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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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"John Krause Construction recently replaced my roof. I am very pleased with the quality of the work and the price we paid. Their crew was professional and courteous, and a pleasure to work with. They took extra care to clean up my entire yard and ensure I was happy with the job. I would highly recommend this company for any and all home improvement projects."

"Our review is based on the purchase (part 1) for replacing siding for both side of our home. Jacob L. was very professional, on time, and honest. He knows what he is selling. We learned a lot about our home during his presentation. Before we bought our home we paid for a professional home inspection. We thought our house inspector was very good but he did miss something---the siding on the sides of our home was installed extremely bad. Jacob pointed out so much that we just didn't know and should have be caught during our home inpection. Thanks Jacob!!"

"I had a very great experience from Daniel my sales rep all the way through the to the team that scheduled the install. The crew knocked my roof out all in a days work and my.project manager Omar kept me in the loop and showed me photos of the progress and they were very thorough, they replaced my rotted wood and even though I had to pay for some additional wood it was honest and necessary and I'm glad I sent the extra money to get this all done correctly. They don't cut corners and you get what you pay for with this company."

"“I strongly recommend JW Home Improvement for all home repair and renovation needs. Over the past few weeks we have had various projects completed, including, exhaust fan installation, stairwell repair, dry wall repair, exterior dormer and trim replacement and gutter/downspout painting. All of the technicians were friendly, prompt, knowledgeable, respectful, highly skilled and operated efficiently to finish ahead of scheduled time. Pedro, Kevin and Antonio in particular were exceptional in going above and beyond to produce truly beautiful work. The craftsmanship and precision displayed by these technicians was extraordinary and they were an absolute pleasure to have in my home.”"

"Very disappointed! In mid- August we contracted with this firm to replace four large custom size windows- 2 triangles, and 2 trapezoids. They estimated completion in 4-6 weeks. It actually took over 13 weeks with several “tries”. Furthermore, this project ended on a sour note. Just a few days after final installation, I noticed the caulking was already bubbling - dozens of bubbles ¼ - to ½ inch in size. When the owner emailed me asking for referrals, I responded saying that we needed a follow up visit to fix the caulk. That was almost 2 weeks ago and I have not received a reply. The contract required 100% payment on the completion date. As the consumer, that left us helpless when this problem arose just days after 'completion'. In the future, with any home improvement, I will require a 5% hold back for 2-4 weeks in case problems arise. Is the job complete? Not in my mind as the caulk issue has not been fixed. It seems that I will need to handle this myself. The caulk looks awful! Was it a disaster? No but it did not go very well. Needless to say, with all the home improvement contractors in Northern Virginia, I will NOT use this firm again. I will describe this project from three angles. Client interaction: C- The sales rep did not care about the project. We had multiple cases where the glass arrived damaged or was the wrong size. After the first problem, I called the sales rep and he was of no help and never called again to check up. Do not expect this person to be of any help. I then focused on working with the owner and project coordinator. They do not communicate well or frequently. I always felt in the dark. And their response to issues is extremely slow. The attitude seems to be "it is what it is and things will happen when they happen". At one point the owner told me “sometimes things have to get worse before they get better”. Workmanship: B Overall the workers were the best part of the experience. They definitely knew their jobs and worked carefully (see below), skillfully, and quickly. They protected the work area and cleaned up well. They seemed to have adequate tools and skill. I believe the caulk bubbling was due to weather conditions (humidity at end of day, etc.). Hard to say this is exactly their fault. They did one thing wrong from my point of view. Our home exterior is cedar siding. One of the cedar jambs was installed with the rough side showing instead of the smooth side. All the others are smooth side out. Not a big issue but enough to keep them from an "A " rating. Safety: C The windows are fairly high up (10-18 feet) and we noted on the contract the need for special scaffolding. For the first installation attempt, the workers did not bring scaffolding and tried to do the job with a couple of 6 foot step ladders and one extension ladder. It was so dangerous we took pictures and emailed them to the owner. We seriously thought about asking them to stop the project. These windows weigh hundreds of pounds and standing on the very top of a step ladder to handle them is extremely risky. But it turned out they only had one good window to install that day. Two others were the wrong size and a third one was damaged. For the final installation, they came with proper scaffolding. This employer not only put his workers at risk, but put us at risk as well. We could have been held responsible had there been an accident on our property. Job safety was clearly not a priority."

"Everything from the initial consultation to the final walk-through went as smoothly as could be. I still had the original 60 year old wooden windows, an original back door, and original gutters, and they were in very poor condition. I would get so much moisture on the inside of the windows in winter that I would have to go around with a towel to wipe off the windows and window sills ,not to mention that they were very drafty and hard to open and close properly. I met with Tony, who was great to work with. It was such a relief not to have a pushy sales person take up my whole night with a long aggressive sales pitch. Fast forward to the day of the installation...The windows & door were replaced in one day, and the gutters were replaced a few days later. The crew was courteous, clean and professional, and everything was cleaned up completely when they finished. I wasn't asked for the final payment until we did a walk through weeks later, with Howard, the Quality Control Supervisor, to look at the windows, the door, and gutters, and made sure there were no questions or concerns. As far as contractors go, Peak Custom Remodeling was a great find and very easy to work with. If I decide to replace any other doors, or the roof, or do any additional work on the house they will be the first company I call."

"Crews all the way from sales team, to installers and inspection, truly outstanding customer service and inclusion in the whole project. Efficient, clean, professional! Impressed enough with the work and ease of experience getting the siding and windows replaced, that I'm having them replace my roof also!"

"Job was to widen driveway and replace area with chipping cement. Assessment was thorough and priced comparatively. Crewed was punctual, efficient and courteous. Job was completed on schedule. I highly recommend Skyline services and would used their services again (next assignment already lined up). I’m very pleased."

"Everyone we worked with - from the sales group to the job crew - were friendly, courteous and helpful. We had new siding, shutters and a front door installed on our house. The project was expertly completed in a timely fashion and we couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome! Thank you Roofing Pups for a job well done!!"