REF Construction

It went fantastic from start to finish! Everything that Ryan said happened and all sub-contractors were awesome, professional and efficient. All jobs have surprises because you don't know till you get in, but Ryan and project manager Sean did a great job of keeping us on budget, informed and answered all questions and eased all concerns. Price wise, REF did not come in low, but they also did not come in the highest. You pay for quality and service and I can tell you 100% they stand by those two things. You will get honesty, courtesy, professionalism, and a great job with REF! Highly recommended!!

Ryan and Eric arrived on time and were very professional. They listened well to what we had in mind and helped put that on paper with different designs along with a realistic timeline. In the end we ended up not doing the remodel, because we had to move across the country within weeks. If we had stayed around, then we would probably be writing a review on how great everything went with the schedule and quality. Thanks guys for all the advice!

Ryan was very professional and competent in his dealings with us. He has a lot of experience and he shared that knowledge with us as to what to expect and what would be involved to have the project completed. He is detailed and knowledgeable and offered options to save costs. It was a pleasure to work with someone that takes pride in their work and provides an excellent end product. He was honest and up front about what would be involved and the timing of the project. We eventually decided not to go ahead with the project as the final cost was more than we had planned to spend for this room. The price was appropriate for the quality of the project however. We would definitely use Ryan for future projects when the need arises. A pleasure to do business with and we were very impressed with the overall experience.

What? a remodeling project that came in UNDER budget and ON TIME???? Right from the start we were impressed with the professionalism of Ryan and Eric. They focused on our needs and wants, providing much needed guidance based on their years of experience. Although their bid was ~$2K more than the next highest, we decided REF was worth the money: today we consider that money to have been well spent! Communications were PROACTIVE and replies to our inquiries were answered within a couple hours usually via email or phone. Being an early riser I was surprised to get replies from Ryan via email at 5:45 a.m.! Communications is one of Ryan's many strong qualities. REF was very flexible to work with; there were some delays caused by the cabinet maker when they provided the a slightly off shade of finish on a few cabinet fronts, Ryan rejected the entire order rather than risk a patchwork looking finish. As other inevitable glitches popped up, Ryan was quick to let us know in advance and give a estimated revised schedule. Although the project actually took longer than originally bid, several of the delays were unavoidable (e.g., cabinet colors), we still felt they met our expectations for completing the remodel a couple days ahead of the original # of actual work days planned. They also flexed their work schedule when we had a family matter that prevented working for a couple days. The work crews cleaned up daily and we did not notice very much dust in other areas of the house because Ryan was careful to cover even the vents in the remodel area. We recommend REF with the highest recommendation: you will get great plans, a terrific team to work with and a finished project that exceeds your expectations. [NOTE: this review is being written 6 months AFTER the project was completed because I forgot to finish the review I started in November]

We received estimates from a few different contractors for a kitchen remodel. We contacted REF because of the good reviews on Angie's List. Ryan and a kitchen designer he works with came to our home and spent a good deal of time with us going over ideas and suggestions for the project. We were impressed with their knowledge, enthusiasm, and honesty about such an undertaking. In particular, Ryan mentioned how he never rushed the start date for a project because he wanted everything well-thought out and planned for ahead of time to avoid delays. We knew after meeting them that if we moved forward, REF would be our first choice. We ended up getting two bids from Ryan: a total remodel, which included opening up the kitchen by incorporating a small mudroom and moving the placement of an exterior door, and a 'lesser' remodel, which would keep the existing structures in place. Both were very detailed and included everything we could think of, which wasn't the case with other bids we received. We decided to go ahead with the 'big' remodel and chose REF to make it happen. From start to finish, we couldn't have been more happy with our decision. Ryan was helpful and completely accessible during the planning process. Eric (the kitchen designer/cabinet person) was a life-saver. He helped with cabinet, counter, tile, sink/faucet, and color selection, narrowing down choices for us so that we wouldn't be too overwhelmed. It was exactly the approach we needed. Once the work got underway (we were gone the first week to avoid the initial demo), we found Ryan's crew and subcontractors to be extremely courteous. They did their best to contain the dust/mess to the work area and were mindful that my child and I were home most of the time. Our site manager was friendly, responsive, and kept us up to date on what was happening. All throughout the project, Ryan kept in touch and answered any of our questions and concerns. We were lucky that we didn't have any major surprises with our old house and the schedule that Ryan gave us outlining when each part would be done was very accurate. The majority of the work was completed by the end of December (after an early November start date), with a few odds and ends finished up soon after. There were no surprises regarding the amount owed for the work done--Ryan's original bid was very close to the final bill. We are extremely happy with the finished product and confident if we had any questions or problems in the future regarding any of the work that was done, Ryan would be more than willing to address them. We would definitely contact REF for any future projects.

We talked to a total of five contractors based on reviews from friends and from Angie?s list - Ryan?s attention-to-detail and friendly, professional manner during the bid process were above and beyond the others ? he brought his cabinet guy (Eric) with him, he offered a lot of feedback on our ideas, he took a lot of pictures, and he prepared detailed descriptions and drawings for the bid. Instead of hastily emailing a bid (like all others that we met with), he made an appointment and reviewed it with us in person. Not only was his bid the most detailed and most professional, it was also the best price! We scheduled the job for 8 months into the future. In the interim, we had numerous decisions to make from selecting appliances to paint color to cabinet handles. Ryan was very responsive to any questions we had along the way and provided excellent assistance in letting us know what would and would not work and in telling us various things to consider. The project started right on time and the guys did an excellent job of keeping everything contained to the front of the house (we stayed in the back of the house) and communicating with us regularly. It took about 9 weeks total. Ryan and his crew were courteous, professional, and timely. Throughout the project, Ryan and his crew were always courteous, professional, and timely. We couldn?t be happier with the finished project; it turned out even better than we could have imagined. I highly recommend REF construction!

Everything addressed with our remodel went very well. There was a minor issue that developed regarding the shower door but Ryan handled it professionally and in a very timely manor. REF Construction does excellent work at a fair price. We will use REF for all future needs. Ref and subs were very professional, timely and thorough at all times. Very very pleased with the work and finished product.

The entire process of working with Ryan...start to finish...was very professional and very easy. He was, in fact, the only bid that I got for a complete remodel of my kitchen/dining room only because I had a clear understanding of his fair and reasonable prices, along with a detailed explanation of all the work that was to be done (as well as the many other reviews of ?high praise? here on Angie?s List). He came prepared with lots of great ideas on how to proceed with a remodeling job for which I had very limited ideas of my own. I always found it easy to communicate with Ryan throughout the entire process. He has surrounded himself with top notch sub contractors...all of them showing up when they were supposed to with high quality work being completed in a timely manner. Probably the greatest testament to the work of any contractor is wanting to hire him back for additional projects, which is exactly what I?ve done with REF Construction. Ryan and his crew will be coming back to finish up the rest of my house (flooring and bathrooms) in November! So, if you're looking for someone to do some quality remodeling in your home, this is the guy you want to hire!

Ryan is absolutely fantastic. The work hasn't been done yet. We went through the first round of estimates and so on and I decided that Ryan was the one we wanted to work with. Both my wife and I were very comfortable with him. His professionalism is exceedingly high. He was the only one that provided us actually diagrams and so on of the work to be done and what it would look like and the rest of all that. After we got the quotes in and we made the decision of who we were going to go with, I had Ryan come back out because the bid was way above what we anticipated financially. So he came out and we discussed what we could live with and what we could live without and he had to submit a new bid to us. So we are only the master bath right now. The guest bath is going to have to wait a year. He then followed up with a new quote and so on. He came back out and we went through and made sure we were all on the same page. We signed a contract. Since then he has sent me an email with a list on it of the things that he needs for us to get taken care of so that he can get things started and do his work. Very, very professional. I like him a lot, I'd say. I think for the work that's being done the price is fair. Obviously I would like for it to be lower! He would like it to be higher, I would like it be lower! What can I say? He is now, if you will, my household contractor.

The entire remodeling and repair process went very well. Ryan's crew and subcontractors were especially competent, friendly, punctual, efficient, and attentive to our requests and concerns. We had the following things done: *Gutted both bathrooms, removing a large soffet, tubs, huge window, old flooring, sliding mirrored doors, old tiled shower and shower walls, old lighting. *In master bath - Installed new cabinets, quartz counter tops, new smaller horizontal slider window, new bathroom fixtures, tiled floor and glass-enclosed shower, new wall and mirrored pocket door to closet, new vent fan, new ceiling lighting, new mirror and over-mirror lighting. REF also rebuilt an exterior wall to accommodate the smaller slider window. *In hall bath - installed new cabinets, quartz counter tops, new vent fan, tiled floor, new tub with tile enclosure, new bathroom fixtures, lighting, and mirror. *In master bedroom - built new wall and repaired the ceiling and flooring. We completed much of the demolition work in the master bath, the fireplace and wall removal in the master bedroom, and then completed all of our own painting according to the work schedule Ryan had posted. Ryan gave us credit for the demolition work, since REF didn't have to complete that part of the remodel. The project took longer than we had estimated and planned, but that was due to the backorder (and backorder again!) of accent tile for the showers and backsplash. In the end, the wait was worth it and our bathrooms look fantastic. The bedroom wall/ceiling repair and the bathroom exterior wall reconstruction was so professionally done one might think it was the original construction! We are extremely pleased. This is the second time we have used REF Construction. Two years ago Ryan and crew completely remodeled our kitchen. We were impressed with his work and didn't hesitate to use him again. The cost was exactly what we had expected, based on Ryan's estimate and our choices. We made some of the purchases for the bathrooms ourselves, in consultation with Ryan, but we also went through Ryan for many more of the purchases. He worked hard to coordinate our efforts. We highly recommend REF Construction!

Great experience! From the bid process all the way through completion, we were very impressed with Ryan and his crew. They were so easy to work with, explained everything along the way, stayed within the budget, on-time, and the workmanship was top-notch, even down to the small details - our kitchen turned out even better than we imagined. We're extremely happy we decided to go with REF Construction and would definitely work with them again!

From start to finish, REF was completely professional, punctual, transparent and efficient. Ryan, Sean and all the subs worked really well together, kept us informed and were really cognizant of our time and space. Any issues were brought to our attention and dealt with quickly. The end result really exceeded our expectations. I think the thing that really blew us away as well was not only the attention to detail, but also Ryan and Sean took care of the little things that took the stress and headache out of the equation for us. By the end, we really trusted them and didn't need to micromanage or second guess the work. I would recommend them again and again, and we would definitely use them again in the future.

Ryan and his crew were an absolute pleasure to work with! Ryan is very easy going and attentive to the client's needs and desires. His workmanship is top-notch and his rates are very competitive. You won't be disappointed if you hire this guy to do your remodeling job.

I highly recommend REF Construction. I knew what I didn?t want in a kitchen, but I had no idea what I did want. Ryan was amazing. He listened, he suggested, he brought samples to the house and met me at show rooms until I was confident in my choice. He knew what he was talking about and would research unusual requests that I might have had. With his direction, we now have an amazing kitchen. I trust his expertise and his honesty fully. Ryan stands behind the work that is being done and who is doing it. He sees that his crew meets his high expectations and takes measures to adjust if needed. With REF Construction, there were no surprises, work was done on time and very nice and respectful interior workers were used. We will be using REF Construction in the future.

It was excellent. They were prompt and on time. Ryan the owner checked on everything everyday. He made sure everything was perfect. He took great pains to show me what the bathroom would look like and outlined everything. He went above and beyond to make sure everything went great!

I am going to use the company they referred me to.

..Ryan has been great to work with. He is doing a wonderful job at getting our bathrooms and dining room back together after a major leak behind the wall which damaged both baths and the dining room including the hardwood floors. The work is ongoing. I first met Ryan just over three years ago when we decided to remodel our kitchen. The work done was outstanding. My kitchen is beautiful, which is why I called him to do the work on our bathrooms and dining room. I know we will love it when they are finished. When the project is finished I will post and update.

Ryan was very good to work with. He was easy to talk to and answered all our questions. He was very knowledgeable and worked with other companies (e.g. cabinets) who did quality work. His bid was competitive and he was one of our top choices. We just decided to go with another contractor.

We had a guest coming from out of town, so we had a deadline. Ryan was the best organized contractor I have ever had dealings with. He listened carefully to all our requirements at the beginning of the project, outlined the whole process for us in advance, posted expectations for the subcontractors, had superb subcontractors to do the work, and cleaned up beautifully at the end of the job. The project was completed and looked great by the time our guest arrived in March.

This was a renovation of my 23-year old upstairs condo. Everything in it was original, including the carpet and all the appliances. Ryan is enthusiastic about what he does, enjoys a challenge, can suggest options you've never thought about, and is a marvel of organization. This work was done in two phases of about four weeks each, and I stayed with a nearby tolerant friend both times. Ryan worked patiently with me to work out the details and was quite prompt with his estimate. He mentioned that he might not be the cheapest contractor I would interview, but assured me that, for the above reasons, the results would be worth it. He was right on both counts! He and Sean, his Site Manager, were both capable, thoughtful and cooperative. I appreciated being called when it counted--to double-check placement of plumbing cutouts in the marble slab, questions on tile design layouts, grout color, placement of cabinet door handles, mirrors, sconces and recessed lighting fixtures, etc. He's reliable about returning cell phone calls promptly, and if you email him in the evening, you'll find a response in the morning. I love everything about this renovation! The tile work is especially beautiful. Everyone marvels at the floors! Ryan takes his commitments seriously, and made sure that these two projects came in on time and on budget. My neighbors commented, even before I asked, that Ryan and all of the people who worked with him were very courteous and respectful. I will definitely be calling Ryan again to complete my renovation project, and I'm happy to recommend REF Construction without reservation to anyone who appreciates really good work!

Great communication and service. Overall, it went really well.

To appreciate how glad we are to get this project done, you will need a little history. Last March we noticed a water spot on the ceiling of a bedroom on the first floor, directly under a shower on the second floor. (This is not the first time this has happened, and it was not correctly fixed the first time it occurred.) We had the contractor come back and work on it and no matter what he tried, it was still leaking. He retired and referred us to another contractor who came, did the same things the first one had, assurred us it wasn't leaking and left us a bill for $700.00. It was STILL LEAKING. My husband called him to let him know and to discuss the bill (which we had not paid)--we could not contact him after that--would not return phone calls and still has our house key!! So fast forward to this month. We have not had an upstairs shower for 8 months and have not been able to find anyone else to look at it. Friends suggested Angies List and we decided to try it for a month. We had two estimates from contractors listed. The first was double the estimate we got fromn Ryan at REF Construction. Ryan came and had a written estimate within a matter of days. After he confirmed a start date we had nothing but positive to say about him and the men working with him. One aspect that I especially appreciative of is that he didn't do the typical contractor trick of bidding a job and then working on it every 3rd or 4th day because he has other jobs going on. Everyday we could see progress and he came in right on time. We have another bathroom that needs remodeling and we will definately be giving REF Construction a call!

REF Construction was recommended to us by some friends (who also recently hired REF again). We received bids from several contractors but felt the best about Ryan's bid. He wasn't the cheapest but we felt that his attention to detail and his effort in understanding what we wanted to do would provide the best solution. We definitely made the right choice - Ryan and Sean did an excellent job. Our project was far from typical - instead of doing all the work at one time it ended up stretching over 6 months. This was mostly due to us taking time to make choices as well as the time it took to procur some of our materials, and Ryan was very accommodating. He has a strong focus on ensuring that the customer is happy with his work and does not consider the job done until the customer is pleased. Ryan also takes the time necessary to review the customers' desires and options to ensure that everyone is on the same page for work to be done. We feel good about the price we paid and the quality of the work in general has been outstanding. We had some issues with the painting but Ryan discussed it with us in an open and honest way and we resolved it to our full satisfaction. We definitely recommend REF Construction to anyone doing large or small projects and will hire them again when needed in the future.

This is our second project with Ryan/REF, and it definitely won't be the last! The work was excellent, fairly priced, and well tuned to our desires and inputs. Ryan brought significant experience to the project, and worked very well with us on the front end to complete the specs and pricing. He listened to all of our inputs and also made good suggestions. Execution was very good. Sean was polite, punctual, and precise. The only real bump was in the initial paint color matching, which was resolved to our satisfaction, very professionally. This did slightly push out the schedule, which is why I rated that a 'B', but he worked with us all along the way, and it was fine. The final quality is excellent, and the kitchen looks great. The color combinations turned out really well, including matching new granite with existing granite (complementary patterns). The LED lighting is really nice also.

Overall, the project went fine, and I'm very pleased with the end product of their efforts. Everyone involved was polite, and kind to my dogs. One error in the cut was rectified the next day after I showed it to Ryan. That was great.