Get matched with top doors (interior) installers and replacers in Dowagiac, MI

"Hello, My name is Phil Carr-Jones, I am reviewing my experience of working with and building my own kitchen, using cabinets and doors from Arkansas Wood Door. While I am an Episcopal Priest, it turns out I get to do a lot of things they don't teach you in seminary. Over the years, I have had to get fairly skilled in all the trades, including, no surprise, carpentry. But I am by no means an expert. For instance, I employed a retired carpenter to help out with the crown molding and other trim. Apart from that though, this is all my and my wife's work. So let me state up front, Arkansas Wood Doors is the go to place for the DIY’er who is thinking of remodeling their own kitchen. Here's why: I searched the web for months, literally doing comparisons and research on flat pack rta cabinets. I went to the big box store for a design and pricing in their three lines of cabinets, and I went in for a consult with a small custom shop in my area. Here's what I found. 99 outof 100 rta cabinet companies have their product made in china which means the standards for formaldehyde are going to be as fishy as they smell, plus you can only get cabinets in fixed sizes so if you looking to eeck out every last inch of space you're going to lose a lot and you'll be using a lot of filler strips wasting what could have been useful storage. If you want to go custom, then you only have less than a handful of online options, companies that will make to order in any dimension. For instance, I only wanted an 8 inches deep spice cabinet to allow for greater working room over the counter. My wife and I are pretty serious about cooking from pastries to mains and sides. We want a very serious kitchen. Plus, I'll tall so I needed the room. In any case, if you want something custom your choices online are limited. The big box stores don't really do custom and are just as limited in their options as are the online rta places. Most online rtas offer far cheaply made boxes with construction methods less sturdy. I have found that if I buy cheap, I shouldnt expect my kitchen to hold up past a few years. The finish will fade. The drawers will warp. The joints will open up. The big box stores basically offer the same thing, too. When I go to a big box store to buy something, I do it knowing I probably willl get a year out of it, whether that’s a lawn chair of a power tool. I mean when was the last time you regretting spending too much money on a better grade of power tool? So if you want quality, a better and safer grade building material and much wider choices in sizing then your basically down to three or four options. I went with Arkansas Wood Door and am completely pleased and impressed by the experience. Now I could have spent twice what I did and gone to a small custom shop and gotten the same thing, but I am in to saving money and frankly I enjoy the challenge. AWD worked with me directly. Working up the order and getting the plan for each box just right. If you have never designed and built a kitchen before, there are plenty of tips and guidance on the web and I recommend you heartily research all of the aspects and complications involved. I hit a couple of unexpected bumps. But more about that below. So do your research. For instance you can save a lot of money by building the plinths yourself and only order squared off boxes without the toe kick. By making the platform on which you place the lower cabinets first, you can get that plumb and level, so throwing up the boxes is a breeze. And again, the cabinets are also less expense, a complete all around win. AWD uses an easy system for matching up box parts so assembly was easy. No special tools required. Given the many parts and I used a mix of frameless and face framed cabinets, there was a moment or two when in amongst all the materials I got nervous about having everything I needed, but low and behold, all was right there in the end. I also recommend the concept from French cooking "mis en place" that is have all your ingredients in place and all your tools where you need them before starting out. Also, it was a lot easier to work with my wife than doing it alone, but I did a few by myself and so if that is your only option than you should have no problem. I've assembled a lot of cheaper Swedish flat packed furniture in my day, and the quality and sturdiness of AWD leaves no doubt about how long these will last. Just rock solid. Great thing about AWD is the cost to quality ratio. Cant beat it. Which also means if you make a mistake the replacement is so reasonable it becomes not big deal. I mis-measured one box and so I needed to order the right size. Worked out fine, but that was because AWD had an incredibly fast turn around. The other few reliable companies are several weeks to months. And these other places are crazy expensive. And in truth, the other companies are a complete rip off on trim and accessories. AWD pricing was so amenable that my mistakes cost me so little in comparison with what I was saving. So there's a built in confidence for the first timer. Also AWD made one mistake on the placement of a hinge in two doors. They immediately and without question remade them and sent them out in under ten days. You just can't get that service anywhere in the custom cabinet world. It was so affordable I upgraded on one side to black walnut. Trying doing that at the other quality shops. The quality of the roll out drawers and top drawer boxes is superb and the hinges and under-mount sliders are top grade excellent. The hardware was the easiest part frankly. Their system, for lining up the hardware is just so easy. Drill driver is all you need as the placement is already leveled for you. SO: high end quality custom built cabinets, superior custom support, fastest turnaround in the marketplace, most affordable pricing out there, excellent hardware, and oh yeah, I almost forget, color choices. They offer complete line of lacquer - just pick a SW color and they'll match it. SO completely and truly custom for a fraction of cost without sacrificing any quality. The Rev. Philip Carr-Jones"

"The expert they sent out determined that I had two cracks in my basement wall. Other vendors said I would need a interior water drain system installed. Stay Dry fix the problem for a fraction of the cost."

"Our kitchen cabinets now look brand new and beautiful, thanks to Rick Remaly Painting and Staining.  After twenty years, our cabinets had accumulated nicks and scratches, and hard to clean grime.  Also the wood  stain on the door below the sink had washed off in places due to dripping water.  We thought about buying new cabinets or replacing cabinet doors, but decided to try re-finishing first as the most cost-effective solution, and we?re so glad we did.  The difference is quite dramatic.Rick arrived on time and finished the work fairly quickly.  More importantly he was able to match the existing wood stain, so that it blended in perfectly.  
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"Great, detailed work. Installed 13 windows and even agreed to install a new garage door opener while working on the windows. Great group of local guys! Steve"

"I own a 13 year old home, and my roof issues began in Fall 2019 when I began to notice several leaks. I began to call local roofers, and had several come out, the leaks were repaired, but all of them suggested that my roof needed to be replaced and was nearing it’s useful life. When Spring 2020 rolled around, I began to search for a company that could replace my roof. While conducting my research, a friend referred me to a local home inspector to obtain his opinion on my roof (replace vs additional repairs). This inspector suggested I contact Dennison Exterior Solutions as they had a great reputation in the area, and he personally had good things to say about them. At about the same time, I began to research my options for a warranty claim on my shingles as they had been shedding granules since I moved into the house. When I began to look around on the Certainteed web site, I noticed that Dennison was listed as the top contractor in my area, so that reassured me I was on the right track. Early one morning, I called the office number for Dennison and left a voicemail message. At the end of the message, it provided an email address to contact Scott Dennison (Owner). I left a voicemail message and immediately sent an email to Scott. Literally within minutes of me sending Scott the email, I received a response from him. We exchanged a few emails and he advised that he would have his office contact me to schedule a visit/inspection. Later that day, Amy contacted me to arrange a visit. The initial visit was set up and as the appointment approached, I received a phone text message reminding me of the visit and asking me to acknowledge the appointment. These are the reasons YOU should select Dennison Exterior Solutions to replace your roof: 1 - All presale visits were on time and took place as planned - not rushed, thorough Dennison was one of the few roofing companies that actually went into my attic for an inspection, and provided a thorough solution to my problem 2 - As part of the estimate preparation, a drone was used to take high definition photos of my roof, these photos were used during the sales presentation 3 - Throughout the entire process, I was able to communicate with Scott Dennison via email, his responses were close to immediate 4 - As part of the contractor selection process, I asked Scott for references of customers who had their roof replaced as well as active roof replacement jobs. We called all of the references, and visited several active jobs. All references advised us that once they met with Scott to review his estimate, they proceeded with the work 5 - There is no viable comparison when it comes to cost estimates. Scott’s presentation was very detailed, specific and thorough. During the sales presentation, he had samples of the vents and products he was planning on using on our project. Again, solving our problem 6 - Scott advised us that the reason our shingles have failed was due to poor ventilation and possibly poor insulation. All rooms in our home have cathedral ceilings which are not accessible via the attic. Scott ensured that his team would remove roof sheathing in each section of the roof to inspect the ventilation and insulation. Problem SOLVED 7 - Every detail that Scott went over with us during the sales presentation ACTUALLY took place when the roof work was being done. The sales packet included exhibits that illustrated how the drip edge would be installed as an example 8 - We decided to award the work to Dennison Exterior Solutions at the end of Scott’s sales presentation. We were blown away by the level of detail, knowledge and experience. Scott even took the time to review possible additional costs items that were not part of the estimate (replacement of damaged wood sheathing, insulation, etc) 9 - At the end of the sales presentation, Scott told us that it would be between 4-8 weeks before the work on our roof would begin, but told us he would share a web page with us where we could monitor the “ranking” of when our job would start 10 - About a week after signing with Scott, we received an email alerting us that the work may start sooner than he anticipated. Sure enough, the work started within about 10 days of signing the contract. EVERYTHING that Scott told us would happen actually happened: A - The supplies were delivered on time B - The crew showed up on time everyday C - The crew cleaned up my yard and protected my shrubs - there was no damage to my property D - The crew followed the detailed installation instructions of ice and water shield, drip edge, shingles, ridge and vent caps as detailed in the sales presentation - this solved my problem The crew removed one sheet of roof sheathing in every section of my roof to inspect the ventilation and insulation. Lucky for me, the builder had done both properly E - The crew replaced rotten wood as needed and allowed me to inspect the damaged wood F - The crew took pictures of all of the work they completed - before and after G - The crew answered all of my questions and were friendly and professional H - The crew met with me each day to review the work ahead for that day I - Scott was the only roofing company that submitted a thorough solution to address the root cause of my problem. SAVE YOURSELF TIME, GO WITH DENNISON, YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Sincerely, Donovan Cartwright"

"The repairs went well, the quality was great. The repeated calls to actually get them to show up was very unprofessional. I will not hire them again."

"David is a great contractor. He demo’d an exterior door for us, raised the interior floor by 2ft to bring it all level and then installed a new door with a new opening. He also installed all new staircases throughout the home. His attention to detail is fantastic, and his customer service is top tier. Contact him and Amanda for any kind of construction related projects you might have!"

"This project couldn’t have gone better! The guys that came were, friendly, clean, quick, and the price was very good (best quote by far) I got the quote on replacing my old sliding glass door and a broken egress window that the original owner didn’t install properly. I got the quote on a Wednesday and they asked me if I wanted them to start on Thursday, because of my schedule we decided on Saturday. I have an old house so fitting new renovations is always a challenge. Everything turned out perfect. I would and have recommend these guys to everyone who needs doors and windows."

"Rob removed a (large) gas fireplace (including piping and fake chimney structure) in our living room and put in a sliding glass door. He also built a 16X16 deck off the door. He is dependable and did an excellent job. The door and deck look like they were always there. Rob has done work for us before and we highly recommend him to anyone looking for quality work."

"AHS is ok. They cover repairs of most everything under the roof of your house. The companies that contract with them are not always the best. You call AHS with the issue, they send a fax to the repair company and give you the contact info. If they don't contact you within 24 hours, you call them. Sometimes they answer, sometimes they don't. When they arrive (usually three days or so later), they service the item. if it has issues within the 90 days, you call AHS again, they are sent out with no charge. If the serviceman decides the unit is unrepairable, AHS will allow you to choose a replacement from their listing (usually not as good as what you have) they will install and remove your old item, or give you wholesale amount to buy and install your own. Prices vary on what you want covered and what you want the copay to be, plus where you live. For me it is 49.99 per month with a 75.00 time of service order. You can have more than one item serviced at the same time under the same fee. If you have a SEAR product the repair guys are great. Not that wild about the other ones they send out. But it is a big savings compared to calling someone on your own. The cost of service is only the 75.00 copay."