HILLCREST CONSTRUCTION Inc.

Inquired about having a small brick column job, and was informed they didn't do that type of work.

We were satisfied from start to finish with this project and the workmanship.

Overall we are happy with the project outcome. This is mostly a one man operation so the project took a little longer than we initially expected. However, considering the quality of the work, it was worth it. We designed the pergola and built in bench and the finished products matched our specifications exactly.

Before constuction started, we knew our existing sewer line was close to the line of where the new foundation was, so we had Ken pay someone to locate the line ahead of time. Unfortunately this person failed to mention that the location was only good within 18 inches. This meant that once excavation happened and the drill came in to drill for the caissons, the drill hit the old sewer line. We discovered the problem when some water backed up into our house while running the washing machine. Fortunately no damage was done to the house, but Ken came out with a crew the next day (two days before Christmas) to start to dig the old line out and replace it. While this wasn't done before Christmas, it was complete soon after. Ken didn't ask us to pay for this repair. The foundation folks were able to continue work soon after. We were fortunate to have such good winter weather to get the job started quickly. Ken was able to do most of the exterior construction without knocking down the internal wall (leaving us with a fully functional kitchen and house for quite a while through construction). We were very thankful for this as we lived in the house through the entire construction process. Living through the construction process meant we saw every step that was taken. This was stressful at times (for us and for Ken) because construction is an imperfect process and often times what looks like a potential problem is just something that isn't complete yet. We had lots and lots of questions for Ken along the way and he was incredibly patient with us in that process. He was also very patient with us when we were late in making some decisions that caused delays in the overall process. Sometimes we only had a couple days notice that he needed us to make a decision. Looking back, we should have asked him for the complete list of decisions he needed from us and in what order so we could have been better prepared for those. Ken and his team did the framing job. It went both quickly and very well. The trusses for the roof were messed up by the company that made them, which set us back in schedule by a little bit, but all of this was handled well by Ken and we didn't have to pay for anything. Ken did the roofing job himself as well which he did a great job on (that included two different kinds of shingles so that he could both tie into the existing roof, but also give us the shingles we want long-term when we replace the whole roof on the old house in a couple years). The electrical sub-contractors he used were amazing. They were very conscientious of the fact that we were also working from home during part of the week each week and were quiet and courteous when they had questions they needed us to answer. We also really loved the bricklayers. We were incredibly picky about how we wanted the outside brick to look, so they had us review multiple times along the way to make sure we were happy. The end result looks amazing. The flooring folks also did a great job of matching the stain color on the main floor so that most folks don't notice that we even have a different kind of wood. We were unhappy with the tiler. He didn't do a good job and didn't listen to our requests, but Ken worked hard to resolve this issue with us after his job was less than satisfactory. Ken paid to have this issue resolved. Ken has also told us that he will not hire that tiler again. The drywallers were very fast and the overall quality was good. We chose not to have Ken paint the interior as we didn't know what colors we wanted and wanted to save some money by doing this work ourselves later on. We also hired our own cabinet maker who Ken worked to coordinate scheduling with through the project. All in all, we were really pleased with the work Ken did. It was stressful to live in the house while the construction was going on as it meant we saw every detail of the process. Ken was great to work with, didn't mind listening to our long list of questions and concerns, and made sure that they cleaned up along the way knowing that we were living in the house while this was all happening. When issues arose, we felt very comfortable bringing those to Ken and he was good about jumping on them and getting them resolved.

Ken's bid was the most reasonable of four other bidders but that wasn't the only reason I picked him. He was recommended highly by a co-worker and I appreciated his no-nonsense and honest approach to getting things done. The kitchen turned out beautifully (I had excellent design help from Jill Ellis at Colorado Kitchen Design) , the powder room and laundry room improvements were also well-done but the kitchen was the main effort for this job. Decisions such as flooring, counter top, tile backsplash, lighting, plumbing fixtures, etc. worked smoothly, I felt like Ken listened to any concerns and was patient with my lack of knowledge about some of the details that needed to be be worked out during the process. He has excellent skills, both in his workmanship and his ability to manage the plumber, electrician, painter, tile layer, inspectors to get the job done. I'm very happy with Hillcrest Construction.

They are not quite completely through with the work, and I have not had my house inspected by the city inspector yet. So far I have been satisfied except for possibly some of the cleanup. After they tore the old roof off and put the new one on, the gutters weren’t cleaned out. I asked him to bring over a nail magnet to pick up all the old nails in my yard - I asked him twice actually - and he didn’t do that. One day I had a nail go through my tennis shoes. He told me that he couldn’t find it in his warehouse, and that was the last I heard of that.

Ken Lane is great. Always professional, punctual and responsive. I've also seen his work at other homes and it's been excellent. He also does general remodeling, remodeling of kitchen and baths, new construction and additions. Lots of experience. Great to work with, very nice guy.