The Basement Men & The Concrete Man

My husband and I have only superlatives for the work the men did. The contractor, Voytek, was meticulous and in almost daily communication with us. Steve and Voytek offered excellent suggestions and ideas when I was unsure the best option or choice to make regarding lighting, flooring, and even paint colors. Their work is top quality, but their price was exceptionally reasonable. The contract was clearly written and Steve was always in touch to explain what was coming next in the buildout. Steve's estimate of the time to complete the work was right on, actually completing the work ahead of schedule. Voytek and his crews were extremely considerate of our time and needs as seniors. When we made additions to the contract, and there were a few, Steve gave us the best price possible and Voytek took any additions or changes we wanted in stride. The workmen were punctual and professional in their work and use of time. I highly recommend the Basement Men.

It went VERY well. The work was precise, on time and on budget. The wood work, tiling and drywall was excellent. Corners on wood work and drywall were crisp. I can't say enough about the professionalism they bought to the job. The concrete work was excellent. I won't let anyone touch this concrete. If Tony, the concrete contractor, makes a suggestion, follow it. The pricing and timeline were great. They finish one job before going on to the next. I will definitely hire them when I have any other work that needs to be done.

Work in some instances was sloppy, some needed to be redone. Sometimes showed up late or not at all with flimsy excuses if they could be reached at all. Very disappointing.

They did a great job with everything. New outlets were surface mounts to avoid added cost of opening walls and repairing plaster, and the mounts blend in very well to the walls and trim. Paint job looks fantastic, as does the TV on the living room wall. It's the second time I've worked with Steve and his company, and I will definitely consider them for any future home redecoration or remodeling needs. The whole job took only three days.

The work crew were very nice, cleaned up at the end of each date showed me what had been done. Steve stopped by often to check on the progress and also with flooring and bathroom samples I could pick from. I cannot say enough about the beautiful work and the very competent and nice crew. The downstairs looks wonderful.

Steve was very punctual with his men and did everything promised in a thorough manner.

Steve contracted a group to replace our windows. They came out on time and replaced 7 windows in one day. We were grateful for the quick installation.

After a price was agreed upon, and a deposit made, we were told that the doors would be done the following week because the workman was doing some work in our basement. After a couple of weeks passed, I asked about the doors again, realizing that the workman was busy and working alone. The next week Steve asked for the remainder of the payment, saying that the workman was going to complete the doors that day. I paid the balance. The workman installed the garage access door but did not correct the back door even though it was paid for. As a matter of fact, the workman never returned because he went in for surgery. When I informed Steve that the workman did not correct the back door he asked me if I was sure. Really? I had already paid him for the completed work so after another week of not having this job completed I asked for a refund. He complied. The door was eventually fixed but it took several more weeks and neither door was painted as promised. I did not pay him the balance until the job was finished.

At last minute they decided they couldn't/ wouldn't do job, so did not provide estimate. Waisted time waiting & following up.

Difficult to judge inspection, but another company noted several issues that did not come up. No real report on results. Gutter replacement which was extra done decent enough

Did not use as they could not do a turnkey project of our scope. But very impressed with professional approach & thoroughness

Over the 11 week period of construction several written and verbal contractual discrepancies were encountered. Conflicts began in the 2nd or 3rd week of construction when additional lighting was installed without our permission. When told to remove the additions, they refused and promptly charged an additional $500. We decided to add a larger bathroom and mapped out the boundaries with tape agreeing to the addition and price increase. When the framing was installed it reflected a border 6 inches shorter than agreed upon, cutting the bathroom down by approximately 40 sq. ft. Steve did not adjust the price. He said we would work it out later. Steve pressured for payments to be made before the specific portion of the work was done. The drywallers left after clogging the utility sink with plaster and never returned to complete the job even though I had already paid. Steve’s response to this was, “Well, the workers needed somewhere to clean their equipment”. Green wall was not used in the entire bathroom as promised and much of the bathroom drywall had to be reinstalled. There was only 1 man working the job most of the time. Steve promised he would bring in a team to finish but they never materialized. He gave a new finish date every week. We were even told several times that “most customers do not worry how long the job takes” and “this is why I do basements”. More struggles arose when we did not choose 12x12 tiles for the bathroom. Since it was not specified in the contract we did not think there was a difference. Steve seemed frustrated with the extra work and strongly discouraged putting in a bench in the shower that I had been asked for. He advised I buy one from Amazon. When the bathroom work began in week 10, it was discovered that the 48 inch vanity I was told to purchase did not fit the 51.5” space allotted between the drywall. Steve called it a “floating vanity” even though it looked incongruous. The night before the final walkthrough I took my first shower and cut my foot on a sharp edge of the river rock shower floor. Steve responded to the problem by saying “we told you river rock was difficult to work with”. I was charged twice for a linen closet. Cheap shelving from Home Depot was installed ($15) yet I was charged $450. He said “we will work it out later” but we never did. Instead he told us that he had made many “concessions” for us without charge but was unclear about exactly what concessions were made. I was told there would be an additional charge to paint the bathroom a different color from the other two living spaces. Glass French doors were never installed nor a light dimmer which was included in our original contract. Nearly all the windows were painted shut and the finished work space was left covered in dust. The new floor remains dotted with paint and splatter. It was difficult to work with a contractor who made more excuses than created solutions. The timeline did not seem important to the Basement Men and Steve would say “do you want it quick or do you want quality”. At one point in our journey, Steve wanted to speak only to my husband "man to man" implying that my daughter and/or I were being unreasonable. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend Steve and the Basement Men at this time. As of today, 2 weeks after the final walk through, the ejector pump they installed, stopped working, flooding the bedroom area, the main living area and into the laundry room. As it turns out the water was sewage from the shower and toilet. We called Steve to ask him to come to check it out. At first, he told me that it was from our sump pump not the ejector pump they installed until I had my husband explain what I and just said. He sidestepped the fact that there was a problem with the work and brought up this review, saying that it isn't a good idea to "slam" someone's work if you expect them to warranty it for you. After 14 days of use, he would not honor his warranty without a proviso. He wanted us to change our review before he would speak to us.

The work went very well. Steve, the owner, was very excellent and worked to complete the things they promised to do in a timely manner.

Steve Lauer’s Basement Men (The Creative Approach Builders and Remodelers, Inc.) first did a small project for us in restoring some drywall in a bedroom in the basement guest suite of our finished basement. Their service and workmanship in the basement were so exemplary that we subsequently engaged Steve and his crew to remodel our kitchen. Before beginning the kitchen remodeling project in our home we spent a lot of time interviewing a number of contractors and planning the details of the kitchen remodeling project. Others had told us that a kitchen remodeling would be very disruptive but we would be very glad once it was done. We were not disappointed in either of those expectations. We contracted with Steve Lauer’s The Basement Men. Steve worked patiently with us throughout the entire process and kept us informed during the entire kitchen remodeling process. Steve and his crew leader, Ziggy, showed excellent attention to the details and to our concerns regarding the kitchen remodeling, and both of them were very professional, punctual, and hard working. We were very pleased with the results of their work in our kitchen remodeling and would recommend Steve Lauer and The Basement Men. If you need remodeling work in other parts of your home besides the basement, then let The Basement Men out of the basement and you’ll be impressed with what they can do for your home above the basement. We were very impressed by their work in remodeling our kitchen. We are considering other work in our home and, based on our experience to date with Steve and his crews, will definitely consider hiring them again. Steve’s pricing was very competitive and no surprises.

Basement looks beautiful, quality is great, workmanship was very good. Steve Lauer, owner, was very nice and easy to work with. He was always available to answer our questions or talk through any concerns. Our lead workman and crew were also great and very easy to work with. Steve was able to start the job almost immediately and they finished within the promised timeline in just a matter of weeks. They had no problem working with us as we changed our minds on a couple of things through out the process. Overall they were easy to work with, affordable and a pleasure to do business with.

I had done framing and insulation in the basement myself several years ago. Lacking the will and the skill to finish I took several bids on the project. They came in with the best bid as well as the shortest timetable for completion. The Basement Men, Steve and Mauriusz (hopefully I spelled that right) were very responsive to the requests I had for this project. The team was very respectful of our house and careful not to leave a mess upstairs as equipment and materials were moved in. The only challenge I experienced was getting a few follow up items completed after the project was finished. Overall I was very satisfied with The Basement Men and will likely use them again for another project

Work was completed on our entire basement including demolition of walls, new flooring, painting, new electrical and adding a bathroom. We got estimates from 3 different companies. The Basement Men were lowest price by a substantial margin. In addition, they were available right away and gave a quick timeline for completing the project. This was our first time working with a contractor so there were some growing pains. They were available so quickly and working so quickly that we were a bit unprepared. We didn't have a formal plan for the bathroom at the time they started the work, so it was a bit stressful getting all the materials and fixtures needed. The same two carpenters showed up at our house every weekday for 3 weeks and completed all the work except the drywall which was completed by a different crew, but also was done as scheduled. Steve maintained regular contact throughout the job. Both he and the carpenters were very easy to get a hold of throughout the job. There were a couple of things that were added costs that I thought should have been included or acknowledged in the original estimate. However at the end of the day these guys delivered a quality product for half the price of our next lowest estimate. And our bathroom is freaking incredible!

This is my first adverse review on Angie's List after using it for 3 years (w/ my husbands account totaling 5 years). My husband told me not to hire them but I wanted my bath done asap given a pending surgery, and I thought I would give the contractor a second chance. When we moved to this area, my husband used him for a quote, and the contractor yelled at my husband saying that he did not give free quotes. My husband is the most gentle humble doctor you could meet. We were out bid on that house. But when I called the Basement Men for this job (a partial bathroom remodel) I did not know it was the same man that yelled at my husband. I realized it when he came to quote the job. My husband let me make the decision, and i regretfully hired them. When working the job they were very punctual. The initial contract was for $3900 but the work was not properly assessed. The old bathroom floor was laid on old tile. The worker said he needed to rip out all the tile and lay a new floor. They request an additional $800 stating they needed 90 square feet to lay the floor. I was surprised by the lack of knowledge assessing the job. The largest area in the bath is 7x6. - it's odd shaped. I kept going back to them with the measurements because I had to buy tile. They needed 45 tiles (24" by 6") and used 56. It looks beautiful and I'm glad I bought new tiles. We, the homeowner ripped out the pre-existing tile at the workers request and it was a terrible experience. The contractor said I should have not listened to his worker who would not do it. The shower fixtures were the same brand as the old one to avoid ripping the walls out but one pipe was not compatible, hence extra $100 for soldering. When it came to installing the radiator, it was so stressful with arguments. I could hear the worker yell on the phone to the contractor. The worker told me he could not install the radiator. It was simple. This installation required two new pipes to be soldered in the crawl space under the bathroom. It wasn't the best job working in the crawl space but that was the only issue. I was told it could not be done because the pipes were in between the drywall and outside (it didn't make sense given potential freezing), but when I evaluated the job under the crawl space, with the worker, removing the insulation around the pipes, the worker saw the pipes and how it could be done. The contractor asked me if I knew of this difficulty as if I set him up. I was surprised by the lack of common sense. After the radiator was installed, I had to call my heating contractor to bleed the radiators because too much air was let into the system and the workers did not know how to do it properly. When the bathroom was finished, my countertop was late, so the contractor told me to hold back $100 so I could ensure he came back. But a few days later, that Thursday, the contractor bullied me on the phone for the balance. I paid him. He drove over to get the $100 that night. I paid thinking if he didn't finish the job, given all the stress already, I'd write a bad review. The countertop came 3 days later. I contacted him thereafter, this was November, but his worker was on vacation, and on vacation in December. In January he was on vacation (this is all in emails) and in February, he called me back saying he needs to talk to his worker. He texted me saying he needs extra money to lay the "new" countertop. New? I wonder if he was twisting the truth or actually not very smart. The measurements are slightly off, so it's best the contractor does it. Also the radiator was installed slanted so at night when the heat is turned lower, the water drips and drips out of the radiator. The experience was not professional and not finished. Also, my husband came home early from work one day, and the contractor and worker did not hear him enter. They were using the worst profanity about a customer. I never confronted them on this as it was very embarrassing. Maybe they knew when they left and saw my husband home. Overall, I found this contractor untrustworthy with his judgment and integrity. I regret this negative review but I would never hire him again. I read a previous negative review about this contractor and his response was to deflected/changed the facts to suit him. Bottom line: given the contract, he didn't not finish, and it's so simple to do.

Steve and his crew did a great job. Looks great and gives us way more light.

Basement looks beautiful, quality is great, workmanship very good. Steve Lauer, owner, is very nice and easy to work with. He was always available. Our only issue was with the lead workman, who did good work, but was unpleasant and quite difficult at times. We were not expecting that. Steve has various teams, just make sure you have one that works well for you.

My parents had used The Basement Men for multiple projects and were very pleased with their work. Based on their recommendation, we hired Steve and his crew to completely gut and remodel our hall bathroom. In all areas, we were pleased with the experience. They started on the date they promised, finished in 10 days, and within budget. Everyone involved in the process was friendly and professional to work with. Steve was great to work with and incredibly responsive- and question I had for him would be answered within minutes. He was also great at communicating the status of the project, as well and making sure we were satisfied with every step. We have several other projects on our to do list for 2016 and we definitely plan to use the Basement men.

Steve and Martin with Creative Approach Builders and The Basement Men were great. Steve was prompt in responding to all questions about the project, and offered a much lower price than two other carpenters who bid on the job. His estimate was $650 lower than the next lowest bid, and several thousand more than another highly-rated company on Angie's List. Steve was very professional, and easy to work with on planning the project, and Martin did a great job building six storage lockers for us on his own, and explaining what he was doing, and what still needed to be done when some unit owners had questions about the project. Given the prices and quality of work, I would definitely work with them again on future projects, and recommend them for carpentry work.

I really enjoyed talking with Steve, and he was very responsive, professional and easy to work with. I ended up having to scuttle the project for now, but that does not reflect on Steve whatsoever - just needed to divert cash elseshwere.

The Painting work what Martin did at my home remodel was NOT good.

It went great. Steve was easy to talk to and was always readily available when questions arose. The basement men were also great at helping with design choices and using their past experiences showing us what was practical and what wouldn't work. Our basement came out just as we envisioned.