Socelvic Co

We engaged Socelvic with an Angie's List coupon last winter and, as expected, found that the few rotten boards we were hoping to replace were just the tip of the iceberg. After consultation with both Celio Senior and Junior we were impressed with their integrity and knowledge and hired them to do the repairs. Their crew worked diligently in cold weather and a year later we are still happy with the work they did (although of course this sort of repair is subject to the test of time.) We were enthusiastic about using them to complete the job on the rest of the house, but unfortunately, although I have waited almost a year to write this review, we currently don't plan to use them again. The problem is that the workers cut some of our shrubs down to the ground and damaged others with the lights and heaters. I appreciate that they had to keep themselves comfortable in the cold, and that some of the bushes were in their way, but as an experienced painting crew I expected that they would be able to keep this damage to a minimum. Finally, after many attempts to connect with them, Celio senior came out and reviewed the damage. He said that he would contact a landscaping colleague of his. I never heard back and when I inquired I eventually heard that he could not get in touch with this person and would get back to me. Still never heard anything. I recontacted them later in the fall and suggested that they could return and re-install the shutters (which they had not done after completing the job, with the idea that they would repair some missing pieces in the spring) and I would consider it good. Still no response. So I feel that I have no recourse but to write this review, which is disappointing. I notice that the responses to reviews rarely acknowledge any responsibility on their part, but I hope this prompts some sort of positive response so that I can give a positive follow-up.

We hired Socelvic to paint the exterior of our house. In addition, there was considerable damaged and rotten wood on the deck and pergola over the deck as well as on various places on the house which needed repair prior to painting. Considerable carpentry was done by the crew to perform the repairs, some of which were rather high up on the house and near the edge of the roof. The repair work appears to be very well done. Painting was done following (or in some cases during) the repair work. We are well pleased with the result. The paint job was done far better than a previous paint job on the house and deck/pergola some years prior to this project. The work was performed during a severe heat wave in July. Nevertheless, the crew was diligent and worked steadily throughout the project in spite of the heat. Overall, I would say that the crew was excellent. In addition to their hard work, they were neat (cleanup after the project was good) and friendly, and responded to the few suggestions we made. The project was not inexpensive. But the house is not small, significant repairs were required, and the work was well done, so we are not complaining about the price. Not sure how their price compares with others -- some other contractors we contacted either did not respond, or provided estimates we thought were unrealistic, or had other issues. Hopefully, we won't have to do this again any time soon. But I would be happy to have them back should the need arise.

Obviously we weren't pleased we had to spend an additional $12,000 on top of the paint job, but the work had to be done. And they did it well, the shingles in particular were very high up so the workers hoisted themselves up on their own scaffolding, pulled everything down, and replaced it. There was a bit of a mess leftover, but certainly nothing out of the ordinary with contractors. And it was good theater for our two young sons :). They did all this very quickly and efficiently, as we were on a tight timeline. And the workers were all very friendly and accommodating.

Overall great. Celeo and his team were on time, worked quickly and did good quality work.

Our front steps and back deck was in need of repair and painting. We had several companies come out to the property for a quote, unfortunately, we felt that every company was hoping for a bigger project. I found Socelvic Company on Angies list and gave them a call. Several days later I received a call back (Voicemail) from an individual with Socelvic asking me to get back to them to discuss our project. This would seem to be their m.o. After a couple more call backs I finally connected with an individual at Socelvic. It was decided that we would send pictures of the deck and front steps to help expedite the quote process. Following a review of the pictures an individual visited the property and offered a quote. The quote seemed fair and reasonable so we accepted and paid an initial deposit. I felt comfortable with this process as Socelvic was engaged with Angie's List. Where is this taking us... it took several weeks and multiple voicemails / emails to get the project scheduled and completed. I will say that once they were engaged the communication was prompt and communication improved. The company and crew was always professional they just have a tough time with communication! They never answer the phone and I believe they have one person running the back office and handling the scheduling. Overall, we are satisfied with the work and would use them again... now that we know how they communicate and operate!

Socelvic had done work us remodeling our bathroom in the summer of 2012, so our first thought was that the leak that caused our kitchen ceiling to collapse might have been related to that work. Celio promised us up front they would be responsible for any repair work that might have been caused by problems related to their original remodel. As it turns out the leak had been there for many years and just slowly seeping, and this is when the kitchen ceiling finally had enough. And yet Celio still only charged us for the ceiling repair, not the plumbing repair. He is an honorable man and he runs an honorable company. They were very responsive to the initial semi-emergency, diagnosed the problem quickly, and repaired the ceiling such that you cannot tell that it just recently had a gaping hole in it.

Socelvic re-shingled about half of our Victorian house (3 stories, but the first one is brick), made repairs on all the wooden elements as needed, and then repainted the entire house, porch, deck, etc. Before the project even started, the company was very accommodating when we had to shift our schedule due to family related issues. The work was meticulous, and the workman were polite and as unobtrusive as they could be given the scope of the work. I particularly liked that Celio (the owner) showed up multiple times before we started and then on a regular basis during the work - we almost never had to ask what was going to happen next, as he had anticipated our questions. Every single decision we made was carried out as we decided. We had gotten a few cheaper estimates, and I wouldn't call the work inexpensive, but the price was fair - more than fair when the quality is considered. We've gotten lots of compliments on the work. Of course much of that is (ahem) our excellent color sense, but the quality of the carpentry and painting is obvious too. At the very end of the project we had a couple nits we wanted attended to. The only minor downside in the whole thing was that it took a while to get those scheduled, but we found out later that Celio had been called away from business suddenly and unavoidably which explained it and was really an unusual event. We'd certainly recommend Socelvic, and in fact some of our neighbors have since hired them for another job.

The painters arrived promptly and did a perfect job. They sanded everything down, used a base coat and two top coats. The job was absolutely perfect and they had a crew of three or four men with a supervisor. The painting was done very quickly; they were finished in two hours. Everyone I dealt with was very courteous. I think they are a little high priced - but you do get what you pay for. Highly reccomended!

Socelvic built our backyard deck. We love it. I believe my husband posted a review about it on Angie's List. We ended up having them stain the deck also. After a few months, a few trim planks came off the deck due to a minor step overlooked earlier in the process. Socelvic was responsive in coming back to fix the problem. They not only put the planks back in, they resanded everything. However, we did not have enough stain at the time to restain it. We ended up having quite a bit of back and forth regarding scheduling and finding a time that worked for us for them to return and restain it. Months went by and to be honest, we did wonder whether they would follow up on it since the original project had been done quite a while ago and had been long paid for. But they did. They returned months after being paid for the job and redid even more than what was required of them. These are great guys who stand by their work. Since that is every homeowners' fear....will my contractor call me back regarding problems after I've already sent them their check?.....you can feel confident in hiring this company. And their office manager, Michelle really stands out in her client relations and responsiveness.

We probably should have read some of the negative reviews a bit closer before going with Socelvic, because we had very similar experiences. We placed our deposit with them in March. We were told by Michele that we were one of the next jobs on their list and our project would begin in mid-April. After receiving no call or email during the entire month of April, we called them to follow up. They didn?t return our phone calls, so we sent emails to get a response. At this point, we were still pretty understanding about the whole situation ? schedules can slip, we get that. After providing no explanation why they didn?t start, Celio informed us they would be out in the second or third week of June. Well, June came and went, and again, they blew the start date and never bothered to let us know they wouldn?t be coming out. We called and emailed again asking when they would be out to complete the work. Michele could not provide us with any ETA on when they would begin the project, and seemed to be annoyed and inconvenienced by the fact that we would even ask her to commit to a time frame . Finally, in late July, they told us they would provide us with a start date by July 29th. We never heard from them so we cancelled our contract and went with a different company. This company is terrible and I have no idea how they are in business. When they actually responded to us, they were dishonest about their availability and made up stories about why they couldn?t come out. First it was no answer (they just didn?t provide a reason), the second was rain (yes it did rain a couple times this year - it rains every year - it definitely did not rain for several months straight), third was they were still doing jobs in late July from last Fall (yet they told us in March we were the one of the next customers on their list). When we did hear from Michele, her responses were always surly and unapologetic. Not once did she or Celio apologize for blowing three dates! Who does that?!?! I?d never recommend using this company ? they?re completely unprofessional and poorly managed.

Socelvic was extremely professional and highly responsive. They exceeded my expectations! Each time, they kept the dirt on a tarp and completely and tidily cleaned up afterward. I've used this company repeatedly, and they've always gone above and beyond. They were always prompt, cheerful & courteous. I can't say enough about them!

It went very well. I had gotten three quotes from highly-rated A.L. contractors and theirs was competitive. The proposal and contract were detailed, which I like (no ambiguities). They came when they said they would, the crew were excellent and really hard-working. In fact, they worked all through the July 4th holiday weekend to get it done which was fine with us. The only negative, and it really is relatively minor, is that communications were awkward. There weren't a lot of calls and emails to them but each one took several days for them to respond. I would have preferred a call back and email replies the same day. Definitely a classy company and worth hiring.

Well beyond my expectations. They were courteous, professional. The cost of their services was extremely fair. They even did a little extra without charging me. Mostly, they were kind and forthright. Their work was impeccable from start to clean-up. I would use them again and recommend them to anyone!!!!!!! A++++++++

Despite numerous attempts in May and June to get a date commitment from this company, they kept blowing me off. They were too busy, they were shorthanded because of family issues, etc. I also got the impression my job was low priority because I had an Angie's list coupon purchased in February--they tried to tell me it was valid only for off-season work, then agreed it was valid but never managed to schedule the work. In July they told me they would be in touch when they could work it into the schedule. Never did hear from them, so I gave it a final try in September. This time, at least, a very polite individual fielded my call and got back to me within the day, but the answer was: the job's too small. Bottom line: this company may be fine for big jobs, but for handyman work, don't bother. They don't want your business.

We had a very positive interaction with this company, they were very pleasant and considerate. It is a family owned business with really nice people. We selected another local company in the end but would definitely return to them for relevant work. They came out twice to do the assessment, even though it was not just around the corner. They wanted to make sure they had measured everything properly and thoroughly. One thing we particularly appreciated was that they were very timely and responsive and responded to email, which is often the easiest way of communicating for those of us who don't get much time during the day. We would certainly recommend going to them for work and we would approach them about future jobs with no hesitation.

Celio the owner came out and did the pricing of the job. He's a very nice guy and very knowledgeable. He provided me an estimate and also gave me an alternative proposal to replace all of the trim and siding on the house and he provided a very good price but I could not afford at this time so I decided to just paint the house for now and it turned out great! Bruno and his team did an excellent job. They spent a lot of time preparing the house to be painted, scraping all the trim and some siding and priming where necessary. They spent a total of 6 days working on the house and kept in touch with any thing they wanted to bring to my attention. The best part of working with them is that anything that I brought to their attention they did not ignore and they followed through on it which is very important when dealing with contractors. I have already referred this company to a couple of people because I trust they will do the job right. My wife and I are very happy with the results and I hope to use Socelvic again.

This was my first time using Socelvic. The owner, Celio, came out and did the estimate and was the lower bid of two. He was knowledgeable and friendly. The main job was the front steps. The original plan was to replace only the floorboards, but once their team opened things up, we could see the whole staircase was rotting. They replaced the whole thing (at additional cost, with my approval). The lead carpenter also suggested doing more staining than I'd planned, and he was absolutely right that it would look better, so we adjusted the job (again for additional cost with my approval). The results look FANTASTIC and the crew was easy to work with and prompt. The next part of the job was, in my opinion, the toughest. I'd had a leaking wooden gutter for several years. Two previous contractors had tried and failed to fix the leak, and a third had actually refused the job as too difficult. I was worried that the gutter would need to be replaced, which would be awful because 100-year-old gutters aren't made anymore and the new types would not connect to mine. Socelvic said they would try a repair instead and... they actually fixed it! This left me very impressed. Overall the carpentry was awesome. I was a little less impressed with the painting/staining. The crew did a decent enough job, but they didn't use any dropcloths, so they left some drips here and there. Not enough to call them back to fix; at some point I'll just spend 5 minutes cleaning it up myself. My only criticism is communication. I signed the contract and paid the deposit, and then heard nothing for a whole month. When I emailed them about, they responded quickly and set a start date with me, but I shouldn't have had to email about it. As a second example, a few days before the job was to start, I had not heard any kind of confirmation, so I emailed again. They responded quickly and confirmed the job. So twice, I initiated contact when they should have done it. Finally, on the first day of the job, I gave my work and cell numbers to the foreman. That night, I got home from work to find an important voicemail from them to "call as soon as possible." Why hadn't they called my work or cell numbers? Once the job was underway, however, everything was GREAT! They finished the whole thing in two days. At the very end, there was an error on the bill: some hours were double-counted. I pointed it out, and Socelvic IMMEDIATELY corrected it. That is the mark of a good business. Every contractor makes mistakes... what matters is how they resolve those mistakes. A nice touch on the billing is that they included scans of all store receipts to verify their material purchases! I've never had a contractor do that before. Overall, I am very satisfied with the quality of the job, and I'd hire them again.

They did a great job. When they were done, it really transformed the curb appeal of the house. They rebulit the front face of the vestibule to match the sides (wood rot), and it was a perfect match. Celio and his crew are easy to work with. They were able to fix pretty much anything I asked them. They tried to only fix what was necessary so as to keep the costs down, but were also willing to explain to me why something needed to be fixed. Everyday, they were meticulous about cleaning the job site, which was important since I have 3 young kids. I am planning to use them again.

Reliable, quality work. Only glitch was mistaken quote (forgot to include materials) but Socelvic was up front about the mistake & promptly fixed.

I called and left a message requesting an estimate for a deck we wanted built off the back of our house. The next day I got a call from Michele who said that Celio would be in touch about coming out. The next night Celio called and said he'd be at my house at 1:00 the following day. Around 1:15 I got a call from Celio saying he was at my house but it looked closed up. I looked out my window and there was no one there. I made sure he had my address correct, and he did, but it took about 20 minutes and 4 or 5 more calls for him to get here. I was frustrated a bit until he showed me on his phone he had the correct address, but the map on his phone was directing him to the wrong location. All that out of the way, Celio walked me through the different materials, the design ideas and told me a bit about his company. He's a really nice guy. He told me that he more than any other construction company uses ipe wood, so he'd be able to get it at a good price. The estimate he sent about a week later bore that out. He was charging the same for ipe as he was for mahogany. Others were charging about 10% more for ipe. The estimate was lacking in some details though, so I had to do some follow up e-mails to understand if things like permits or lighting were included in the price. It took 5 days for Michele to respond, citing that Celio had had a family emergency to attend to outside of the country which baglogged the work. I've been burned in the past by contractors who were unresponsive and gave excuse after excuse. I'm not saying Celio's was not a valid reason for the delay in communication, but it raised a red flag for me. Celio definitely won on price, but we decided to go with a contractor who had redone our kitchen several years ago on time, on budget and with innnovative design ideas. Coppoletti Construction got the job and will be starting in mid-September.

They were a no-show on day 1 because of some sort of calendar glitch. They did seem to do the best that they could to make up for the problem by coming in and doing the work on a Saturday. The patch was done, but I was left to do all of the sanding and finish work later on my own. I had supplied the proper setting-type compound specifically so that I would not have to do any of the work myself, since I had other projects going on. Perhaps they were simply trying to stay within the 2 hour window for which I had pre-paid (via an Angies List deal), but that was never discussed - I expected them to go over that time and was planning to receive a supplemental bill. Most homeowners would not even be equipped to finish the job on their own, so that certainly wouldn't be a reasonable assumption on Socelvic's part. When I hire out a job, I expect it to be finished. My expectations were not met. It should be said that I didn't argue when the contractor said he was done and I did not bother calling to complain. I didn't think I should have to and decided it would be easiest to simply solve the problem myself.

A worker for the company came out to assess the house the day before 4th of July. Celio could not be there, but the Co. worker said they didn't want to cancel the appt. so they sent him instead. I appreciated the diligence to keep the appt. The worker and I went over the possible wooden window frame damage (which is under metal coverings which weren't properly sealed by the previous owner. I asked for an estimate to repair the wooden frame damage under the metal to stop the wood rot, with the possibility of putting the metal covering back on, and then properly sealing the covering (so all the windows would have the same look). I also asked for a full and separate exterior house painting estimate, which would be done after the repair. The worker took notes, and said they'd get an estimate back by early the following week. I never received an estimate, even after calling and leaving 2 messages, and trying to call to get direct contact multiple times. I would love to speculate on the many issues that I find with popular Angie's list contractors and what happens, but I'll refrain. I gave a D because the initial involvement with them was very professional.

As I said, the big job went fine - in fact we were very happy. When I called to have them follow up on the smaller job, there was an e-mail response that I should call to schedule a time. When I called, no one responded despite repeat calls on my part. I really wanted to stick with one company for whatever work I needed done to the house. They are familiar with the house, with us, with my dogs, etc. I kept thinking they were going to call back because they'd been really responsive and professional when we'd had them paint the house, so I didn't look for someone else to do the work. They never responded and it was very disappointing. My conclusion is that if you want them to do a big job, they are great, but better to go with someone else for the smaller work. The men who did the work were polite and professional, so I am giving low marks only to the scheduling and follow up part of the operation.

Very good result: Many cuts and angles were perfectly fitted. Framing was braced and the deck is solid. Look's perfect. Carpenter Edsom , did a fantastic job. Celio did everything requested by the owner.

The crew did a good job working with a thin product (Cabot Timber Oil). They painted everything I requested, including some last minute items.