S&B RENOVATIONS AND REMODELING LLC

Matt is a very nice guy. Today, about one month after the project has completed, the police just showed up at our house. All of the demolition from the project (not just our old tub/shower, all of the old/removed drywall, etc. but the packaging from all of the new stuff - all of the garbage) was dumped in a public state park. A good deal of the new stuff's packaging had my name and address on the large cardboard boxes. That's how the police found me/us. We paid Matt for his services and included in that was money for the (legal) removal of all of the refuse. It turns out that we paid for some things that didn't quite take place. We're still not sure if we're going to be fined or held liable for all of the garbage and old bathroom materials that Matt dumped illegally, but we're quite nervous, and quite angry. Since I'm sharing my gripes, I'll share some other things that happened pre and during project as well. Matt took over a month to get back to us after the initial estimate (just didn't return calls b/c of his softball schedule - we know this bc he said he was busy with softball!). We hired him anyway bc of our time crunch. With complete consistently, he never came when he said he would (ranging from 20 minutes to 2 hours later than he'd said the day before), and by the end, he took a total of 13 days to to a job that he initially said would take 3-4. One day he lost for weather, obviously not his faulty, and one day he lost for a family emergency, he said. The nonresponsiveness, the coming at different times than stated, and the longer project time were things that we thought came with the drama of working with contractors... But the cops showing up at our house today was another matter.

Matt came out promptly to give us a quote and started the job quickly and repaired our wall beautifully. We will be calling him again for future work.

Very well. My wife and I couldn't be happier. Matt was professional throughout the time spent here, did great work and cleaned up when he was completed. He was knowledgeable about his craft, offered several good ideas and worked with us on a very large project. I strongly recommend him for any work.

We were very pleased with our kitchen remodel by S&B. The work was extraordinary and now I have the kitchen I've always wanted. S&B will continue to have a loyal customer. I highly recommend!!

We had a wonderful experience. With Matt's professionalism, fairness, honesty and quality work, we will be contacting S&B for all of our future home improvements. We are more than pleased with our beautiful new bathroom!

Professional, honest, thorough, meticulous about his work. I'll be hiring him again!

We hired Matt for two separate jobs to be done concurrently. Job 1 was interior work and Job 2 was to design and build a new deck. This is for the interior work, job #1. Job #2 is posted as a separate write-up for decks. The start of the job was to have been in April. The job was in 3 parts. Part 1 was removal of existing carpeting and associated floor base trim. New hardwood floor, purchased by us, was to be installed with associated trim. Painting of the rooms was included as an add-on with no additional cost as this was intended to create an efficient flow of work between the interior work and the deck. The scope was 4 bedrooms, a master closet, hallway, and downstairs family room. 100 feet of flooring was to be added to the master bathroom as composite flooring tiles. Part 2 was removal of 7 single doors and 1 double door, and the installation of new doors provided by us. Trim was to be installed as part of the door installation. Part 3 was re-structure of 2 stairways and hardwood installation on both of them. This included demolition and reconstruction of railing and steps including new hardwood installation. Matt would generally arrive at our house after 9AM. He would sit in his truck anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour before getting his saw and other equipment ready. He would prop open our door and leave it open the entire time he was at the house. This was regardless of whether he was taking a “break” in his truck or actively working. Each day our house would be filled with flies and insects. Generally, he would leave around 2:30 in the afternoon. Attendance was inconsistent. After completing a room, we would not see Matt for several days, if not for a week. In some cases, his trailer stayed in our driveway, other times it would be gone. Communication was fairly non-existent as to what days he would be at our house, and what days he would not. Some days he did not arrive until early afternoon. His cleanup was all over the map. He would pick up debris, but his tools were generally left wherever he last used them unless they were tools such as his saw that was outside. He would store that in our garage even though his trailer was parked in our driveway weeks on end. We found tools lying on the floor, closet, window sill, garage. Our garage is still filled with the sawdust that blew into the garage. The quality of the work is very suspect. For the floors, his cuts are inconsistent. The gaps at the walls in some cases are visible. A door jamb has visible cuts, and several pieces of molding have significant gaps between the molding and the top of the wood flooring. The rail for one of the stairways is not angled properly and is pulling off the wall. Holes drilled into the rail are in some cases mistakes and the holes remain visible to the underside of the rail. On the stairs, the hardwood floor gaps vary step by step. Several of the doors swing open or are difficult to close. The double doors are incomplete. Our first floor flooring is not square. We felt very disrespected that Matt would consider the level of quality in our home to be acceptable. There was also a tendency towards damage. Existing walls were marred from his tools. Newly installed flooring was damaged by his tools. We found over a box of good hardwood flooring thrown in the garage. We found paint on existing floors, new floors, window sills, outlets, switches, etc. The proposed price for the scope of the work was very acceptable. However, we did not get any commitment on timing and this project dragged on for 6 months. We were hit with many excuses as to why Matt could not work for days or a week at a time, yet it appears that he was doing work for other clients at this time. Between this project and the deck, over 90% of the costs were paid to Matt in increments over time prior to completion of the job. Shame on us for giving that level of trust. Matt completed the last room in the house at a point when no one was home. We came home to find him and his trailer gone. His ladders were in our driveway. A pile of rubbish was in our driveway. Over a box of good hardwood flooring was piled up in the garage mixed with various wood debris. His tools were left in our family room, our stairway, and our stairway landing. We did not hear from him for 2 weeks despite email and text messages. At this point in time, there was not one room in the house that was fully completed. Every room either had defects or was incomplete. After 2 weeks we suddenly received a text message asking us whether his wife had been to our house to “explain the circumstances”. The response was no. He wanted to come by on a Sunday to explain it to us. At this point we had no desire for anymore drama and requested an immediate explanatory response. We have not heard from his since. We have since had a professional hardwood installer evaluate the work. We are going to need to rip out both stairs as the wood is poorly cut or improperly installed, with gaps on every step. The gaps and visible cuts will also be fixed. We are able to do this because we have over 15 boxes of leftover hardwood flooring, over $4000 in flooring was leftover due to Matt’s incorrect estimation. We are also forced to hire a trim carpenter to replace the railing on the stairs. We do not know the extent of the additional costs we will incur. One of the railings is in 3 separate pieces. All carpenters have negatively commented on the stair rail not being one continuous piece. Below is a brief description of the pictures we have taken, unfortunately, Angie limits you to 10 photos. We tried to upload those that paint the best picture of what was done. The extent of the poor quality is really hard to believe. Pictures 3873 - non-continuous stair rail 3874 - rail pulling off wall 628 – top of front stairway 630 – top of back stairway 631 – damage from back stairway work 635 – wall damage from back stairway work 674 – unfinished railing 4767 – spackling residue left on new floor 675 – unfinished railing and pulling off wall

We hired Matt for two separate jobs to be done concurrently. Job 1 was interior work and Job 2 was to design and build a new deck. This is for the new deck job, job #2. Job #1 is posted as a separate write-up. The start of the job was to have been in April. The material arrived, but was missing several key pieces of wood. The wood that was delivered occupied our driveway for 3 weeks as we awaited the delivery of the missing wood. Finally, the wood was delivered, but no work was done until well into July. During this time Matt would either work 3-5 hours on the house project or not show up at all. Every absence was accompanied by a new excuse, from injuries, to other customers to car troubles, etc. Meanwhile we were reading reviews of other people for which he was conducting work during that time. Money was requested frequently to buy supplies and the deck was mostly paid for before any work was started. Finally, in July, Matt was directed to not do any work in the house until the deck was done. In 4 days, the deck was completed. We had waited 3 months for a deck that ultimately took 4 days to complete. Before the installation, Matt made comments such as “decks are my bread and butter”. He also stated that he needed to buy a new handrail, as the one he had used in other installations was worn out. Evidently, Matt was installing a required hand rail for previous deck owners and then removing it after the inspection enabling him to re-use it for the next deck installation. We were wary of the rail installation. It was wobbly, did not appear to be sturdy, and our deck is above a walk-out basement, so it is higher than a standard deck. Sure enough, the inspector did not pass the railing nor the hand rail. The hand rail was cited as being too low and also was open ended, thus providing a catch point for a sleeve which could result in a fall. The rail system itself was much more extreme. Many of the rail posts were notch and sitting on top of joists, nailed in place. Per the township inspector, the rails are not to be notched and should have been lagged in place. One side of the deck, the rail posts are sitting on top of the joists and were toe-nailed in place on all four sides of the posts. Upon seeing the red sticker, Matt took it, read it in his truck, then spoke to the inspector. He then drove away with the sticker. At no time after that has Matt discussed the deck. We chose to wait for him to complete the interior work before discussing it with him. 3 weeks ago Matt left our house with his trailer that had been parked in our driveway for the 5-6 months. We emailed him and texted him but received no responses. One week ago, he responded as to whether his wife had stopped by our house to “explain the circumstances”. We responded with no and he suggested he stop by on Sunday. Our response was that we did not want him coming to our house and we wanted an explanation at that moment. We have not heard from him at all. He has completely abandoned both projects unfinished. We are currently having decking specialists look into the work that has to be done to fix our railing. The work will entail removal of the existing railing, some decking, and then a new railing system installed. This appears that it will set us back well over $4,000. This is on top of the $14,000 we had already paid to Matt. Pictures 663 – Post with nails 664 – 2nd post with nails 665 – 3rd post with nails 666 – hand rail

Long and frustrating. Matt quoted us (rounding up) $8,000.00 and two weeks to get the job done. We paid half up front and the other half when he was close to finishing a few things he needed to correct. We hired him in March and as of August 1st the job still wasn't done. Matt had every reason under the sun from health problems, other jobs he was working on at the same time and vacations as the reasons he couldn't get the job done. We had to hire someone else to come finish the job. We hired Matt over other bigger companies, because we support small business and he came across very confident and trustworthy. I am very disappointed not just that the job wasn't done in a timely manner but that he wasn't the upstanding person he portrayed himself to be. I would NOT recommend him to anyone. I had family and friends that would have used him had he done what he stated he COULD do.

I would use them again. They are doing work in my home right now.

"The finished work is beautiful. We installed a unique countertop and Matt worked with us to make sure it looked good and is safely installed.Matt is flexible and was fun to work with."

Matt was great. Came to our home quickly for a look at our job and estimate. Received the estimate quickly. As with any good contractor, we waited our turn in line for the job to be done, but that gave us more than enough time to choose our materials. He painted a bonus room, removed a kitchen tile backsplash and installed a new one along with our laundry room. He removed a fiberglass shower surround in one bathroom, and replaced with a bigger tile shower. Replaced all bathroom fixtures. The next bathroom, he removed a massive jet tub, replaced with a soaker tub, removed ugly tile and replaced with our choice. He also replaced all bathroom fixtures. Matt always arrived when he said he would, performed excellent work, and most important, kept to his estimate. I'd hire him again in a heartbeat. For anything!

It went very well. Matt was able to make adjustments to the issues we encountered, gave sound advice, and was very punctual with his work. The quality of work is outstanding. This man takes pride in what he does.

Matthew was great to work with. He stayed in touch with us daily, sent photos of progress since we were at work. He was very patient when I would "rethink" my options. It took me quite awhile to select a curb and threshold but he was very patient and never pressed me for a decision. His price was good and we were satisfied with the work. He started when he said he would and was very responsive when we contacted him on punch list items. The shower door glass installers were very complementary of his work when they came to install the door. I will hire him again for my next project.

Matt responded quickly to any contact I made. He was clear about the time frame and cost. The work looks great! I would hire him again.

We love the work! Beautiful and functional.

Matt did a great job with our new bathroom. He is very clear in his communication. He has a positive attitude and has great attention to detail. Our new bathroom is in the basement and there were space issues but Matt was able to work around that to give us an awesome bathroom!

Excellent, Matt the owner is a great guy and performed the work to beyond expectations. He presented a fair quote, performed the work very promptly and was very clean in doing so. Matt is very knowledgeable in his trait. We are going to have him do more work in our house down the road.

Matt is awesome! He is quick to respond, arrived when he said he was going to and was very thorough and quick in getting his quote to me. He is a great communicator and very professional, always kept me up to speed on what he was doing, what was next and how long it was going to take. He is detail oriented and fast! I would recommend him to anyone looking to do renovations

Matt remodeled our master bath and did a great job. He got it done in the time frame given to us originally. I was amazed at how well he cleaned up after himself every day. his tools were organized in a single corner of our room and he never left any debris or dust anywhere. He responded to my calls/texts within minutes every time. In the end, he did great work and we are very pleased with the outcome. We would use him for other projects we need done and have already referred him to a few people. 

<p>Matt was outstanding. I can honestly say he might be the best contractor I ever worked with. He says what he does and does what he says. He was here every day. If he was going to be even 30 minutes later than normal - he texted me. He was extremely consultative through the process - offering extremely valuable advice. He was extremely detail oriented and the level of quality of the job was well beyond my expectations. There was only one surprise that could not have been anticipated (my wall studs were rotted away) but he resolved it - and the additional cost was minimal (could have been very easy to take advantage of that situation - and he surely did not!). His price is very straightforward - labor. I bought everything else (with a couple small exceptions) which made things very easy - and he allowed me to use his contractor's discount - which saved a bunch of money in product. </p> <p>Additionally, Matt was so enjoyable and pleasant. I work out of my house and spent several days here with him. Now that he's gone, I miss him! I really cannot recommend him highly enough. I would use him again in a heartbeat.</p>

Matt Kessler was very professional and efficient. He told us, and wrote down, all he would need to do the job we wanted him to do for us. He kept in contact with us during the whole process. He would show me exactly what he was doing, since some of the job I asked for was quite tricky. He was punctual and pleasant. I can't say enough good things about this gentleman.  <br> <br>We will definitely use his services again since we are very pleased with his work. And we have plans!! 

This was absolutely the best service experience we have ever had.  My husband and I attempted a bathroom renovation ourselves, and once we had removed all of the fixtures and torn walls down to studs, we realized we were in way over our heads.  I sent an email through Angie's List to S&B, and received a return phone call within 7 minutes.  Matt came out the next day (a Saturday!) to offer us an estimate and advice, and we received our estimate within 36 hours. <br /> We accepted the estimate and Matt came out and started work 5 days later.  He worked every weekend to transform our DIY nightmare into my favorite room in the house. <br /> Matt was always on time and over-delivered on what was promised.  He involved us in ever step of the process, and when a decision had to be made, he involved us both and always offered several options.  He is charming and friendly, and it was never awkward or uncomfortable for him to be in our home.  He explained options to us in a way that I completely understood and was willing to offer advice when I didn't have a clear decision. <br /> Matt's craftsmanship is absolutely impeccable.  Every aspect of our bathroom, without exception, exceeded by far our expectations.  <br /> We will absolutely be using S&B again and are already planning our next project for later this summer. <br />

It went perfect! Matt was on time everytime and was trustworthy enough to allow him in to come into my home without me being there. Matt worked diligently every day and made me feel like I was the only customer he had. It took a little longer than expected but it was only because he was a perfectionist and wanted to make sure I was completely satisfied. He even came back after I primed the walls to make sure nothing else showed up afterwards. My experience with contractors in general has not been good, but I would call Matt back every time simply because of his responsivness and quality of work. <br />

unknown