Stowe Contracting -Transformative Innovations

He handled everything, made great suggestions and is a true craftsman. Always cleaned up and was timely, a great guy!

I wish I could give an A+ to Gene and his team: he gave us a very fair estimate, arrived when he said he would, and completed the work in record time (one day). The quality was excellent, and Gene was a pleasure to deal with throughout the work.

Overall: Gene and his crew are amazing. Extremely professional, punctual, personable, and honest. He's not the cheapest, but you get what you pay for. He's a perfectionist who understands and enjoys working on older homes. Would strongly recommend and use again. We own a 100 year old Craftsman home in DC. Gene has a good understanding of how our old home was constructed and what was needed to get the job done. Despite the large scale of our project, there were no major adjustments to our original quote. He did an amazing job of mating the new construction (moulding, trim, etc..) with the original/old work. He's one of those select few who takes joy in working on older homes. Gene is a perfectionist. He redid multiple phases of the project (at no cost) because things were not "perfect.", including: reframing, retiling and regrouting a few areas, and replacing fans that were too loud. The end result is magazine photo worthy. Again, you get what you pay for. They arrived every day on time, and their daily clean up was so good you could eat off the floor. His crew was very courteous. They even helped my elderly neighbor. Her glass dinning room table shattered. They cleaned it up and fabricated a temporary table so that she had a place to eat until she got a new table. As with any project of this scale, there were a few hiccups. Some furniture got damaged but Gene went out of his way to remedy the situation...bringing in a furniture restoration company. If you want someone who takes pride in his work, is a perfectionist, honest, and places the customer's satisfaction over his bottom line, then Gene is your guy. My 2 year old already misses him. Gene would often bring my son surprise presents. My son's always asking "where's Gene?" We've had many contractors work on our house. Gene is hands down the best. Highly recommend. My only regret in providing this review is that he will be harder to get the next time we need him.

Eugene is very personable and talkative. He was very responsive and was willing to come out in a snow storm to do a repair, although we agreed to wait until the weather improved. He remained in close communication with me concerning when he would arrive. He did an excellent job with the work, and then cleaned up after himself. I will likely call him for future work.

World class. Always punctual. Workmanship was outstanding. Cleanup everyday. Had one hiccup by a sub and was corrected immediately. Have contracted with Stowe for another renovation.

Excellent, sums it up! I had to wait while he finished another job to get the job started but well worth the wait! Gene and the guys started by demoing all the tile on the floor and removing the shower glass, and the damaged shower curb. Found subfloor issues and they fixed it all. Job was supposed to take 2 weeks and 90% was done in 1 week. They installed a new underlayment, and then the new wiring for heating. Then they covered it with thin set, my floor is solid as a rock now. Rebuilt the rotted shower curb and sealed it as it should have been originally. Laid the new tile, new stone on the curb, grouted and cleaned up! They cleaned up everyday and took special care to contain the dirt and dust during construction! Also took special care to ensure the dog did not get out while removing all the debris. The bathroom is toasty warm, looks excellent, no more rotten curb and I am so happy we selected Gene for the job!

The work went very well and we have transformed a dungeon like environment into a pleasant area of the house. The thing I liked the most about working with Gene and his team was the attention to detail and their commitment to quality, they really do want to provide an excellent finished product. I would definitely use them again for any other renovations in the house.

We chose Stowe Contracting because of the excellent reviews on Angie's List and after meeting with Gene. Compared to other contractors that we interviewed (who also received excellent reviews on AL), we went with Stowe Contracting because we liked his approach to the work that we wanted done, his creativity, and that he is genuinely a nice person whom we thought would be easy to work with and fair. All of these proved to be true and we are thrilled with the way of home looks now. We have an older home that tends to need additional and unexpected work once a project is started. Gene was extremely fair in charging us the additional costs that were not part of the original contract. He was also very flexible with his schedule because we were also working with a decorative painter on our kitchen cabinets that required coordination with Gene's work. He suggested ideas that were small (and inexpensive), but make a tremendous improvement to our home. There were a few issues with a subcontractor which Gene handled professionally and to our satisfaction. The person whom Gene recommended for our granite countertops was amazing. We get compliments on our kitchen all of the time, especially the stone floor and how beautifully the work was done. The fact that Gene is easy going and obviously takes pride in his work, made the experience all the better.

The job was done in a timely matter with great attention to detail. On the things i care about, Gene was very accurate in setting up to be perfect. In the areas I wasn't sure about (shelving inside the new pantry), Gene helped give great advice. The project turned out very well, and exactly at the price. I had done another project with Gene that had run over cost due to design changes mid project, but this project was done exactly on budget with no surprises. Overall I was very happy with the work, responsiveness. When I needed the area cleaned up, even though the project was mid construction, his team was very accommodating. Will do work with him in the future.

I can't say enough positive things about Gene, his crew, and the work that they did on our bathroom. I'll break it down: 1) First and foremost, these guys are true craftsmen. They paid attention not only to the big picture, but also to the tiniest details that in the end really made a difference ... things like padding the dimensions of the shower niches so that they didn't result in any strange tile cuts, adjusting the width of the door molding so there wasn't an awkward space between it and the perpendicular wall, and making sure that the row of accent tile didn't run into the electrical outlet. 2) Gene is very knowledgeable about his work and does a good job explaining the work that they're doing. For example, when an old pipe leading to the radiator cracked, he showed me where the crack was, explained how it happened and why it was an issue, and then outlined several different courses of action we could now take to fix it. 3) Gene took time to understand the look and feel I wanted in our new bathroom and had a lot of great suggestions on how to achieve it. For example, he suggested adding a black pencil tile accent to the subway tiled walls, gave great advice on a good finish for the newly-stripped radiator, and also suggested replacing our old wooden threshold with a new black stone threshold. 4) They truly value a nice end product over their own convenience. On a couple of occasions they redid work because it wasn't meeting expectations. And this was without my having to ask them! They took time to raise the height of the over-sink light so that the mirror could sit above the line of the half-wall of tile. Also, they took down an entire wall of complete tile in the shower and realigned the board behind it so that the tile would be a consistent length at the corners of the room. 5) They took the time to repair minor inadvertent damage the work created in other rooms, again, without my having to make them do it. For example, when they removed a few of the wall studs from the bathroom, the nails that they pulled out broke the plaster on the other side of the wall in the bedroom. Not only did Gene and his crew patch and prime the breaks, but they also filled in a few holes that were left over from some other work that had just been done on the house. 6) Gene and his crew were very respectful of our home while working here. Every morning tarps and protective boards were put down to protect the floors in the rest of the house and keep our home clean while they were working and every evening they were removed before we got home. Other than the work being completed on the bathroom, you would never know they were here. All in all, they went above and beyond in their work and, while we are very happy with our new bathroom, we're kind of sad that we won't see they guys every morning at our house!

Contractor (Gene) was able to use my pictures and measurements to provide a firm quote for the job and informed me of the materials needed (and quantities). He started promptly on the date and time given. Gene was very neat and took precautions to keep the work area and house neat...including taking his shoes off to come in (his partner had booties in his truck). The kitchen counters were covered and all in house mess was contained. Tile were cut using a wet table outside. Gene had plastic under the table to catch any drips or debris in order to keep the ground clean. All waste water and trash was removed by Gene as well (after observing this I did tell him to please use the utility sink as needed and our trash can for miscellaneous trash but was impressed that his plan was to take all trash and debris and not dispose of anything on site). Tile was laid out well. I was asked by Gene how I wanted the tile around the window apron done. I did not have a good idea and deferred to his judgment. He explained what he thought was the best option even though he needed some metal edging for the best look. He called someone to have them get the edging needed. After placing the tile he left and arranged the time to come back the next day to grout and caulk. He showed up the second day as scheduled, laid out cardboard too protect the counters, and completed the work. When done (both day 1 and day 2) all trash was removed, counters were wiped down, floor was wiped down, and all outside trash was removed. Very good job and a very clean job. I would pay any contractor an extra 2-4 hours of labor to start by getting things ready, taping off areas, prepping, etc., and then cleaning up everything when done and returning the place like it was found. With Gene I did not have to mention it....that was how he worked. Job was done perfectly for the agreed upon price. No adder was made for the metal edging he had to call our for and have his team deliver. I was very impressed by the work. Several other contractors turned the job down due to its small size (just a backsplash). From day 1 Gene said he would do it and treated it like any other job he had although it was minor. Very impressed by his work, work ethic, and job cleanliness. Would definitely use him again and would refer him for other work.

I cannot say enough about how wonderful it has been to work with Gene Sibley and his entire crew at Stowe Contracting. They are highly professional, extremely knowledgeable and efficient. Gene guided us through the reno with numerous suggestions for improvements He was always available by phone or text if we had any questions. The work was started and finished on time and on budget. Gene's crew arrived every day when they said they would and worked straight through the day only taking a short break for lunch. When finished each day they cleaned up so thoroughly it was like they were never even there. Their work -- tile, painting, woodwork, electrical -- is impeccable. I highly recommend Gene Sibley and Stowe Contracting for any renovation or construction projects one might have.

Had to gut and renovate the bathroom in our daughter's Washington DC aparment after the shower wall had caused a leak into the neighbor's apartment. We interviewed several contractors found through Angie's list, and the one we were most interested in turned out not to be able to take the job but recommended Stowe's Contracting. Although Gene's estimate was 50% higher than one of the others, he promised great quality work; we discussed in detail materials to be used in the walls etc. As we live a 4 hour drive away from the DC apartment and had to supervise the reno from afar it was very important to us to be able to communicate on a daily basis on the plans, complications and progress, and Gene promised he'd do that. As in all my projects, I like to do the design myself and provide each and every item to be installed, so we had the tiles, shower basin, shower doors, shower panel, vanity, medicine cabinet, toilet, light fixture and towel racks all in place. Gene and his worker Angel were both very good at really working according to the detailed work plans and drawings, which was important given the tiny space we were working in! We were on the phone daily and received progress reports including pictures, and although no renovation ever goes without complications( through no fault of either side) , things went reasonably smoothly. Wonderful attention to covering up furniture, covering the floor and cleaning up after each work day, and after the project was finished a professional home cleaner dusted and cleaned the whole apartment on Gene's initiative, which was great given my daughter's busy job. We're waiting for the final pictures.

I contacted the company by e-mail to schedule a site visit and estimate for a bathroom remodel. This is the e-mail I got in reply: "Thank you for your interest in my company. Unfortunately, I am booked for several months with some big projects and I am not currently taking on any more work. Good luck in your search." Don't look here. They are too busy to even talk.

The difference between working with Gene and working with other bathroom contractors that we have had experience with was night and day. Gene takes great pride in his work and, as his other reviews attest, he has exceptional attention to detail. Gene and his team very respectful, courteous, timely, trustworthy, kind, clean and tidy, flexible, responsive...all good things. We especially liked that Gene was very present and communicative. Previous contractors have indicated that they would be there, but really only came in here and there to "check in". Gene was there every morning. We barely noticed any inconvenience despite having construction in our master bath right off of our bedroom. There was never any dust or grit or stray bits of grout or tile lying out, which we really appreciated given our baby is active crawler. At the beginning of the day, they rolled out clean cloth drop clothes (no sticky taped plastic to get dusty day in and day out) to protect our floors and carpets, they took their shoes off outside the door... At the end of each day, we came home to a small and neat, covered "pile" of construction materials on our front porch, and a clean (usable besides the shower) bathroom that was in the next stage of the process. Another thing that we appreciated about Gene was that he was assertive and proactive in that he anticipated our questions or requests and took care of them or addressed them with us before we even needed to ask. I felt no need to do "quality control" like with past contractors. Lastly, as I mention above, Gene noticed other things in our house that needed to be fixed both in and outside of the bathroom. Our front door knob was loose and we hadn't gotten around to tightening it but we came home and it was fixed. He fixed the vent that was not secured (apparently the wrong one had been installed earlier), and installed a door stopper so the door knob didn't hit the wall anymore... We only asked for a bathtub/shower installation and it feels like we got a comprehensive bathroom upgrade. He was not the "lowest" quote, but we definitely feel like we got the most benefit and the least hassle going with him. If you want someone you can just trust to get the job done and you don't have time/don't want to deal with constantly checking in with and following up with your contractor, then you don't have to look any further. After working with many, many contractors (this is our first review for any of them), working with Gene was a breath of fresh air. We look forward to working with him again for other, future (inevitable) projects.

Stowe Contracting did such an excellent job renovating the main bathroom of our 1895 Capitol Hill row house that we asked owner Eugene Sibley to advise us on a variety of other issues with our home. Eugene Sibley has extremely high standards. If you want to do a quick-and-dirty upgrade, I'd say he's not your guy. He wants every detail to be as close to perfect as humanly possible. For example, on his own volition, he had his people put the bathroom baseboard in twice, because he wasn't happy with the way the first baseboard reflected the historic style of our house. Sometimes his standards exceeded our own. For instance, when he was on the phone ordering the shower rod: Sibley, to me: Do you care if the screws show? Me: I don't care. Sibley, to salesman: She doesn't want the screws to show. As a result, the bathroom far surpasses our expectations, from the smallest to the largest details. Angel and Javier, who did the actual work, were unfailingly on time, highly skilled and meticulous in cleaning up.

Based on his work gutting and remodeling my kitchen on Capitol Hill, I wholeheartedly and without reservation recommend Gene for your remodel. I love the kitchen. And I look forward to working with Gene on future renovations. I?ll aim to keep this short, so just a few of the reasons I recommend Gene so enthusiastically: First, Gene?s a perfectionist. Many claim the ?perfectionist? label, but it truly fits Gene. The dozen or so contractors I interviewed sort of all blurred together toward the end, except that Gene stood out memorably as the easy choice. In part this was because of his pricing (more on that later), but it was more because of a short and simple conversation during his initial visit that impressed upon me his attention to detail. Sort of off the cuff after taking a quick call, Gene commented how hard it was to find good help. That perked my attention. I asked what happened, and he mentioned that one of his guys had picked up from Home Depot the wrong brand of some materials. That got us talking, with me volunteering a gripe about a memo I was just reviewing where the author couldn?t be consistent in his use of the serial comma. Gene picked up there with some problem he was having getting the tile right in a bathroom remodel. I nodded my head, adding that I love that feeling when at work I?m right on the mark, channeling ?flow.? At that, Gene was smiling big, ?yeah, I?ve got to have everything on my jobs tight, it all has to fit.? I was essentially sold at that point. That attention to detail was more than just aspirational. Gene?s perfectionism showed itself several times during my remodel. He almost insisted on leveling the only slightly inclined floor, charging just a few extra dollars to get that done. The paint job looked great to me, but it wouldn?t do for Gene ? ?the guys just painted over the nails.? Re-spackled and re-painted, free of charge. The lighting under the cabinets, not visible unless you actually looked under the cabinets, was the wrong size. It was returned, with the manufacturer agreeing to expedite the shipping on the correct lighting, again no charge to me. I?m sure I?m unaware of many, many other times when Gene kept things moving toward that ?tight? kitchen without me knowing. The result, though, of all those unknown nudges when I wasn?t looking (and wouldn?t know where to look) was a kitchen that looks perfect and functions perfectly. But it?s not just Gene?s drive for the "tight" remodel that recommends him. He also was particularly helpful in suggesting improvements on my design. I'm a bachelor with bad taste and no interest in, or flair for, interior design, so Gene's recommendations were particularly appreciated. ?Your kitchen?s a bit cramped, why not open things up by putting the frig where the hot water heater is now and put one of those flash heaters outside?? Beautiful idea. ?It?s going to be crowded if you put a cabinet under that window. Maybe just leave it bare underneath the window?? Yep, good point. ?Speaking of that window, why not replace that old pane of glass with a real window that you can open.? Yep, definitely, I should have thought of that. ?Ever thought of recessed lighting. It wouldn?t be hard to add here.? I hadn?t, but totally agreed. ?It?s hard for your A/C to get air all the way back into your kitchen. Might be worth considering insulation to better control the temperature.? Do it, if it?s just a few extra dollars. ?How about some extra lighting under the cabinets. Not hard or expensive.? Great, do it. ?How about we lay some tile on the cabinet floor where you?ll store your cleaners? Good way to protect the bottom of the cabinet.? Nice. I did veto a few ideas (with no pushback from Gene), but I generally agreed with his ideas so often that toward the end I essentially gave him carte blanche to do as he pleased with the kitchen. Besides perfectionism and a lot of help and insightful recommendations, with Gene you also get a lot of patience and a ?customer is always right? attitude, which is pretty remarkable given that Gene is driven to get things done quickly and efficiently and definitely has his own point of view as to how that should all happen. That customer-friendly patience was particularly important to me. I?m a senior BigLaw associate, constantly traveling, consistently working 65-hour weeks. I also have a predilection for developing quasi-obsessions with random, unimportant things. I had to have soapstone counters (granite is too hard and shiny). I also felt something like a command from God to find flooring that approximately matched my 120-year old growth pine flooring that run throughout the house (solution: reclaimed old growth can be found online). And I?m not sure why it was so hard for me to choose appliances . . . so many choices. Those idiosyncrasies, combined with my work schedule, meant that it took more than a year for me to have everything ready before Gene could get started on the remodel. He?s got plenty of business already, but somehow he still stuck with me through all my delays and questions, sending a polite email every six weeks or so reminding me of the things that we?re on my to do list, keeping me moving gradually but surely toward the kitchen remodel I didn't want to think about. So, this review is already long, but summing things up: With Gene you get an intense drive to perfectionism and attention to detail, a huge inventory of remodeling ideas and options and a fantastic willingness to work with you on your schedule and to tolerate your annoying idiosyncrasies. And what does this cost you? Crazy enough, of the dozen or so contractors who sent estimates, Gene fell somewhat below the average estimate I received from the others. An incredible value, particularly in hindsight. My word of advice to you: Meet with Gene; ask him for some ideas; get a feel for his character; judge the intangibles when considering in the estimates. If you get to that point, this overly long review won?t matter to you; he?ll be self-recommending.

I chose Stowe Contracting to install the tile floor and the washer dryer because Gene listened to what I wanted and gave me his take on the job. He let me know what he thought was the most practical location for the washer/dryer. I was most impressed with his input on what I could skip (fancy enclosure for the machine did not make sense). The tile work in the kitchen is beautiful. The first load of wash is in the machine. The hardest part of the job was the wait for the washer which was ordered in September and was not delivered until late October because it had to be shipped from overseas. Gene kept in good contact throughout the job. His work is a combination of artistry and practicality. He pays attention to detail and really cares that I am pleased with the job. I am pleased and would hire him again,

Stowe Contracting has done work for me before, so I expected the quality and professionalism. But then Gene said he could do the job for almost $2,000 less than the other estimate I received! My house is under contract and the home inspection revealed some things that needed to be done quickly. Settlement was just two weeks away. A portion of the roof over an addition had some bumps and ripples in several places and needed new vent caps. Sam and Erik pulled the old shingles off and repaired the sheathing underneath. They discovered what was causing the roof's problems and made repairs to prevent it happening again. The new shingles match the older section of the roof perfectly. You can hardly tell that one section is ten years older. Their job was made more difficult by a new septic system being put in the back yard. But instead of being in each other's way, they seemed to be working together to get both jobs done more efficiently. There was a rainy day during the roof repair. Sam made sure the roof was covered thoroughly to prevent any possibility of leaking. They spent the rainy day doing the inside repairs. At the end of each day, the work area was left clean. No tools or debris left out. Gene sent an electrician to do a few repairs and a plumber to fix a short cycling pressure tank. All the work was finished before settlement day. Sam and Erik were always respectful toward me and my family and of my home. No muddy shoes or grimy fingerprints. Gene called everyday or stopped by to make sure things were going well and that I was happy with the work. Next time, I won't even bother with other estimates. I couldn't be happier with Stowe Contracting. Excellent quality, excellent price! Thank you, Gene!

Was a great experience. Gene came to look at the work and provided a competitive estimate and worked with us to find a time to start the work since the shower was unusable. After demo, we found more problems than expected, requiring reframing and just overall more work. The crew was great and the change in scope was dealt with completely fairly. The crew is also AMAZINGLY neat, protecting newly refinished floors and cleaning up every day after work. We are really happy with the result and would use Stowe again for certain.

For two years I met with several companies to discuss renovating my bathroom. No one followed through...Finally I was referred to Eugene at Stowe Contracting. I felt very comfortable with Eugene from the start - he understood what I wanted and worked with my schedule. Eugene is a perfectionist - a lot of times he saw things wrong that I didn't think was a big deal, but he made his staff fix the problems. His team were super great about closing off sections of my apartment so the dust and dirt would not spread all over the place. He also sent in a cleaning crew to clean up after the project was done. There were little things here and there that needed to be touched up after the work was done. Eugene always responded to my requests and had no problems stopping by to fix things. Eugene also referred me to Todd at build.com - I bought all my materials from him (sink, medicine cabinet, shower fixtures, etc.) and any problems I had Todd took care of immediately. These types of renovations take a lot of time and things go wrong so you have to be patient. Open communications, a flexible attitude, and a good sense of humor will get you through it all - it will be worth it in the end with Stowe Contracting. People walk into my renovated bathroom and inevitably say the same thing: "Wow, it's like a luxury hotel bathroom!"

Gene is a professional through and through. He is consciousness, thorough and meticulous. His crews are courteous and thoughtful, covering and cleaning to keep everything easy to live with and protected. Gene respects and appreciates older homes, and has a wealth of ideas for how to work in them to preserve the integrity of the architecture while updating its functionality. He also has great resources for finding or fabricating unique features. We wanted a certain look for the master bathroom door - something not readily available for purchase. He found a two-panel door to match the others in my house and a carpenter who could replace the panels with era-appropriate textured glass so that we had privacy but didn't lose the light. Gene is definitely our go-to guy for future projects.

He arrived on time, was very professional and knowledgable and honest. He told us that the one faucet just needed to be fixed, not replaced.

After buying an Angie's List special, they were very quick to respond and schedule my repair. The whole thing took less than an hour. They were clean, professional, and would definitely use them again.

After reading the reviews about Gene's work, we contacted him to get an estimate for the renovation of our master bathroom. Our master bath is split into two rooms: one where the shower and toilet are located, with the second room being an adjoining room where there are double vanities and a linen/toiletry closet. We had an idea of what we wanted -- which included a shower panel with body jets (like one we saw and loved while vacationing in Italy). Gene took photos and advised he would contact us with an estimate. He was forthright in advising us (during his initial visit) that he would NOT be able to start the next day or even the following week. We understood that he was busy; we advised him that we want a great job, not a fast job. Gene and his crew started on the day that he said they would. They were very meticulous about covering the stairs and carpet leading to our upstairs master bath before starting each day, with them removing the coverings at the end of each work day. Gene listened to what we wanted and offered a lot of great suggestions that improved the final project -- things we had not considered doing. For example, he suggested adding a granite shelf in our shower stall, beneath a window, with the window trimmed in tile to match the shower. We had not thought of these ideas that added a lot to the final result -- and even better than we imagined. Gene always consulted with us when unexpected events occurred and got our approval before making even the slightest changes. Gene was very helpful in recommending suppliers for materials and would let us know if the price quotes seemed unusually high. Gene was also able to recommend contractors for other projects that we needed to get done. Gene and his team do excellent work, so we are very pleased with our "new" master bath. We will definitely contact Gene again for future projects. We recommend him for your contracting projects. However, remember, Gene does great work, so he is often booked weeks or months in advance.