DOBBINS CONSTRUCTION INC

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This company was recommended by family and friends. We found it was very difficult to get the project "moving along". He doesn't respond to emails very promptly. Numerous excuses were made such as his "wife was out of town and she handled the emails" or he had "a lot of projects going on at once". We said we could go with someone else if he was too busy for what we had in mind but he insisted on continuing. A clear plan was presented. He was quite professional. Based on our conversations, I had confidence in his skills. We didn't shop around for price comparisons, relying mainly on high praise of quality from family. The time table that was agreed upon took twice as long as stated. Project started with two men, (neither were the owner that we had met with) but went down to one within week or two. We often felt we were a lower-priority project, possibly due to our budget. Our toilet and faucet were incorrect...not the model I had picked out (I was asked to go to the big box store and choose what I like, then email him a photo and model number). The faucet was replaced with the correct one but not the toilet. I didn't insist on that, so it was not done. Small things were a surprise to us as they came up later: we opted to not have them paint, but do it ourselves. He did not tell us prior that meant WE were responsible to patch any nail holes created by them in the trim and fireplace surround. The drywall mudding and sanding was an awful ordeal that was never resolved to our satisfaction. We pointed out MULTIPLE sites that needed more mud or better sanding. We were told to just prime and paint and then they would fix after as it was "better to see" when painted. That meant more work and money for us to prime AND paint, in some places 2-3 times. He said he would come back to fix anything we weren't happy with, but after numerous times we were frustrated and gave up asking. We've also noticed very few nails were used to secure shoe molding and window trim...we needed to fix that ourselves after painting and hanging blinds. They practically fell off. I had to be very diligent and present when it came to the design...making sure each day we were still on the same page. We were very pleased with the companies he chose to have us work with for the flooring and fireplace. Overall we were thrilled with the outcome of the basement. However, I feel we could have had a better experience. All this said...we may still call him in the future for smaller home repair that we don't feel comfortable tackling ourselves, but nothing like our upcoming kitchen renovation.

It went great. Tom Dobbins is a great general construction pro.