ANDREWJAMES BUILDERS

unknown

Andrew James had everything organized and had the right people in at the right times. We were still living in the house during the renovation so we saw everything that went on and I was impressed with their people and how they moved the process along.

It went better than I ever could have expected, especially after hearing horror stories from close friends about how their renovations went. We were not expected to pay a ton of money upfront as my friends had done. Andrew Riffe and Jim, the head contractor listened to what we wanted and didn't try to sell us anything we didn't want. They were skeptical at first about changing the stairway into the basement, but really reviewed the alternatives and it is the best thing we could have done. They took us to another house prior to working on ours, to be sure we could see the quality of work they completed there. Jim was amazing and when he scheduled the work crews to be here, they always showed up. (This is unnusual from what I have heard about other construction companies.) They blocked off the areas they were working on with heavy plastic and always cleaned up after themselves before leaving for the day. We have a house that is over 100 years old and is very settled but they were like magicians at how they put in the cabinets and floor to make it all look relatively even. The flooring crew they used was great as well as the electricians and plumbers. There were a couple pieces of trim that did not look exactly right in how they cut it, and Jim called them out to fix it within the week. I really liked that we didn't have to pay additional sums for architects. They had their own kitchen designer who was easy to work with and actually got us cabinets that were higher quality than what we originally picked out but they happened to be on sale. Andy saved us money on our granite as well, because the granite guy failed to call us when he said he would, and Andy held him accountable and told him that is not how he does business. We ended up getting a more expensive BEAUTIFUL piece of granite and got to go in ourselves to decide on the cut and layout of it. We knew we wanted a porcelain sink and they had a great company who they worked with and the girl was amazing. Our kitchen is exactly how we wanted it and one year later, we still love it. I even used one of their contractors later in the year to re do my daughters too small closet. We had their painters complete our downstairs and all the way up to our 2nd floor hallway and they too were awesome. I loved how honest and upfront Andy and Jim were with us through the entire renovation and I'd do business with them again if the need ever arose.

AndrewJames Builders did a very professional job. From the very beginning, they were very helpful in designing our kitchen and worked with us trying to accommodate our own ideas. They showed up everyday on time, and cleaned up at the end of every day. They tried to keep our inconvenience down to a minimum. On completion of the job, we were ecstatic. Everyone that came over could not believe the transformation with our kitchen. i would highly recommend this company to anyone.

There are two key parts to the story. Each of the partners--Andy Riffe and Jim VanCuren--had one. Andy's part was the money management and he used a system of allowances, estimates, and change orders to keep us on top of costs and spending. I always felt I knew how much we were spending. Andy sent me spreadsheets that itemized each thing--from plumbing fixtures (where we went over our allowance) to lighting (where we were under). There was no surprise to our final bill. Andy had accounted for every penny. Jim supervised the subs. They did tear out the first week and I have to say made a minimal mess. Jim then had carpenters in doing the new framing, plumbers working on the new shower and bathtub, and electricians doing new wiring. Once they had things roughed in, Jim brought in the floor people and they laid and stained the new hardwood floor. The kitchen cabinets were hung. Painting started. The built-ins were installed. During all this, Jim was either at our home supervising or available by phone. Considering all the people he had to orchestrate, it went more smoothly than I ever would have imagined. Of course, there are always problems and mix-ups along the way, but Jim handled those for us. And handled them well. Our place is beautiful. The craftsmanship of the work is evident in every room. They had everything wrapped-up in nine weeks, just a few days over estimate. Now that it's done, would we do it again? And would we use Andrew James? Absolutely. No pun intended, but they nailed it. We should be on HGTV.