Brent Harlow Designer/Builder

never called back.

unknown

The job went on well. He was prompt and gave me an estimate. He provided recommendations and finished the job in a timely manner.

I wish the letter ratings had plus and minus values because Brent was a B+ for most of these categories. He was easy to work with and we felt the pricing was very fair. Our hesitancy to post A ratings overall is because of two issues: We know that he sometimes left the work until the last minute and therefore had to rush through things which was the reason for the second complaint: There was inconsistent quality in the details. For instance, when it came time to put the knobs on the cabinets I said that I could do it myself. He insisted that he, as a professional could do a better job so I let him do it. The knobs were put on in a rush(by his own admission) and were not leveled or centered very well. We felt this was such a shame as he had done such a beautiful job putting the cabinets in. But overall we were happy with the work. We live far away in Baltimore and it has been hard to find good contractors who we could work with from a distance. Brent was flexible and put up with a lot of messaging back and forth. We would use him again in fact we have more work lined up for him to do.

WARNING! BE CAREFUL about using this guy. We contacted Brent to install Bead board on the walls around a small masterbath vanity and in a small bathroom. We had already purchased the bead board for the masterbath because we had originally planned to do it ourselves. He came and measured and said he would get back to us. He used e-mail to communicate with us where we agreed on a date of installation. Before I agreed to have him do the work, I asked for an estimate for the cost of the job. He gave me an estimate of $860 and said it would only take a day or two to do the work. Then he said he was bringing someone else to help him do the work. He asked us where we purchased the bead board so he could purchase additional boards, some moldings and glue. He showed up with the materials at around 10:00 to begin the work and informs us that it will now cost $1, 012. We said OK and we paid him. He and his friend did most of the work in the first day but needed to return the next day to finish up. The work performed was decent and we were pleased that they finished it in a day and half. Before Brent left he told my husband that he needed to charge us MORE money...VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. My husband went over the bill with him and agreed to pay him an additional $240. When we received the third invoice it was not for the amount they agreed upon but for $809. So the bottom line is, we went from an estimate of $860 to a cost of $1821without warning. His estimate was way off which is completely dishonest. This was a small job that took a day and a half plus we had already purchased most of the materials. The job should not cost that much. He underestimated the cost and is not professional enough to admit it. He continues to badger us for more money even though the final $240 had been decided upon and paid. We have hired lots of contractors to do work for us in the past and we have never experienced such dishonesty and unprofessional character as this!

Maintained incredible messy site,the experience was very very stressful his main metal subcontractor walked off the job after two weeks handed me his business card told me not to trust him and give him a call when job is done and roof leaks ,his words unfortunately proved true.I had the roof independently inspected after completion was told it was shoddy work get a lawyer and don't pay another cent FYI my beautiful standing seam roof does have a few leaks

Went very well. Brent is very professional and works very efficiently.

As usual, Brent and his crew did a fantastic job. This area of the yard had been sinking due to formerly buried stumps and was ruining my concrete skirting. Other workmen had tried to fix it, but could not. Brent came and assessed the issue and fixed it permanently. They make concrete pilings on which to place a steel bar support for the skirting. While finishing that job he also repaired a leak that had developed on one of my skylights. All done at a reasonable price. He called after our latest rainstorm to check on the leak. That is the professional way to do things.

Brent began the project on time, he kept at it with a few breaks which was fine with me as I was not on a time schedule and some of his other clients were. He had several men help him at different periods of time and I found them all to be both courteous and professional. The work in the basement is completed and looks very nice, but the important part for me was not the presentation so much as the soundness of the work, that the basement would be warm and old mice infested insulation disposed of, that the water now flows to the outside, and the area is presentable to clients who come to the house. Brent is very pleasant to work with, and he was generous with his willingness to follow through with my requests on how to behave around the dogs that I work with. He not only followed my instructions but was careful to fill anyone else in who might be working with him that day. I trust Brent, I would never worry about leaving my home to him. He is concerned about the people he works with, and very much wants to complete a job to the satisfaction of the owner. I did not choose Brent to do the largest project only because of the many requirements of speciality workers needed to complete the job including site excavation, plumbing and septic work, electrical, fencing, as well as building. It was too large for a small business to try to complete in a short period of time but I do not doubt that Brent (given sufficient time) could have put together a group to do the job well. Brent s strongest attribute I believe is his ability to problem solve and create unique spaces. He thinks quickly and clearly spends time while away from the job thinking about the best way to go about a project or solve a problem

Hard to connect with Brent. Many phone calls back and forth with long periods of no contact. Finally no contact at all.

We have owned our home for 5 years and never before had a problem with water in the basement. This past spring and again this fall we had 2-3" of standing water in the basement. There was a drain that had been installed when the home was built (we are not the original owners) and we felt the water was backing up through this drain. We thought we would need a sump pump installed to adress this issue. Brent explored finding out where this floor drain actually drained to and then was able to clear the pipe. He did this by removing several sections of the concrete floor, finding the exisiting drain pipe, opening up the pipe and using a 100 foot auger to clear it. He also located the end of the drainage pipe in our yard and cleared away the brush and used straw bales to keep the opening from reclogging with yard debris. He then repaired the openings in our floor with fresh concrete and left our basement clean and our problem fixed. We appreciated that fact that he worked on solving the problem rather than just installing a sump pump, that would have been more costly to us. After the problem was identified and before it was fixed, the local weater had some very heavy rain. Brent contacted us and made the extra effort on his day off to go by our property and check to make sure that water was not again flooding the basement. We appreciated his prompt attention to our problems and felt he really went above and beyond in terms of service.

Brent seemed to know what he was talking about and this was a very difficult repair job. Other contractors would not even attempt it. He did work hard and there was some improvement, but the metal roof continues to leak. Keep in mind that parts of the roof underneath are from 50 years old to three hundred years old. And the original shingle roof was not water tight before the metal roof was put on top.

Called him we were going out of town. Our friends met him he told them when he would come. I returned home fireplace is fixed.

Brent brought a helper with him and as you would like any contractor to be, he knew resources, arranged for the digging to be done by a front loader, secured stone, raked the area and packed the stone. He waited a day for the concrete to cure, removed the form, and completed the job by cleaning up. He kept in touch by phone, email and in person so I was informed at all times about the progress. He was concerned and made sure I was satisfied at all points along the way. He is pleasant to deal with and easy to converse with which made the job a pleasure. He went above the requirements to ensure it was a job he could be proud of, in spite of the fact that I was satisfied. He wanted to do the best he could. I certainly would recommend him to others and call on him again should I need it.

Brent is a conscientious worker. There were a couple of damage issues that popped-up where unintended surface damage occurred to the driveway from the use of an excavator. He returned later to repair the blacktop. Additionally, when some water ended-up in the basement during the chimney work, he immediately addressed the issue to avoid any other problems. On the second job, the initial quote for this work was exceeded due to the addition of the chimney cap and the extra unanticipated work, but this additional work was discussed during the progress and the excess cost was reasonable in my opinion. Brent initially appears a little "rough-around-the-edges", but his diligence, work ethic, and sincerity are top-notch. I recommend Brent for any building or repair work to be done. I recommend calling him to discuss any potential building, design, and repair work. I think you'll be happy with the result. Brent is responsive via both phone and email.

Mr Harlow showed up with a helper and was on time. He finished the project in about the time frame he gave For the most part, he did a good job but didn't seem too keen on following the instructions and parts list that came with the kit. There were a number of instances where he said that parts were missing but when my husband looked at the parts list, he found them.When finished with the job, everything was cleaned up, no mess left behind. We did find a few things that were not installed correctly and my husband took care of them.Mr Harlow emailed the bill and called a few days later to find out if we had mailed the check yet.

Brent arrived on time. Understood the scope of work from decking to roofing. Professional and courteous.

Brent was on time, kept great lines of communications, great ideas for remodeling changes and offered doing plans for a minimal cost. He could not, however, start the project for 3 or more months. He was honest about a projected starting date, realizing we were anxious to begin work he suggested going with someone else that might be able to begin sooner. The work began in the beginning of November and ended in mid January. The next project is a small bathroom in the basement. I will offer the job to Brent once again because I admire his honesty.

They did a really beautiful job, they added some insights and quality that made the job come out even better.

I had contacted Brent about some renovations we wanted done on a home we were purchasing (I contacted him before we took ownership to try to schedule work to begin soon after we got the home). He had initially been enthusiastic because he thought he would be available just when we would need the work. He was a little slow to reply to emails and I had to follow up with him a few times -- I assumed this is because he was busy with his current job. There were some odd lapses in professionalism at times -- once, for example, he emailed me that he had just gotten back from a job and was too tired to reply but would get back to me later, which he never did. It seemed strange he didn't just flag the email to respond to at a later time. Also, he picked up the phone when I called him at one point and it quickly became apparent he couldn't really talk -- it seemed like he should have just let it go to voicemail. When I followed up with him recently to arrange a time to come by to do the actual estimate, he told me that he was busy with another job, and added that the job was probably too far away, and that he wasn't licensed to work in Massachusetts. I was annoyed that he hadn't said any of this at first contact, as it would have saved me the trouble of following up with him multiple times previously. Generally, he didn't seem as knowledgable or helpful about the whole process of renovation (licensing, permits, etc.) as other contractors I've spoken with.

He came to do an estimate for a Chimney rebuild. He was quite odd, and a bit creepy. It took him far longer than expected to give us the estimate which had a huge range and not really in line with what we'd been receiving. He wanted to come back and take a second look at the chimney, we scheduled a time and date and then he didn't show up; he didn't return phone calls or emails. Obviously we went with someone else.

not well

I needed to keep part of the project under wraps.........He gave it away & lied about it.

We have worked with quite a few contractors over the years. Brent Harlow has really impressed us with his overall professionalism. As you can see from the list above, he is well-versed in almost every aspect of what a contractor needs to know these days. About the only thing that he did not do for us is pour concrete, and that's saying a lot. Brent has been most responsive to our needs, and when things did not go right, he would make every effort to fix them as soon as possible. This would include coming out on weekends, and even replying to a frantic call at 2 am when a smoke alarm would not turn off. From designing, to ordering materials, to installing, to clean up, Brent has been very competent. Unlike some contractors we've worked with, Brent communicates very well. He was always on email answering our questions, sending us suggested drawings, and explaining things well. He knows CAD software so he is able to provide electronic versions of proposed changes. His prices have been more than fair, and the pride in his workmanship is obvious when you see his work. He also takes care to employ similar-minded subcontractors. He has also done work for other family members. We recommend him highly.

I am very pleased with the quality of his work. On larger jobs he hires people to help him but is always around to supervise, check quality and work along side. He has a very high standard of integrity, a comitment to quality and works hard. I am always confident that i am getting my moneys worth from him I highly reccomend him for any job large or small. I wish I new him when I built my home 6 years ago. I would have saved a lot of money.