The Basement Men & The Concrete Man

We have an 11 year old house, and the basement was unfinished but roughed out for bathroom plumbing, with high ceilings. We solicited 3 quotes to have the basement finished, the price varied wildly. Basement Men were in the middle - not the cheapest but much less than the highest. And we liked their proposal so we hired them. Steve's team Rafal and Cuba built us a playroom, wet bar and TV area, bathroom, and bedroom. We love our new basement, and the process with all involved was great. Steve is a good guy who cuts to the chase on prices and timing. His team was knowledgeable, punctual, honest, professional, and friendly. They were really accommodating even when it required small changes and they came back until the job was done. The finished product is great. A few pieces of advice: do your research before you meet with Steve, he offers a discount to sign immediately. An understandable incentive, as I suspect in this line of business you get a lot of window shoppers. But be ready to sign to take advantage. Next, be prepared to go shopping - they were cool with me buying the fixtures and some of the materials. It avoided any possible markups by buying from them, but it also added some time and effort on my part.

I put out a couple of emails to contractors explaining that I was on a small budget and would like to work with someone who could work within the confines of that budget to get as much as we could from my unfinished basement. Steve was the first one to answer as well as the only one who was willing to work with us. Steve came in and said that he is always willing to work with everyone, but where he can make the greatest deals are when he can fit smaller projects like mine between the larger projects. As long as we could work within his schedule between projects he could deliver a great deal, and that is exactly what happened. The process starts with Steve stopping by to scope out the project. We discussed the project and I was able to show him the plans and drawings that I had prepared for the project. We discussed where we could cut costs and what would look, and work the best. We came up with an agreeable definition of what would be done and for how much. Next Steve and his head remodeler (who performs the work) came by to run by the specifics and further refine the scope of the project. There were some complications due to the pipes in the ceiling (and the murphy bed that we were planning for the basement) which added more complexity to the project, which Steve took on at no extra cost. From there Steve took a back seat and all of the workmen took over. A two man team (which included the head remodeler) framed out the basement. Any complexities or design decisions not discussed before were brought to my attention and I was able to decide on them. I was also able to run my own speaker and network cable during the framing phase. Once complete the drywalling team came in. This team finished things off by adding the insulation, drywalling, mudding, taping, and sanding. All of this took just a week and a half. This is where we agreed to have Steve and his team stop, and we would finish up. Phase 2 will be the bathroom, and we will be calling Steve and his crew back to take care of that when that time comes. It was a pleasure to work with Steve and his team. We were so fortunate to find someone who would work within our budget, and who delivered on everything that we planned (with fine craftsmanship to boot).

Steve was very responsive to our initial request for a quote. He was able to quote us at a very reasonable rate (lower than other quotes we had received). He and his foreman got to work right away on our basement and had it fully renovated in about 3 weeks! We were very happy with the open lines of communication and their professionalism from the start. Steve was available to answer all of our questions and did a great job suggesting design options which we had not thought of (making a little "clubhouse" under the stairs for our toddler). Steve also stopped by regularly to make sure things were going as planned and to make sure we were happy with the progress. His foreman, Roman, was extremely friendly, yet professional and such a hard worker! It seemed like he never took a break! We are extremely happy with the results and now we can enjoy hanging out in our newly finished, dry basement! I would definitely hire The Basement Men in the future!

It went really well, better and faster than I could have imagined. Steve is a total professional and was easy to work with. He was kind to my wife and children and was very flexible and present during the project. We initially obtained three quotes. One was 10K more and the other was close in pricing but I felt more comfortable after meeting Steve. The two guys he sent to do the bulk of the construction were very efficient and suggested a few helpful modifications that did not significantly increase the cost, but significantly improved the usability and final appearance of the room. They were nice guys who spoke English well so there were no communication issues. We had regular meetings with Steve and the project went smoothly. Any options were presented in the beginning with pricing so their were no surprises and when we inquired about a potential modification, Steve gave us fair pricing. When we are ready, we will have this company back to perform additional projects.

We spent countless hours face to face and through email. Unfortunately for us we lose out on the quality and hard work of Steve and his company. We could not put in a basement and deal with our son's crisis and Steve understood. He quickly responded to our needs, put our deposit check back in the mail on his own dime, not to mention the hours of detailed guidance and proposal ideas he invested. Thank you and sorry for all the time wasted, Sean

The guys who did the demolition were amazing. They carted off over 4,000 pounds of drywall, flooring, old wood and other finds, in our 1,000 sq ft basement and completed the work in 2.5 days. We are looking forward to creating a new, dry environment.

Steve was very great to work, he replied almost immediately to any email or text request and delivered our gorgeous basement before the agreed upon date. All of the staff were very professional, dependable, and had helpful ideas as we went along throughout the project. We are so happy that we chose the basement men to do our work and will be calling Steve to redo our kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and other outside work that will be done to the house in years to come. Thank you for making our basement so great that we do not want to go upstairs anymore!

We purchased a new home with an unfinished basement and were scheduled to move-in in mid-October. We wanted to start finishing a portion of the basement immediately (we began our search for a contractor in mid-September). We made appointments with a few contractors, including Steve Lauer of Basement Men. After a couple meetings, and after his bid came in significantly lower than the other candidate we liked, my wife and I agreed to sign on with Basement Men. Steve leaned on us a bit to get the contract signed right away, offering us the incentive of a $2,000 discount. This aggressive approach could be off-putting, but I simply understood it as part of the sales process and it really didn't bother me. And frankly, I'd rather have a $2K discount offered up front than have to waste time haggling. With time being an issue, we signed the contract and scheduled the start of the work shortly thereafter. Before work started, I met one more time at the work site with Steve and Ziggy, the guy who'd be doing most of the actual construction. We finalized the layout, as I had made some revisions to the blueprint since the first meeting. Ziggy pointed out that there was the potential for some plumbing issues with the bathroom layout I wanted, so we quickly came up with an alternate basement design and I was happy with how quick and involved he and Steve were. A couple days later, Ziggy determined the issue could be resolved and we got the design we originally wanted, which was great news and showed that he really wanted to make it work instead of just getting done and moving on. Steve checked in regularly throughout the process and was always very easy to get in touch with. I can't think of a single message I left that wasn't answered within an hour. We met on site several times, and Ziggy came to work pretty much every day and was available to answer any day-to-day questions I had. We always knew exactly where we were in the construction process, which was important because we had to run out regularly to shop for fixtures, tiles, etc (these items were not included in the price and that was made clear in the contract). If you're the kind of person who likes to go out and hunt for stuff and participate in the process, this is definitely the kind of workflow that will work for you. We enjoyed this part of the process, and getting to go out and see what was available really made the final product a reflection of our style. We were expecting stress. We were expecting setbacks. We never had to deal with either. The job was finished in just over a month and it was finished to our satisfaction. We feel like we got a great bang for our buck and would definitely work with Steve (and Ziggy!) again.

The project went well. I had contacted Steve a year ago and he gave me a very reasonable quote. I ended up waiting on the project until this year and he respected the quote he gave me before. He was very professional and the work was done in a timely manner. They did pretty much everything that I asked for and I love my new home office space. I would definitely recommend them.

I found Steve and his crew a pleasure to conduct business with. Steve is very responsive, knowledgable and fair. He returns all calls immediately and arrives at the site promptly. His crew are very good craftsmen. They are polite, neat and responsible. After the basement project, there were some punch list items that needed to be finished. I called Steve and he came out right away and the items I mentioned were fixed within the next two days. I was so pleased from the basement project, I referred them to my neighbor and also called them when I wanted to additional work to be done to the house. I would not hesitate to call them again for our next project. I found Steve's prices to be fair and very reasonable. Overall, my experience with the Basement Men was very positive.

Job well done. Good attention to mechanical s.

Here's the deal with Steve and his company. They provide B/C level work at an A price. If you are a perfectionist (i.e. want all you doors to close correctly and think they should do a semi-decent paint job) then this is not your company. If you just need something cheap, quick and you won't look too closely at the craftsmanship, then this is absolutely the place! Steve is nice. He is a salesman. He will promise you the moon. And then only shows up when he wants to collect money. I did not like the fact that he showed up to collect a significant progress payment on day 2 of a two week job. And was chomping at the bit/pressuring to get the final check even as his guys were working still in the basement. We had done a walk-through and put tape on items to be fixed. They pretty much just walked through and took off the tape markers and told us that "when the paint dried" the spots would be better. They also ran out of paint (after Steve had collected his check but had PROMISED they would finish) so they left promising to come back. After several phone calls through the next month, we finally got someone to come back. He only brought one color with him and couldn't even finish all the painting because he hadn't brought enough. We had some ups and downs with Steve and we finally walked away tired of fighting to get them to come finish. Someone in an earlier review mentioned holding money in an account to be given 2 weeks after completion. I think that's a great idea. Let all the paint dry before handing over that final check!

Steve was very responsive and came right away to help solve some basement water issues. His crew started work right away and did an excellent job. They did an extensive amount of concrete work for a VERY good price. Steve even offered a discount if we could begin work right away. The quality of the work was very good. The flooring was installed very nicely with no seams or awkward transitions. The concrete was also done very well. All of the workers were prompt, worked hard, and kept the jobsite clean.

Lids too heavy. Some of the screws have already come loose. Mentioned this to Steve. Said couldn't do anything about the problem.

Had a great experience working with Rafal and Adrian. Did a great job and very responsive. Able to work around and with my schedule. Would definitely use again for future projects.

Everything went pretty well. Steve is very professional and polite. Since this is a rental property, he has to deal with my tough tenants. He did a great job to communicate with them and completed the project in high quality. Besides that, Steve showed that his team could work With a very flexible schedule during this project. For example, a few days after we signed the contract, my basement was flooded again. Unlike other contractor, Steve told me he can basically start anytime. I really appreciate all the work he did. I would recommend him to my neighbors and certainly hire him again in the future.

Steve and his crew, especially Rafal, were very easy to work with. They were able to completely finish my whole basement in three and a half weeks or so. It isn't a huge basement, mind you. The job was exactly what I requested and they even accommodated several changes along the way. All of the people in Steve's crew were very pleasant and timely. Because the original quote was so low I expected any add-ons to be a little on the higher side, which was somewhat the case. But Steve was very meticulous and upfront about all billing aspects and I really appreciated that. Certainly not a situation of underbidding and then saying it would actually cost more. Very reasonable prices for high quality work!

The project went very well. The laundry room had been an embarrassment and now is a room we can be proud of. The salesman, Steve, was easy to work with, had good ideas, was responsive to questions and concerns, gave us a competitive price, and completed the job on schedule. The two man crew arrived every day on time, were knowledgeable and efficient, and finished the job sooner than we expected. They offered some good ideas which we had them implement, and they were good about explaining things to us. It was obvious that they cared about doing a good job. We would rate their workmanship as very good overall - excellent on the major things, less good but satisfactory on the detail work.

Steve of the Basement Men helped me out at a critical time. I?d just gone through a miserable experience with basement water which created further basement issues and was compounded by a serious knee injury. Following a full basement demolition, Steve stepped in and handled the reconstruction. From the beginning, Steve understood the particulars of my situation and was flexible, professional and efficient. The work that his crew did in my basement showed impressive attention to detail. Quality counts and the end result reflects that. And going over and above, I am very grateful because Ziggy, a true craftsman, was sensitive to the fact that I?d just dealt with water and he actually diagnosed two other problems that hadn?t been previously discovered and then did the necessary work to prevent recurring water. Steve understood and respected my time. I work long and unusual hours. He would communicate in whatever way worked best for me ? in person, or by text, phone, or email. He was on top of the process and set up regular meetings to review the work each step of the way. He?d meet me with samples, etc. to make the process simple or, when I preferred to look at stores, I?d just let him know what I wanted. I?m sure we've all heard stories about construction crews that don?t show up on time or at all. Steve?s crews were always prompt?.. and the work moved along on schedule as promised. They are really tireless, hard workers. Through this experience,I've made a few observations worth sharing with others: 1) Plaster dust spreads. Make sure you put away or cover your belongings and request that all work areas, ducts, etc. be cordoned off with tarps in doorways , etc. 2) I think work is most successful...and this job was... when you are very clear about all expectations -- make sure that everyone is on the same page, literally, with all details of the project in the contract, and on the updates along the way. And if you have any concerns express them and they can be resolved. I personally believe that in all aspects of life, integrity and honesty are paramount. Bottom line, I have been able to trust the Basement Men. And that is a gift in this world.

It has gone very well, they are very timely and professional. The crew on site has been great and easy to work with. There have been zero issues after hiring them for the job.

We were happy with the work. I asked them to come back and touch up some things afterwards, and they did in a timely manner. Price was very competitive.

Everything went very well!! First, Steve has been very punctual and professional. When he said he was going to be over at the house, he was there when he indicated. Everything discussed was clearly written up in an invoice, thus there was no question on deliverables. Very professional. The basement was a finished basement, but in very bad shape when I purchased the property. I wanted to improve the looks, but keep the price reasonable. When I brought Steve over, we talked about different ideas, and never did he push me into more deluxe / expensive solution then what I was looking for. He went with my request and gave me exactly what I was looking for. The work done was as expected, very professional. Every day the worker cleaned up, took demolition waste with him, and left everything in good shape. Very happy with the finished product. Very good experience and would certainly work with them again!!

The biggest thing to consider with The Basement Men is the price. They were willing to do a job for 1/3 to 1/2 the price of other contractors that we quoted. We knew we were going with a low bid going in and were pleasantly surprised at overall how well the job did, once it finally completed. What was originally quoted to be about a 1-1/2 month job ended up stretching twice as long although this was mostly due to external factors that Steve couldn't control. This was during the "Polar Vortex" winter which caused tremendous delays in digging out the window well as well as making it difficult for the project foreman to travel when the roads were snowed in. In addition the foreman was undergoing a tragedy in his family so all in all it was a very unusual winter. Overall we found Steve to be very nice and considerate and helpful during design and planning however throughout the project there seemed to be a lack of communication between the foreman and Steve who we consulted with. We talked out designs with Steve but then had to have the same conversations with the foreman and remind him about things constantly. It felt at times like we were manging the project more then the our contractor. Overall communication was a big issue as it was sometimes difficult to reach Steve and the foreman would quite often not show up on days he was supposed to be working. Given that I had to take days off of work to do things like electrical walkthroughs and inspection the no-shows and worse the lack of notification prior to a no-show really was off putting. I understand that between weather and personal business that things would come up and work would get delayed but it would have been nice to be contacted about it rather then finding out at the end of the day that nothing happened. Other then communication issues and the delays due to severe winter weather the project went great. The end result looks very nice and is extremely functional, any complaints that we had about the work were quickly corrected (there was a hole in the carpet on the stairs but he sent the carpet guy back out and he fixed it seemlessly, luckily it ended up not being a major issue but he was prepared to rip everything up and do it again so it would look right). You get what you pay for and now that the project is done I feel like we got quite the steal out of the whole thing however during the 3 months there were quite a few moments of aggravation and concern about whether the project would ever finish. If you're on a tight budget like we were The Basement Men meant the difference between a finished basement now versus in a year from now. Again Steve was courteous and nice (when we could reach him) and there weren't any hidden costs or financial strong-arming.

Overall, we were extremely happy with the services performed by Steve and his employees at The Basement Men. The overall costs were competitive and in-line, as well as fairly accurate from the outset. Any time you are dealing with a large project, you can expect small hiccups along the way, however The Basement Men were extremely up front with any changes and/or recommendations and we had very good communication to ensure that the budget and finished project remained tied to expectations. We found the quality of work to be top notch and the employees to be extremely knowledgeable. Throughout the process, we made minor changes here and there and found Steve and his crew to be very flexible in accommodating these changes. It also worth noting that about one week after completion, we had some water issues due to storms (a perfect nightmare for anyone who recently had their basement finished). I called Steve and he was at our house reviewing and helping with fixes/ recommendations that very same day. Overall, we are very pleased with the final product and would not only work with The Basement Men again, but would also highly recommend their services to friends and family.

I got together with Steve in late February to explain what I wanted. He put together an estimate. The windows and doors were ordered in early March. Installation began in early April. Ziggy did a great job on all the windows, doors, and interior work. He and his assistant arrived on time each day and completed work within the time frame that had been estimated. I was always pleased with the professionalism of the crews that worked on the garage door and siding. They arrived on time and completed the work in the time frame estimated. Very pleased with the quality of the finished product.