ALAN HOWELL FENCE & DECK

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Alan is kind of charming but his work and professionalism are poor. He is also a slow worker. We had to redo one gate - after one winter, the gate doors swelled and we could no longer get it open easily which means the gates were too close to begin with. It was a real fight getting him to do the proper job (which he ended up not doing properly anyway). He used indoor screws that immediately started rusting. On the positive side, he did set the new posts in concrete. His helper got there late and then took off early so I had to help him. When I wasn't helping him, I was monitoring him. At the end of the day he asked for $600 instead of $500 and being the nice person that I am, I actually gave it to him.

Alan came out and bid the job at "no charge". He was eager for the work and was the low bidder out of 2 vendors that came out. He and his son work together. He measured the yard and drew a little drawing of what the job would entail. The fence was to be picket where it was visible from the street with a gate and arbor. The side would be wire on a two by four frame up one side. It would connect to a neighbor's fence in the back and then it would be a wire mesh with metal posts on the "woodsy" side, ending in another section of picket with another gate between the garage and house (he would need to put one post in our concreate pad). He was creative in the solutions he proposed to each of the different challenges. He was about to go away on vacation, but said his son would come and start the job while he was away. Within a week they were able to start and the job took about 3 days. They did exactly what we had agreed on and it is working as advertised - the dogs are staying in the yard.

Alan was easy to work with and did not require any money up-front and was able to schedule the work to be done while we were to be away on vacation. The fence looks very nice. Had to give a B for Professionalism because he arrived a week to early and started to demolish the old fence while we (and our dog) were still here.

Alan responded promptly to my call, came out to the house and walked through the damage and the repair costs. He also pointed out areas he could adjust or strengthen, at no charge. He returned to do the work 3 days later, and though no one was home at the time, did a quick and very effective job. I highly recommend him and his work.

Alan Howell said that he can fix just about anything, so he will be on our list for a handyman. He is there to help and not to rip you off. What a blessing he was to us, especially since the one that wrecked our fence did not act responsibly and take care of the expense. The Lord blessed us by sending Alan Howell to us.