John Krause Construction

The initial visit took place in early spring, with snow still on the ground, in retrospect, a mistake.. I needed my yard gently re-contoured to guide water away from the house, and then landscaped. Because I was new to the region, I relied on the landscaper to choose appropriate plants. I realized that different zones in my yard were much drier and much damper than others, and conveyed this to the landscaper. He developed a plan with different plants in different zones. We had several initial meetings to discuss strategies for mitigating water build up right next to the house that flooded my basement. Despite this effort-- and the landscaper did bring in equipment to contour the yard --the strategy did not work. After a year, the walkway he built on the damp side of my house, has sunk and disappeared. So has a long drainage ditch filled with stones. The plants, which he planted not so much in groups, but in one line running around the edge of the yard -- four of one kind of plant, then four of another species, etc., -- either thrived or died in these sets of four. The plants that died tended to be in zones that needed more light or different water conditions than existed where they were planted. In one part of the yard where all the plants were dying I realized that the soil was loosely piled up and water was running off from underneath -- a contouring problem. I found the landscaper to be unresponsive and rude to a simple query about plants promised and appearing on the working design, but not appearing in the yard. In response to the landscaper's rudeness, the company did contact me to offer me a free Angie's List membership, but they did not produce the plants.

To be completely upfront, I should first make it clear that I did not have any work done, my comments are strictly based on the estimate/initial home visit. I also want to start with a few positive things that I did like about this encounter. First, I believe this business is based in Southern Maryland or someplace well outside the beltway, so I greatly appreciated that he drove all the way to my home just for an estimate. Secondly, I appreciated that he showed up on time, which is important for me as I have a bit of a tight work schedule. Lastly, I should note that he did seem to know his stuff, and understood what I wanted to have done. But here are the concerning things: First, as soon as he arrived, he immediately began pointing out other issues that were not directly related to the porch, such as noticing that some of the trim around one of my upstairs windows was rotting, and that there were a couple of missing shingles on my roof (gee thanks, I also have a hole in my left sock, want to talk about that too?). This really wasn't a major issue, but it was an immediate indication that he was fishing for extra projects. Later, after assessing the kind of work that would need to be done to the porch, he quoted me $18k, which at first appeared fairly reasonable. But after asking a few more questions, I learned that this estimate would not include any of the paperwork necessary for required permits, or even a drawling/sketch. He recommended that I do the paperwork/permit myself if I wanted to keep the price at 18k. I asked him how much more he would charge if I took care of everything except for the required drawling, he said that alone would cost an additional $2,000! By this point, I was getting a little nervous and wanted to make sure I had the specifics nailed down. So I asked if he would provide me the price in writing. He immediately said that he would not provide anything in writing, and that if I had any doubts about his work, I should look at the reviews on angles list! I don't care if someone has a 1,000 positive reviews, any contractor worth your business should always provide you an estimate in writing, and they should be completely upfront about any additional costs. Perhaps he's good at what he does, maybe I would have loved his work, but it's just not worth the risk.

Extremely well. Completed the project on time, on budget. Only minor issue was at the end with the site foreman that was addressed immediately the next day and still completed the project as scheduled.

This was a small job and I was concerned it would take a long while to get anyone out here to fix it. The woman who answered the phone was very professional and courteous when I called, and the owner was prompt getting an estimate and contract to me. Job was completed timely considering we had so many days of rain, the owner told me he didn't want to put anyone on a roof when it was so wet.

His crew worked steadily and did an excellent job. They managed to get my job done on a dry day in the middle of almost 3 weeks of rain so I would have the clean deck for a graduation party. His crew used extension ladders and never had to enter the house with their wet boots. They were professional, polite, and I would call John again for work I need on my house.

The installation problems resulted primarily from the fact that the doors were not built to a custom size as we had been promised and as specified in the contract but instead were standard size doors that were larger than the existing doors - in spite of the fact that the foreman (who was in charge of installation) - made a special trip to our house to measure for custom-size doors. We were told by John Krause that someone from his company would be at our home when the doors were delivered. No one was there and we called his company to find out why. Apparently, they had to install a window elsewhere and then ended up at the wrong house instead of ours.They showed up after the delivery and just looked briefly at the boxes and left. We asked that if they said they would be there and could not that they let us know. The doors were in our garage for three months due to bad weather. We also did not want our vinyl siding disturbed in cold weather since they wanted to take it off and see what needed to be done underneath because we were concerned it would end up cracking. During those three months, John Krause did not tell us he did not order the custom-size doors we wanted. It was only when the installation began that we were told they were not the custom doors we expected. After my husband called John Krause to find out why, John Krause told him that HE decided not to order the custom doors because they would cost an additional $1800 apiece. This was not a decision that John Krause should have made for our home without checking with us first to see if we would pay more. This decision on his part was extremely upsetting to us. But, having waited to have the doors installed and having already paid John Krause $9000.00, we felt that we were hardly in a position to send them back or ask for our money back. Our walls had to be cut to fit the doors that were ordered. We had custom-made cornices over the previous doors, and Krause was lucky the new large doors fit under the cornices. Also, the doors are not centered nicely under the cornices. It would have been a disaster if they had not fit under the cornices. John Krause would have had to redo the cornices. Then, our Brazilian Lypus flooring and toe kick were removed. We were going to sand it and varnish it ourselves, but were told the workmen would do it. They didn't. Just put it back on all faded. When we complained, they were finally taken off and sanded and varnished. We requested the small amount of wall that was left be repainted. We were told this would be done. We even bought more paint. The painting was not done. We asked that Marvin Doors be contacted to see if a longer piece of metal trim was available to go over the top of the doors on the outside, and if so, that the trim that was pieced together would be replaced. We were told this would be done but nothing was done and we were told, again at the end of the job, that it was up to us to contact Marvin Doors and arrange this. Because the left patio door was not sliding well or locking, and wind was whistling in at the bottom of the track, we called a Marvin Rep to come down since we had been told we needed to slam the door to close and lock it and felt this was not something that we should have to do to a newly installed door. The Marvin Rep came down, looked at the door, and said the door needed to be taken out and adjustments needed to be made. When the left patio door was removed and put back in, it suffered a few nicks and dents which we noticed after the workmen left for the fnal time. But, the left patio door is working better now and does lock. This was due mainly to the foreman. At that time, he asked us for the final payment, but we decided to wait the seven days after the installation to pay so we could be assured the left door was working better. During the final stages of the installation, we had asked what would be done about scratches and nicks in the track paint and door. We were told we would have to wait until touch-up paint was ordered so the workmen could touch the doors and tracks with the special interior and exterior paint and the track touch-up paint. When the paint finally arrived, all the touch-ups were not done in the end. We noticed this after they left and ather than trying to contact John Krause, since we had tried to contact him on two previous occasions with no response from him, we did the rest of the touch-up painting to the doors and track, the cornices that were messed up by the door installation and even fixed a hair-line crack in the drywall whre the right patio door had been installed and repainted it. If John Krause would have had to replace our Brazilian hardwood, it would have been very expensive for him both time-wise and financially. We had extra pieces and gave them to the workmen to use as well as the custom stain and varnish. We also had a long extra piece of fascia board from our Timbertech deck that they needed to use under the new patio doors because they were not custom-size and the previous fascia board was not long enough. They had to add some flashing that was not done by the contractor who did our deck because the patio doors lead out to our deck. They also put up some Tyvek. We were charged $550.00 extra for this. We decided, after talking to our lawyer, to deduct $250.00 for the use of our own materials from that amount. We were going to spray paint the outside outlet and three blocks holding our outside lights, but one of the workman was kind enough to spray-paint our outside outlet white for us and he also spray painted three blocks holding the outside lilghts. We provided the spray paint. We had asked John Krause in the beginning if the track for the doors came in another color other than the light tan, he said no. We made a special trip to Johnson Lumber where the doors would be purchased and tallked with a salesman. He told us that the track also came in an oiled bronze finish. We asked John Krause to order that color and also to order brass door handles that we picked out at Johnson Lumber in a coated finish for the doors. We also paid extra for the track and coated handle colors. We had faith in John Krause and he definitely let us down from the beginning. No contractor should take it upon himself to make decisions for the homeowner without consulting said homeowner. No contractor should refuse to keep in touch with his customers and have a project manager try to deal with matters that we wanted addressed by the contractor himself. We were told by the project manager to not call John Krause, that we needed to call him instead. This did not go over well with us. Needless to say, given our experience described above, we wish we had never called John Krause and will never have any further dealings with Krause Construction. We called him because he had an "A" rating on Angie's list except for a problem about flooring that one customer rated him poorly on. We also called the Board of Licensing and Permits and were told there were no complains against him and he had a valid license. We wrote John Krause and letter stating everything that is stated here. We enclosed the final payment that he wanted and the payment for the flashing and Tyvek minus our materials that were used.

We moved into a 10 year old, newly purchased home in Southern Maryland in the Summer of 2015. Like many new homeowners, we discovered a few pre-existing problems, and we also began thinking about some cosmetic changes we'd like to make. We interviewed and received proposals from four local contractors, among them John Krause Construction. We were impressed by Mr. Krause's technical proposal, his suggestions about what we should do to get the biggest bang for our buck, his sincerity, his timeliness, and his guarantee of quality workmanship. However, Mr. Krause's original proposal was not the cheapest of the estimates that we had received, and we expressed our reservations in that regard. Mr. Krause asked for an opportunity to reevaluate his estimate, and a week later he presented us with a revised proposal that we felt was very fair ($31,500). Our association with Krause Construction for this project lasted for several months. The initial visits, proposals and contract signing occurred in late December 2015. Krause then purchased the materials for our job, and it took a couple of months to receive some of the main items because of the lead times for the special-order doors/windows that we desired, but this was fully understood and expected. When the materials were received, Krause was quick to assign a core team to begin work on our project in March 2016, and this core team was dedicated solely to our project for its entire duration. The work proceeded without interruption and was completely finished within a couple of weeks. It could possibly have been completed faster by a less conscientious team, but our project included a custom wall that involved significant on site design and artisanship, and the meticulous quality of the work exceeded not only our expectations, but even our hopes! All of the Krause Construction employees that we had contact with were very professional. The office administrators were efficient, friendly, and good about notifying us of any impromptu changes to the time that workers would arrive, etc. The core team (led by James) that worked on our project was hard working, skilled, and dedicated to customer satisfaction. They communicated exceptionally well, seeking out and being very receptive to customer ideas, inputs and ad hoc extra tasks. It is evident that John Krause really cares about his customers, and also cares for and takes great pride in the people who work for him. When I commented that the core team who worked on our project was really something special, he took pleasure in replying that he has four more teams that are just as good. I highly recommend Krause construction and, in fact, I have already signed a second contract with them to renovate my driveway, walkway, front stoop and landscaping.

The pricing from Krause Construction was higher than competitors but I felt confident they were the best company to complete the jobs to my satisfaction and with a high quality of craftsmanship. I had two projects completed by Krause Construction - (1) redesigning rain runoff pipes and (2) covering patio posts and covering step facing with weather resistant material. Both jobs were done professionally with a very satisfying outcome. Troy and his staff did a fantastic job on the rain runoff pipe project. He explained every step of the job and was onsite the entire time while the job was being done. I had complete in his team to complete the project with a much more efficient design than what I initially had. The second job (covering patio posts and stair facing) was also completed to my satisfaction. I was not on the property to consult with the workers on how the work would be accomplished but was satisfied with the outcome. There were a couple areas that I asked the workers to redo and they responded quickly to my requests. I also asked that the worker return to the property to answer a couple questions pertaining to how they completed the job and he took the time to come by the same morning (on a weekend) to explain why he completed the project the way he did. He was very professional and provided a very concise explanation to my questions. I have asked Troy to provide another estimate for landscaping work. Office and labor staff was very friendly, courteous and helpful during the course of both projects. They were very prompt in returning my calls and answering my questions.Both projects were completed with minimal disruption of property and they always left the job site picked up each night until the job was completed.

I highly recommend John Krause Construction to anybody in need of any level of home renovation/remodel. They did a wonderful job on my most recent Home rehab. We started this project on 1/11/16 with a 60 day deadline and they finished the project in 54 days and stayed on budget. JKC's employees were courteous and professional making them a pleasure to deal with. All of the workers were very knowledgeable of their trades and did top quality work and left the job site clean after each day. In the business of flipping homes, it is very important to be able to get these jobs done fast and on budget and JKC was able to do both without sacrificing any quality of the finished product making them an ideal contractor for use in my line of work and for anybody looking to do a remodel project at their home.

Our HOA hired the most professional team to do some work on our Community Center. Of three companies contacted for estimates, the Krause team answered quickest. They were able to come out within the same week and give us an estimate. There were problems getting some special order parts to the repair and I was especially pleased that this company kept me in the loop at all times as to the delays. When the parts came in, the repairs were made immediately and they were done very well. The estimate held true and the work was done well. The office personnel were wonderful and friendly. I so enjoyed working with everyone. So much so that I have them coming to my own home next week to give me estimates on some much needed work under my own roof. Rather than dreading it, I am looking forward to the entire experience. I highly recommend this most professional and pleasant company.

First, let me start off by saying that I have been very pleased with all of the company's employees, how I have been treated as a customer, and of the actual work your company preformed. When I first trying to locate a company to run approximately 150 foot of drainage pipe across my side yard, through my front yard, and into an existing drainage culvert, I had no idea where to look. I asked some of my friends that have been in the area for a long time, and I received a few company's with whom never returned my calls. One day running some errands I saw a Krause Construction in a parking lot of a local business. Since I had seen these trucks multiple times in the area I decided to go into the store and track him down and talk to him face to face. which just happened to be the owner of the company himself , John Krause. After explaining my situation to him , he asked me to contact his office and handed me a business card, At no point during this conversation did I feel like he did not want me as a client because of the small size of my project, it was at thus point that I realized I was going to have a good experience with the company as a whole. I contacted the office a few hours later and spoke to a coordinate manager about the planned project. Her kind and friendly attitude immediately put me at ease and made me realize I was not speaking that treated me as the companies I mentioned earlier. Then an appointment was made and the appointed estimator was ten minutes early. The estimate was in hand within 48 hours and was what I expected. It then was discussed that I had a deadline I had to have the work done by. On the day the work was performed, the crew showed up on time (as stated in previous conversations) they were courteous to me and the needs of my family, they worked diligently without delay. When they left it was like they were never here. They cleaned up the site just as stated in the contract . They also disturbed as little of the lawn as possible while running the pipe. I had a very pleasant experience with Krause Construction They did not try to sell me something I didn't need and I would not hesitate to use them again nor would I hesitate to recommend them to friends or family.

It was fine. They should read the fine print. The work that they did was fine. I would give their work a 10. There wasn't a lot of mulch or anything. The new bed didn't have a lot of mulch. My husband was disappointed with that. Price was good.

The chimney looks great! I am excited that the siding was fixed as well. I had a great conversation with one of the guys on the job, letting me know what all they did, and he thinks that once I get new windows I should be in much better shape. I look forward to that! Everyone was polite and the job was done in a timely manner. I am happy and would use Krause Construction again.I actually plan to use them again very soon for painting and a few others as well.

John's office responded quickly after I requested an estimate through Angie's list. Dawn scheduled an appointment the next week with John, he came on time and quickly determined what needed to be done; he gave me an estimate, and said he had a crew in the area on another job and they would come that afternoon and do the job. While the two man crew did arrive a few hours late, they were working outside on ladders when I returned from an errand and had the job mostly completed. They were thorough, cleared up any debris, and were very apologetic for not calling to say they would be later than expected. Since the work was outside, it was not a problem. They were polite and I look forward to using this company again.

We had a new inground pool and fence installed. Troy created a landscaping plan for us and put in trees, flowers, sod, and rock beds. The pool area looks great and they did an awesome job. We have had 3 other contractors over to the house who have commented on how good the landscaping looks. We also have contracted with them to come out and aerate and overseed our entire yard for the fall. Great job Troy and crew!!

We would like to thank your crew for doing a fantastic job on our mothers house. First ,for the kitchen renovation, we couldn't believe it could actually happen but you made it happen. Second, new floors and new siding. It became a whole new house and our mother absolutely loves it! And then, since your crew did such a wonderful job before , she wanted her deck screened in and you made that happen as well. Everything was completed in a very timely fashion and your crew stayed on schedule the entire time. What we loved the most was that your crew treated our mother and her home like she was their mother. A beautiful job completed by a beautiful group of people! We cant thank you enough for how much you have changed her life . On behalf of the Smith Family, Shirley Kiger

Krause Construction is amazing. Out first meeting was with John Krause who was very professional, arrived on time and answered all my questions, and was very prompt in giving me the estimate. Our second meeting was with Frank (Project Manager) who is also very professional, answered the questions we had, arranged for our financing, and scheduled the date for the remodel to begin. Frank was there throughout the entire time, (which did take longer than we all anticipated due to unforeseen problems that were not apparent until after the construction began). He kept me updated on the budget, answered any questions I had as things arose, updated me on the schedule of things to happen and when, and came by to check on the progress several times throughout the process. Frank was terrific through the entire remodel. The crew that came to do the work was outstanding. James, Rob, Matt were very professional, respectful of both our home and our family, and knowledgeable about the construction industry. The work that was done is wonderful, James and his crews definitely pay a great deal of attention to details, and it shows in the tile work, the painting, fixtures. The crew covered my floors with tarps, cleaned up after each days work, they left nothing laying around at the end of the day, and all trash was removed daily. Considering the amount of work that needed to be done, the crew did a fantastic job in getting our home back in order. This crew was a great pleasure to work with. I can't say enough about Krause Construction and the employees. This is a great company to work with, I will definitely call them for our next remodel.

I browsed around and found John Krause Construction. I made a call to thier office and they got back to me very quickly, I was able to get an estimate on the work the following day. John Krause had went over all the details with me about all the work i wanted done, and i found this helpful since it was my first home owner experience. I wanted to finance the work since i was having a large amount done and they even offer a financing option which was a very easy process to complete. John Krause was able to beat multiple other contractors and large businesses when it came to pricing by quite a bit. The quality of work was well beyond pricing. All of my work was completed very quickly within a week or so. Everything looked exceptional. His employees were very friendly and made sure to clean up everyday before leaving. My privacy fence, doorway and gutter are all well above what i expected. The grading of the backyard was also done excellent. My backyard now properly drains so i'm not left with a small pond anymore. Another positive i liked is John followed up with me a few weeks after the work was completed to ensure everything was still good to go, which it was of course. I would highly recommend using John Krause Construction for ANYTHING you need done. I will be going to them for any and all work i need done in the future. The quality of work, pricing and customer service is unparalleled.

7/29/2015 I needed a company certified to do removal of the front door of my house due to lead contamination. I contacted John Krause Construction company and they were very fast to respond to my request. John came out the very next day and came up with an estimate that day. Jen Contacted me about a day and time that would be convenient for me for the door to be installed. Paul and his crew came exactly when Jen said they would and the door, trim ect. were installed and it was like magic-old door was gone and new door in place. They cleaned up meticulously and it looked like they had never even been there. I would highly recommend John Krause for any type of service they perform-a VERY professional company!

At first, it went well. The estimate was reasonable & the owner of the company was the one to come assess the work. The workers came out soon thereafter and performed the work. However, the bowed siding was not fixed. They recommended ordering new siding for the damaged areas and coming out again for installation, doubling my estimate from $800 to $1600+. When I called the company to see if I could negotiate a better price (I was willing to pay for all additional materials, but a +100% increase in cost was a little much in my perspective). After speaking with 2 associates at the business office, I was contacted by the owner and he was unbelievably unprofessional with me on the phone. Threatening not to do the work, insinuating that I was attempting to damage his business and not pay him...when I NEVER alluded to non-payment, I just wanted to negotiate a more reasonable price. The phone call was a disaster...I became the apologetic one while the owner of the company continued to blame and verbally attack my intentions...it led me to tears. Awful! I conceded and gave into the FULL price, had the contractors come out and the work the 2nd time and it was STILL not accomplished. I closed on my house the day after the 2nd job and the new owners requested the company's information to have them come out a 3rd time to do what they needed to do the 1st time. Worst contractor experience I have ever encountered! In addition to this, the female business associate answering the phones was very rude to me throughout the process until the very last day and then apologized (why shouldn't she...they got full payment and knew a company review might be pending). I do NOT recommend.

He painted a kitchen, dining room and living room.

Everything went well ; team was responsive and did what I needed. Owner came on site first day to check on progress. Fence done in timely manner but they could have been neater. They got paint on the bushes and my outside lights. They were very timely initially but I had to make three calls to get the finishing work done which was a big annoying. But overall I thought they did good work and were polite. Would use them again

10/13/15 Final update: We never heard back after that phone call but we came home one day and had all new hedges across the front of our house. I thought it was a bit strange that they didn't contact us at all but they did keep their word and replace the dead bushes. 9/18/15 Update #2. Received a call this morning (due to the below update??) More insistence that the plants died from lack of watering which of course was argued because we did try to take care of these plants. When my husband pointed out that we could go down the street to a very reputable nursery and purchase plants that are guaranteed for a year, no questions asked, he was told the company would replace the 9 plants but this would be the only time. Fair enough. We'll see how long it takes and what the final result is. 9/17/15 I need to add to the below original review. I called last week to talk to someone because 9 of the 24 plants have died. I was simply asking what could have happened or if there was anything we could do since these had been planted only 3 months prior. I was told someone would call me back later that day but I heard nothing. I called back the next day and my call was returned. The person I spoke with said he would come out Tuesday of this week to take a look. My husband waited but didn't see or hear anyone all day. My husband called on Wednesday and was told someone would come by on Thursday at 2:30. My husband went out for a while in the morning and during that time someone called and left a voicemail saying they had come out "the other day" and determined the plants had died due to lack of watering. I do understand that there is a bit of drought right now however as I stated 9 of 24 plants have died. Aside from the fact that I know the plants have been regularly watered I believe that If it were lack of watering some of the other plants would also have died if not all of them. 2 plants right in the middle of the 9 are surviving fine. I wasn't asking them to replace the plants for free or anything, as a matter of fact we never even really had an opportunity to discuss anything regarding what the company or we could do. I felt that since we weren't new customers or asking for some service for which they were sure they would make money that we simply got blown off. I know things happen but these plants lasted only 3 months. I would have expected more and I was even more put off by the attitude. Previously my husband and I had talked about possibly having this company do some other work but I am extremely doubtful that we will call them for anything else now. 6/3/15 We purchased an Angie's List Big Deal for a landscaping makeover. We were contacted immediately to set up an appointment. Someone came to our house and assessed what we wanted to have done which was to remake a garden area across the front and down the side of our house. We were emailed a very detailed proposed plan. We called to ask a few questions and set up a time for the work to be done. The morning the work was supposed to be done we received a call that due to weather issues it would have to postponed a day. The following day workers arrived and completed all work. They cleaned out the existing area and removed dead shrubbery, landscaping cloth, mulch etc. then planted new shrubbery, rose bushes and other plants in a very appealing design. I had several azaleas that I wanted to keep and they managed to move these and include them in the project. New mulch was placed in the area as well as another area that hadn't been discussed but needed the update. We were very pleased with the work and our overall experience.

They have made a huge difference in the way the appearance of the grounds in front of the house. We have used John Krause before and will gladly do so again.

The initial contact with the company was with September in the office. She was extremely pleasant on the telephone and kept us informed of the start date for the work. Mr. Krause came himself to provide us with an estimate and recommendations. The 2 crew members were very professional. They worked diligently to complete the projects. They worked especially hard to get the storm door into the door jam. The storm door had blown off in a wind storm and ripped part of the wood framing from the door jam. Repositioning the storm door was very challenging and the crew worked with extra skill to reposition this door. They were able to get the door into position and get it to close properly which was no small feat! They even checked the windows to make sure they would open after the exterior trim painting had been done. The crew called if they were going to be late because they were travelling to our home from a distance and encountered traffic. They removed debris each day from the job site. Would definitely recommend and rehire again.