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"Although we contracted and made an initial payment (1/3) on February 27, by mutual agreement the work began on 13 April 2015 to allow the work-site to dry out from the winter weather.  The contractor made incredible progress in the first two weeks demolishing the old deck & garage porch, pouring footers, raising the frame & putting on the roof.  The first crew was very hard working, here early in the morning, & leaving late in the afternoon (after cleaning up the area each day).  When rain was in the forecast, the crew would ask if they could make up the day on Saturday, which they did.  Everything we saw in the first 2 weeks was consistent with our previous great experience with Fox Creek 2 years earlier when they replaced all our siding, windows & doors. The only problem at that point was that a plain black roof (25 yr) was put on instead of the architectural roof (lifetime warranty) we asked for.  The contractor acknowledged the error and offered to replace the roof at no additional cost.  We had originally only contracted for 2 skylights so we asked if he'd install 2 more at no cost versus replacing the roof and he agreed.  We were told that everything was on schedule to complete the rest of the job in 2 weeks.  We made the second (of 3) payment on April 29 which was when the excavation work below the porch/deck was supposed to begin.  No one showed up to start this work for several days and when they did (it was a different crew from the first), they typically showed up around mid-morning and were gone by mid-afternoon.  We had beautiful weather during this period in which very little work got done.  The contractor claimed they were having trouble getting the supplier to deliver sand and crushed rock.  Since we're located in St. Mary's County which is a bit of a distance from the contractor's home base in Crownsville near Annapolis, they decided to use "local" suppliers & subcontractors (electricians) rather than those they normally use.  We found out later that the sand & gravel supplier was located in Brandywine about 40 miles from here (there are plenty of suppliers right here in the county).  When the sand & gravel finally showed up at 10:00 am one morning about the same time the crew arrived, the crew directed them to the spot they wanted it dumped and then everyone left shortly after that without doing anything.  We knew by then that the job wasn't going to be completed anywhere near the 3 & 1/2 week total time advertised.  The predictable springtime heavy rains started and we were delayed even more.  The week of May 11 was the first week we could see some progress each day.  The end product was beautiful.  A paver retaining wall was put in all around the perimeter below the deck/porch and in between the concrete slab under the porch and the pavered patio area below the deck.  

We couldn't understand why the remaining work on the porch above couldn't go on while the below work was going on.  Wiring had to be put in, and also all the finish work (soffets, gutters, trim work, ceiling made of soffet rolls - looks very nice).  Most of the holdup turned out to be waiting for the "local" electrician to show up.  The electrician (Goudie) wasn't really all that local but was from Waldorf 35 miles up the road.  Our contractor had to threaten, cajole and/or beg Goudie to show up and install wiring so that the finishing work could be done on the porch.  We begged our contractor to get another licensed electrician (there are plenty of good ones right here in the county that we've done business with).  Anyway, once the electrician showed up we had to get them back several more times because they'd forget to do something we'd asked for or they didn't have a part and we'd end up in the same waiting game.  They did end up getting shamed into sending an electrician on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend to put in 2 ceiling outlets they''d forgotten to put in, but we still didn't have any fans or lights to enjoy that weekend, by which time our contractor assured we'd be enjoying the porch.  You don't EVER want to do business with Goudie Electrical.  

To make a long story short, after a lot of nagging to get a lot of loose ends tied up, the work was finally finished and inspected the Thursday (the day) before this past 4th of July weekend.  The porch & deck are absolutely beautiful (we'll attach pictures if we can figure out how to do it - they will speak for themselves).  We got some extras that we asked for like 7" wide Azek boards along the tops of the vinyl railings inside the porch to serve as a counter top for setting drinks or small plates of food or snacks, which we've had a lot of nice compliments about.  They're the perfect height for pulling a barstool up to.  One of the things we didn't get that we expected was a decent landing area at the bottom of our deck stairs.  The crew threw grass seed and straw there.  When we asked about getting some sort of solid landing, they shoveled out the area and threw some leftover crushed rock on it and tamped it down.  When we asked if they were going to finish it (we told them they could use some of the many wall pavers that were left over) they said the wall pavers would require digging too deep. We offered to pick up (and did) some square flat stepping stones from Lowe's which we left for them.  One of the younger fellas who was there one day to meet with the inspector and had no tools just laid the stones down, stomped them down with his feet and let it go at that.  The area was not level and a downpour that evening directed a steady flow of water from the stones across our concrete slab.  We didn't bother asking again, just tore it up last weekend, leveled and tamped it down properly and reinstalled the stepping stones ourselves.

Our sense through this whole experience was that there was nobody in charge.  Besides the first crew that started the project and came later on one day to install all the soffets and gutters, it appeared to be young fellas without any on-site direction or supervision.  They did a lot of good work but there was a lot of unfinished work that we had to call our contractor up to get fixed.  If we lived closer to Annapolis or the DC metro area, this would probably have been a much better experience.  They do good work at a fair price and the owners are very honest people and have the best of intentions.  But they appear to be ill-equipped to do business in St. Mary's, southern Charles or Calvert counties or other more distant locations.  I did mention to the owner that if he wanted to do more business here he needed to do more to establish relationships with truly local suppliers and subcontractors.  Communications also need to be improved all around - with the crews, between the partners, with suppliers, subs and us, the customers.  We had the sense that the crews didn't really enjoy coming here and that we were kind of at the bottom of Fox Creek's list of priorities due to our distance from their home base.  As much as we love the final product and will enjoy it and show it off for a lifetime, we couldn't go through the aggravation again.  We would encourage folks from the Annapolis and metro DC areas who are considering a project like this (or folks who aren't in any kind of a hurry to get a project like this completed in a reasonable amount of time) to give Fox Creek serious consideration.  

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"Tomas M from JW did a great job. Needed replacement for part of the frame of front door. He did a fantastic job in matching the replacement panel to the rest of door. He also painted the entire frame and replaced some additional wood that we damaged at top of frame and caulked it all. Also had a basement door frame sanded and repainted. He was very good at keeping me informed of the process."

"Can't say enough good things about RIBA! They have done my windows, roof, chimney repair, gutter guards, and so much more. They are fast to respond, and do the job perfectly. They stand by their work, and are always responsive to any follow-up questions I have. It is hard to find contractors who are this dedicated, responsive, and capable. You can't do better, so be sure to check them out!"

"Our project manager, Manny, and crew supervisor, Jorge, did a great job with our roof replacement today! Manny was very communicative and helpful throughout the repair. Jorge and the crew were efficient and did a very thorough clean up when finished. Our only concerns revolve around the initial reason we scheduled a repair, which was due to a ceiling leak after a rain storm. The sales person that came out was very nice and informative. He told us that while he could not determine the source of our leak, we needed a new roof. However, in our naivete, we forgot to wait on our insurance assessor before making any decisions. Post insurance assessment, we had a hard time getting answers from either the project manager or sales manager, and just moved forward with the replacement hoping it fixed our issue. Long story short, while the level of service and overall customer service were great, we had a major repair done that may not even be related to our issue. Our roof likely could have waited for a repair. Service=excellent! I would 100% recommend, just make sure you actually need a new roof."

"We first became aware of this company at a home expo. We were in need of additional insulation in our attic and were looking into a ridge vent being installed as well. During inspection, we realized we needed a roof too. We negotiated a fair price for all three requested jobs and work started about a month later. During the job, the workers mistakenly trashed our gutter helmets and some were damaged beyond repair. We discussed this with our project manager and they were ultimately replaced free of charge. During the insulation install, the workers dropped a hammer through our ceiling and left a hole. It was repaired very nicely within a couple of days and you can’t even tell it happened. The cleanup after was very thorough. I found 1 or 2 pieces of metal after, but that’s nothing compared to what I’ve seen other companies leave behind on jobs for my neighbors. Overall, my husband and I are very pleased with the work performed and the price paid. Aside from the somewhat pushy sales tactics on the front end, I’d highly recommend this company."

"I hired them to replace windows, siding, wrap and gutters of our home (a substantial amount of work and investment on our part. ) They, Power Home Remolding where actually excellent. I removed star because of a quality issue in the work (a missed caulking led to a water leak). The issue was addressed immediately but I believe that this could have been avoided had the foreman reviewed all aspects of the completed work."

"I highly recommend John Krause Construction to anybody in need of any level of
home renovation/remodel. They did a wonderful job on my most recent Home
rehab. We started this project on 1/11/16 with a 60 day deadline and they
finished the project in 54 days and stayed on budget. JKC's employees were
courteous and professional making them a pleasure to deal with. All of the
workers were very knowledgeable of their trades and did top quality work and
left the job site clean after each day. In the business of flipping homes, it
is very important to be able to get these jobs done fast and on budget and JKC
was able to do both without sacrificing any quality of the finished product
making them an ideal contractor for use in my line of work and for anybody
looking to do a remodel project at their home.
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"ExteriorMax replaced the siding, and gutters on the house. The quality, responsiveness, and value were superior across the board. Strongly recommend them to others seeking this type of work."

"Omar was professional and very responsive. He diagnosed the issue quickly and provided a plan for addressing the leak and subsequent water damage. His team arrived on time and worked quickly and professionally. The fixed required fixing damage beneath existing siding and house trim. Due to its age, we didn't want the siding and trim replaced because the color would match the rest of the house. The team worked diligently to preserve the siding and trim (not easy with metal trim) and replaced the underlying water damaged material. Would definitely consider the company for future improvements or repairs."

"Casey works for me to get insurance company to pay the whole roof replacement. I would recommend him for any roof with hail or wind damage."