Maine House Surgeons

Work started well enough and Phil was on the job. We kept up on all our payments to him. Before long, however, we noticed that work had slowed considerably. He made a point to show up only when he thought we would not be there. He was absent a lot, sometimes for as much as several weeks - even though he knew we were trying to make a deadline. He constantly promised that he would dedicate more time and manpower to the project, but never did. He had many excuses including, he was sick, his helper was sick, his helper had a bad back, his cat was sick (true), he had to find another place to live and move. He took another two weeks off when his cat died. The last job he did for us was installing tile in the bathroom floor and the quality was very unprofessional. Tiles were misaligned, crooked, and not even level. We had supplied all the materials for the bathroom floor, but told him we wanted to meet with him at the job site to discuss the poor quality workmanship before we paid him for his labor. We had not seen him in weeks since he had put the floor in. He chose NOT to meet with us and we did not see him again.

At first things were going well, Phil and another person arrived as promised and started work on painting the first room. The quality of the paint job ended up average but it took approx $1000 of labor to paint the 20x30 room, far far too high. The room has odd design and tight spots but I've painted it in less time by myself in the past. Once he moved on to the kitchen things were again looking good, it was messy but he seemed to know what he was doing and we felt the quality was good originally. We started to see a pattern however it was only Phil who was coming to do the work, his team was not available or he didn't want to include/pay them thus a 1 month job turned into 3. When your talking about a kitchen and a messy (sanding) job this is a nightmare not to mention we have a 2 and 3 year old and were were told on multiple occasions to try to keep them quiet so he could work! Upon getting the paint process he had thought we may like a different paint service (Spray) that an associate of his offers, we agreed and the doors were sent out for paint with promises of 1 week. Needless to say the deadlines were not met and the quality on some of the doors was sub standard upon return and we had to send them back. As we got close to our required last chance day for everything to be working (we were hosting a birthday party) the sink was installed along with the new counter tops but the plumbing was needing to be installed. I asked Phil if we should retain a plumber for this purpose but he told me that was not necessary as he could do it quickly. A full day later and roughly 4 trips to the hardware store we had a working sink, needless to say a plumber would have been cheaper and Phil could have worked on other items that still needed attention. During the renovation a cardboard flooring was put in to protect our floors, upon removal they pulled up stain with the tape, Phil offered to one off stain the lines this left but we declined thinking it would lead to more issues of color mismatch. Never were we offered a full fix of the issue and to this date we have lines on the floor where the tap was removed. The work was finally finished and the kitchen looked great. Now less than 1 year after the work started and 9 months after it was finished it's all falling apart. Cabinet doors that were worked on are cracking and paint is separating on the cabinets. I've reached out to Phil twice on this topic without response, apparently I'm left to deal with the mess of a renovated kitchen one year later.

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Excellent craftsmanship. Dedicated and trustworthy they worked tirelessly in the demolition process as well as the new construction. They acquired some beautiful rough sawn hemlock for my pergola. Using this non-dimensional lumber provided quite a challenge to the boys but they were up for it. Due to the complexity of the work it took a little longer than I expected but it was well worth it. Try them for anything. Got a project, give 'em a call. I was extremely pleased with their work ethic and I am scheduling more projects with them.

They were reasonably priced. I had to provide all the fixtures to them; they sent me a shopping list and I went and got it for them. I actually had somebody who was a plumber in the department where I was shopping. He said I would need something that was not on the list that they had given me so I ended up buying it and they ended up needing to use it which saved me a lot of time. They were there for a long time so I felt the price that I paid was good. They felt it was okay because I ended up having to run to the hardware store twice while they were at home. It was a little inconvenient for me but in the long run it was worth it; everything works fine. I don't think they were plumbers but knew how to do it.

Phil and his partner did an excellent job (even though I bought the wrong type of ceiling tile). They arrived on time, worked steadily and had the job done quickly. The workmanship was excellent!

We hired Phil at Maine House Surgeons to build a home theater room in our basement. He did a terrific job and we would certainly recommend him. He does very precise, high-quality work. For my wife and I, this was a fairly big project but we did not hesitate to hire Phil because he had previously done an excellent job repairing a water-damaged wall in our house. We had an extra room in our basement that we wanted to use for a home theater/ gym and, after we went over all the details of what we wanted with Phil, he gave us exactly what we were looking for. He started by removing the existing carpeting, walls and ceiling which were all in poor shape. Next he installed new walls and ceiling and ran all the wiring for the five speakers and the subwoofer around the room. All the speakers were built into the wall, so that just the fabric covers were visible. Not only that, he actually designed and built each speaker. He also added extra wood behind the sheetrock to reinforce the area where the TV was mounted, so that it would be stable and not sag over time. We put the TV in the middle of the wall, but we wanted the tuner and DVD player in the corner, so he built two corner shelves for this equipment.The final result is very clean and professional-looking.

They do many projects, so I went with them. They do a good job. The only complaint is that the job is taking awhile.

I called this contractor to request information and an estimate on a large project that I needed to have done on a foreclosure that I was proposing to purchase. This gentleman on the phone and use the word gentleman as a courtesy, answered the phone, "Is there something you want or do you want some work done". I asked the gentleman his name and he hung the phone up on me. I called the company back and was greeted by the same gentleman and found a turn of events in attitude when I stated that I was calling him from his feedback on Angies List. He called me two times afterwards with excuses which were not received well. I told him after the fourth contact with him to never contact me again and that I would not be using him even if he were the last contractor on earth. I cannot believe that he had the nerve to tell me that with having a business you get all kinds of phone calls or something of that nature. I told him that all he had to do was to answer the phone, introduce himself and say may I help you. I cannot believe that this company holds an "A" rating. I'm very upset and disappointed.

They sent me a list of things to buy , I got some extra things not on shopping list. I still ended up running to hardware store for more things and they needed the extra things I got. They did work on a Sunday , which worked for me. I would use them again.

He was several days late with the first drawing and I had to call him to see how things were going. He explained he had had some problems, (computer and car) and said the drawing would be coming in a few more days. Once the drawing came it made no sense, it was just a box with a few lines on it. He asked me to put windows and doors where I wanted them and e-mail back, which I did. Once I did that he sent me another simple drawing showing where the doors, windows and staircase were to go - (which was nothing more than what I had given him the first day he was here). Nothing was to scale, etc. During this period I decided to have some drawings done professionally (I had not realized in the beginning that normally people get the "plans" drawn up first and then call the contractors for estimates) and then give them to the contractors for estimates. I e-mailed Phil, (the owner of House Surgeons) and told him what I was going to do. He called me, again and again and left me messages to try and change my mind. He left messages telling me that the people I was having draw my plans were jerks and did a bad job. He also left me messages telling me how much time (and money) he had spent working on my diagram. He called me no less than eight times over the course of three days to try and get me to change my mind. He finally stopped calling. My experience with House Surgeons left a lot to be desired. I even wondered if he had written his own review for Angie's List.

Phil walked through the large home/Band B with us, taking copious notes on repairs or upgrades to be done ... giving equally focused attention to each item on the list, no matter how cosmetically obvious or mundane most might have appeared. He gave us a professionally presented written price that was not just reasonable - it was very reasonable. He and Al came back, on the date and at the time agreed and put in two full 12 hour days with trim installation, painting, plumbing, installing a cement lip and believe me, plenty more. The time spent and attention to detail stunned us. Then each area addressed, when the work was done, was carefully cleaned up/swept and tarps were laid out to avoid foot prints ... I should interject that it rained the entire time they were outside digging dirt and pouring cement. I would hire them again without hesitation and recommend them for jobs large and small. I was so pleased to have such incredibly competent and conscientious contractors in the area. This is a pages of happiness review (as soon as I find that button).

"Wow" - direct quote from my husband in praise of Phil. Anyone reading this in search of a Southern Maine contractor in whom they can have complete confidence with regard to quality, cost, punctuality, professionalism, problem-solving, responsiveness, honesty, candidness, cleanliness, detail attention, expertise in his field(s), integrity ... can stop their hunt. Believe me, I did the research and I also endured the "referrals" who either didn't show up or knowing that I live 3000 miles away from the property, treated me like a wallet in human being disguise. Phil was one of the few on Angie's List (or on other sites) with an existing authentic glowing A review. He immediately responded to my husband's call, listened to and quickly understood the issues from both an engineering and a construction perspective, went to the property the very next day (respecting our tenants), took pictures and with such in hand discussed viable repair options with my husband ... and then bid at a price in line with/lower than that which we already had for solutions which even if similar, had been far less comprehensively and reliably presented. Phil and Al completed all the work in 2 days, taking pictures along the way. My husband was "astounded" by the results. The floor, once spongy, now looked "brand new, level and very strong". At this writing, the husband is back in Maine, has seen the floor 1st hand and has both Phil and Al from Maine House Surgeons attacking a new list of long overdue repairs.

One day water started leaking from my ceiling under my up stairs bathroom of my 100+ year old house. I called Maine House Surgeons they promptly came over and went to work on a solution. They found when the original plumbing was put in, some of the floor joist had been cut for the pipes and one of the joist finally broke. Allowing the floor sink an inch or two. We went and picked out new linoleum and materials. By end of the day they had the bathroom put back together and working. They even got the bounce and squeaks out of the floor. All in one day and for around six hundred bucks!