Admiral Home Improvement Inc

Came to do siding, windows, doors for my neighbors home, (I am writing review because they are elderly and do not use computer). Some work was done, however, they gave him $900 for a storm door. Door never came, money not refunded. they called him numerous times with promises to bring door, refund money alternating. After 3 years and confronting him at a recent home show Mr. Majors promised to bring the money 3 days later. Never showed. More phone calls met with futile promises to refund money. Neighbor finally bought door at Home Depot and had it installed for 1/2 the price of the original door, They are now going the legal route with a lawyer to recoup their money.

We had trouble using that company. It kept getting delayed and there was no communication because he would reply to our phone, voice messages or emails. We aren’t complaining just to have our money back. They sent us loads of it back but not the whole thing and I don’t know what is going on with them. We were going through the Better Contractor’s Bureau and I haven’t had direct contact with them since December. Better Contractor’s Bureau contacted them and it went back and forth and they didn’t fulfill what they told they would. So we went back to them and didn’t know what issues they had. The guy didn’t show up for appointments and never answered our calls. They took 50% down payment and took another $1000 unlike other company who didn’t even charge us a penny upfront until the work was completed.

Siding fell off the day they got the last check (repaired). They were over paid and all we've received are empty promises. Damage done to electrical service had to be repaired by an outside electrical contractor and we've received no reimbursement to date. Insulation showing on side of garage. Gaps between new gutters and flashing. Work done was not as indicated on contract. We've filed a complaint with the Better Contractors bureau and waiting for a response. Should that fail we will go to small claims court. As an update. We had a home inspector evaluate the siding job done by Admiral Home improvement and , in his judgement, the work was very sub-standard. We finally received a check, for the over-payment only, with a release form which we refuse to cash. Update: 3/11/2014 After estimates from reputable home inspectors and contractors we will have to pay an additional $10,000.00 to repair the shoddy workmanship of Admiral Home Improvement. We are taking Admiral to arbitration and reporting them to the NY Attorney Generals Office. We discovered through our Attorney that we could take Admiral to court and win.However the chances of recovering damages were slim to none. We would be throwing good money after bad. We lodged a complaint with the State Attorney General but they said they needed more complaints to possibly investigate. I attempted to cash the $500.00 over payment check I received and it was returned NSF! No one in their office and no response to calls.

Very well. On, time, professional an good clean up after job was done.

The guys showed up set up what they needed to set up so my house would not get dirty, and put plastic over my outside garden so when they removed old windows nothing would fall in garden bed. They picked up their mess and left my home the way they found it.

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Bob came out and discussed the best options to go through with the project. I thought we were good to go. I haven't received the doors yet, however. I placed a large down payment down for the doors and still need them installed. There have been different hold ups for various excuses. In June, Bob came to us and said he had issues at his office and had to resolve some issues before he could replace our doors. We haven't heard from him since.

We signed a contract to have our roof replaced. Mr. Major said he would add window trim to the second story as well as replace 2 windows on the second floor - the windows were supposed to be without charge which were "thrown in" as a thank you. The contract was signed on 9/27/10 with a deposit of $985 given. We obtained financing through a bank to do the job. Days after the contract was signed we still had not received a copy of the addendum and the one we were given had additional writing on it that was not there when we signed the original contract. This addition showed a charge being levied for the windows and his explanation was that the cost was his cost only. After financing was obtained, he asked for a check for $14000 so that he could get the supplies for the roof. His "people" were supposed to come the first weekend in October to replace the windows. We stayed home so this could be done, but no one ever showed up. To this day the windows were not done. We got a call just before Thanksgiving that the roofers would be coming and a dumpster was delivered -work did not begin until November after snow was beginning to fly. Half of the roof was done before Thanksgiving day and the dumpster was full to overflowing. The crew did clean up pretty well, however my garden got trampled. A second dumpster was delivered and that was also overfilled. When the second half of the job was done, the clean up was not as good and many nails were found in the driveway and a lot of scrap was strewn about the yard. An area of the siding on the front of the house was damaged when it was removed to do the porch roof. A patch was put on it that looks terrible. The window trimmer set up shop on our front porch moving all of our porch furniture to the front lawn exposing it all to the winter elements. As this work was getting done over the winter months our vinyl siding was damaged in more than one place probably due to the cold making it brittle. 2 panes of an attic window were cracked and one is completely missing. We were told that the job would finish "in a day or two". We came home to find all the supplies and equipment gone with one second story window not trimmed as was agreed would be done. We got a call from Mr. Major asking for another payment of $5000. This we have not paid as the work is still not done plus we have damage to the house that was not there prior to the start of the job. Our lawyer said he breached the contract. Lesson learned- although he had some good reviews, there were also bad and we certainly got the bad end. UPDATE 08/30/2014 the following spring one of the roofing shingles lifted and blew off the roof. So now even the original job paid for was defective. I would say to anyone considering Admiral to stay away!

We had windows and a sliding door replaced which we weren't pleased with the quality of. Had them replaced again but had the same issues. Tried to get Bob Major to replace just the slider door with another brand, he told us he had it ordered (a year ago) and still haven't gotten the door installed. After many calls with a promise to get to us, we have yet to see any resolution. All calls have had to be from us, he has not returned but one call. Even with the first installation, we had to call to find out what was going on with our order. A very bad way to do business and I would never recommend this business to anyone. He seems to have an honesty issue, not very reliable.

In their sales pitch to us, they quoted a price on the windows that they claimed was as low as it was due to their desire to be exposed in our neighborhood. "It'd be great to put up our sandwich board in your yard." In the talk up of their service, George Buell, VP at the company, continually stated how they would trim all the window frames with aluminum. Also, they claimed, "if we see any rotting, we'll replace it because it may cause problems later on." We were excited about the price they were quoting, the guarantee of service that came with it and the aluminum framing. We spoke when the windows had been delivered to Admiral's property. The date was arranged to begin installation. Robert told me it would take only a day and a half, maybe two full days, and that the aluminum finishing could be done without needing to enter the house, ie no need for us to be there. We planned to have my pregnant wife and 2 year old toddler stay at in-laws' house during the installation due to potential of lead paint uncovered in an old house, not to mention the dangers of a two year old running under foot. The words he shared with me were "my guys will be there on Wednesday sometime between 8 and 9." At 9 AM, I called and left a voicemail with George. No response. At 10:20, I called Robert Major, President, and he replied that he had forgotten to call me, but their truck had broken down! So here we were, with our house all prepared for contractors in big muddy boots, all furniture pulled away from windows, all window coverings removed and now we had to wait another day before work would begin. Poor show boys, poor show. The next morning they show up at 8:30 and begin work. Just before noon, George and Robert show up to look things over. They continually show me how good the merchandise is and how well the windows open and close. The same windows are available at Home Depot, I was already familiar. I was paying them for their installation of the product. Then the topic of aluminum finishing came up: turns out, since it wasn't in the paperwork, it'd cost us $150 per window!! "Plus," Robert commented, "we wouldn't do it on your house unless you also bought our vinyl siding." OMG!! From the sales talks, I'm CERTAIN I would have remembered them saying it wasn't possible without the siding, much less that it wasn't included in the window deal. We were already off to a bad relation and the job has just begun. At the end of day one, we were informed that the largest window in our house, a 6 foot picture window in the living room, had a broken frame from transport. A replacement would need to be ordered. However, George claimed the replacement could not be ordered until we made our final payment on the project. Excuse me! The Final payment was to be made when the project was "done", and George insisted that a third party would easily agree it was done. I was tempted to call our lawyer, but costs were already high enough. So, I told them to get the replacement installed before they'd see any more payment. I called the window manufacturer and they told me it had already been ordered and was on its way up early the next week. Hm, so it had been ordered and was on it's way, but George didn't know? Who hadn't told him it was ordered? Who told him he needed my money to finish the project? When had the broken window been discovered? The man doing the installation told me it was after they had lifted it into place in the house. George and Robert told me it was after it had been installed. But no one had inspected it before it was delivered to my house from their yard. Whose guarantee was this to fall under I began questioning? Also, upon inspection of their work elsewhere, I discovered two frames that had spots of dry rot. They had not been replaced, nor even brought to my attention. When the window was replaced a week later, I had them also attend to the rotted wood. Next issue: because the aluminum portion of the agreed upon work was not going to be completed, I got some estimates on the painting finishing of the exterior. All painters were alarmed at the use of unpaintable silicon caulk on the exterior. Don't they make a paintable silicon these days? Every time I inquired about the selection of caulks they used, Robert tried to explain to me in unclear terms that that's how they've always done it. Tradition is the greatest barrier to advancement. Now Robert started telling me he would be willing to add the aluminum, but since the price of it had gone up in one week, it would now cost me $190 per window!! I told him I had plans to paint it and had a few estimates. That's when he started trying to scare me with stories of uninsured contractors getting injured on the job. P-lease! So the picture window was repaired in our driveway... Wait! I thought a replacement was being sent up from the manufacturer! "He'll replace the frame right here and it'll be as good as new". I wrote all of this today, September 20th, because last night was the coldest of the season to date. Upon raising the blinds over the picture window, there was condensation all over the lower interior window. "Good as new" they said. It occurred only on that large picture window. No sandwich board was ever used, and the truck that was fixed dripped oil on our driveway. Now, I admit I made the cardinal error of not getting it "all in writing". My bad. My suggestion for the company is to get Blackberries or some other form of communication system up and running so interdepartmental communication appears cohesive. Final point; on their website it says: "When all of our work is completed, you will receive written warranties covering both materials and workmanship". I did not receive such written warranties when the work was completed, nor have I received it since I called in asking for said written warranties. These actions make me doubt their ability to follow through with such written warranties.