Select Choice Contracting

Contracted to do the entire job, foundation to roof. The excavator came to dig out the footings for the foundation, during which they hit the footing drain for the house the garage was being attached to. This led to the realization the sewer line was below the future footing and the sewer line would have to be moved. Saratoga Craftsman / Absolute Basement / Capital District Electrical /Tom Richardson said they didn?t want to be involved in moving the sewer line and I would have to contract someone myself. So the excavator and I contracted the work directly. This set us back approximately 3 days. After the excavator completes the footing excavation as per Saratoga Craftsman / Absolute Basement / Tom Richardson?s specifications the gentleman asked me if I was building a retaining wall on the one side. I told him we had no plans of a retaining wall. He then explained that we didn?t have proper frost protection on the one side of the foundation. The specs Saratoga Craftsman / Absolute Basement / Capital District Electrical / Tom Richardson gave him would not work. I explained this to Tom Richardson (Saratoga Craftsman/Absolute Basement/Capital District Electrical) and he put together a quote of an additional $1800 to dig the footing deeper and the additional concrete that would be needed. Why should I pay $1800 extra because Saratoga Craftsman / Absolute Basement / Capital District Electrical / Tom Richardson didn?t plan and/or execute correctly? Eventually we agreed I would pay half the amount $900. Truthfully only because winter was approaching and I needed the foundation poured. After the excavating of the footing was corrected Saratoga Craftsman / Absolute Basement / Capital District Electrical / Tom Richardson couldn?t get anyone to pour the concrete for two weeks. Pushing us further into fall/winter which eventually lead to difficulties having my driveway paved by another contractor. The rest of the project seemed to go fairly smoothly. A few minor issues but nothing worth mentioning. One month after the completion of the project, a piece of siding came loose and wasn?t sitting properly. I called to have them come out and fix it. They stopped by, popped it back into place and left. A few months later I noticed the same piece of siding had come loose and was much worse this time, also a separate issue had arisen. The aluminum wrap around the garage door frames had gotten buckled and wavy. I called and left phone messages with no response. I also emailed pictures of the issues. After about a month with no response I started to call about three times a day. Eventually Saratoga Craftsman / Absolute Basement / Capital District Electrical / Tom Richardson did call me back and left a voice mail saying, he couldn?t find the email and asked that I please send the pictures to him again. I did within 12hrs. No response for a few days so I started to call again. After leaving a few voice mails with no return call I called and left a message saying that I was going to have to hire someone to do the work because they wouldn?t come out and fix the issues. I immediately got a call back saying they would fix the problems but they couldn?t find the pictures and asked I please send them a third time so they would know what they have to do. I immediately did so. I?m now nearly a year after the first email containing pictures of the issues and Saratoga Craftsman / Absolute Basement / Capital District Electrical / Tom Richardson has done nothing to resolve the issues. I would not recommend working with this contractor Saratoga Craftsman / Absolute Basement / Capital District Electrical / Tom Richardson due to the lack of follow up.

If anyone is interested in having a phenomenal job done by an experienced, conscientious, maticulous contractor this is the contractor you should call! Our kitchen was completely remodeled in a little over a month. Tom Richardson arrived by 8 am every day and worked hard all day until about 4, sometimes later. He always had a plan as to what should be handled from start to finish. The quality of the workmanship in this kitchen needs to be seen to be appreciated! Everything is completely new right down to the insulation, wallboard, electricity, as well as ceiling and under cabinet lighting. Tom's expertise was evident as the project progressed. He installed all the cabinets himself and they are perfect!!! Since this is an older house, he had to make adjustments to make sure the new cabinets and appliances fit in the designated spaces and were always completely level. The procelain floor tile installation is flawless as is the tile backsplash. We're an older couple and have had experience with many other contractors in the past. Tom Richardson is someone who always "makes things work"....no matter what! He's a delightful person who will exceed your expectations!

I hired Saratoga Craftsman to remodel my bathroom in an older house I purchsed. The experience was one of the few hassle free experiences I ever had by hiring a contractor. They showed up when expected to give an estimate which was very reasonable and started the job on the date agreed upon. The workers showed up each day for two weeks, which in that time they gutted the bathroom and installed all new fixtures, tub, sink etc. The job came out better than expected with some extra suggestions that Saratoga Craftsman made. I would hire this company again in a second and refer them without hesitation. A fantasic job done.

A complete Nightmare! I hired Tom Richardson to put a sunroom addition on for me at my existing home back in 1999. Since then, I have had numerous issues with the sunroom such as: the room moved away from the house 2 inches causing window breakage, cracks, and the floor to collapse. I have contacted Tom Richardson too many times to fix the issues. He never responded and left town. BE AWARE! He is currently back in business again under 1 of his numerous DBA's called Saratoga Craftsman. He is also listing himself as a Project Manager for Bast Hatfield, Inc. He is a complete fraud and has cost me in addition to the $25000.00 paid for the room another $30000.00 to try to rectify the situation which to this day has not totally solved the problem. I still continue to experience broken windows every Winter come Spring and cracks. Please do NOT hire him because you will find yourself in the same situation which has been a complete NIGHTMARE! His picture is on www.LinkedIn.com.