ITALY AMERICAN CONSTRUCTION, INC

They did an awesome job. There were several cabinets and electrical outlets to work around. Italy American came when they said they would and if they were not going to be coming on a particular day, we were informed. The job took about 1.5 weeks. There were two different teams, one for the drywall installation and another for the taping and muding.

This was a large project and we received several quotes from local construction companies. Italy American was competitive price wise with the other price quotes that we had. However, we had a comfort level with IA from the very beginning when Mike (the sales manager and son of the owner) first met with us to discuss this project. Mike was very respectful and trustworthy, we liked him immediately. Mike has a degree in construction management and he knows the building and cement business inside and out. He was so helpful and patient, offering lots of suggestions but never trying to oversell anything. Because Mike is a good listener, he learned about our expectations and he provided us with the exact plan that we wanted. We needed a garage for utilitarian purposes but we wanted a building that looked nice and matched our house. IA did and excellent job for us. We only wish that we would have built our garage sooner....we really love it. All of the Italy American crews that were involved in building our garage, from the cement crew, the builders, the brick masons, the roofers, the garage door installers and the electricians were professional, punctual and they always cleaned up before they left. I also want to mention that the cement crew was amazing, Carlo headed that project. Carlo and his crew took such care in pouring and finishing our cement work...and there was a lot of new cement on that work order. (We actually had neighbors stop by just to comment on our beautiful cement...it looks that good!) The cement was top quality work and it is no secret why Italy American is number one in the cement business and has been for decades. We wouldn't hesitate to hire Italy American for future projects.

Italy American completed the bulk of the project on time (sans rain delays), on budget, and as described. We did have some issues with their crew not completing the job correctly and complained to get the situation corrected. They were responsive to our complaints and prompt with remedies, though it would be better if we didn't have to complain from the start. Clean up was pretty bad, as I'm still finding nails and cigarette butts left from the crew.

Everything was fine, I will have the work done in the spring.

The quote was several thousands of dollars above any other quote. We explained that and there was NO flexibility.

Good - we've received several compliments from neighbors on the new porch. The coloring and pattern of the concrete porch came out very nicely. The painter did a fantastic job - very professional and a number of detailed touches. The columns look very nice and the matching stones used to make a planter around the mailbox post are a nice touch. The job Supervisor was good to work with despite problems for which he did follow-up. Not so Good - The initial porch finish was not correct. After taking 3-4 weeks in the fall of last year to get back out to look at it, the temperatures had gotten too low to do the needed work. The work was completed well in April with them Italy American making the initial contact to finish the work and receive payment for monies we'd held back. The siding installation was the biggest problem e.g. the corner of the house where the original and new shades of putty met. A corner piece was originally installed only on the 2nd story. When I pointed it out the installer then placed a 2nd piece only on the 1st story so now there were 2 separate pieces. I complained to the Supervisor again at which point both pieces were removed and a single piece installed. There were also a couple of places shorted around the window and another place where the siding near the ground was cut out to go around the old porch base rather then removing the concrete there. I am hoping to hide that with a plant. I did not mention this last item to the Supervisor and I should have. I did mention my displeasure about their not completely removing the posts from the porch deck they removed which the salesman told me would be done. He was insistent they would take the posts down 8" into the ground but it was too much work to remove them entirely. I have dug down myself around them and have yet to cut them down shorter so I can reasonably plant in those spots.

We are looking for contractors to remodel the kitchen, and I called them, the office lady was very nice, professional and patient. They scheduled a estimate very soon, and we were satisfied at that moment. Usually during this step, we won't expect any problem since the project haven't start yet. However, the estimator is very rude and make us very uncomfortable. At the beginning, he was late for 20 mins; that's ok, considering the bad traffic in the morning. When we talked about our ideas, he seemed no interest at all; especially when he heard we already purchased some cabinets, he repeated couple times, " what do you want me to do?" We talked about our budget, he asked, "who told you so?" Then he wrote down the number, I thought he will nicely lower the price according to our budget, or give us other suggestions, but he added thousands up and told us there is no room for negotiation! Yes, we are not super rich people, but we still need time and room to consider the price, (not the price he wrote down on the back of clipboard). Before he leave, he said my wife can tear the wall off to save the money. Oh my god, she is 7 months pregnant and he asked a pregnant women to tear a wall off???????? We are not beggars and won't risk our unborn baby, ok? We really have nothing to say.

They ripped us off they had us pay 2,300.00 for blue prints that was just a glorified drawing, they did not include anything for the electrical or plumbing everyone who looked at it commented on how bad the prints were there were no details to the prints and we now know how much REAL blueprints cost and they way over charged us and didn't even finish the prints correctly. They even gave us a cost to do the work them self (we are adding an addition to the house,) and again there cost is almost double what we got quotes for other construction companies

It went very well. The service was very friendly, personable and adept.

It started off well and it was a really great sales pitch. I had been referred over to them from a co-worker and a family member had also had work done by them years ago. I should have known things may start to go south once I had to start asking for the estimate and it wasn't complete. Things were left off the estimate that I needed and I was told that the price would need to be determined later. Once I was able to get the rest of the estimate, I was able to move forward with the job. As the work began, I notified the project manager that our light fixture had fallen off in one of the bedrooms due to the construction on the roof. I didn't know if it was covered or not, but he said that he would fix it. It never got fixed. He also mentioned that the lockbox and everything else would be picked up during final walk through. Here we are 2 weeks later and I never received a text, phone call or email from the sales person/owner. The lockbox and sign were picked up and a final walkthrough was never scheduled. The only person I heard from was the project manager who informed me that they picked up all of their stuff and wanted to know where I was going to submit payment for the doors which were not included in the financing. I haven't even seen a total bill for the job. Don't get me wrong, this company does good work...but their communication needs improvement. 8/30/13 UPDATE: Apparently the company does read the reviews on Angie's list and immediately reached out to me once this was posted. The company has apologized for the miscommunication and did come by to do the final walk through and provide the final invoice (thank you!). They are also sending their electrician out to fix the light fixture today. Thank you for making things right!

I have nothing negative to say about them. They came out when they were supposed to, and gave me an estimate. Also, they answered all my questions.

I'm not accustomed to reviewing estimates. Normally, estimators are professional, polite, and do their jobs. What's to critique? But in this case, Italy American's representative was needlessly brusque. I wanted to discuss a few changes to be made to my property; he seemed instead to want to rush a sale on one specific part of it. The representative acted a bit put out when I answered "Yes, please" to his offer to discuss financing. Presumably he already knew I was interested, since the lady who scheduled his visit had asked me about it on the telephone. (I'm not a beggar; I just wanted to know whether I would have to cash out a CD or not.) I had no chance to ask him about other work before he began doing the computations for one part of the overall job (removing a damaged garage and some broken concrete near it). He explained his price, then handed the clipboard and pen to me. When I asked for a couple of days to think, he answered with "What will change in a couple of days?" He frowned when I told him I was getting more another estimate. He seemed never to have heard of the company, even though they are another large construction firm in this area. I had to tell him who they were as he sat scowling at me. I never had a chance to ask him about other work, even though I had told the person who scheduled his visit that I would be interested in discussing some other things (replacing a driveway connected with some concrete I'm having removed). He refused to discuss anything else until, in his words, "We take care of this first." The price he offered was a little more than twenty-five percent higher than his competitor offered later in the same day. However, even though his company has a good reputation, I had already decided to go with the other estimate, even if it was higher, as long as the estimator acted more professionally. I doubt I'll call them again, ever, unless possibly they someday have a new person doing the estimates.

WOW! We were extremely pleased and satisfied with ITALY AMERICAN CONSTRUCTION---877-98-ITALY (48259). Our impression of this family owned company was one of professionalism, punctuality, and dedicated workers. First of all, the crew arrived on-time. They got to our house when they promised and got right to work. Often times when you have work done on your house the workers sit around or wait to get started and take a lot of breaks. The Italy American team got there and got down to business. They laid out their game plan for the day to us, and took off running. They broke up the old pavement and concrete. Then got to work mixing up the concrete and went right in to pouring it in when the consistency was just right. At NO time during their day with us did anyone stop to smoke, or talk, or lollygag around. They were ALL BUSINESS. Even when we had a quick question, they took time to answer our questions, but you better believe they got back to their task at hand. They poured in the concrete, smoothed it out to perfection and double-checked to make sure everything was to our liking...who does that---ITALY AMERICAN. They made sure to clean up as they worked. That's without anyone having to tell them to do so. They could tell we took pride in our grass and our landscape. And they made darn sure it looked just like it did at the conclusion of their work that it did when they arrived. The crew did not leave tools around or get concrete and dust all around. They kept our lawn just as they found it, clean, neat and manicured. I have to say, they really helped us get confidence back in our manual workforce. We have had other work done to our roof and windows by OTHER companies that could not and should not be categorized in the same class of high quality and top-notch service as ITALY AMERICAN CONSTRUCTION. We HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend them to anyone looking for construction needs in Michigan. Please call them...you will not be disappointed. 877-98-ITALY (48259) You will see and experience everything and more than I am writing. I have never felt so confident in another workforce to even write a review. I felt just that pleased, and satisfied with their work that I want everyone to know they exist and should be trusted with your home or business needs. Even the price was fair and well worth it to get an awesome, smooth, even, and appealing driveway. We have been in our home over 40 years and we just now are able to look at our driveway and really enjoy what we see and how it feels under our tires. Thanks ITALY AMERICAN!! Give them a try...you will not be disappointed. If I sound like a commercial..I'm sorry. I just can't express enough how passionate I am about these guys. Please don't hesitate to get them to do your work. Don't you want the best and the most efficient workers. I think we all do and we all deserve to get our money's worth. Our homes are our pride and joy. Make sure you put your trust in professionals who take pride in their job and what and how they do it.

It went very well. The carpenter who did most of the work was meticulous (that's a good thing). He worked alone so it took a little longer than expected. They did the same job for my daugher's garage and we were impressed. So we did not shop for a price.

I was impressed with the person who came out to give us an estimate. He did a lot of measurements. He was very knowledgeable. I can see that he's an architect. His estimate was approximately 25% higher than the other ones so we did not take Italy American Construction to do the job. I would call them again if they're the only ones that did what we needed. I'm sure they do very good work.

The guys from Italy American Construction did what they said they were going to do.

The deck started falling apart after the first year. We’ve used them for other things and it went fine but this project did not. I called them about the issue and they came out and put deck screws in which were not compatible with this deck. They knew better but…One day I’ll just have someone else to come back and fix it. Again, other jobs they have done have been adequate. This job is the one I am not happy with.

Italy American Construction was on point from beginning to end. They know there business. All of the employees and sub-contractors were very professional. They were a pleasure to work with and accommodating to my schedule. There were a couple of material hiccups along the way but the issues were addressed immediately and resolved. The quality of work was exceptional. The inspectors commented on the quality.

We researched 6 companies and had 4 come to the house for the interview and quote. Italy America was the only one that gave us cost saving ideas within our personalized specifications for the garage plans. They did not have a "standard package" everything that they did was customized and they were also the only company that offered all of the services we needed to complete the job. The staff was very friendly, timely, punctual, had GREAT communication with us and were CLEAN. They cleaned every day before they left. They also were in contact with us within a short period of time of our calls on all concerns or questions that we had. We will be using them again in the future and HIGHLY recommend them for any building needs or cement work. It was a pleasure to do business with such a professionally run family owned company.

The estimate was ridiculously high.

A representative, previously referred to as Rip Van Winkle, came out to discuss the multiple projects we are prepared to do. We discussed Project 1 in detail for almost 2 hours. Rip informed us that he would provide a quote in less than 2 weeks. After two weeks, I left messages on Rip's cell phone with no success. Other quotes were in and I wanted to make sure I had all of the information to make a decision. As a result, I called the home office several times. No word from Rip. Three months later I get a call from Rip who admittedly lost our information but was still excited to provide a quote. Considering the company I chose was already working on the project, I declined informing him of why. This was out of Rip's field of comprehension. However, I had a meeting to go to so the story ends there.

We were contacted promptly after I left a message and Paul the representative came out and gave us a complete estimate of the work to be done. He was patient while we made up our minds and kept in contact with us but with no pressure. The work was done when promised and done well. The construction crew were professional and very courteous especially the 2 young men that worked alone on the first part of the building process. Bob the contact person after the work was started was always easy to get a hold of. They cleaned up every day and we are very pleased with the result. The price was the best we received also for the work done. We would recommend this company for any building projects. They seem to have a lot of experience

Overall experience was positive, there were some communication issues however in the end the company acknowledged these issues and I was satisfied with the end result. The bathroom is a standard 5 X 8 or somethign like that and the job took a little over 2 weeks. The tile is nice, and Paul was great to work with.

Sales representative and construction foreman were easy to reach and responsive to my phone calls. The sales representative did not try and up-sell me on everything, which I view to be positive. They were flexible and understanding with my requests. I have zero complaints in this area. The areas of concern were around the initial quality in some areas (not everywhere). They attempted to re-use floor molding instead of using new molding. They re-used a door instead of replacing it. Assumptions were made that I would want the lowest quality product, with no questions or discussions from their personnel. In summary, if I called they responded, but they did not proactively reach out to inquire. Having been my first contractor experience, I was not sure which questions to ask and as a result, some of the items were of lower quality than I would have wanted.

Italy American was very professional. My sister recommended them. Tony, one of the owners met with me and was very nice about explaining what the previous contractor had done incorrectly. He explained what was done incorrectly and was also able to correct the problems the other company created. He was very concerned about us having to pay more with him due to the mistakes of the previous contractor. He offered me a much less expensive price than the other company. Work done was completely to our satisfaction. If this had not been done correctly this could have cost us a tremendous amount of additonal money. They did an excellent job and I would definatley recommend them. They also seemed to have saved us quite a bit of money. I would definatley use them again and recommend them to others.