BOWERS MAINTENANCE & REMODELING

The price is pretty high that's why we switched to another company. I am not really satisfied with the price though the service was okay.

Got an estimate for one and two rails. Decided to do two. Showed up first day to work and immediately said he needed two top posts he hadn't counted on. He gave the estimate using current top posts. Rails he brought were taller so more costs for two more posts. Left to buy them. Came back next day to install. I watched he and his helper off and on for two hours. They argued a lot. Measured and recut the same piece three times. Very, very slow. Extremely unprofessional. Took six weeks to get a bill and it was twice the estimate. Tried to speak with him. He was unprofessional. Three days later second bill for same amount was in my box. Hand delivered. Called again. This time was told he would charge me $45 if he had to invoice me again. The first invoice was only 3 days old and I waited six weeks to get it. I would NOT use him again or recommend him to anyone. His estimates are a joke. He is slow as molasses in January. He is unprofessional. The work is good. His attitude isn't. It doesn't take 9 hours of work to install 2pieces of wrought iron hand rail and four posts to go down 3 steps. Yes it does if you are Mr. Bowers.

I had used Mr. Bowers several years ago and was satisified with his work. So I contacted him again. He completed the work in a timely manner.

They were able to do the job well and they were really good.

March:Mr. Bowers phone manner was professional. We discussed that he was not available until a certain date, and I assured him that I wasn't in a hurry. He agreed to inspect the site, write an estimate and send it to me. He had some personal issues that impacted the timing of his work; his mother was ill and he was her sole caretaker.May:Called to f/u. Wondered why I hadn't yet received the estimate. He rattled off numbers, which I wasn't able to capture. I again asked for a written estimate. He said he would send them via the internet.Later:I have lost track of time, but at a later date I called to f/u, and for the 3rd time asked for a written estimate. He told me he would have to re-measure, since it had been so long. I reminded him that he had agreed to send a written estimate. He didnt remember. After much discussion he agreed to send a written estimate.November:He called to arrange the commencement of work on my childhood home in Lafayette. I live in Indianapols, and I am preparing it to sell the house.Again I have lost track of time, but sometime between our initial contact and November Mr. Bower and I agreed to meet in Lafayette. He failed to show at the appointed time. I called to f/u. He hadn't remembered, but he did arrive very soon after the phone call, and I again asked for a written estimate, as I could not purchase the materials without measurements. He said he would write one, and together we went to the store and I purchased the products. While shopping for the products he was quite particular regarding the options, which made me feel assured about my choice to use him, because I was considering calling another contractor.November: Mr. Bower had restraints regarding his time, and we were looking at Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Even though I was told it was a 2-3 day job, I assumed it would take week, as when you are working with construction it doesnt seem to go as smoothly, as one would anticipate. I gave the renters the choice of when he would begin the three day job, and they decided to have it done the week following Thanksgiving. The renters complained that the dust was flying around the house while removing the flooring. I asked him to put up plastic in the doorways to prevent the dust from moving about the house. This is an action he should have done without a request from me. The job progressed into 2 and then 3 weeks. He finally came near to finishing, and he and the renters had a disagreement regarding the infrequency of his work and that he had not replaced the toe kick. He told me the rentors kicked him out. The renters told me that he left in an angry huff. The job wasnt finished. He and I met at the house to discuss the work. The rentors pointed out that the grout on the backsplash walls was uneven in color, had bubbles and was cracked, already, in places, There was tile lippage. He hadnt yet painted or installed the trim. I didnt notice the toe kick. We left with the agreement that he would finsh the job and correct the issues we discussed. I am told by the renters that he or his worker painted the kitchen several times because the paint didnt stick due to smoke on the ceiling and walls. The contractor hadn't primed the walls and ceiling as one needs to do when painting over walls that are covered in smoke. The renters had to explain to him that he needed to prime the walls and ceiling. I went to inspect the house after the work was and quot;completedand quot; . The trim to the floor was stained beautifully. However the house had never had any trim on the kitchen floor and doors. I had asked for that. Instead he created an unusual design. He didnt install door trim. So the installed floor trim ended several inches from the edge of the doorway. The toe kick was not replaced, and the small piece of wood I asked to be stained, wasn't. There were other issues, but these are the biggest ones I can remember. When I asked for the errors to be corrected, he replied that he was tired of being asked to come back for more and more. If he was asked for more he would start charging for his additional services, and if I didnt pay the bill he would charge interest. I severed the business relationship. On a positive note, Mr. Bowers employee did two of the backsplash walls, and he did one of 3 of the backsplash walls. The one Mr. Bowers did, was done very well. He also did the stain on the trim, and it was done beautifully. He installed the countertop, and it appears to have been installed well. In summary, I think Mr. Bowers does have a professional demeanor, but I don't believe he listens well. Should you choose to use him, i would make sure you get the materials listed along with the matching labor costs, and discuss and agree on minor details. If you are uncertain about some small details, rather than leave it up to Mr. Bowers, I suggest you talk with someone you trust, and then clearly lay it out in writing for the two of you to agree.

Mark seemed professional upon first impression. We discussed the various remodeling tasks. He provided an estimate. Mark began the work and was late to arrive. As I was not living in the house, I had to meet Mark at the house daily, and he was late each time. It took Mark three days to remove the vanity and install the new one. He did various other remodeling assignments during the vanity assignment causing a delay in the progress of the vanity replacement. I felt Mark was unable to follow my request for the order of job importance. Once the vanity was installed, the hot and cold faucets were reversed, and both leaked as well. I had to hire a plumber to repair the leaks and fix the faucets. At this point I completely lost confidence in his ability. I asked Mark to finish painting the kitchen and to leave the rest of the remodeling for me. The microwave, painting and light fixture installation were all satisfactory. I feel Mark has limited skills in plumbing. I feel that Mark is not conscious of the cost savings. It was my experience that Mark does not act in accordance with home owner requests.

unknown

Mr. Bowers was very prompt and professional. The work quality was excellent and the price was reasonable.

He was certainly knowledgeable. He was careful, and he did a good job. I didn't get any other quotes for the job. He is really friendly. He was there when he said he would be there.

I contacted Mark Bowers in November 2010, described the problem, and he said he'd come out to look at it (we made an appointment for the next day). Around the time I was expecting him, he wasn't showing up for over half an hour so I called him. He had forgotten our appointment, but came over shortly. He said he'd order a replacement window and get back in touch. I called him in three weeks to get an update, and he said he was expecting the window any day. I called again in another couple of weeks, he said he hadn't heard anything about the window and called Lowe's. Apparently they had botched the order (the guy who took the order had quit and they hadn't processed his orders). He reordered it. I called back in a couple of weeks, wanting to put plastic over my window to prevent heat loss but not being sure when the job would happen. He said he hadn't heard anything about the new order, so he'd check up on it. He came over FREE OF CHARGE and put plastic over the window from the outside, which helped the heat loss but rustled at night (bedroom window). A few weeks after that I called him again, and he hadn't heard anything about the order, so he called Lowe's again and this time they had reshuffled the computer system and lost the order. So he ordered it again. I called him again in a few weeks. Now the window was on the way, let's make an appointment when it comes in. Finally, he calls me to make an appointment. He came over and installed it that weekend, when winter was finally almost over. He was punctual to the job and got the job done fairly well (some inconsistent caulking that I can fix myself, and he left the grease-marker numbers from Lowe's on the window on the inside where they can't be washed off now - remember, it's a storm window, and this is an old house that doesn't have movable top portions of windows). The window ended up being the wrong size, but he cut the frame so it fit and looks good. I don't blame him for the screw-ups on Lowe's part, but I would have really appreciated him being more on top of the ordering process, as opposed to me having to call every couple of weeks to remind him that I still wanted the job done.

Started fine, but lost the key and my phone number, so I had to recontact him as to when it would be complete. After completion and inspection of the work, all was fine. Then took sometime to receive the invoice.

Mark arrived at the house and tried several approaches to get the furnace running. However, after several attempts, he determined it was a job more suited for a Bryant (my furnace brand) dealer. Mark contacted several dealers and arranged for one to show up the next day. Mark also replaced my furnace filter. Mark did not charge me for his time or for the filter (citing that he wasn't able to get the furnace running). Throughout this process, Mark was extremely professional and friendly.

Every thing was handled by Mr. Bowers and all went well.

Installation was done well and promptly. This was an emergency situation as the grab bars needed to be installed quickly as a result of leg surgery.

I called and Mark came over the same day and gave an estimate and several different options for the repair. He came over the next day and completed the work to my satisfaction.

Mark was wonderful. We do not know much about fixing homes and he was very good at explaining what he would do and how he would do it. He was very kind and respectful whenever he came into our home (i.e., taking his shoes off before walking on carpet) and he was just generally a nice person. We did not know who to call when we got the list of things that needed to be fixed before we could sell our home and I came across Bowers name and called him for help. He was wonderful and I would recommend him for any job you have that needs done. His prices were incredibly reasonable and he guaranteed his work, which is a sign of the great job he did for us. I would recommend him in a heartbeat!

I was very pleased when Mr. Bowers said he could just repair the old fan, rather than install the new one I had purchased. I took it back for refund! Since we have very hard, corrosive water in that bathroom, water fixtures were pretty rotted out, but Mr. Bowers removed them. He was very careful about opening up the wall in the closet behind the bathtub. Then, after asking whether I wanted the wall drywalled and taped or a reopenable cover fitted, he neatly installed a board covering. He cleaned up thoroughly after himself and came back on his own time to make an adjustment.