HAWKINS & CO

Our new kitchen is gorgeous and we love it! The job went about as smoothly as one could hope for such a large project. We have all heard rumors about this kind of work taking 3x as long as expected, of having large periods when nothing is done, etc. None of those happened to us. One of Paul's strengths is his long experience in this line of work, which has allowed him to build close relationships with a steady team of subcontractors. He is able to coordinate the various subtasks so that each is completed in time to avoid holding up the others, keeping the length of the overall job to a minimum. Another strength is his exacting attention to detail. An example of this is his selection of period-appropriate moldings and trim so that the new work fits into the existing house. He even had his cabinetmaker cut some of the trim molding to width by removing the center portion of the molding's convex curve, and rejoining the outer pieces to form a new molding which could be used to trim around a window whose location between cabinets did not permit installing the full size molding. One of the most demanding aspects of this remodel was the age of the house -- nothing in the existing house was level or completely plumb, which presented a lot of challenges in design and joinery, and yet the resulting installation is uniformly pleasing. Paul's initial design for the floor layout had much to recommend it, but we asked him for another design that preserved the existing sliding door since it is the source of most of the room's natural light. He was happy to work through this with us, and we came up with a better plan that was exactly what we were looking for. In general, Paul's attitude is that he's not happy until the customer is happy -- he addressed all of the items on our punch list at the end of the job, and returned even several weeks later to take care of a couple of minor issues. One last strength is Paul's good taste in materials and finishes: we went with most of Paul's initial suggestions for cabinets, countertops and hardware, and are delighted with the results. We would not hesitate to work with Paul again for any large or small remodeling project.

CONTRACT WAS VAGUE; JOB COST MORE THAN ANTICIPATED. ELECTRICAL SUBS RUINED CHAIRS IN BASEMENT BY STANDING ON THEM INSTEAD OF LADDERS. DEMOLITION SUBS SMOKED IN HOUSE AND CONSUMED FOOD FOUND IN HOUSE.