Mark Ellis Builders

We originally called to have an extra closet removed from 1 room (and the room painted) and a new closet installed in another room (and the room painted). Extra tasks kept piling up, though, as we kept thinking of things that could be fixed or done over the 2 days. I eventually lost track of all the different things that were fixed! However the numerous problems that had piled up over time needing repair or correction are now no longer problems. It went very very smoothly. Mark is a good supervisor and seems to run a pretty tight ship. He also is a good person to ask advice and has ideas about how or what can be done, often suggesting a less expensive alternatives to accomplish the same thing. His workers are polite and pleasant and want to do a good job. They are also neat, efficient and organized. I was impressed when they put all the small hardware and parts into zip lock bags. They spread tarps on all the floors, cheerfully moved furniture, and readily agreed to not prop open the outside door (because I was worried about a mouse getting in) even though it was harder to keep going in and out making sure the door closed tight. All in all, we couldn't be happier and this is probably the best selection I've made on Angie's list yet. If you want someone who really cares about customer service, this is the company to hire! We will definitely be calling them again.

Mark did an excellent job with my renovation project. He had a 'can-do' attitude, was attentive to me as his customer, took great pride in his work and paid close attention to detail. I had a tight schedule so Mark and his crew had to work hard to make sure the work was completed on schedule (this included a full day's work on a Saturday). Mark and his crew arrived punctually every morning (in fact, they always arrived 15 minutes before the scheduled start time). There where four crew members working in a small space and they truly worked like a well-oiled machine. Mark took very good care of my home. I was concerned about damage being done to my wood floors and dust spreading all over the rest of the house, but his crew fully covered the floors in the areas where they worked and hung large sheets of plastic everywhere to prevent dust from spreading around. Also, at the end of each work-day they made sure to clean up the work areas so the place was 'livable' in the evening. After the job was completed, the crew did a nice job cleaning the work area inside the house, as well as the garage and driveway where they had worked and stored their tools. The custom-made linen closets now need to be ordered and installed. Mark took time out of his schedule to go with me to choose the right closets. These will arrive in 3-4 weeks and Mark and his crew will be back to install them. Mark offered great advice on several aspects of the job. The living room looks wonderful. I can see his attention to detail and I'm now able to fully appreciate how valuable his advice was.

Couldn't have gone any better !!! Mark is such a pleasure to work with, I've never had such a pleasant experience with another contractor. Professional, punctual, detail oriented, friendly, informative... Any positive quality, Mark's got it. If you have any hesitation about working with Mark, don't. He gets the job done and as his motto goes... you always get more than you pay for.

M. Ellis immediately responded to our purchase of the HandyMan big deal. However, things began to fall apart after that. He failed to return phone calls and emails. Then announced he would come to the house for an estimate. He did come to the house explaining his lack of communication as his being "under the weather". The next week he stated that his "whole household was under the weather" and couldn't contact us. Another week of silence - now 12 days. We are disillusioned by this provider and want nothing to do with him.

Mr. Ellis was very prompt to respond to our phone call. Our pipes froze and burst in the basement on a Friday. He came out on a Sat. just a half hour after we called him, he said he would stop by to evaluate the problem and give us a price. He was very professional and nice. He quoted us a price that seemed reasonable for the service and committed to coming on Monday with his crew to work on the problem. 8AM came on Monday and they were here right on time!! fixed the issue very quickly and efficiently and explained what the problem was and how to avoid it. Very nice and professional crew. Would use his services again!

They put down protective tarps, cleaned up after themselves and put everything back the way they found it. They were polite and asked questions when they weren't sure which way we'd prefer certain things. We will call them the next time we need some help on a project.

Although he was polite on the phone I would not contact contractor for further service. He really didn't seem like he wanted to be bothered with handyman type tasks. I should have known when I had to call him for all information and had to place reminder phone calls that this would not work out. Also, I re-arranged my work schedule to accomodate him and then he cancelled anyway.

We originally called for a leak in a pocket door frame and while Mark and his guys were at the home we showed him another issue. The second issue became his prime focus. He found out that we not only had a leak coming from the up stairs bathroom but black mold had started to form. Within a day Mark and his guys had the area taped up with plastic from the floor to ceiling. By the end of the day they had found the leak (fixed it) and removed all of the bad drywall with the mold. The next few days they sprayed the area for the mold issue, installed new drywall, painted and did a few extras we did not even expect. Great work and very professional. Thanks to Mark and his guys for the great work.

First off this is a negative review of Angie's List covering up a negative review. They called me and I gave Mark Ellis Builders a terrible review because they never showed up for their appointment and never bothered to contact me to reschedule either. Angie's List took all of this information over the phone and then neglected to post my review. (The reason I can say they suppressed it is because while I was on the phone they asked me about my doctor and I gave a positive review of him and his office. That review made it onto the site while the Mark Ellis review was left off) In regards to Mark Ellis Builders I did recontact him after that Angie's list call and while he was not extremely helpful in rescheduling I did finally get them out to the house. Their work was very good, however they definitely worked longer than I wanted. After letting them know that I was at a high risk of getting downsized the following week I specifically told them I did not want them to work past an extra 2 man-hours because I didn't have that extra money to spend. They went right through that to an extra 4 man-hours of work that I then had to pay for. They would have worked past this, but to make sure that didn't happen I wrote out the check for 4 man-hours and handed it to them saying thanks. It then took them an extra 1 man-hours to finish putting back up everything they had set out to do - which I did NOT pay for. (That is another positive for the team. They could have just left at the 4 man-hour mark once I handed them the check, and left everything apart, but they didn't do that.) Overall - great work, but know your budget and be very specific on how many hours you can pay them for. Or else negotiate a flat rate upfront for a completed project. Also, be prepared to have to call/email multiple times to get them out.

Very professional and friendly. Showed up on time, seemed very knowledgeable. Part of the installation included river rock on the shower floor, which Mark had not done previously, so we selected a different installer with experience in this area. I would hire Mark for everything else but had to go with a total package.

I am a returning customer of Mark's and that itself tells something about my satisfaction with his service. Being a home owner who manages rental home remotely, finding a handyman/contractor who I trust is the biggest challenge over these years. And I think I have finally found one. Mark's responses to calls/emails/text are always prompt. He is responsible, punctual, professional and friendly. I trust his knowledge and skills in identifying and fixing the problem. Above all, being remote and not able to see problem myself, I trust his honesty in providing the quote and finishing the work as promised. I have other work planned for the house in the future, and I look forward to working with Mark again. Thank you for your service, Mark.

I purchased "$335 Handyman for a Day" deal at Angies.com. Mark Ellis, the service provider, came to my home October 3rd and agreed to work on, including wood-rot fix and exterior painting for the price of $1,000. He told me that he would inform me of his work schedule in a day or two. And he also told me to prepare material including 3 cans of paint, woods, and 2 cans of bee spray. In next 10 days, Mark Ellis neither called me nor picked up my call. I sent him an email asking for his work plan. Another 10 days have passed without any response from him. I contacted help desk of Angie's List and explained the situation. The personnel told me that he would contact Mark Ellis for me. And finally, Mark Ellis sent me a one line email saying that "Sorry for my delay, but as my schedule is busy right now I can't book you until late November." It's too late for Michigan. Way too late to work exterior painting involving pressure water cleaning and painting! I understand his busy schedule. He may be busy performing services sold through Angie's List. But, perhaps a little too many for his capacity. Regardless, he should have told me his busy schedule way earlier instead of holding my home repair schedule for more than 3 weeks without any communication. That wasted the precious work time for this region. Now, I will have to postpone work plan till next spring. In conclusion, I want my money ($335) back that I have paid for Mark Ellis service.

I bought the handyman for a day Big Deal back in September. At the time I called Mark Ellis Builders to give an idea of the work I wanted done. Mr. Ellis had me email him the list of tasks that I needed done and when I would need it done. I emailed him a list and gave him a 3-4 week lead time to when I wanted the work done, as it involved the installation of a custom door that had to be ordered and given time to come in. He said it wouldn't be a problem since it wasn't a lot of work I had planned (installation of 2 doors, a fireplace door and blow in insulation). I contacted Mr. Ellis after the door arrived to schedule service being performed. It took him awhile to respond the 2nd time around, but finally returned my calls and said he would come out within 2 days (on a Thursday) to see what work he'd be performing. He not only never showed, but never called. I contacted him to ask him what happened, to which he responded he was in a meeting but that he would return my call as he would be able to come out that Saturday to assess and do the work. Not only did he not show up again, but the whole weekend he was missing in action. Finally he sent a text, not a call, that he was sorry for not returning my call and that he was "craaazzy busy" and wouldn't be able to get around to performing services for over a month (which would be Thanksgiving time the earliest)! I was very disappointed and expressed that level of unacceptable lack of professionalism and asked for a sooner date than that to do the work. He still never responded after many a text and call finally responded that he was sorry but still wouldn't be able to perform the work anytime soon and to ask Angie's List for a refund. Now I'm left stranded and have to start the process over again in finding a reliable source to do the work.

Mark did an outstanding job. He kept me informed of his work schedule and met all his commitments. I am very pleased with his work (and work ethic).

He quoted us a price on the spot based on time and materials and we agreed to get back to him by Monday; he stated that he could begin the work later that week which was great for us as we hoped to have it all done by late August. As it turned out our flooded basement and other factors delayed the start until August 1. We supplied a key which was taken care of. His crew arrived before 7:00am and worked very hard while onsite. They were talented, flexible and helpful throughout the work. The job site was left tidy every evening. They did end up with a great deal of equipment in our garage. Mark was very responsive to my long emails and called me appropriately when questions arose. I tried to supply most of the fixtures by having them shipped directly to the house but other materials and equipment were purchased by Mark directly at Lowes using a gift card which we loaded with the estimated materials budget. This system worked well and Mark supplied all the receipts. As an experienced tradesman Mark has strong opinions about how things should be done and as he says, he strives for perfection. This is evident in the quality of the workmanship and the attention to detail. In an effort to do the right thing, it sometimes expands the job. As I would followup with things being done and inquire about whether or not something was taken care of, my items had almost always been anticipated and were already done without my asking. In the rare instance when we had miscommunication, corrections were always made cheerfully and speedily. It is not easy to supervise a complex project from a distance but Mark worked diligently to ensure that things proceeded well. In the end, we have a fabulous home, *professionally prepped* and painted throughout, a remodeled half bath, and all bedrooms and baths with updated fixtures. It has beautiful hardwood floors and clean carpets, and all thanks to Mark Ellis Builders! We will certainly hire him again!

I had a couple of things on my list for my house in Michigan. As I am out of state, I need someone who is both trustworthy and responsive. I got Mark's contact info from AngiesList. I also contacted two other handyman companies at the same time. Among all 3 I contacted, Mark was most responsive. He always responded to my phone calls, texts or emails right away. After I set up an appointment with him to take a look at my house and provide a quote, I didn't even need to follow up with him. He called the first thing Sunday morning confirming he was on his way. After he looked at the house, he called me right away explaining the problem and the work involved in fixing it. I got a lower quote from two other companies, but I decided to go with Mark mainly because I was really impressed with his responsiveness and professionalism. During the work, Mark updated me on the progress and I felt our house was in good hands even though I was not there in person. Overall, I am very happy with the work done by Mark and his people and I am really glad the things that had been on my to-do list for so long were finally taken care of. Will definitely use Mark and his team again for any future project down the road.

Time and materials pricing always makes me nervous because you have to count on the contractor to actually work. The flip side, a fixed price, means they are motivated to take short cuts and move on to the next. But any concern was certainly misplaced with Ellis. Mark and his team were always hard working and what's more completely accountable on all prices and time - submitting even more documentation than I would have required. Team is honest, sober, and timely. Even though I am 30 - 45 minutes away from their home base, I could set my watch (if I still had a watch) by them. 7 am every morning, day after day, week after week. The fact that it was a time and materials project worked very well, high quality work and I was able to design (and redesign) on the fly as things came together or I appreciated perhaps a better way. Everything was done to a very high quality. If I had any concern it would be that Mark and his team does not tolerate anything but high quality which, in a 40 year old house, eventually could result in the entire house being redone. And as time goes by . . . It will be redone. By Mark and his team. I am a very satisfied customer and as my next door neighbor has watched this progress, quality and consistency, it is clear he is about to get another customer. - a very satisfied customer.

He was very nice, very professional. He answered my phone calls at the beginning but now is unresponsive.

We used Mark because of an Angie's List Big Deal promotion. Eight man hours of work for $299, regularly $600. Mark was very responsive to both email and phone calls. During the first meeting, I shared our prioritized 'to-do' list and asked him which things he could reasonably get done in 8 hours time. He told us that replacing the two doors and light fixtures would be about right. Scheduling the day for the work was a little challenging, but not a problem. He also had us select the doors we wanted from Lowes, which we did and emailed the stock numbers to him. On the scheduled day, he arrived promptly with two crew members. He got them started on the light fixtures, while he went to pick up the doors. Small problem with that - instead of getting them from the Lowes near our house, where they were in stock, he drove to the other side of town to get them, spending a lot of extra time. The work was done well - no complaints about quality. The front door installation seemed to be a little tricky, and legitimately took more time than expected. When everything was done, we ended up paying for 15 man hours rather than 8! I know that it is impossible to give an exact estimate of time, but that was way off! Mark is very pleasant, did good work, and we might use him again. I wish he had given us (or that I had asked for) a detailed and itemized estimate of time and cost for each item on our list. I ranked him lower on professionalism because of this.

He responded to me on time but he was just too busy to get the work done.

It was an Angie's List Big that we purchased. It was pretty good. The process was good but we had a less than favorable experience with him. Initially he was very responsive and responded immediately to our phone calls and emails. We provided him with a down payment. The work took longer than we had expected and the communication fell off. It was an outdoor project and it was raining a lot, which we understood but we didn't get the level of communication that he initially started with. We had asked him to give us an estimate on another project and that never happened. We would not go with him on that. We are happy with the work, it was just the process that wasn't the best. His price was probably comparable.

He missed a few of the appointments when he said he was going to do the job. When he actually did the work he did a very good job. He cleaned up the job area when he was done so it looked like he was never there.

Project started as a $299 big deal purchase for the installation of a back-splash, in which we already had the materials. The project migrated into a significantly larger project as we realized from the Mark Ellis' analysis of the back splash project and the alternate options he suggested that we might want to consider, that Mark Ellis had a high quality knowledge of design to go along with his installation capabilities that might be useful for a number of other projects that we were separately contemplating. The project included: 1) the installation of natural stone in the kitchen, laundry room, lower bathroom, foyer and hallways, which included a significant materials price reduction from the cost quotes that we had received previously as well as a number of suggested alternative material and installation pattern recommendations that he made, the results of which were stunning (comments from friends and neighbors) and which we did not expect but deeply appreciated; 2) the installation of carpeting in the dining and living rooms; 3) Painting of all walls including the 2nd story interior (except the bedrooms) along with consultations on color selection which again were stunning (again comments from friends and neighbors); 4) Complete change-out of all 9 light fixtures (including a stunning chandelier in the foyer) and faceplates (again lots of oohs and aahs from friends and neighbors); 5) the installation of wood flooring in the sunroom; and 6) the installation of the back-splash that was the original intent of the project, along with consultations on natural stone selection to match the new floor and existing granite which again was stunning (yet again comments from friends and neighbors) There were also a number of smaller repairs/upgrades that we added to the project as the project progressed, as we wanted to tackle as much as we could while we had his excellent crew at our disposal. Due to the impressive work he performed, we are already preparing a list of work projects for him to tackle later in the year (replacing a number of windows, 2nd level bathroom repairs, 2nd level carpet replacement, exterior painting). Highly recommended for all aspects of home improvement. Great crew of workers that were hardworking, efficient, cared about their craft, and very very courteous. Prompt attention to detail and constantly inquired about issues to address and made sure we were always happy and issue-free. Unbelievable to say this, but though they took over our lower level, almost felt like they were family such that it was never invasive. We will use again!

It was difficult to arrange time on L.S. Builders schedule. When they did begin the work it was done promptly and the workers were courteous and conscientious about their work.

The arrive exactly when they said they would. The owner introduced the workers and made sure that I knew that if there were any problems or issues that I could contact him. He left me in good hands. They set up their tools, asked me where I wanted them to begin and jumped right to work. They finished the living room and dining room in less than 3 hours. Then they moved to the kitchen. They moved and disconnect the fridge and began to repair the floor. I had already had the new piece of sub-floor but needed some luan. They told me how much and where to get it. While I was gone they installed the sub-floor and took lunch so I would not lose anytime. Once I returned they installed that quickly and began laying the floor, cleaning as they went. It was wonderful. They moved and disconnected the stove as well and when they were done they put everything back and reconnected everything. They did not leave until all the work areas were completely cleaned and trash taken out. I would hire them again n a minute. They were wonderful!!!!