Central Mass Sunrooms

This was an up and down project. It naturally took longer than expected due to the pandemic so I wont comment on things out of their control. Initial communication with Sean was great, but after we signed the contract and he got his down payment his communication mostly disappeared. Through the delays in the pandemic, his not communicating was disconcerting. But the biggest screw up from Sean was him telling us he would take care of the permit, only to discover at the last minute he never applied and then we would need a special permit. At this point Sean left us to fend for ourselves with the town boards, which having never done this was disturbing. Other companies will handle this for you so this is a huge negative from CMS. Naturally, with two armature home owners trying to work the system, the special permit was not granted and we had to make a huge shift in plan to fit a smaller plan in place, which added even more time to the project. Finally when the project was ready, Sean handed over the project to his manager Kevin. Kevin was fabulous through (see end comment though) and his construction team was great. Kevin's communication was great. The quality of the work done was top notch over all. The floor framing looks like it will last 100 years or more. I have some concerns about some side quality. Primary was as part of this project we had an old awning on the roof. CMS agreed (needed to) take the awning off and patch the roof. In the beginning I spoke to Kevin about using some extra roofing shingles I had in the shed to replace the ones with the holes. Kevin agreed to using these, but at the end of the project I had to ask them multiple times to fix the holes. They finally did but used the cheapest possible roofing paper to glue over the holes. I told him these would not last long and he just denied that and said they would last as long as the roof. Naturally, they all fell off during the first winter and I'll need to now pay a professional roofer big bucks to do the job right. I'm also very concerned about how they sealed the roof of the sunroom to the wall but time will tell on this one. The final straw for me is at the very end of the job we still had a small punch list of items but Kevin wanted final payments. I did express some concerns to him about paying final payment before the last items were done and he was open to me holding some back. But then I felt like he had been so good to work with to date that I would show a good faith in him and just pay up and I was sure he would follow up. Huge mistake. It took many months of me nagging him over and over and over before he finally sent a guy out to fix the most glaring construction piece. But there are still two items we had agreed they would take care of and now he just ignores my texts and it is clear they intend to never finish the job. So - lesson learned, no matter how nice you think they are, never pay the final installment until you are 100% satisfied with the end result. Hold back a minimum of $1,000, or more if the work value is more than that, as enough of an incentive for them to do their job.

On April 3 2017, Sean Noonan of Central Mass Sunrooms (CMSR), Auburn MA, took my deposit of $6800 to build a 10 x 12 sunroom on my back deck. The contract states that work would begin the week of June 14 and be completed the week of June 21 2017. He did not even apply for the building permit until July 19, and never called me as repeated starting dates were set and missed. I had to contact him every time and often did not have my voice mail or e-mail messages returned for days. On Thu August 31 two men from CMSR tore up the floor from my deck and said they would be back the following Tues Sept 5 and the sunroom would be built and (nearly) completed that week. Because it was just a short time, I allowed them to leave the deck in a very provisionary and potentially dangerous state, with only part of the gaping joists covered by 2 4x8 sheets of composition board – from my own garage!! And then, despite repeated promises of “next week”, no further progress, so, on October 4, I called Mr Noonan to accept his offer to return my money – by cashier’s check – and he said he would bring it on Oct 6. Someone from CMSR did come on Oct 6 – with a regular check and a release for me to sign. I said I would not sign the release without a cashier’s check. He said he would bring it the following week. When I had not heard from him again by October 15, I filed a complaint with the BBB and the Rhode island Contractors’ Licensing Board. Thanks to the intervention of the BBB, I finally received my deposit money back, plus $200 compensation for the destruction of my deck, on Nov 14. The full back-and-forth can be read at the BBB website under complaints (date 11-28-17) for Central Mass Sun Rooms: [*** Link removed ***] As another reviewer wrote, he acts like a nice man, but he’s not! When he does talk to you, he is agreeable to everything and wants to do all he can for you – and then doesn’t. If you do decide to deal with him, get everything in writing – down to the smallest details, and, especially, any changes made by you or him. Do not agree to anything orally without a written addendum to the contract, or an entirely new contract. Ask how many jobs he has to do before yours, and how long they will take. Don’t let the team leave any dangerous situations at the end of the day – you never know when they will be back. Ask him, being a small company, how many teams he has in case of sickness or other absences. Are all the teams factory trained and experienced? I have had work done by various contractors (roofing, siding, windows, electrical work, tree and grounds work, cabinetry, etc) and have NEVER had a problem. I would NEVER do business with Sean Noonan or Seaway (the manufacturer of the sunrooms he installs, who were not helpful when I complained to them) again. I have since been in contact with another sunroom dealer and realize that I have, in the long run, been very lucky – their product is more expensive, but is much superior in many ways (for example, 8 ½ foot walls instead of 7 foot; 4 large windows on the long wall instead of 6 narrow ones; integrated gutters; etc). CMSR may be cheaper, but there is a reason! You get what you pay for.

Since it was installed about a year ago, it's been one of our favorite places. I love being surrounded by the sounds of birds and feeling like I'm in my backyard, but without the bugs. Perfect place for morning coffee, evening drinks, entertaining. The cats really love it. In the coldest few months we couldn't use it as a room, but it was a very attractive buffer between the main house and the weather -- and a nice place to display our holiday tree!

The SeaGate installed product is excellent. The installation crew and subcontractors are professional and friendly, however you will wait for up 6 months for the work to be done after you have paid 1/2 of the quoted price, you will be lied to about the job completion date, promises of work crews showing up will not be kept, and you will essentially be a prisoner in your home for months at a time never knowing who will show up to work, or when. The workers are good people, but the owner who schedules the jobs and work crews is a non-communicator who will not respond to your requests for accurate scheduling, and who shuffles his very limited and small work crew back and forth between too many active job sites, the result being a long and dragged out process. Of course, despite waiting for almost 6 months for this relatively simple and straightforward project, the owner will be at your door asking for money the day after completion. He can't schedule a dependable jobsite timetable, won't answer your pleas for accurate scheduling, and/ or will lie to you, but he knows exactly when the job is done to collect money. Bottom line, good product, but terrible scheduling and communicating. I would NEVER hire this company again, nor recommend them...they are completely frustrating and undependable to deal with.

Sean is low key and professional; he does not oversell ; (he actually tried to discourage me of installing skylight, as he felt they were not needed;I wish I had listened to him). Their product looks good, and is a good value compared to the competition. the job started with a small delay due to bad weather, which was reasonable and they kept me up to date. The job was completed quickly with good workmanship ; there was one minor issue which required a follow up visit, and they came and fixed it within a reasonable timeframe. Hoping all my experiences with contractors with be as good as with western mass sunroom.

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The owner was professional and courteous during his visit. He indicated that he would have an employee who specialized in repairs stop by and take a look at the job and get back to me. I contacted the owner about a week or so later and was quoted prices depending on what they encountered during the repair. I told him I was interested and wanted to move forward, but I never heard back from them. I called several times and I never received a call back.

Good presentation delayed in starting, had excuses for leaving early, left project partially done left without covering area and area flooded with water in house down heating vent and in to cellar, 1st try at roof left running water in sunroom second roof attempt better now we just have ice jams. Building inspector was not happy with their services

They were excellent. It was one of the better sunrooms that I've looked at. I'll definitely use them again and I would recommend them to anybody who is asking.

We met with Sean. the owner of Central Mass Sunrooms. We found him very professional and knowledgeable and were pleased by the quality of his product, but ended up going with another company, a bit more local.

The upfront quote and discussion process was fine and the contractor did provide a reference which they provided. The installation took longer then expected and it felt like company had small number of resources. They altered the design late in the process, but it was to install a 6 inch roof versus the 3inch one that quoted. This was done to simplify installation but we were reminded several times we got at no extra cost. The assembly team had difficulty installing the roof, but installation of the other components seem to go smooth. Toward the end of the process I was not pleased with the way roof interfaced the existing exterior siding. The team did respond that they had years of experience with these roofs, but it felt like they rushed the job and did not want to replace any siding. The roof is not currently leaking and I waiting for the companies response. In Oct 2012, we had a intense rainstorm with high winds. The roof leaked inside at the interface with the wall. I believe this to be caused by the improper flashing. The contractor responded right away and he they would follow-up, but not. Th roof has not leaked since but it will with a like storm. For this reason I downgraded the review to a "D".

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They had some mistakes but when I told them what I didn't like they quickly came back and fixed it. They adapted to my whims. It took a little while to get it done because they were so busy. They were a little slow getting it all done but as far as when I found something I didn't like they sent someone back in a couple of days and fixed it. The overall experience was excellent.

It was supposed to be completed by Memorial Day but was just completed two weeks ago. It was well worth the wait but the wait was kind of aggravating. I bought it at the Boston Home Show. They were good except that we were told they did not use sub-contractors and then they did. That is what the delay was, getting everything going. The sunroom is beautiful though. We use it every day.