HomeSmith Inc

John was very patient with me, letting the project play out at it's own pace. His ideas meshed really well with what I wanted to do and I never felt pressured to do anything I didn't want to. The subs he used paid attention to details, like the plumber who pointed out that we needed to replace some of the 1950s vintage drain line in one bathroom to get a good connection. My requests for small changes (different tile at one place, some more electrical outlets) were worked in at reasonable prices. I'm very glad I had John do this job for me and look forward to having him back for other things.

Everything went very well!

I contacted John by phone and he told me that he would call me back the next week. That didn't happen. At this point I would have just chalked it up to the person not wanting my business. However, I persisted and called him back because such good reviews by my friends. He told me that he did not forget about me so but would schedule to come over for an estimate the following week. That did not happen. Again, against my better judgement I persisted and called him again. He came out the next day to take a look. I then waited 3 weeks for the actual estimate. He lost my original email address so I had to send it to him again as he did not reply to my first email. I don't understand why it takes 3 weeks to get a written estimate. If the contractor is not interested in my business, then I don't understand why he just did not tell me this. I held off on gathering estimates from other contractors because I wanted to go with John. However, he was not willing to itemize his estimate, nor provide finite detail as he would "hardly make any profit from my job". This was telling that he did not want my business in the first place. I'm very disappointed by the lack in response and lack of attention to detail. If this is the service up front, I highly doubt it would have gotten any better had I chosen to go with him as a contractor.

After considering the big design-build firms and even going through the design process with one of them, we went with John Miller (HomeSmith Inc) for the rehab of a mid-80s house we bought in Carlsbad. John was interested in our needs and wants; it wasn't about him it was about us. John came to us as a referral from our interior designer and we quickly saw why someone would stake their reputation on him. He's honest, customer focused, skilled, and has high standards for his work and that of his team. (I am very picky and yet I didn't have to worry about quality control because John was even pickier than me!) Every professional he brought to our house was someone who earned our confidence. We also found John and every member of the team were easy to work with, and let's face it, that's really important when someone is working in your home. There were a few things I'd booked before hiring John and those parts of the project were the only troublesome areas. When family and friends ask me what I wish I could do again I tell them I would do EVERYTHING through John because his standards are higher than the other people I'd hired on my own for some smaller parts of the job. We enjoyed working with John and his team and recommend them without reservation.