Desborough Construction Inc

John, his plumber Mike, and the rest of his crew do exceptional work. They arrived on-time and were on-budget per the estimate. We have more work to be done and we will be hiring John again. Highly recommended.

It took him two weeks and all day Tues. to tell me he was to busy, he sent me an email and I found out about 7:30 I'm glad I checked it. I GOT THE FIFTY DOLLAR DEAL FROM ANGIES LIST for a drawn up plan and a estimate, That's all I wanted. I had not picked a contractor yet. John I'm sure you are going to respond to this, suggestion! don't ramble and leave out the B.S. Any one thinking of considering this guy DON'T He is full up this year. Too busy. And he is over rated. P.S. He said he was going to refund the $50 how nice:| What a pro.

John and his crew did more than an outstanding job from the beginning to the end of the project. He did additional work that he thought needed to be done, and never changed the price. He was very honest and thorough. His crew was also honest. They were very polite. I was anxious to have this project done, I was more than pleased with the outcome. I would hire him again.

He arrived on time. Took notes of what we wanted to do with the bathroom. Was very professional. The design came 3-4 weeks later than promised, but otherwise was very professional.

I am extremely happy with the work John and his team did on our basement. I was impressed from the time he came over to provide an estimate all the way through the end of the job. John provided a very detailed estimate which showed that he really listened to my husband and I when we discussed the job. Once we decided to hire him, he started the job very quickly, and was here every day until the job was done. They worked extremely efficiently without sacrificing quality. The end result was beautiful and John was very fair and patient about some minor changes we made from what we discussed. I would absolutely recommend John and his team for any construction job, and will hire him again if the need arises!

Excellent! We have had many contractors in our house for estimates and smaller jobs and John is by far the best. Provided excellent craftsmanship at a competitive price. John met with us in December and furnished an estimate to us within a few days. We reviewed the estimate, asked a few questions, and had a revised estimate a few days after that. We had a signed contract before the end of December and he began work on January 2nd. John has great staff that work carefully but quickly to get the job done. Within a week the downstairs laundry had been moved upstairs and all demolition work was completed. Within a few more weeks the floor was in as were the cabinets. John was very responsive to our requests for additional alterations, gave us materials at cost to him, and did an awful lot of work for free (e.g. rehabbing our old laundry room, fixing some skylights that weren't finished by a prior contractor, and installing new exhaust fans in the bathrooms--he even sent staff back to fix an electrical problem caused by the granite installers). In addition to this, the cabinet designer made an error in the design and installation plans. Once we realized it John came back with staff and spent an entire day correcting an error that wasn't his. We can't say enough good things about John and his staff. They did a fantastic job for a great price. We are already trying to schedule them to come back for additional renovation projects. The customer service, craftsmanship, materials, and cost are all stellar.

The contractor arrived on time and listened to my description of what I wanted done, took notes, explained some detail items to me and said that he would provide the drawing by mail.

This was very disappointing, I called this company and left a voicemail probably three times before finally sending an e-mail mentioning my frustration. Immediately the owner contact me with his cell phone number and told me to contact him directly. Our initial conversation was very pleasant and I was reasonably convinced that this was a good company to deal with. Those three sentences are the last of the positive things I have to say about them. First, I made an appointment to meet the owner on a Saturday so he could give me an estimate on some work I wanted done. I generally don't agree to take my time on weekends however he said it was the only available time he had. Two days before our meeting he canceled stating that he had to watch his kid play basketball or something. I have kids, I understand, however I have run a business for 16 years and I would not consider that a valid reason to blow off an appointment. I have since contacted this company a couple of times trying to reschedule and the owner never called me back. My personal opinion is either these guys are so successful and in demand that they don't need the business or just bad business people. I joined Angie's list so I can avoid the aggravation of dealing with bad contractors. Occasionally one slips through. No doubt the owner will respond to this with some lame response that he made several attempts to contact me which would just be untrue. I really don't care what the reason is, no one is so busy that they can't return a phone call within 24 hours. I mean that quite literally… No one is so busy they can't return a phone call within 24 hours. I'm in the financial services business and I have a trauma surgeon as a client who will return my calls within a few hours... no matter what. I guess he's not as important and busy as the contractor. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- March 1, 2013 Ordinarily I would not dignify such a childish response with any kind of a reply however because this contractor chose to call me on my cell phone to berate and harass me about the review I left I think it's necessary. The review I left for desborough construction was 100% factual, is supported by the other negative feedback to this contractor, and made no personal attacks about the company's owners. I merely stated that they must be very important people because they can't find the time to return phone calls. I don't care if this guy was vacationing on Mars, send me an e-mail. When I am called out of town I push a little button labeled "out of office" and anyone trying to contact me is alerted immediately of my absence and not to expect a return reply for sometime. This technology may not have reached Perry Ohio yet but I'm confident that if they look they will find it. When I told him that I'm a high maintenance client I wasn't joking... I demand professionalism and character from people that I give my money to. Ask yourself while reading this… Would you expect less? Why settle for mediocrity? Some of the projects I'm looking at will stretch well into the six figures, I'm not just going to hire some guy in a pickup truck to do this. Angie's list homepage actually says "why settle for lousy contractors? I agree :) if you think I'm out of line we probably shouldn't do business together because as confident as I am that the contractor will expect to get paid the at end the job I expect that they maintain a minimum level of class and dignity throughout the project. No matter how you cut in dice it a contractor works for you, not the other way around. Would you ever speak to your employer with a brazenly disrespectful attitude? if you did, don't be surprised if you get fired. His irrelevant comments about me suing a city and therefore I must not be a trustworthy individual is so absurd that I question whether or not an adult actually wrote that. In the very small speck in the universe called Lake County Ohio I am practically a household name as a result of a very public lawsuit that I was forced to file against the local municipality. This was a business deal that had nothing to do with contracting and is incredibly irrelevant to our dealing. This form is supposed to be for legitimate feedback regarding experiences with members and the contractors they call. I'm fairly certain the good folks at Angie's list did not intend companies like Desborough to use it to attack the character of a particular member. Such actions are slanderous and defaming to one's character. The principal of this company should be very careful about unsubstantiated public statements he makes about someone whose only "crime" was to leave feedback he didn't like. The end result is that I have called Angie's list and file a complaint for their harassing me. Any additional calls from him will be met with a complaint to our local police department. I strongly recommend looking elsewhere for a contractor unless you have thick skin and are able to meet and surpass Desborough's morality standards.

Went well. The replacement tile is a good match.

I first contacted Desborough Construction back in September of 2012 for an estimate for repairing my kitchen and bathroom tile along with repairing a closet where my water heater is stored as water had pooled in the bottom soaking the wood and insulation causing water and mold damage to the wood framing and surrounding drywall. I also asked for a quote on finishing my garage (painting and installing shelving). I contacted John (Desborough) through e-mail and he visited my house to give me a quote. I was really impressed with John's attention to detail and willingness to look over all the items I wanted fixed. I obtained some additional quotes but none of the other contractors I met with impressed me as much as John did. After some consideration since my kitchen floor was in pretty bad shape and the grout was cracking due to the floor not being leveled I decided to update the kitchen to a 16 inch porcelain tile. I contacted John and he visited again to provide me a revised quote for replacing the entire kitchen floor. After that I decided to have the entire kitchen floor replaced. I still went with the original quote to have my bathroom grout redone as the tiles were not in as bad condition, and also to have the water damage and mold remediation in my water heater closet. I was able to schedule John to do the work in early February 2013. I order the new kitchen tile and grout based on John's estimates and he was kind enough to pick up the supplies. John and two of his team began the work in the kitchen. They spent the first day just on prep by removing the appliances and pulling up the old kitchen floor and prepping the underfloor for install of the new tile. John also suggested that the new tiles be laid in a offset pattern which wound out coming out really nice. The next day they began to lay the new floor in the kitchen and started repairs to the grout in the bathroom(s). John's crew wound up pulling up most of the grout in the bathroom(s) and did a very good job of saving the tiles, as I did not have many extra from the original install. The next day after the kitchen floor was set was grout day and one of John's crew grouted the kitchen and bathrooms. The following day the whole crew came back in and did some touch up work on the grout and did the repair and remediation of my water heater closet. They pulled a long day and got the repairs done and were able to put all of my kitchen appliances back in. On the last day was a quick check and sealing of the bathroom grout. John and is crew did clean up after each day. I was very pleased with the work that was done. My kitchen floor now feels very solid and investing in some higher quality materials really paid off, but the install job was impeccable. The repair to my bathroom(s) were great, even though the tile in my bathrooms is not the best John and his crew were able to re-seat the loose tiles and re-grout. The bathroom floor and is now much more stable and should now last us a good while. The repairs to my water heater closet went past my expectation and the closet looks better than brand new. I would recommend Desborough Construction to anyone, especially for tile and flooring work. I will be using John and his guys for future work to my house. A+

called for a project estimate. called back in 2 days, schedued appointment. He was professional and courteous. reviewed work and scope, promised to provide quote in 3-5 days....never heard from them again...still haven't.

called and left a message...this guy never called back

see above. i could not give them a

I purchased a deal through Angies list. The rep came to my home, took measurements and discussed what I wanted done. He was polite and seemed knowledgeable. I received a hard copy of a written proposal a week or so later. The estimate was high and there were some mistakes in the paper plan layout verses my kitchen. Nothing that couldn't have been corrected. But I felt what I received was not much more than simply having a contractor give me an estimate. I feel the 50 bucks was wasted.

We contacted John to give us an estimate on a complete bathroom remodel. John showed up on time, early in January. He had good ideas and spent quite a bit of time with us going over suggestions and what we would have done. He said he was busy and would follow up with the estimate in a week. Two and half weeks later, I left him a voice mail and asked for an update. I never heard back.

Mr. Desborough did not show up the day of our appointment. It turned out that he had his days mixed up, and arrived on the next day instead. I have old knotty pine paneling on half my kitchen walls that I wanted to keep, so essentially, I wanted to know what could be done to remodel cabinets, counters, and unpaneled wall space, etc. He did have some suggestions. The Big Deal had offered “Custom Kitchen…design with measurements and full set of plans.” I did not hear from him for a full month, and I had to nudge him to respond. What I finally received was not measurements and plans, but an estimate. He wrote that, “your kitchen is not replacing cabinetry so there really is no plans to speak of everything is cosmetic.” This was not in the Big Deal offer. I protested that a $50 coupon was an awful lot for an estimate, which is usually free, and he offered, honorably, to refund the coupon cost. That check arrived promptly. Mr. Desborough was courteous and seemed knowledgeable. But I would hesitate to hire him, not because of a lack of expertise or honesty but because twice, in this small transaction, there was a problem of response time that makes me wonder about his general organization and attention to time.

John arrived on time and conducted himself in a professional manner. He was very thorough. In fairness to him, the room addition we were contemplating was beyond the scope of his service so he concentrated on the kitchen remodel. Although we haven't followed through on either the kitcen or room addition, we were very happy with the services John provided.

We responded to an Angie's list special for kitchen design service with a full set of drawings. John Desborough showed up late for the appointment. He listened to our requests and reviewed our existing kitchen layout. We were seeking creative ideas to remodeling a very tight and difficult kitchen space. Mr. Desborough's demeanor was not pleasing and his ideas not in the least creative. His manner was a gruff, know-it-all contractor and bordered on the verge of sexist with my spouse. He acted as if he owned the place and already had been hired to do the job. He measured and left pencil marks all over the counters, took a few pictures with his iPad and left after about 45 minutes. We had to call several times to get the "design" drawings we paid for, and when they finally showed up revealed what an amateur operation Mr. Desborough runs. If his installation work is anything like his interpersonal skills and design ability, I shudder to think of the quality of the construction or the owner's experience working with him. Our experience with Desborough construction was positively negative. Conclusion: we no longer respond to Angie's List "specials".

What I liked most about the Desborough estimate as opposed to the other contractors was he gave a breakdown of the costs. The other guys basically gave a lump sum of the total cost. Where was that money going? What type of materials were they using? What was the labor involved? Being able to see exactly what the money was being spent on made sense and allowed for any tweaking. After we decided on a start date, which was very soon after agreeing on the job, the Desborough crew arrived on time every day for the five days (yes five!) it took to complete the job. They worked until a resonable time each day and did not interfere with our family's day-to-day life. They were very clean and professional from start to finish. Adding a wall and hanging some drywall may seem like a simple job, but what impressed me was hiding all the other stuff. They had to reroute our HVAC so that the finished portion of the basement did not show any of it. This is something I never considered prior to the job, but I'm sure glad they did - it looks great! They also added a HVAC vent to the finished portion and I'm getting a strong push of air into the room so it has been great for these cold December nights. Hiding the electrical panel was a clever tatic as well. It is behind a bi-fold door that is flush with the drywall so I'm not losing any space and can easily access it. Finally, hiding the water main/meter via an access panel on the drywall was well done too, people do not even realize it is back there. The door they added from the unfinished to the finished portion is nice and big! Again, this is something I did not consider, but you need that if you ever get a new washer/dryer, furnace, etc. I was able to get a full sofa through it without removing the door or legs of the sofa. Another one of those little attention to detail things that impressed me was the placement of electrical and wire outlets. He asked me where I wanted my outlets and I marked them on the wall He heard that I mentioned I was going to hang a flat screen on the wall and suggested an additional electrical outlet and wire housing above the standard one near the floor. This way, I could plug in the TV up top and run the HDMI through the upper and lower housing behind the drywall thereby concealing all wires to the cable box on the TV stand. This is something I never would've thought of before the fact, but would've been kicking myself for missing it. Lastly, even though I elected to paint myself, they primed and chaulked everything so painting was a breeze. I cannot say enough about how happy we are with our new basement! We love the finished product and the experience with Desborough Construction. Very professional throughout.

This company was a pleasure to work with. John is extremely knowledgeable and willing to work with you in whatever way is feasible. We are very capable of doing most of the work ourselves but having built the house a number of years ago, we didn't want to do any more "hard" work. John worked with us, he allowed us to do whatever part of the job we wanted to so we did a lot of the demolition while he used his expertise to put it back together. We installed hardwood floor which John and his crew completed in 2 days. Re-arranged the cupboards into a better working configuration. Built out a few cabinets that didn't work for us. This was completed in a matter of days - unbelievable. Looks and feels like a brand new kitchen. We re-used the original cupboards but added a few that John was able to blend in. He and his crew did an awesome job. I look forward to working with him again when the next renovation starts.

Took a little longer than I expected, but received what I paid for

I purchased the $50 Big Deal for Basement Design, Measurements and Drawing. John came out measured everything, listed to what we wanted, and provided us a very detailed design plan and quote several days later. Although the price was one of the higher ones we ended up receiving on the basement remodel project, it was the most detailed proposal. We ended up picking another provider this time.

Purchased 2 Angie's Big Deals for custom remodel plans - one for bathroom and one for kitchen. Good resource for starting to think about partial remodeling of these areas in the future to find out what could be done and get an idea of what the cost might be. This was a great deal to get started.

THE BLUEPRINTSARE BEAUTIFUL AND DETAILED.

Due to a change in circumstances, I did not have the actual remodeling work completed. However, I have nothing but positive comments regarding the planning John did for me. He readily scheduled an apppointment to meet with me at my convenience, and arrived promptly according to schedule. We had a comfortable, professional conversation regarding what I might like, and what I needed. He was very thorough and helpful in making suggestions for my project. His actuals plans/projections arrived in a timely fashion via email; he also followed up with a phone call to be sure I had received all of the projections. If the situation hadn't changed, I would have had full confidence in having John Desborough Construction complete the work.