I scheduled to be home from work that day. On Tuesday I was informed that they were running long on another job and wouldn't start until Thursday. On Wednesday I was informed that the materials couldn't be delivered until Friday, so work wouldn't begin until Monday, 13-Jul-2015. We are now beginning work 2 days shy of 4 weeks after accepting the bid, nearly double the time we were told when we chose them over the others. <br /> On 13-Jul-2015, two sub-contractors arrived to begin work, Mike and Steve. They worked through the day and realized they needed a few more materials than were ordered. They came back and worked the next two days and we had the basic work complete. They had another job to do on Thursday, which was fine and then worked again on Friday and ordered more composite as there wasn't enough to complete. They worked again on Monday for a bit and then came back on Tuesday once additional trim was received. The composite was completed on Wednesday morning.  <br /> At some point about half way through the work, I was informed that the materials were going to cost more than estimated. It wasn't a 20% overrun like I would expect. The materials were completely mis-estimated and instead of the $850 that was in the contract, materials were going to run over $2000. At first it was presented to me as though I misread the contract and that these costs were in there, just not spelled out as clearly as they should have been. When I stated this wasn't so and asked that I be shown where in the contract, it was acquiesced that Kevin had simply "messed up" in creating the initial estimate. He stated that this was only the second deck he had done an estimate for, which was a surprise given that during the bid process we were led to believe there was decades of experience going into this process.  <br /> So, on 22-Jul-2015, we had a finished extension to our deck. The final bill was $5663.00, which included $2175 in materials vs. the $850 we agreed to when we signed the contract. We paid Kevin and the transaction was complete. It was another 5 days before the 'bagster' service picked up the bag on our lawn that had all the trash and scrap materials. An unfortunate note on this is that instead of putting this bag on the driveway, where there was ample space to do so, they put it on the grass. several weeks of that bag on grass ended up that my front yard now has a 5'x8' spot of "dead" in the middle of it. That was poor planning on the part of whomever decided that would be where that bag was placed (picture of the dead spot below as well). <br /> I thing or two that I want to note on this review. I tried to give an honest account of how it went. It isn't an indictment of the people involved. Kevin was extremely nice and professional and he was apologetic for the errors in estimating the materials and the delays. <strong>Mike and Steve, the guys doing the actual work, were outstanding, professional and did a GREAT job on the deck.</strong> We couldn't be happier with the final product (pictures below). <br />

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