PENN VALLEY ENGINEERING LLC

Never received any response. Hired a different firm and the job was completed.

no response

After get burned in the past, I proceed very cautiously with my screening process before hiring anyone or signing contracts. I believe I dodged a bullet here in not proceeding with hiring this company. Brad Baker is a pompous individual. He is paternalistic and overbearing. He does not bother to consider that his customers have any working knowledge or experience, and that contracts must be equitable for both parties, and not just protect his own interests. Only a fool would sign the contract he put forth. I asked for references in our initial conversation and he could only provide one: the phone number for a pastor of a church in Burlington, NJ who was "thrilled" with their services( red flag #1). I requested a sample report to get an idea of the engineer's work, but was told that he was unable to provide such, or that he would "try"(red flag #2). In a subsequent conversation with the engineer, Greg, I found a reasonable person. He told me that my job could be squeezed in. I asked for a flat rate for inspection with report. I made it clear that receiving a tangible report is the goal of hiring an engineering firm. They must report their findings accurately, which I believe should go without saying. Brad sent a pdf contract amended to include the flat rate of $836, he still was not correct in the scope of the project, and then called the morning of the assessment, no longer "friendly" (or overcompensatory as he was in previous conversations), but rather cold. I told him I am looking over the contract now and am not willing to pay the fee until they have a report for me, and the contract should reflect that. He told me that the fee is due at time of the inspection. The contract said nothing about time frame for delivery of the report which is the point of hiring them in the first place. Who does he think he is to rushing me to sign a contract the morning of the assessment. We could have rescheduled the assessment. The conversation reached a stalemate with Brad speaking over me and telling me that the contract was non-negotiable (the irony of that statement will be forever lost on him as he had already amended the contract once). Brad is the firm's worst feature, one that I was trying to get past by speaking with the engineer, but his unprofessional words and demeanor ultimately did in this bit of business. Hurricane Sandy has been quite a windfall for some, others not so much. I will make sure the people in my large neighborhood of over 300 homes stay away from Brad.

I'm in the process of purchasing a fixer-upper, and I wanted a structural engineer to confirm that there were no major issues present before closing. After reading through Angie's List and shopping around for the best price on a basic consultation, these guys were the best priced of the lot, by far. Incredibly responsive, smart, punctual, and helpful, they were quite patient when given the runaround on the lockbox code, and did a fantastic and thorough visual inspection once they entered the premises. I can't say enough good things about this company, and this area gem truly deserves the highest praise!

They are very good at communicating. They helped me out a lot with contractors. They were very helpful with keeping the plans on track. They provided me very good documents and were very professional.