Get matched with top elevation certification pros in Cambridge, MA

"DO NOT HIRE. If you're looking for a misogynist old man to tell you he did his job when he didn't hire Cowen Associates. The worst customer service I have ever experienced. Fred, the owner refused to give me measurements that he claims were written in his drawing and then called me to tell me it's not his job to give me the measurements. He charged me $200 per hour to then tell me I shouldn't be the general contractor on my own job and that I don't know anything."

"Did a good job on the kitchen cabinets and walls came out good new floor installed came out good kitchen window was installed fine but the wood trim very disappointed when removing wood trim to replace window installation was good but when trim was put back on what a disappointment they put the trim on and siliconed the openings so mwater and air would not come in silicone all over the wood nail holes were covered with silicone instead of wood filler wife and I were very disappointed he was suppose to clean and remove soot from wood and then refinish per insurance estimate he told me he did not put it in his estimate so in order to fix it I would have to pay to have it done the quality of the trim is not professional work see enclosed photos"

"The creative interactions with Michael were great. He has great ideas and good interaction and iteration on the design. However, Michael is not a detail person, something his normally excellent staff properly compensates for. However, he had three staffing turnovers over the course of our project. Not including Michael when he was filling in, we had five project leads, at least two of whom we never met. This led to inefficiencies and continuity problems that resulting in playing catch up once the build started. Which leads to the other issue. Micheal is not good at communication and does not easily admit when he is wrong or unprepared. He insisted that the staffing turnover wouldn't impact the schedule. He presented plans at the kickoff with the builder that, in hindsight, were clearly not ready. He presented changes to the plan shortly after kickoff that immediately ate 40% of our planned contingency budget as they were not the plans the builder based his bid on. Later, another 12% was chewed up because he didn't plan ductwork in a house with a flat roof. The results were livable, but until the end, he insisted he didn't make a mistake despite saying he's had trouble with ductwork in the 15 years he's done residential design "because every contractor wants to do it differently." Every one of his staff that we met and worked with was fantastic. They supplied the detail that Michael lacks. They executed better than I would expect for picking up where someone left off. Unfortunately, they don't have the autonomy you would hope, and Michael doesn't communicate with them well enough to let their judgments stand. On several occasions, he overrode their judgments in confusing and public ways, sometimes after a delay of days."

"Unfortunately, I did not get the job done at all. Actually, not only did he abandon the work but did not even finish what he had started, and that cost me an extra $2,900. Like one of the reviewer's comments, I was fooled into engaging him because he appeared honest and sincere for a man of his age and stated 56 years of experience. That's a complete opposite is what this man is. I would not touch him with a pole the length of a mile. I would rate him a star only because I have to rate him."