Lofft Construction Inc

Overall I am very pleased with the work that was done. This was a large project requiring a complete gut of over 2/3 of my house. This house is over one-hundred years old and they had to remove everything but the brick walls, ceiling, and floors.The initial meeting with Luis, the contractor, went well. He understood what we wanted, came in with a budget we could afford, and scheduled our project in a timely manner. The demo went well and on-time. They then had to install framing, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. They sub-contract the plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. No issues there. The rest of the project progressed on time. I purchased the fixtures and appliances on-line saving some money there. The walls went up, sheet-rock in, and painting done with no issues. My only complaint with the project revolved around a change to the plans that rippled through the project until the end. The contractor recommended that we fur-out the brick walls to allow for insulation and wiring. A good suggestion, but those lost inches rippled through the entire project and weren't properly accounted for causing issues and increasing cost. This decision was made with my consent, but I didn't have the foresight to see its impact all the way through. It is this type of insight that I was paying for and I believe the contractor failed me here. The bottom-line is that I believe it is the contractor's responsibility to foresee the impact of changes and decisions as they are the "expert" and counsel the homeowner accordingly. That being said, I would hire them again. They were professional and prompt when replying to my questions and concerns. I was especially pleased with the on-site foreman, Eric. He is hardworking, diligent, and puts his best into a project. The overall cost was reasonable for the work that was done. There have been a few minor areas requiring a follow-up visit and they have responded quickly and without fuss. I would recommend them to my neighbors.

Final result was great with good quality and our expectations were fulfilled. Job was performed during normal business hours for security reasons and the workers were on time in the morning and ready to leave by the closing of our premises; they were very polite and concerned with the cleaning and noise while doing their job. Project lasted about 10 days and Alex did a great job while it was going on, checking in everyday and contacting us for our everyday feedback and bringing us different samples of materials when requested. We wanted to convert two rooms into one by demolishing the wall in between. Each room had different type of floors: one with carpet, the other had hard-wood installed. Both were removed and replaced with a new engineered wood looking floor. Walls were re-painted. One door was removed and sealed so the new room has only one door. There was a gap on the ceiling after demolition of the wall which was filled with drywall finished with a special technique to match the rest of our floating popcorn tiles ceiling. Demolished wall had two electrical outlets that were relocated on the other walls. New room is intended to be a dining room in our office and it?s connected to our kitchen. Part of the project was to install a new swing door. At the beginning the door had some details that could?ve been done better. We communicated our concerns about it and the next day they came to redo the installation, fix the problems and meet our requirements. We would definitely recommend Lofft Construction.

They did a good job. We were happy with the work. They were very responsive, and there were very minor things, but they were very responsive to correcting anything, so we were happy with their work. We would recommend them. The price was not the cheapest, but it was still good. They were professional.

Alex and his crew are always professional, knowledgeable and punctual. They go out of their way to do projects well and are customer-friendly. Count on them to give a competitive quote and work with you to ensure a top-quality job. They are very responsive and come prepared to complete a job quickly and completely. They do a wide variety of work and are a superb asset to the neighborhood and the city. They do not skimp on any details and always are extremely professional.

Alex came over to do the estimates. He seemed very competent and professional. We really liked the guy. He took notes on everything and said he'd try to get back to us in a week, because he'd be going on vacation then. About three weeks later, after not hearing anything, I shot Alex an email that included some additional information he had asked for (plats). After not hearing anything for another week or two I called his office. All they would say is that he was unavailable. I explained that I was waiting to receive an estimate and that he'd mentioned he'd be on vacation, but that it had been almost a month. All the lady kept repeating was that he was unavailable. So, I call back another week or two later - this is over a month after the estimate - and now they tell me, yes, he's still on vacation, he'll be back next week and will contact you. Another week, and Alex does email me saying he's just gotten back from vacation and he'll get back to me in another week. Great, back on track. Wish he, or anyone, would have mentioned he'd be on vacation for over a month (must be nice), but whatever. Two weeks go by, no contact. I email Alex to see if we're still on, no reply. That was two weeks ago. So, a month since last contact, over two months since the estimate. My wife and I are still kind of in shock at the plain rudeness of just refusing to communicate. We could (and should) of had another company come out and do some of the urgent home-repairs weeks and weeks ago. But, we liked Alex and wanted to support a DC business. We own a small business ourselves and can't imagine turning our nose up at someone's money. Still not sure what the issue was. Either this guy is just plain unprofessional, or he has so much business that he obviously didn't need ours. Even then though, unprofessional.

It was ok. Scheduling was easy and they were flexible with our schedule. The technicians were professional, responsive and nice to work with. However, it did take them a bit long to find the source of the leak, and I still think we have a few more leaks.

Great work by Lofft Construction. Luis was very helpful and great to work with, as were the rest of the crew. Unfinished basement laundry room looks great now!

They were very nice over the phone, however they just informed me they don't do small jobs.

I hired Lofft Construction to completely renovate my home basement. I created a simple sketch of my concept, they provided architectural design services and full construction services. My basement was a little complicated, I wanted to turn what was a basement full of utilities into a basement space with a full bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom. The first floor of my house was extended past the footprint of my basement, so we excavated the basement to an equal square footage space as the first floor. The project took place from February, to April and we were hit with many obstacles. We had delays due to snow since we were excavating and pouring concrete and had to wait till the temperatures rose above freezing. Then going into the rainy season, we were hit bad by leaky and flooded basement every time it rained. Lofft was very persistent with finding a solution with the flooding of the basement and demonstrated excellent communication, we were on the phone everyday and meeting on site, they were really working through the problem. We installed an interior sump pit and french drain, then we layed back the exterior dirt and installed an exterior waterproofing membrane and drain board system. I felt like with all the unexpected issues and seeing how hard the Lofft Team was constantly working and trying to solve the problem, my trust level with them grew. They were often working on the weekends in order to maintain their schedule. I had only a few change orders, mainly because I was making small changes to the design. A great company, very professional with great quality, and extremely hard working. I would definitely use again.

1. Very poor quality. |The main problem was with the hardwood floors. They are uneven, not level (violation of contract), many boards are cracked and chipped (a result of lousy, improper installation, not because of factory defects), many have big nail holes on top (mind you: these are boards that are in pretty central locations; those boards should have never been nailed like that!), the boards are not properly staggered (there are many "H joints" or flush joints, rookie mistakes that would have had no impact on time or money had they only known how to do things right). Finally, they used too few staples to lay the boards (the inspector found this out using magnetic balls). I have the hardwood floors inspector's report certifying all this. |In addition, various fillers in between the kitchen cabinets are loose; a couple of power outlets do not have power; several of the power outlets covers are falling off; the new tiles in the bathroom are cracked; the recessed lights were placed in hammered-out holes in the ceiling (instead of them being neatly cut) and so you can see holes in the ceiling around the lights' rims; there is a crack on the ceiling next to where the new wall was raised. |2. Very low responsiveness and rude treatment. |My neighbors and the building's management complained that the renovations in my apartment were causing too much disruption in the building; in particular, there was too much dirt along the corridor. Several times I asked Mr. Sanguinetti and his "crew" to cover the corridor (or at least the entrance to the apartment) with a blanket where workers could clean their feet but they never did it. They only placed a flimsy hand towel (!!) outside the apartment door (my building's management did eventually put a blanket). I also told them I wanted to keep the kitchen appliances and asked them to protect them. After they got covered in dust and rocks from the demolition, they only put a piece of plastic on top of the stove, nothing else. |Also, several times Mr. Sanguinetti and I agreed to meet at the apartment around 7 in the evening to go over the work. He stood me up three times. Towards the end of our business, when I told him the final result of the work with the hardwood floors was very poor, he got angry and proceeded to insult me. (I have written evidence, since all of these conversations took place through text messages. Later I met someone else at my office who had also hired Lofft Contractors and had similar or worse problems with Mr. Sanguinetti and his crew.) |3. Much longer to complete the work than agreed in the contract. |The work took longer than established in the contract. Also the work was delayed some three weeks because Mr. Sanguinetti took vacation and was out of the country. In all, Lofft Contractors' work took three months (instead of five weeks) to complete (almost three times as long as that stated in the contract and certainly much longer than what Mr. Sanguinetti had verbally promised). |In addition, since Mr. Sanguinetti got angry, insulted me and walked out of the contract, I had to hire someone else to finish the work: prepare the kitchen for the countertop installation and hook-up of kitchen appliances and sink afterwards. |4. Little or no supervision. |I went to supervise the works every evening and then I would go back to the apartment next day in the morning to talk to the workers (and Mr. Sanguinetti if by chance he would happen to be there). Every day I noticed mistakes and things done wrong and when I notified Mr. Sanguinetti he never seemed to be aware of them. Oftentimes, Mr. Sanguinetti would tell me that he had gone to the apartment during the day but then his crew would tell me that they hadn't seen him for several days. |Also, we had agreed that they could only work Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Saturdays they could do only quiet work (e.g. painting, caulking). Absolutely no work on Sundays. Well, one Sunday I went to the apartment at eleven in the morning to drop some things off and I found some workers I had never seen (sub contracted by some sub contractor of Lofft's subcontractor) doing tile work, including cutting tiles inside the apartment (in case you don't know, that's extremely loud!!). Of course, my neighbors had already complained, yet these guys carried on until I got there. Of course, when I saw this, I asked them to stop and come back the following day. I called Mr. Sanguinetti but he didn't answer the phone. The following day he said he didn't know about this since it was all arranged by his subcontractor. |5. Lack of knowledge of the trade. |Besides the rookie mistakes in laying the hardwood floors (read above), I found many mistakes so basic that they can only be evidence of their lack of knowledge of the trade. The water valve for the shower was installed wrong the first time: hot water would come out in the "cold" position and vice versa. Although they claimed to be acquainted with Ikea furniture, they made various silly mistakes with the kitchen cabinets (e.g. they fixed the cabinets to one another blocking precisely the holes where the door hinges would need to be attached) and hooked the bathroom sink with traditional, non-Ikea pipes that wouldn't allow the vanity's drawer to close (mind you: the evening before I left the package of Ikea pipes readily at hand, showed it to Mr. Sanguinetti and even asked him whether they knew how to install them). |6. Missing property. |Several times I told Mr. Sanguinetti and his crew that I wanted to keep all the kitchen appliances. One day, the trash disposal machine was gone. I asked Mr. Sanguinetti about it and said he didn't know where it could be but said they would replace it. They never did. |7. Messy and dirty work. |As I said, they were extremely messy and never took any precautions to even reduce the level of disturbance they would cause to my property (e.g. kitchen appliances) or my neighbors' (e.g. the dust and dirt all over the building corridors or the noise on that Sunday morning).

This was our first home project, after owning our home for about 3 years. We interviewed many contractors, and Lofft came in with the best price and seemed like they would be easy to work with. They were patient with us (we take a long time to make decisions), and we were looking forward to a good project. Part of the contract was help from a designer. This wasn?t as much help as we had hoped. After finalizing the plans to make the bathroom bigger, we learned that shower doors were not made wide enough for our shower. So we had to build a small partial wall (6?) to accommodate our shower door. Luckily we ended up liking the small partial wall, so not a huge deal. They guys that came every day (Erick and Orlando) were wonderful to work with, helpful in explaining what they were doing, and very professional. Can?t say enough about how great they were. There was a problem when they gutted the existing bathroom. They threw out a light fixture that we had asked them to keep. Lofft ended up buying a new light fixture, but they tried to charge us for it. It took some haggling to get them to pay for it. We were delayed a few days because of snowstorms, and the project took about a week longer than estimated, in part because of permits and inspections. It didn?t bother us, because the estimate was for 3 weeks, and they finished in 4. With the snow days, that was acceptable to us. And part of the delay was due to us ordering Special Order accent tile from Home Depot, which came in exactly one month after they said it would. (Side note: Trust your contractors when they tell you not do Special Orders from Home Depot, because Home Depot was completely unreliable.) They finished the entire project except for installing a shower hook, because it was backordered. Since the shower had two showerheads, the bathroom was usable in the interim 4 weeks while we waited for the part. At the end of the project, we were very happy with about 95% of the work. The tile work was great, everything was functional, and it looked like the bathroom we had imagined. There were some problems with the paint and our hardwood floor in the bedroom. But when they came back to install the shower hook, Erick fixed all the things we had issues with. Yes, it would have been nice to have it done right the first time, but I must give credit to Lofft for spending an entire extra day here to fix all the little things that were wrong. On the price, we were at first told that there was a $500 discount for Angie?s List members. But when the final invoice came, it was only $200. We had to haggle about that, as well. They eventually gave us the full discount, after several emails back and forth. Hence the "B" in the price category. For our first experience, this was ok. We like how the bathroom turned out. However, constantly haggling over the costs was disappointing. In the future, we would think about working with Lofft again, but would also look into other companies.

The floors have been a NIGHTMARE ever since the job was finished. My condo is in a basement, and the previous owner had done a self-installation of laminate flooring, but it was dated and needed to be replaced. I selected wood based on a picture Alex sent to my phone, which he put in the condo to acclimatize before he started work. He called me a week later (I?m an officer in the Army, and was in Virginia for a training exercise) and said that the floors he originally bought couldn?t be used, and that it would be best to go with an engineered hardwood instead because the concrete below it was uneven. I said yes, thinking that I could trust his expertise. For those of you who haven?t done flooring work, the subfloor is contestably the most important aspect of a floor installation: if it isn?t level, there is no hope of getting the floor to lay flat. In my circumstance, Alex was using a subcontractor, and somehow came to the consensus with them (or simply told them) that they wouldn?t level the concrete before installing the wood with a floating technique, in which the wood locks together but isn?t adhered to the concrete. The end result is a floor that looks okay, but warps, bends, creaks and bows below your feet when you walk on it. The boards are flat on their own, but will sink down if you step on them because the subfloor can?t hold the weight. I told Alex after I moved in that I was having issues with the floors, and he told me that he could get the flooring guys to come over and inject glue beneath the spots where it bent down. He also made a vague reference to a French drain, and said that it ?would cost a fortune? to get the concrete leveled. After some back and forth, he agreed to come to my place with the guy who actually installed the floor so I could get his opinion. But I had done my research by then: no self-respecting flooring company will EVER install a floor over an uneven subfloor. This is corroborated by countless forums online, and a simple Google search will lead anyone to this conclusion. When we met together, the flooring guy said that the glue trick Alex was talking about wouldn?t work with a floating floor: to get it level and stop the bending, we would need to un-install the floor, use self-leveling compound on the concrete, and then install it again. And the cost for that? $1,500 plus materials. That immediately upset me, because it was clearly not a fortune, especially in relation to the $25,000 I had already paid. What?s more, he said that my subfloor was over an inch off in some spots. That?s staggering to me, because the instructions in the box say the floor must be ?Level: flat to 3/16" per 8-foot radius" [written in bold]. Installing the floor in that manner meant the warranty on the wood was void! I told him directly that I wanted to level the concrete and then glue down the floors as he had written into the original contract. On August 7th, after I exchanged quite a few e-mails with Alex, he finally agreed that he would pay for the cost of uninstalling and reinstalling the floors, and that I would pay for the materials and labor for the concrete to be leveled, which I thought was fair. I am writing this on September 4th, but it took until yesterday for Alex to offer a date two weeks from now and a to e-mail a contract?again, with vague language and TBD written on proposed date?that said I would pay for any wood they couldn?t save, which sounded suspicious. When I asked him about it and whether he wanted to have a flooring expert inspect the floors (as he suggested several weeks ago), he sent me an e-mail which said, in part: ?why are we doing all this extra work The floors are perfectly installed? And that, my Angie?s List friends, is the straw that broke the camel?s back, why I am modifying my review (originally done in good faith with the understanding they would help correct these issues), and why I will never use them again. The problems with their work don?t end there, however. These are the other pains I had when dealing with them: 1) The painting, overall, was incredibly sloppy. The guys Alex used for the work painted over all the outlet covers, and in some areas put paint directly over the drywall compound without sanding it. Both are glaring rookie mistakes. 2) When he replaced the cabinets, he ordered new ones with the exact same dimensions for the refrigerator nook. I didn?t see any issue with it at first, but when I replaced my refrigerator (as I told him I was going to), I realized that my options for a new model were VERY limited because the gap was so small at 30.5? wide. I only had a handful to choose from instead of dozens, but it seems like something someone with so many years in the business should have seen. I had to rip the floorboard off the wall to get the new refrigerator in the nook. 3) When I had my new electric range delivered, I found there was about a half inch gap at the top of the counter because the granite slab is too narrow, which the old, crooked stove helped hide. I told Alex last week, and he said he would contact the granite company. I have heard nothing from him or from the company. 4) Part of the original contract was for him to install new appliances. I told him a week ago I bought a new microwave and needed help installing it over the range, and today is the 4th consecutive day he either hasn?t responded or told me he will get back to me. It?s a 10 minute project that?s getting ignored. I am interested in what hollow platitudes will be offered by Lofft to try and explain why they have been kicking the can down the road rather than fixing my issues, which are plainly legitimate. It is extremely frustrating to have paid so much money and spent so much time trying to repair problems without any resolution. I will gladly pay another contractor more money to fix them instead of continuing to waste my time with a sluggish company.

We had been putting this repair off because it was seemed drought with possible expensive problems. We met with Alex from Lofft and he assured us that Eric with the help of Velando could do the necessary plumbing. They showed up right on time with all the materials and tools they needed and much to our surprise figured out pretty quickly where in the walls the pipes that needed to be replaced were. When some of the pipes were discovered to be under the tile floor and to replace them would mean tearing up the tile and cement flooring we thought our worries were justified. Since we had fairly recently done the master bath remodel with Lofft we weren't sure we were ready to do another complete remodel. So, after discussion with Alex and Eric they came up with a plan to reconfigure the path of the pipes, saving the flooring and added expense. In 3 days, the plumbing was done and water pressure and drainage much improved. Installation of the pipes required small holes to be cut in several walls but Lofft was able to take care of that too.

the job started at the beginning of February and was finished by the first week in April. I chose loft not only because the price was so good but also because architectural drawings are included in the estimate by an architect they work with on a regular basis which is needed to obtain permits and they have an engineer they also work with on a regular basis for an extra fee which was very reasonable. for my job due to a load bearing wall being removed and another non-load bearing wall being removed an engineer's recommendation and written report was needed. . for me having the construction company, architect and engineer working together eased my mind because I knew they were in agreement and understanding of the best way to proceed with the job. the project manager for my job was Luis and I couldn't have asked for a more pleasant person to work with. he was ALWAYS available. at the beginning of the project he brought a great selection of very well made tiles to choose from which was really helpful because I didn't have to go to a tile store with endless amounts to choose from which can be overwhelming. the granite company he works with is also very good. excellent quality for an excellent price. I also liked that i could purchase items on my own. From what I understand some companies frown on that because they want to add 20% to everything. in some cases it's a wash because they pass on their 20% discount but than add 20%. i also appreciated that Luis was able to accommodate special requests like installing wool insulation as opposed to fiberglass, matching the existing window and baseboard molding, and installing a slightly different baseboard for the basement as opposed to standard, adding more lighting and switches and adding an additional sink in the basement after construction started. My new kitchen and basement really did turn out just like I envisioned it.

Called Lofft Construction Wed 4/16 for an appointment for an estimate for a job to replace front porch flooring, latticework and fascia. I was given Tues 4/22 at 11:00 by the receptionist. Tues 4/22 I received a call at 11:25 from a Lofft employee stating that he was "running late" and that the earliest he could make it was between 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. or so and that he would call to confirm at 12:30. The call never came.

Significant strengths: Lofft Construction staff and their interactions with me demonstrated professionalism, patience, flexibility and values attention to details. Lofft Construction also demonstrated a willingness to go above and beyond to ensure my high expectations were met. The men that were responsible for the actual work in my condo were knowledgeable, engaging and friendly and consistently demonstrated that they value high-quality workmanship. The Project Manager, was outstanding. He is engaging, patient and professional. The contractor is passionate about quality remodeling and working with clients to create a remodel project that meets the client?s needs and is of a high quality. Erick, the construction worker lead responsible for the work in my condo, was outstanding. Erick listened to my input and feedback. The staff in my building reported that he was friendly, followed the strict condo rules and was timely in meeting work deadlines. Erick also is passionate about providing exceptional, high quality work. Lofft Construction professionalism and their response to the issue with Home Depot: First of alI, the bathtub from Home Depot was a 300 pound Cast Iron Tub. Thus this was a rather big deal for the project. I was furious with Home Depot for their multiple mistakes that delayed the project. I was calling the stores and their store managers and chasing down the right bathroom tub and letting each store manager know how troubling this debacle was to me. However, Rolando, a member of the construction crew working on my condo project, remained calm, professional and never let his frustrations show. He communicated with me while I was furiously working with Home Depot to resolve the problem. He even had to return one of the tubs and go to another store to pick up the appropriate tub. This was no small task. But Rolando remained calm, patient and allowed me to work with Home Depot to resolve the problem. Finally, there was one member of the construction crew I want to acknowledge?Rolando. Rolando was always friendly, engaging and listened to my input and feedback. The original paint that was chosen didn?t work for me. Thus, I made a request to have the bathroom repainted. Rolando went above the call of duty and returned to my condo to repaint the bathroom. There were a few other minor last minute tweaks I requested and Rolando was willing to work with me on those requests. My bathroom is stunning. I am amazed at the quality of their work product. The final product exceeded what I thought was possible. Alex and his construction crew have an eye for high quality. Friends that has come to my condo and seen the remodel are awe-struck by the transformation. I cannot speak highly enough of the final product that is my bathroom remodel. I am simply amazed at the bathroom I have today.

Although, we did select the company to do the work. I believe they would have done a good job. We selected a company that was familiar with our architect.

The project went well. They were flexible on the price based on the insurance adjusters budget.

It was fast and painless. Looking forward to make a few remodels in my condo.

It went very well. The contractor and his team were always very professional, accommodating, and willing to overcome the challenges that arose along the way. I am very pleased with the timeliness, quality, and completeness of the work done.

We contracted with Lofft Construction in May 2013. They began work in June, and finished up before the holidays. There were some minor things that occurred in January, but basically only finishing touches. I'm glad that I waited to give this review. I think a few weeks after the workers have left, I am able to more accurately describe and a**** the contract and job performed. In the end, we are very, very happy with how things worked out with Lofft. We always felt that there was tremendous value and craftsmanship in how they worked. They were very professional and the various crews were courteous and mindful of my family and the environment they were working in. I also feel that there was always an attempt to make us happy as a client. When things didn't go perfectly, we always felt that they would try to remedy the situation. I feel that Lofft works with the mindset that their reputation is on the line with every job, and every client is important to them. I feel they genuinely want the client to have a good experience with their company. Our job was big. it called for a complete gutting of the basement. Down to the dirt. We removed 100 year old pipes and addressed an increasingly annoying sewer issue. they found us a specialist out of Baltimore who lined some outside sewer pipes and we have been trouble free since July. We also moved the HVAC mechanical room from the basement to the attic and installed duct work. This is a big job and it involves a lot of family disruption. They were very courteous in this regard. They also cut a big hole in our first floor and installed a new stairwell to our basement. this direct access has been a blessing. We used to have to enter the basement by first descending down the deck steps. This was never fun, especially in inclement weather. Lofft helped/suggested materials for us to use. They've worked out beautifully. Really great quality at good prices. Our basement is fantastic. It has added 30% of useable space to our growing family. When you go through a project of this magnitude, there are going to be things that don't go perfectly. There are so many moving parts that it's inevitable that frustrations will occasionally rise. However, I think it's also important to learn how to be a good client. Going through the experience, I feel I'm better for it. I think if we decide to hire Lofft to redo our kitchen in a year, I'll be a better client for them. All that said, everyone's experience is going to be different. But we spent a considerable amount of money and had Lofft in our house for about 6 months, and I wouldn't have it any other way. We'll hire them again I'm certain.

They did a very good job and we are very pleased with the work.

Oscar was the architect, and Eric and Rolando were the laborers. Eric came up with some great ideas for the renovations and is a very clever man. He was very good to work with and collaborate with my own ideas. They paid very well attention to detail and they cleaned up well after the job was complete. It took them about six weeks to complete the job. They could have done the job for a much smaller cost. However, I chose the materials and higher end finishes. I am really pleased with the result. My experience with the company was very good.

Replaced a column on my front porch

Fantastic service, very professional; workers arrived on time and were closely monitored by the owner; owner was very receptive to all our questions and was invested in seeing the whole job went well; we had a minor misunderstanding which was quickly resolved. I would highly recommend the services of Lofft Construction, we are delighted with their work.