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"Friendly and competent service. I will hire Cornerstone again the next time I need carpentry work done. Highly recommended."

"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"

"After searching for the right contractor for literally years - and having many come to bid only to tell us they were too busy, the job was too difficult, or their price astronomical - we found SAW Contracting through Angies list in July, 2011.  In competing with another contractor for the job, Scott Waltenbaugh of SAW Contracting demonstrated a keen interest in taking on this "challenge" (our old house had and still has a lot of piece-meal problems) and won the bid by being competitive in his pricing, being professional and courteous in his demeanor, and gaining our confidence with his obvious knowledge and experience. 

Reading the extensive review before this, it seems there must be two SAW Contracting companies, for our experience with SAW Contracting has been NOTHING like that reviewer's: our tile is perfectly aligned and flat, as is our engineered floor; our framing is straight and tight; the drywall is smooth and beautiful; the stonework on the foundation is clean and tight and garners many compliments; the assistants were polite, respectful, hardworking and skilled; the communication has been par excellence; the attitude has been friendly, courteous, and professional; and the pay schedule was very appropriate and professional.  We did give SAW Contracting a "new construction, total gut job and addition" work and it came out better than we even dreamed it could.  We had our own certified electrician friend do our electrical, but Scott showed knowledge in that area, also.  Scott had his work schedule, materials and crew organized well; showed consistent and practical planning ahead; organized the job site well; and was extremely efficient with his materials cost and use.  We're not sure what happened on the other reviewer's job, but there are always two sides to any story.  To us, the last review had a vengeful tone, and we find it curious the reviewer stated he had trouble communicating with other contractors, as well. 

Our project has taken a long time to complete for many reasons, but over the time SAW Contracting has worked here, we've come to know a young man who is highly skilled, sincere, honorable, and with a fabulous work ethic.  Scott is a great communicator and truly enjoys keeping his clients updated daily with what is going on and what his next step will be, and he encourages his clients to give him feedback on his work.  He is very easy to get along with, friendly and funny, and takes set-backs in his stride and just tackles problems head-on. 

An artist as well as a contractor, Scott is full of practical but creative design ideas and advice, and has been tremendously helpful to us in choosing materials and even re-designing our original plans - much improved and little to no extra expense.  He would be excellent to consult with before you settle on any project.  In fact, we are consulting with him currently on another project we will soon have him do. 

Scott Waltenbaugh works hard to stay on or below budget, and has actually saved us money.  He prefers the client pay for materials directly and never fails to provide receipts promptly; the few times he has had to pick up extra materials, he personally buys them and presents the receipt for reimbursement.  What little material may be left over - and it is a small amount, as Scott is very efficient and produces little waste - he has asked us where we would like it stored, not keeping anything for himself as some other contractors might.  The actual cost of the job is very, very close to the original bid; the overage we have is due to our materials upgrades (windows, doors and flooring). 

As work progressed, we and our visitors have been consistently impressed with Scott's great knowledge of materials, techniques and trends in all phases of construction.  Scott has built homes in California and Florida and uses his knowledge of earthquake and hurricane codes here (remember the little earthquake we had last fall?...)   Even the building inspector commented on the extra support he included in his foundation framing and was impressed with the quality of the rest of his work, stating Scott was one of the best builders he'd seen.  His superb skill and craftsmanship is obvious in all the work he has performed, but especially in his finish work. He takes the extra time to put beautiful custom cuts on his woodwork, caulking the smallest joints, carefully taping all painting, cleaning the walls and floors, creatively framing windows and doors, etc. A meticulous, careful and self-demanding perfectionist, he has seen and fixed 'flaws' we had difficulty seeing even when he pointed them out to us!  And he stands by his work: he has called numerous times for various reasons to check for water leaks, air drafts, etc. and was willing to come out late if necessary to fix a problem, which, fortunately, there were none (he drives nearly 1.5 hours to get here).  Scott takes great pride in his work and genuinely wants his customer to be thoroughly happy with the outcome.  On that note, he eagerly jumps in to help wherever he sees someone could use an extra hand - even helping with non-construction tasks at times.  His biggest flaw, if you can call it that, is that he spends a great deal of time on small details that really make a difference in the final product but can set his work schedule back.  Our project took longer than estimated, but our result is far better than we imagined and we are thrilled with it. 

Clean-up is good, especially when Scott has his workers with him.  Even without extra help, though, Scott doesn't like to leave the customer fighting through construction messes and tools and takes time to put everything away or out of the way.  He keeps sawdust swept up, cleans floors and is careful about removing boots or putting down floor covering when working in the home. 

If you want superior work and can be patient with the progress, we absolutely recommend SAW Contracting.  In fact, we've contracted with SAW Contracting for the next phase of our historic home remodel.  Should we ever desire to build a new home, SAW Contracting would be our first choice to turn to. "

With plenty of experience, J and F Contracting, is more than capable of taking on any carpentry project you may need done in your home. We are highly experienced and offer very impressive trimming work. Give us a call today!

Kodi Arnerr is committed to excellence in every aspect of our business. We uphold a standard of integrity bound by fairness, honesty, and personal responsibility. Our distinction is the quality of service we bring to our customers. Accurate knowledge of our trade combined with ability is what makes us true professionals. Above all, we are watchful of our customers' interests, and make their concerns the basis of our business.