Top Notch Interior Contractors

Very slow in getting original proposal and totally unresponsive to a request for a revised price bid based on a new scope of work

It was average. The overall work was okay but there were issues of him coming in late. I bought some of the materials. I had a gift card from Home Depot and I had taken off one day and I told him I would meet him at the Home Depot store at 9 o'clock, then 9 o'clock came and went. I waited awhile. I didn't have his number with me but I was over with the contractor of Home Depot, and the woman looked up his number and I called him. He was sitting in my driveway. It wasn't the first time he stood up on things like that. The final issue was we had a big wall mirror and he had to take it down and do the work. My wife said we really don't want the mirror down because we are going to reuse it. They'll take it off and when they're done, they'll put it back up. He did all his work. When I got the estimate, I told him that I may do some of the work myself which I did. I hooked up all the plumbing. We had to wait to get the countertop because we were looking around. We actually had to find a remnant because it was a small piece of granite that we needed so we finally found one and it was a few months later. I called him about the thing and a couple of times he said he will be there the next day or Monday morning. My wife waited for him and everything else and he never showed up. He never called or anything else. He didn't remember or because there was no more work where he's going to get paid. He just figured there was no reason for him to come back here and hang the mirror so I actually had to call a mirror place and get somebody to hang the mirror. My wife is happy with the end results but the things we had to put up with because when we started we weren't even sure he was going to show up. It's just that he wasn't the most punctual and responsible at times. Overall, I'm happy with the way the bathroom turned out. The biggest thing I was upset about was to get somebody else to hang the mirror. That cost me a good amount of money which he was supposed to do.

Everything went well. Still looks and works great with no issues now a few months in. Would call again for future home improvements.

Pat came over Friday, the day after I called, gave me an estimate over the weekend and scheduled the work for the following Thursday. The promptness was very helpful as we were in a big hurry due to putting our house up for sale. I bought the materials, and Pat & crew installed. Everything looks and work great.

Great. I now have a beautiful master bath with a steam unit, heated travertine floors, and new countertop and cabinetry. Pat and Ken did a great job, and installed all aspects of the job including framing, plumbing, electric, dry wall, paint, and tile install.

They're absolutely wonderful, they're very efficient and courteous. They clean up everything, I've never used a company that was so efficient.

I had been going very well for a while. His workmanship was great (except for the wood used to cover the ducting in basement (very very rough wood??) The demo in both bathrooms upstairs were very time consuming but the boys working for him did most of that work. He installed new whirlpool bathtub in guest bath, put in new plumbing, did a great job with tiling (even though a lot of the grout has cracked and the plumbing does not produce hot water nor is it in a straight line??) ...also the light fixture above the vanity is to the left of the middle ( i didn't understand that). In the master bathroom, he installed a lighted mirror, re-tiled the bathroom and shower from scratch and moved a wall back. The finish was never done in that bathroom. In the kitchen, there was a big deal made about a look-through I wanted from the kitchen to the living room and it took them forever to begin putting down backerboard for the tile....I should have seen the signs. Work got slower and slower and slower and eventually just came to a stop. He just left one day and never came back. Even left some stuff of his here. I left messages but never got a response as to why he didn't want to finish the job, nor if he wanted his stuff back. I was really disappointed but I came onto some really hard working/talented/fast and dependable contractors shortly afterward and they finished the whole house in a few weeks later (I added a lot of things, knowing they could handle it). They are now juggling 4 more houses for me and I haven't looked back. Just really disappointed that I had just given a good referral shortly before he bailed on me. Oh well!!

They were realistic about things. They were punctual. They leaned up after themselves. They got the job done in the time that they said they would.

I e-mailed Pat and described the work I wanted done. We set up an appointment and he came out. I already had plans drawn up and I knew exactly what I wanted. Pat looked at me, my age, and the current condition of my house and I think just decided it wasn't worth his time or that I was jerking him around. I think he pretended to take measurements and pretended to be interested, asked me to e-mail him a copy of the plans. I e-mailed him a copy of the plans, said it was nice meeting with him and said I hoped to hear back from him soon. I didn't hear back from him at all. Not a phone call or e-mail anywhere. He was in my house less than 10-15 minutes. I thought about e-mailing/calling him to remind him but I didnt have to with any of the other contractors. Ultiamtely I chose someone who was a little more timely with returning phone calls. Everything up to the meeting seemed fine. Maybe I was just a little sensitive. Update August,19, 2010: I recently posted some reports on roofers and had some feedback from them so I was looking over past reviews of contractors, I just saw his response. Perhaps he did e-mail me or mail me his bid. I cannot say whether or not that is true, all I can tell you is that per his request I e-mailed him the plans and specs of the project I had planned and I never saw anything in my e-mail or mail. Could just be a typo in his mail or e-mail that cause it, but I never heard anything. I e-mailed him recently to state that I never did recieve anything from him. He asked if I would be interested in having him do the work now or see if I need anything. I told him no. Based upon the communication break down a year or so ago it wouldnt make sense. It probably was a bit rude of me to say that. But anyway. I am sure Pat does good work and I am sure he has fixed his communication issues. I believe this because if you look at the reports, they have only gotten better and he has stopped running into the issue of not sending e-mails or follow up. So I suppose he has improved. Glad to hear it. Keep up the good work, Pat.

They are amazing. Their attention to detail is fantastic. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted done but Pat has added his touches here and there and has made the space beautiful. The bathrooms are tiled perfectly, and everything is installed and working great. He made a tiny basement 1/2 bath look like a bathroom anyone would love to have. The detail work in the tiling and mudding/drywall is really "topnotch". They are now working on my new kitchen and have already exceeded my expectations for the space. I will be back to add pics and tell how it all went to the end.

We solicited 3 bids all from companies with good ratings on Angie's list and all three quotes were within $150 of each other but we select Top Notch Interior and owner Pat Lauwerier due to his ability to start the work earlier than the others. Pat ended up doing a great job and in less time than others had indicated and he did things the way we wanted them done. He also showed his honesty and integrity by telling me that he had done some damage to our down stair vanity top during the installation of the faucet. He said he would replace and install a new one for free but we ended up telling him that we would buy the vanity of our choice and pay for it as long as he would install it for free which he did do. He also did not have to spend as much on work materials as he had thought so he did reduce our overall price by $150 which was good and that is what we used to bu our new vanity top.

Problem) did not bring a ladder, used mine. 2) Since ladder did not reach he attached his brush (think w/ duct tape) to a 5 ft. mop handle & attempted a straight line at the wall/ ceiling; it didn't work and left a sloppy line plus paint on the ceiling, which was not fixed. 3) wall surface showed many spots of white paint under the light tan paint. I paid for 2 coats. I bought highest quality Sherwin Williams paint, so it was the painter not the paint. 4) paid guy but complaints to Pat (owner) were unanswered or worse he said many times he had someone coming so I had to go out of my way to be home, but no one ever came. Now many months later I have to resort to announcing this incident to Angie's List. I was not compensated or pleased by the terrible work. I am now going to pay a new painter to repaint this wall, since I had to live for so long with the terrible job. If you go with this contractor do not pay until you are completely satisfied with the work.

He does everything like 95%. I feel that he does a very good job. His pricing is good, too. He is always on time and does a fine job and finished everything on time.

I mailed check #2771 for $500 on 4/03/08 and it was cashed on 4/11/08. On 4/21/08, he was supposed to begin the work but instead, he called and said he couldn't come out until that Wednesday (4/23) but with no guarantees. The weather was not going to cooperate for the later part of the week but it necessary for the work to be completed. I tried to get a hold of Patrick at least twice to see if he was planning on coming out and both times I left my cell phone number. I even told him that if I didn't hear back from him by 1pm that day, I will have to start calling other people. Since I didn't hear anything back from him, I HAD to start contacting other professionals to get the work done since TIME WAS OF THE ESSENCE. I hired an electrician, a plumber and a carpenter all of which I had to pay separately to get the work done. Now, its' been about 3 weeks with still no word from Patrick or any refund of the $500 that I paid. I very much regret that this happened because my first impression of him was very good. He seemed very professional and gave me the quote very promptly and I was impressed my him. It is very unfortunate that he took my money, but didn't do the work. UPDATE: Left this report on the May 12th and Patrick called me on the May13th and said he would be sending me the $500 in the mail. It is now May 30th and I haven't received the $500 or heard anything else from Patrick.

He was able to start a week earlier than he originally planned. He was very responsive. He cleaned up well after the job. I'm already planning on using him again.

Pat came a few days early to remove the the bamboo flooring from the packaging. On day one Pat and 2 workers removed all the furniture from the area, tore down two walls and the closet and removed all of the carpet. Then they began the "rebuilding". Each day he cleaned up all of the day's mess before leaving. Each day he was there with a positive attitude and worked hard! When the project was completed, I was very happy with how everything looked.

WORKED WITH HIM BEFORE AND HE DID A GOOD JOB. CALLED HIM BACK OUT TO TAKE CARE OF A BACK SPLASH IN OUR KITCHEN. HE WAS SUPPOSED TO COME OUT MARCH 9TH TO LOOK AT THE JOB. HE DID NOT SHOW UP. CALLED HIM AND HE SAID THAT HE LOST MY NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER AND DIRECTIONS TO MY HOUSE. SO THEN, HE GOT THE DIRECTIONS AND HE CAME OUT ON THE 14TH OF MARCH. HE SHOWED UP, GAVE ESTIMATE, AND EVEN SAID THAT THERE WAS A COUPON IN THE ANGIE'S LIST PUB. HE SAID ON THE ESTIMATE THAT HE WOULD BE HERE ON APRIL 5TH OR 6TH AND THAT HE WOULD CALL US. I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM HIM SINCE. I DID NOT BOTHER TO CALL HIM BACK, BECAUSE WHEN HE DID NOT SHOW UP I TOOK IT AS THOUGH HE DID NOT WANT TO DO THE JOB. I HAVE SINCE FOUND SOMEONE ELSE TO DO THE JOB.

We were so pleased with all the work Top Notch Interiors did. They were very professional and courteous. They were punctual and cleaned up after themselves beautifully. But most important was the quality of their work. We were extremely pleased with every job they did and they did such a variety of jobs. They were helpful with ideas. We were going to have them come back and put crown molding in two more of our rooms. We are also having them drywall our son's garage. They do everything but install carpeting. We would HIGHLY recommend them to anyone;they are a "class act".

IT TOOK LONGER THAN WE EXPECTED TO GET THE WORK STARTED AS THEY WERE VERY BUSY. ONCE THEY DID GET STARTED, TWO WORKERS CAME THE FIRST DAY AND GOT A GOOD START ON PREPPING ETC. THE NEXT DAY, ONE PAINTER CAME AND HE DID NOT COMPLETE A LOT OF WORK. HE SAID HE'D BE BACK THE NEXT DAY AND HE DIDN'T SHOW. WE CALLED THE OWNER (WHO HAD WORKED THE FIRST DAY) AND LET HIM KNOW THAT THE SOLO PAINTER HAD NOT SHOWED UP. I WANTED ASSURANCE THAT THE WORK WOULD BE COMPLETED BY THE HOLIDAY. HE ASSURED ME THAT IT WOULD BE COMPLETED. HE AND ANOTHER WORKER SHOWED UP THE FOLLOWING DAY AND COMPLETED MOST OF THE WORK. THEY FINISHED THE NEXT DAY AND WE WERE HAPPY WITH THE QUALITY OF JOB THEY DID. THE JOB WAS FINISHED BY DEADLINE AS PROMISED. THEIR CLEAN UP EFFORT AFTER THE WORK WAS FAIR. WHILE THEIR WORK WAS GOOD, ONE OF THEIR WORKERS WAS SKETCHY. I AM NOT POSITIVE I WOULD USE THEM AGAIN, ALTHOUGH I MIGHT.

THEY NEVER CALLED ME BACK, SO I ENDED UP HAVING TO CALL ANOTHER CONTRACTOR.

EXCELLENT WORK OVERALL; ONE NEGATIVE WAS RESPONSE TO CALLS MADE TO HIS HOME PHONE-MACHINE MESSAGES WERE NOT RETURNED. I HAD GOOD RESULTS WHEN I CALLED THE CELL PHONE NUMBER, VERY PROFESSIONAL & TRUSTWORTHY, GOOD WORK & VERY REASONABLE PRICE.

HE DID A GREAT JOB AT A GOOD PRICE.

THE COMPANY CAME QUICKLY TO GIVE ME AN ESTIMATE. THEY CHARGED BY THE HOUR SINCE IT WAS NOT A LARGE JOB. THEY DID A GREAT JOB AND EVEN WASHED THE WINDOWS WHEN THEY WERE FINISHED PAINTING THEM. I WOULD USE THIS COMPANY AGAIN.

LESS EXPENSIVE BIDS WERE MADE, BUT WE FELT MORE CONFIDENT WITH PAT. FOR ONE, HE SAID HE WOULD SCREW THE BACKING BOARD DOWN WHEREAS ANOTHER CONTRACTOR PLANNED TO NAIL IT, SOMETHING WE WERE WARNED AGAINST. THE JOB LOOKS GREAT OVERALL, BUT THERE ARE A FEW CHUNKS OF GROUT ON TILE WHERE IT SHOULDN'T BE (MAYBE NEEDED CLEANED UP BETTER), AND I'M NOT TOTALLY HAPPY WITH THE WAY THE TILE/BASEBOARD FITS AGAINST SOME PANEL, WHICH ANOTHER CONTRACTOR HAD WARNED US AGAINST. MY ONLY PHONE MESSAGE LEFT WASN'T RETURNED, BUT PAT ALWAYS ANSWERED HIS CELL PHONE. INSTEAD OF 8:00 OR 8:30 AS ORIGINALLY STATED, ARRIVAL WAS MORE LIKE 9:00 OR 9:30. INSTEAD OF THE FIRST THURSDAY OR FRIDAY, THE SCHEDULE WAS MOVED TO THE SECOND THURSDAY, THEN FRIDAY, WHICH WAS STILL EARLIER THAN ORIGINALLY ESTIMATED. OVERALL, I FEEL THAT TOP NOTCH WAS A GOOD COMPROMISE BETWEEN PRICE AND QUALITY.

FIRST DAY 30 MINUTES LATER THAN ORIGINALLY AGREED. OTHER TIMES OK. INTERESTED, NEAT, FRIENDLY, AGREEABLE TO COMMENTS ABOUT FINE POINT ITEMS. FAIR PRICE.