JLS BUILDERS INC

I didn't hire JLS Builders for this project, but only because I received two very close estimates for the work, and the other was from someone whom I had hired before for a large remodeling project. If I were starting from scratch, with no prior relationship with either contractor, I would have chosen JLS Builders because they have a slightly more technologically convenient communication tool for clients. And Jeff (the owner, who did the estimate) was thoroughly professional and knowledgeable. I felt very comfortable with his interaction with me as a potential client, as well as with his knowledge and professionalism.

Jeff said it is a game of timing between the subs and delivery of materials. Said it would take 4-6 weeks. Came in right at 6-weeks. The kitchen was top notch and couldn't ask for a better job. The wood floor ended up with some gapping. It was caused by the HVAC vent underneath the floor drying out the wood. My only complaint would have to allow the wood to adjust to the vent more beforehand to prevent the gapping.

Typical contractor experience, he came out to draw up an estimate, everything went well, then he dissapeared.

. They did an excellent job and Jeff was very particular and exact. He followed through to make sure I was happy with the job, and I would recommend him to anyone. He is awesome! He went out of his way to do a couple of little things that needed to be done without charging me. I would never use anyone else to do any work around my place.

A very personable person. But I could not get him to commit to a date other than he would have it done by Thanksgiving, and that did not happen. We understood he would start after labor day so that week we took the kitchen apart. We had given him a verbal commitment and waited several months for the written contract. We had the design finished in May, By June we had all cabinets counters and flooring picked out. we had our part of the project done in July. After a couple of calls we finally got a contract. Every step of the project to find out when he would be in I had to call. I even had to call him in January to make a final payment. The whole project was to costly and frustrating. I cannot recommend him, mainly for the his apparent lack of needing my business, His lack of follow up.

A contractor with a tractor and helical drill came in and placed 35 foot piers at each end of the porch to support a large ibeam. One pier is under a deck, the other neatly covered with wood matching the skirting. There was no glass breakage or other damage to the porch. The deck was neatly reassembled.

Last week, I asked my husband if he wanted to go to the home show, and he answered, and quot;Why? We already have Jeff.and quot; That pretty much says it all. He never ceases to amaze me with his perfectionism and his honesty. Give him a call. You will never regret it.

Initially Jeff (the owner) was responsive and professional. He was sympathetic to my situation and appreciated the urgency of having to do much of the masonry repair prior to pouring the concrete cap and steps. The subcontractor who did this masonry repair did a beautiful job on the exterior. But his interior tuck pointing was very bad. As he had not ground out the joints prior to applying mortar, water seeped into the joints and froze over the winter, causing the supposedly repaired joints to open up and the new mortar to fall off the wall. This failure to properly tuck point allowed water to run into the basement through these joints, and I had to hire a second mason to correct this problem (a $215 repair) in April 2011. As the contracted work progressed, I began to realize that although Jeff may be a licensed builder, he does not know his building codes. One example: Prior to beginning any repair work, I had the property inspected, so I had documentation of all code violations needing correction. Despite this, Jeff insisted the small side entry deck (installed as part of the botched driveway replacement) was not up to code and needed to be entirely rebuilt. Although I had confidence in the inspection, I nevertheless contacted the inspector, who examined the the deck a second time, pronounced it up to code and gave me written documentation on the specific codes involved. When I informed Jeff of this, his response was a simple "Oh." And yes, he wanted me to scan the document and email it to him! As the masonry and concrete repairs progressed, several issues arose, and Jeff was only available by phone. As a result, communication among me, JLS' mason and the concrete company was difficult. Jeff was rushed, failed to listen and made snap judgements without coming out to look at the situation. Although the job got done, it would have been far less stressful for all involved had Jeff simply shown his face at times other than to collect the checks. Once the masonry and concrete repair was completed, Jeff wanted to take on the remaining ~$7500 in repairs to my property. I reminded him that I intended to break up this large job into smaller ones, and that I wanted him to replace the storm door, troubleshoot and resolve the leak around the front door and perform a few other carpentry repairs in this area before I would even consider hiring him for anything else. Frankly I would rather have hired another builder I've used with excellent results, but there was some doubt as to the cause of the leak around the front door, and I was reluctant to involve a third party until the cause of the leak was determined. At the time, it made sense to troubleshoot the leak at the same time the door was replaced, so I agreed to hire JLS Builders to do this repair at a cost of ~$1100. Even though I wanted a simple, 36" white self-storing storm door, it took weeks for Jeff to research the doors I would have to choose from, and then rather than simply mailing me the catalog, he had to hand deliver it. There were more delays because Jeff had sick kids, had been sick himself, was overwhelmed, etc. We finally signed the contract in mid-November, and I gave Jeff a deposit of ~$850. Jeff insisted I was eligible for an energy tax credit for replacing the storm door, but I showed him documentation from the door company that showed storm doors were ineligible for this credit. Despite this proof, Jeff had to call his salesman to confirm, because he felt positive the storm doors qualified. Once again Jeff was wrong. A month after Jeff had supposedly ordered the door, he informed me that the door company was backed up, and that we wouldn't receive the storm door till sometime after Jan 2011. He also asked if I wanted him to cancel the order and place it at a later time. I said no, because that would put my order back at the end of the queue. A few days later, Jeff called to tell me he had scheduled an appointment on Friday for him to come out with a couple guys from the concrete company, because he suspected (without looking) that the concrete company was responsible for the leak. At this point I got cranky and told Jeff that I was fed up with his delays and double-talk, and that if indeed the concrete company was responsible for the leak, that should have been determined back in October, and not months later. Jeff shot back that he was helping me "out of the goodness of (his) heart," and I reminded him that as long as I was paying him, it was certainly not out of the goodness of his heart! Jeff also informed me that he'd canceled the order for the storm door and would refund my ~$850 deposit that Friday. Jeff never showed up. And thus began the chase to retrieve my ~$850. Although Jeff always answered his phone when I called, each time he was ready with an excuse. He forgot. He was sorry. He would mail the check that day. He hadn't mail the check because his accountant had his check book and the accountant would send me a check. Then he had his check book, but he forgot to write the check. He mailed it just that day. He hadn't mailed the check because he needed me to sign a cancellation agreement, so he would deliver it the next day. At this point I told Jeff I had no confidence that he would indeed deliver the check, and that if he failed to deliver it the next day as promised, I would charge him a 1.5% service fee for each month retroactive to that Friday when he was supposed to bring me the check two months prior. Suddenly Jeff just happened to be in my neighborhood and wanted to bring the check right over. When he showed up, there was no cancellation agreement to sign. After he left, Jeff called me and told me to "have a nice life." Please note the following: 1. I had difficulty finding a mason to do the necessary repairs prior to having new concrete poured. Although the concrete company did not specifically endorse JLS Builders, Jeff was "a buddy" of the concrete company's estimator. By the end of our association, Jeff was badmouthing the concrete company's estimator, saying "he doesn't know anything, he's just an estimator." 2. Jeff has an unusual contract, in that he sets up the payments so he gets about 75% of the cost of the job up front. He also requires payment of the balance upon "substantial completion," so he wants to be paid before the job's done. When I asked Jeff why, he responded that "it can be a long time before we actually finish the job." (My job was so small that I paid upon completion.) 3. Jeff makes a big deal about performing top-quality work and thus being "the best." After you sign the first contract, he sends you a packet of glossy info welcoming you to "the JLS Builders family." Jeff's business card boldly states "Integrity and Quality." You'll have to draw your own conclusion on that one. 4. The leak around the front door (that Jeff wouldn't troubleshoot till he replaced the storm door) was quickly resolved with a simple bead of caulk by the mason I hired to correct JLS's faulty interior tuck pointing. 5. I am very happy with the work performed by the concrete company. I will discuss their work in a subsequent review.