EVANS REMODELING

Before submitting a proposal, Reed Evans, the owner of Evans Remodeling, met with us in our home, looked at the kitchen, asked what we had in mind and made some general suggestions. I had specific ideas about materials and wanted my collection of art glass to be the starting point for color and design plans. I wasn't very knowledgeable about how it could become a reality. He returned with a bid in a timely manner; it was very detailed and clear, and the price quoted was fair. He recommended a kitchen designer and after we had met with her once, he returned several times to help answer questions and make suggestions. He made several trips with me to a tile and flooring wholesale showroom, and again helped ask and answer questions and made design suggestions. He is a graduate of the Chicago Art Institute, in addition to being a meticulous and highly skilled craftsman. His sense of design and willingness to listen to my ideas and help me consider various options was invaluable. He truly worked as a partner with us. He accommodated our 3-week vacation, delaying the start of the project until we were back in town. The job was completed beautifully, with top quality workmanship. He cleaned up every day before leaving. In addition, he patiently dealt with interruptions from familydropping by to see how things were going, and he was sweet to our dear little dog, who was quite a princess! It was not a quick and easy project for any of us, but the results were fantastic. UNFORTUNATELY, REED EVANS IS NO LONGER IN THE REMODELING/RENOVATION BUSINESS. He had been contemplating a career change for a variety of reasons, and an opportunity came up as he was completing our kitchen project. We felt fortunate to have worked with him before he made the change, and were sorry to tell others he was no longer available when they asked who did the work.

After having to recaulk our shower/tub numerous times, we realized the tub was moving slightly everytime we stepped in it. We talked with a couple of other remodeling folks who wanted to tear everything out and start again, costing us potentially thousands of dollars and wasting a lot of otherwise perfectly good materials. Reed, however, was a careful thinker, listened to my diagnostic information and thought up a clever solution that was far more economical and less wasteful than any other solution - the kind of approach I had been looking for. Reed had a great idea to removed the toilet (in the adjecent bathroom) and cut a small hole in the wall there which would allow him to see in under the problem bathtub. Once he had a look at things, he was able to create an inexpensive and highly effective solution to our problem. He quickly stabilized the bathtub, reinstaled the toilet, recaulked the tub/shower, and patched and repaired the small hole he used for addressing the problem. The tub/shower doesn't budge a bit, even if I jump in it. The caulk is holding beautifully and we can't even see where the patch to the wall occured. And this creative solution cost us thousands less than others' bids. This went so well, we hired him to help us in our other bathroom. In the second bathroom, Reed tore out the old 3" square tiles, helped us figure out what we wanted to put up on our new shower walls, installed the new custom shower walls (3 large panels) and installed a new faucet, diverter, and shower head. He also had to do a bit of repair to the walls where they meet up with the shower walls. He was mindful to suggest water resistant backer board instead of the old standard wall material that had molded behind the shower. He also needed to do some unexpected plumbing work to make the new faucet fit correctly. When installing the faucet, Reed was very thoughtful of our two small children and set it up so that they would not be able to accidentally scald themselves with our very hot water. I had no idea this feature was on the new faucet but it has been a relief to know that the kids can't scald themselves in the shower. Reed did an excellent job with this project as well. The walls look great, the shower fixtures look great and work perfectly. He is a conscientious worker with his thoughts aimed toward making sure his customers are pleased with all aspects of his work. On the first project I called him to see if he could put a bit more caulk in one place (I'm cautious with caulk by now) . He THANKED me for calling, saying that he so much prefers to know if a customer is not completely satisfied. He cheerfully came out and did what I asked of him. He has better ideas about what and how to do things than I do (and I think my ideas are really good). Reed is full of integrity, keeps working until the job is done right. He calls back, he follows through, he even called at the end of the project to make sure we were satisfied with everything. In addition, he's a really friendly, courteous, and flexible guy. We will certainly call on him for future home remodeling projects.