Little Rock Construction

As I stated above, the work was so bad and he refused to fix it I am currently suing his company

Job was done professionally as always. I've used Joe Rota (Little Rock Construction) many times since we first found him on Angie's List. I asked Joe to have the work completed in time for my daughter's party and he and his crew worked hard every day (beating the rain that was waiting) to insure the job got completed on time. Joe was not the cheapest estimate I got (yes, I still get multiple estimates - my wife insists on it), but he got the job because history has taught me I can expect a professional job and a job site that is cleaned when the work is completed. Trust goes a long way.

We've used Joe Rota (Little Rock Construction) for previous jobs and were always thrilled with his work. The quality of the finished product is very good and his prices are quite reasonable. We always get multiple estimates for every job just to be sure we are in the neighborhood and Joe's estimate for this job was considerably less ($7, 000) then his next closest competitor. We had estimates $15,000 higher for the same job as well from another company. To be honest, Joe would've been my choice even if he was not the lowest estimate (unless he was unreasonably high!) because I've always liked his work and therefore trust him. I could not imagine that our beat up porch could be turned into a silk purse, but Joe did it! Our family spends alot of time in this new room and the Pella windows make for great light. This job took more time to get completed that I expected because Joe had other jobs he was also working on (hence the B rating for responsiveness). Previously - Joe always completed jobs quickly and that is the way I would've preferred it, but given the quality of the final product and the excellent price - I have no complaints. I am using Joe to do other work around the house (replacing closets, doors, windows and installing floors) now so I am again a repeat customer.

Faultless plastering work and paint finish. Punctual and professional. Worked tidily. 100% cleanup. Reasonable price would highly recommend.

It was a good experience. Joe was very nice and polite.

Honestly? The entire meeting was horrible...If you are going to a prospective clients worksite, do you bring your small child along? I wouldnt, but he did...unfortunatetly, the child was sitting/standing on anything at the childs height/level. He said two weeks for the estimate...still waiting to this day. Maybe, the job was too small or he was overworked? dunno, but i choose to not contact him regarding the failed estimate.

Excellent. If every contractor worked this this, there would be no need for Angie's List. But unfortunately they do not. I am grateful to Angie's List as that is how I first found out about Joe's company - Little Rock Construction years ago. We used Little Rock Construction then and for every project since. (In fact, it was our first experience with Little Rock Construction that made us renew our Angie's List subscription). This project started with us wanting to replace the ceiling in our bathroom (damaged by water from roof vent improperly installed by a roofer we used pre-Angie's List) , and installing new tiles, vanity, cabinet, lights and mirror (all purchased separately by us). We also asked Joe about replacing the relay switches in the house. In the past I've asked electricians to give me estimates for replacing the relay (low voltage wiring and switches) switches in our house and they either did not want to touch the job or said it would be "time and materials" (which could be many thousands of dollars). Joe gave me a fixed price ($1500) to do it for my entire house. We were very pleasantly surprised by the estimate and knew from past experiences that Joe's work would be done quickly and professionally, so we asked him to do the job. Joe started when he said he would and worked everyday until the job was done (except for when *we* caused delays). One day we forgot to leave the door unlocked for Joe to come in (yes, we trust him and his worker %100 - and that is not my nature to be so trusting) and he said, no problem he will return the next day. The original lights we purchased for the bathroom would not have fit well and Joe took the time to show us why so we did not make a bad decision. We decided the original bathroom vanity we purchased was too big for our bathroom when we placed it where we intended it to go and Joe waited the week it took for us to decide on a new vanity and installed it for us. Every step of the way attention was paid to detail. At the end of every day the areas where work was done was left clean (vacuumed), trash picked up and removed. Throughout the job Joe was very patient in explaining options and giving us choices. In the end we have a bathroom we really like, all new electrical switches and lights throughout the house, and the job was started when promised and finished in a timely manner. Professionalism. Friendly, patient manner. Timely job completion. Quality of work. Who could ask for more? Thanks again to Little Rock Construction for a job well done (and affordable!). Many thanks to Angie's List - our house is way better than we started because of Joe who we found from Angie's List.

I asked Little Rock for an estimate for a concrete patio to be poured in my back yard. I knew that it was a big job and received Little Rock's estimate prior to anyone else's. First and formost, he was the contractor who did not detail what HE would perform..for example: type of concrete, how he would perform the service, etc. He came out, measured and left. A week later, I received an estimate for 12,500. I thought that my patio wasn't going to happen because this was way beyond our budget. Then other local contractors who have a great reputation came and everyone else came in between 5,500-6,500. If Little rock could justify the price we would have talked further but they didn't. We went with the contractor who gave us the 6,500 price.

JOE AND HIS CREW WERE LEFT IN MY HOME FOR THREE MONTHS WHILE I WAS TRAINING OUT OF STATE AND PERFORMED EVERY TASK GIVEN TO HIM WITH THE UTMOST PROFESSIONALISM, CLEANLINESS AND EXCEPTIONAL WORKMANSHIP! I AM TRULY BLESSED! I CAME HOME TO THE WORK FINISHED TO PERFECTION! I HAVE HAD IN THE PAST PROBLEMS WITH CONTRACTORS AND SHODDY WORK BUT THIS COMPANY,LITTLE ROCK CONSTRUCTION,IS MY KEEPER!

He did what I asked him to do but he didnt really go above and beyond. I would say he did an average job.

We originally had Joe give us an estimate to do quite a bit of work on our house, but we were working within a budget determined by an insurance settlement, so we were unable to hire him to complete everything we wanted him to do. He understood, and offered his assistance to us if we required it (questions, help with parts of the projects, etc.). Once we had done a certain amount of work, we contacted Joe again to ask for a new estimate for the hardwood floor installation, painting, and railing installation. He scheduled the work within days of getting our approval on the estimate(s). The work was completed in a timely manner, and we were very happy with the results.

I was very clear in explaining that I needed an itemized estimate to submit to my bank. So, the representative said that it wouldn’t be a problem. However, I think they call and question. It was a couple of weeks late when I got the estimate at which point I had already chosen to use somebody else. Moreover, the estimate didn’t include any of the information that I needed for the bank. They left a message on the voice mail about the total amount without any itemized numbers at all. So, I just didn’t call them back. The person who we dealt with did come out on time for the appointment. He wasn’t unresponsive, but I didn’t call him by the time he got back to me. He did show up and answered the phone. He also answered some of the short questions that I was asking. He didn’t seem like he was going to get what I needed and didn’t seem to understand what I needed.

Joe is a hard worker with a very good work ethic. He is neat, prompt and he goes out of his way to make his clients happy. When there was a mix-up with the bathroom wall tile that I had ordered, Joe offered to drive me to the tile store to return the tile and pick up the right one. It turned out that the one I had ordered was no longer available and I couldn't find another one that I liked. I thought all was lost. But Joe found another tile that I hadn't seen and saved the day. It was even less money than my original choice. Also, when I didn't like the color of the "white" bathtub once it was installed, Joe, without being asked to do it, offered to replace it with something I liked. He said he wanted me to be happy with the work. I picked out another bathtub and Joe installed it. To be fair, I offered to compensate him for the double work and we worked out an agreement. Joe has the patience of a saint! I am very pleased with the work Joe Rota and his company did and would definitely hire Little Rock Construction again.

Contracting Joe Rota to remodel our home was the worst experience ever, the stuff of horror stories that our friends and neighbors witnessed and we suffered throughout the 3 month ordeal. The number one problem with Joe is his bullying and belittling attitude, exaggerations and outright lies in order to do less work and extract more money, and inability to control his temper or language, which is ultimately the reason we stopped trying to work with him. Despite our numerous attempts to be concillatory, to foster communication, to be helpful in the work, and continually paying his outrageous overages in addition to huge upfront deposits, he escalated his unreasonable and sorely unprofessional behavior. We started with high hopes, Joe had high Angie’s list ratings, although many of them are dated, he even showed us several examples of his work in other people’s homes although no one we could call or contact. We had a couple other contractors bid on our remodeling project, and although Joe was by far the most expensive, we chose him because we saw more of his work than that of the other contractors and he assured us of a lifetime guarantee as long as he was in business and to trust him for our complete satisfaction. This is our first home and we were using our lifetime savings to improve a very dilapidated situation in multiple rooms in our house. We told him we had a limited budget of $50,000 and wanted a complete transformation of both the rooms in the basement and complete remodel of the upstairs master bedroom, bathroom, and full paint and trim job of the living room. He gave us a quote for all 6 rooms described above for a total of $49,500. We bundled the project together to get the best price, as he said if we went room by room, it would cost us more with him. Other contractors had specified room by room. This turned out to be a big mistake, as Joe took that opportunity to get a deposit and advances on the entire project, while only intending and working on only two of the rooms. Major Problems: 1. DEMANDED MORE DEPOSIT AND PAYMENTS TOWARDS CONTRACT THAN WORK ACTUALLY PERFORMED, refusal to finish or payback remainder: We paid a total of $39,604.00 to Joe, after subtracting out the material reimbursement costs, towards a $49,500 contract for 6 rooms remodeled. Anyone can see we have paid over 80% of the contracted total and have received less than 60% of the work. We sent a formal letter of complaint requesting $10,000 back, which would bring total paid to 60% of contract value, generously well above his published charges for similar work and still above other quotes we received for the rooms actually worked on. Over a month later, not only has he ignored our detailed complaints, failed to produce receipts for any materials, he sent a list of lies to cover for the delays and extra costs, and has the gall to claim $660 outstanding balance. 2. AGGRESSIVE AND HOSTILE ATTITUDE TOWARDS WORK AND OUR INQUIRIES, INCLUDING SEVERAL PUBLIC AND PHONE OUTBURSTS OF UNCONTROLLED CURSING AND YELLING AT US. Throughout the 3 months of work at our house, we made numerous attempts to politely explain our dissatisfaction with Joe’s lack of sufficient communication (of work that will be done, floor planning, included vs. additional costs), haphazard schedule (not to mention, only 1 experienced person was working consistently on the job), lack of progress, continual missed deadlines, and very pricey overcharges, and tried to improve communications and planning that would benefit everyone. We gave him many additional chances, tried to be conciliatory and make peace, sent him friendly reminders by email, and held our requests to the bare minimum and continually made decisions that would make the job easier for him (for example, deciding to paint all walls and ceilings one color, picking pale paint colors when we originally wanted deeper colors). We also paid out all the overcharges (even though presented AFTER work done), paid for additional materials and more expensive materials to save Joe’s labor and costs (supplied 6 cans of wall primer; bought an additional 40% more tile than the actual square footage when he decided to place a 2nd tile order, bought oak retreads and risers to fit over existing stairs instead of $0.99/sq ft tiles as he originally was contracted to tile the stairs), performed some of the labor ourselves to save his labor costs and his aggravation of us (staining and polyurethaning the stair treads and risers ourselves), paid for additional plumbers to consult on moving pipes at his demand (none of them wanted to do or thought it was worth paying for, but he wanted to save on his drywall costs), and we did not insist on window trim or window sills, or closet door trim even though we considered it part of the trimwork quote and clearly would have preferred it. However, Joe refused to compromise with our wishes, escalated his hostility, verbal abuse and aggressiveness, made ridiculously false accusations (such as hiring his electrician “behind my back”, after he instructed us to work directly with the electrician and he was even told and emailed of all work requested from electrician), and on several occasions, both in person in front of witnesses, in public, and over the phone, including the last day in our house 12/30/2009 and our last conversation on the phone, 1/9/2010, extremely nasty and uncontrolled shouting, finger pointing in our faces, and cursing at us. This was ultimately, the last straw, as we realized that every attempt to get fair and reasonable value for our money or to resist paying any more in advance of work done was met with extreme nastiness from him. 3. PRESSURING US IN ORDER TO MAKE EXTRA MONEY FROM HIS SUPPLIERS/SUBCONTRACTORS. -Joe really tried to push us into buying off-brand windows from his supplier who could “make any invoice you want”, purposefully delayed measuring the windows for weeks into the job to make it harder to get other quotes and to try to force our choice to his supplier. When we decided to go with Pella Vinyl windows (which were actually LESS than his off brand), he complained endlessly that the delays in Pella fulfillment (3 ½ weeks) were the root cause of his delays in construction (instead of 5 weeks/6 rooms as he ambitiously proposed at contract signing, he stopped working at 12 weeks, 3 rooms). He was behind schedule in all areas, even those that were no where near the windows. And he put off measuring the windows in the remaining rooms, claiming we should wait until the downstairs was done. -Exorbitant extra charges for additional outlets, half of which actually brought the room to code, which he attributed to his electrician’s charges. We even paid it, because we didn’t know better and were made uncomfortable to insist, and the charges were presented AFTER the word was done. When he tried to do it again in the next room (quoting $675 to have 5 four-outlet boxes instead of twos, and 5 internet cables), even his electrician wouldn’t abide by it, and that’s when we were told to work directly with the electrician for any work beyond the contract, which we did pay to the electrician directly. -Even though Joe was contracted to remodel the staircase and was drywalling the whole room, and skim coating the lower cement wall of the staircase, when we asked when was he going to paint the upper wall of the staircase, he claimed that wasn’t included in his quote. We thought this should obviously being included as it’s part of the room and was clearly delineated by a doorway to the rest of the house. But we had to cave in a pay additional money towards his dry wall subcontractors, because he was “too busy” to do the work himself. A few Hispanic guys came, and we noticed that not only did they drywall the upper staircase, but he also had them finish spackling the rest of the room. It looks like Joe made up an extra charge so we would have to pay for some other guys to finish work he should have done. -In general, Joe would always try to push us to allow him to buy finished materials, such as toilets or sinks, so that we would have to reimburse him for it, but his prices were always much more than we could buy at a Home Depot or Lowes for better quality. And he failed to produce any receipts for the things we did allow him to buy, such as the cast iron radiators that he insisted should be replaced. 4. INCOMPLETE AND SHODDY WORK: -Basement window installed was left with bare exposed wood and untrimmed exterior. We asked for weeks to have it at least painted as we worried about moisture damage. He put it off for a month and then stopped working. We had to hire some else who capped off and protected everything (and now we know how a good contractor handles a job, from quote to finish!) -Joe left the new exterior garage wall left as bare exposed plywood for 1 and ½ months. We asked several times for waterproofing, Tyvek, or something to protect it until he got around to stuccoing it. We hired someone else to Tyvek and protect it. Now it’s too far into winter to stucco it, and will have to wait until warmer weather. -Waterproofing exterior wall: moisture control was a major concern of ours, especially having new drywall put in. This was in the original contract, he assured me it would be done while we were away, when we realized it was not done, he said it was unnecessary and didn’t want to take responsibility for it. -Staircase resurfacing: the wood finish was damaged during installation, partial and sloppy repairs left wood stain marks on new walls, final polyurethane was incomplete, loose treads have already caused one to warp and crack -Troublesome new plumbing: we paid an extra $2000 for a toilet and sink installed in the former laundry room to make a ½ bath. As far as we can tell, Joe tried to install this himself and did not bring in a real plumber. The toilet makes a very loud and unusual sound of rushing water behind the walls and upstairs and takes an extended time to fill. Joe blamed it on the toilet even though noise does not come from toilet and it is identical to the toilet installed in the other room, and he refused to bring in a plumber to examine. We will have pay for our own plumber before we can use that bathroom. -Bathroom sink slow to drain, both drains installed poorly. -Both exterior doors poorly hung on hinges AND strikeplates misaligned, causing doors to not open or lock properly and they scrape. -Paint job in 1st room is patchy and uneven, we pointed this out several times, they would only spot paint some more. -Paint job in 2nd room is sloppy and thin. They tried to paint room before lights were installed by electrician, leaving many bare spots and uneven edges. After lights were on, they tried to patch up, but since Joe only bought 1 gallon of paint for entire room walls and ceilings, they ran out. No primer was used, even though we supplied 6 gallons ourselves at the start of job, which were apparently only used in 1st room. -Former garage/Office poorly insulated and no heating installed: We originally discussed installing an old cast iron radiator for heat, which Joe was in agreement with until he could not find the return pipe for it. He convinced us that the room with the new windows would be insulated enough not to need heat and suddenly, installing heaters was no longer part of the original contract. Now we have an extremely cold office with no source of heat but a space heater. He also did not insulate the hot water pipes which run thru. -We never mentioned this before, this is how much we held our tongue to keep the peace, but Joe had a completely untrained guy working in our house, who told us he had been laid off from another line of work and Joe was training him. Early on, we overheard him complaining loudly how he had such bad job prospects because he was a FELON, he had been convicted of being a drug dealer and served time. We never had a personal problem with him, he was much friendlier than the surly Joe, we observed that he messed up a lot and was yelled and cursed at a lot, and we wished between ourselves that Joe would bring in someone more competent or just leave the work to his brother, Lou, who did a very good job in the tilework. And in the 3rd month, Joe said he got fed up with his guy’s mistakes and he didn’t come back to our house. -Joe took and kept both keys supplied to one exterior door, necessitating us hiring a locksmith to rekey lock. 5. CONTRACT FRAUD, no intention to work on remaining rooms in contract. -Although Joe met with us 3 times before we hired him, and we requested a detailed proposal, he presented a sparsely worded quote for our 6 rooms for one lump sum on the day he wanted a $15,000 deposit to start the job. And although we raised our concern that many details were missing, we went over orally many parts that weren’t spelled out exactly (as far as we could predict, which of course could not be everything) and he assured us that this contract would be comprehensive, to trust his vast experience, he wasn’t going to change his price, and to trust him and his work was guaranteed for life. We were too trusting and he took advantage of that and now we know he violated several regulations in home remodeling contracts. He fooled us into paying him 80% of the contract value and into believing we would have 6 rooms remodeled in 5 weeks, and instead we got 3 rooms partially remodeled in 12 weeks. We even started packing up the rest of the house in preparation for the rest of the work. In those 12 weeks, Joe never set foot in the rest of the house again, despite several attempts to draw his attention to problem areas and to help us plan in advance. We realize now he had no intention to perform the entire work of the contract, and tried his best to extract a maximum price for only the basement work. We are really devastated to have spent the majority of our life savings and 3 months of our time and effort, only to be left with a partial job, and still living a decrepit master bedroom and bathroom and another winter with our old single pane windows. We think we are being more than fair to ask for only $10,000 of the $39,604.00 we paid to Joe Rota for his “labor”, and maybe we should be asking for more. Because even the work that was performed was not what we really wanted had we been working with a good contractor, it cannot be trusted, is already problematic, will cost us more in the future (poor or no insulation, no heat source in one room) and clearly does not have the guarantee we thought we were paying for. Joe’s brother’s work, Lou, on tiling was really well done. But everything else and especially Joe’s aggressive behavior is unconscionable and he belongs in the Penalty Box, so all future homeowners are forewarned.

Joe and his crew did a professional timely job on my kitchen. His crew were polite and cleaned up after everydays work. If we found any problems, Joe was quick and willing to fix the problem. I'd hire him again for other remodeling jobs. Thanks Joe, I love my kitchen now!!!

We contacted Mr. Rota based on the positive reviews we read here on Angie's List. Initially, Mr. Rota was very responsive. He called back within 24 hours, scheduled a time to come by and look at the project (we needed two exterior doors hung). He was courteous and professional when he met with us. However, after we examined the catalogues he had provided to us and told him what style doors we desired, his contact with us abruptly ended. A week after we give him our specs we called him and he alleged that he would return with our estimate within several days, but he did not. A week after that we called and left a phone message asking him to merely contact us to advise us if the job was either too small or he was too busy at the current time to complete our job. Still no answer. A the time of this writing another full week has elapsed since we left the last message.Mr. Rota's failure to respond to us in a professional manner is particularly unfortunate, since he seems to do good work when he decides that a job warrants his attention.

Mr. Rota remodeled our kitchen and a powder/laundry room and did some other general carpentry work. He has a clear grasp of all aspects of construction, has a strong attention to detail and charges much less than others but doesn't sacrifice quality. He is professional, courteous, knowledgeable and helpful with ideas when needed. He was able to do whatever we asked of him and answered any questions/concerns we had. I will use Mr. Rota again and would highly recommend him.

His price was really too high. I got the feeling he wasn't interested. Most people were 1/3 that price. He was professional and knowledgeable.

Joe completely remodeled my kitchen, which formerly was the ugliest kitchen in America and now is a pleasure to cook in and just to hang out in--it's just what I envisioned. That means that in one month, my kitchen (around 12x15) underwent demolition and had installed new drywall (including changing an open part of the ceiling), lots of cabinets, an island, and ceramic flooring. He also provided great advice on where to purchase nice materials affordably, so the whole project came to about $16,000-17,000, a terrific price for a gorgeous kitchen that has received compliments from all my friends who have seen it.

They were pleasant and professional. They arrived at my home at the day and time they said they would. It was a difficult decision but I chose another company for this work.

The quote process went well. decidecd to go with another firm due to large price differential.

I never received any feedback from this company. No estimate was ever provided. A complete waste of my time.

I was living in my house while the work was done, and it was not a huge problem because I could go to my job and leave the place in good hands. Afterward, the material and equipment was not in my way. The premises were left cleaned up.

.He did all the work himself. He lived on our street so it really worked out great because he could work when we needed him. It was an overall good experience. He did a really good job cleaning up when the job was done. He was thorough with everything. He was very careful.

The original work was completed on time, near cost, and to our specications without an issue. We have been happy with the changes. What really blew us away about Joe though was how quickly he responded when we called him about little issues or to answer any questions we had regarding home issues after he had completed the work we had originally hired him to do. We had some water damage to the area he had completed (due to poor installation of a W/D by another company - Sears - don't ever use them) and Joe came out the next morning at 7am to look at it and offer his opinion (as well as talked to us off/on multiple times on the day it happened to offer his opinion, help us fix the leak, etc - IT WAS A SATURDAY). He fixed their damage without any issues and very quickly - we were very confident having him do this. Also, we bought a new thermostat and in the process of our installing it could not get our heat to work. We called Joe on a SUNDAY MORNING, he was doing a job about 25 minutes away. He left that job to come over and check it out - it was only a blown fuse, but he helped us fix it and charged us only $55. As first time home owners it's nice to know we have someone like Joe we can call about anything, and we plan to use him again for anything that we might need.