John Elliott General Contractor

1929 home's 2nd floor bathroom waste pipe developed a pin-hole leak. Pipe was 3" Copper waste line. When the attic was converted to living space, apparently, the contractor decided to cut INTO the house from the OUTSIDE to run the drain line. They had added pink fiberglass insulation around the pipe and then covered the pipe+insulation with aluminum siding. The pipe developed a leak and had probably been leaking the 13 years I've lived here, creating an awful moldy mess of the insulation, in the wall cavity, and down into the basement. Awesome. I had opened the wall to locate the cause of the leak (which, due to a continually leaky toilet, I finally noticed puddling water, otherwise, I'd have never known about the mold..just would have chalked it up to "that's how basement's smell"). I had removed the insulation and cleaned the mold. John's crew was great. 4 guys working on this over 3 days. Always punctual. Always professional. John was very open to my suggestions about how I wanted the exterior hole patched with rigid foam insulation (since XPS is mold/waterproof..and if water ever got behind the siding, I didn't want it getting back into the same pink fiberglass baffles I planned to put back up. They laid drop-cloths on the path through the house so as to protect the carpeting not only in the work area, but also on the path leading in/out of the house with the waste materials. Original job quote was for 1700, but once he opened the ceiling to connect the new PVC waste line to the upstairs toilet, we discovered that 2 of the floor joists (2x6's) had be notched and cut so badly by the former plumber/gc, that they had cracked completely through. Totally non-supportive anymore. John's son recommended I simply sister the joists and run the drain line below the joists, creating a soffit. I would have went with that approach, however the bedroom they were working in only has 8' ceilings and it's a 10x10 room. Losing any more headroom would make the room feel even more cramped/cave-like. John suggested running two new beams and jacking the sagging joists back up into their proper location and then bolting the broken joists to the new ones. I voted for this approach, even though he had to cut a 2" hole in the center of a 2x6 support beam. Fingers crossed these two beams are strong enough. Since the bathroom is small upstairs and won't have tile, I'm hopeful that these will be sufficient to hold a 300 pound man in the bathroom (the current american male standard it seems). John did a great job soldering the new copper lines. He decided to use PEX tubing to connect the plumbing fixtures (some copper, some CPVC) to the existing copper feed lines. He even went 1 size larger with the PEX since PEX tubing's connections are narrower than the 1/2" copper pipe. He did this so as to avoid low water flow in the shower/sink upstairs and make it easier for him to thread the connecting pipe through the new floor joist holes. Sadly, despite his best intentions, I do have lower shower head flow. And, I think he could have gotten a 1/2" copper pipe threaded through the holes he made in the joists (and thus, made them a little narrower too). I can't fault him for it, and I've debated calling him up and asking him to switch out the PEX for copper, but then he'd have to change out the 1/2" to 3/4" copper connector he put in specifically for the PEX. Is it really worth it? i dunno. The shower still works fine...but I know that the flow is lower than it was before. We have 1/2" copper throughout the house, so if I was really gung-ho, I'd change the 1/2" right from the source to 3/4" and only reduce it at the fixtures (as is supposed to happen in a modern home). Bah! Next home. John built us a frame so we can put drywall up, covering the pipe's new location which is now inside the house (as required by code). I could have had John do the drywall, but this was the first job I've worked with him on and wasn't sure how his drywall skills were. Besides, it would have cost me an extra $800 for that, and I had already paid an extra $800 for the unforseen replacement of 2 floor joists. he did the right thing there too.. Most contractors would have tacked up a new joist and called it day and never bothered to jack up the sagging floor to it's proper location first. He got the temp lolly column and had a h*** of a time boosting the floor to its proper location. He asked before doing this what the floor material was (so he is also aware of what happens when you jack up a floor...rigid stuff, like tile breaks. Luckily for us, we have linoleum up there. The toilet hole was also cut so that the toilet flange wasn't even resting on the plywood up there. He attached 2 2x2s to the sides of the hole so that the flange could rest on something and then re-sat the toilet upstairs, complete with a new wax ring, etc. NO LEAKS. No leaks in the feed lines to the sink, toilet, tub. And no leaks on the PVC drains from all those fixtures. Forgot to mention, when he moved the pipe inside the room, the baseboard radiator had to be cut back. That meant draining the lines and then refilling them. It's summer time, so I haven't tested that he properly bled the air from the radiator lines. I've had a plumbing service do this on two separate occasions. Once, they properly bled the air out. The second time, they did not. I'll test when some cool night temperatures come along whether the lines are bled, and if not, John will get a call. Overall. I really liked working with John. When the joists needed replacement, I had hoped to use engineered wood i-beams as the holes he had to make could be very large. However, they don't make i-beams in 2x6. Only 2x9 and above sizes. John entertained my request and looked around for 2x6 i-beams. As did I. Most contractors would have told me to p*** off and they know what they are doing, and I'm just a dumb homeowner, etc. I didn't get any blow-back from John at all, even if he thought the request was strange or silly. He is trustworthy, honest, fair priced, knowledgeable, thorough, and does the job right the first time because he knows what he's doing. I would use his services again in a heartbeat as he is easy to get along with, great personality, and attentive to details.

John came out on 4 different occasions. He gave us an estimate the first day and the other days were repair and cleaning up the work. He actually had to cut into the wall in our basement to get to the pipes. By the time all was said and done, our refinished basement looked as good as new.

John responded almost immediately and was able to meet for a free estimate. He was friendly and professional-talking to him is like talking to an uncle who just happens to be an expert in all things electrical. He completed the job in just a few hours and I was completely comfortable having him in my home.

I was not pleased with his work. I was unaware that I had to buy all the supplies. I had to buy the grout, the bleach and coke. He cleaned the grout and he didn't use the grout so he said that I needed to return it. The tiles looked nice and I noticed that I got what I paid for and I paid $99 so I got 99 worth of the work. There were cracks in the grout going up, he didn't touch those. A year later, the cracks came back. I felt that maybe if he had used grout plus the coke, it might have been better. I have done some research and they say you have to put out some old grout and put in some new grout. The price was good. I had called other places and they were very expensive. It should have been clear that I was going to buy the supplies. He didn't mention that I had to buy all the stuff. They came on time. I got more than what I needed for the supplies because I didn't have any guidelines on what grout I needed for what width. I measured it but wasn't sure so I bought two different grouts because I did not know which was the right one. There wasn't really any communication. They weren't unprofessional, they just weren't sociable. I would not use them again.

John and his crew did an excellent job remodeling my bathroom. John kept in contact with me during the process so that I always knew his schedule. They respected my home and worked cleanly and worked straight through from start to finish. I will definitely be calling him for jobs in the future.

John was great throughout the entire process. He and his team were clean, did amazing work and communicated extremely well throughout the entire process. Additionally, and probably most importantly, John was very informative throughout the process and explained all the work that was done and worked with me to ensure the job was done and I was happy with the work. The whole process was smooth and was completed on budget according to the quote. Really great experience and I will absolutely use John again in the future.

I contacted John thru Angie's List and got a response the following day with a number to call, which I did. After some discussion we arrived at a time he could visit and see what needed to be done. After that he began the job five days later which took a little less than four day (painting and all) The job went very well and much faster then I thought it would. John is professional and competent, also a nice guy. I would certainly use his services again and will.

Checked Angie's List for Handymen who advertise they do electrical, plumbing work, etc., in New Castle County, DE. Chose Mr. Elliott based on reviews as 1 of several from whom to request estimates. Sent estimate requests on Angie's List including list of work needed with my name, address & phone number to all. Received the following message back on Angie's List in response to my message requesting an estimate for work which I listed in detail: Hi CAROL SPANOS,we do not regularly check our messages due to a high volume of junk messages. please call john at 4849958385 for an immediate responseThanks, John Elliott General Contractor I called & Mr. Elliott advised he would check the list I had provided & call back later that day. He called back later that day to advise he had not had a chance to check my list but would do so & call back the following morning. Received no call back the following morning so tried again to call Mr. Elliott. After 3 rings, went to leave-a-message so I hung up. Have not received the promised callback. All estimate requests from other Handymen thru Angie's List have been satisfactorily responded to & when all have been completed, one of them will get the job.

John is an excellent choice for an all-around handy-man. Took my phone call personally early on a Thursday am.; explained he wouldn't be able to attend to it immediately (it was by no means a "rush" need), but would contact me shortly if unable to visit me later that day (which was only a possibility, due to other pending work). He re-contacted me two days later (Monday, am) to come out that day. Once here, extremely professional, wasted no time sizing-up and attending to the project and completing it. I'm pleased with the finished job; certainly would contact him again for other projects.

John was a man of his word, showed up right on time, fixed the sink and charged what he had first quoted before even seeing the job and I think it was tougher than expected but he stuck to his quote. I will be calling him again!!

They completely tore out our bathtub, vanity, walls and flooring. We did keep the updated shower. They added custom cabinets, granite, ceramic floor, new walls, ceiling, lighting, mirrors and painted. They were great to work with, always on time and kept our place spotless during the rennovation. We really enjoyed working with John and would highly recommend him.

very well. John responded very quickly to my situation, gave me a very fair price, and completed the repair in a neat and orderly fashion. Will definitely use again for home repairs.

John was professional. He is a man of his word. He works quickly, cleans up when he is finished. It was a pleasure to work with John and I plan to have him do additional work in the near future. I felt that his price was very much in line. His communicated well with me.

John and son did an excellent job on both the bedroom and kitchen. I had hired them for the first time in September for the spare bedroom repairs. Not only was I pleased with the finished product but John and his son were courteous and professional. They were respectful of my home and left their work area very clean. When I had an unexpected plumbing incident in January that left a gapping hole in my kitchen wall, I call John to do the repairs. Again, I was not disappointed with the end result. I will definitely be calling John in the future.

John and his crew showed up on time every day from start to finish. They did a super fantastic job on my bathroom. I love it! They removed the bulkhead in my shower/bathtub which created more over head space and brought in more light. Also, they cleaned up every day before they went home. While doing cleanup in the basement, one of the crew members discovered my sewer was backing up. He told John about it and John immediately tackled the problem. He unclogged the drain and repaired the leaking sewer pipe. This took away time from the bathroom schedule, but I am so glad it happened while John was here. Thanks again John! Also, John was very patient considering all of the changes and additions that I requested him and his crew accomplish. Overall, John and his crew have a wonderful attitude, provided excellent workmanship, and respected my home. You can count on John to go the extra mile to accommodate you. I would definitely ask John to come back to do future projects.

Late Friday we noticed a rushing sound in our second story wall. Downstairs in our Great Room water was coming from the ceiling. After shutting off the water, we went to Angie's List to find a plumber. We were told that since the problem was in the wall we would need to have the wall opened up to get to it. We checked Angie's list again looking for a contractor and found the good reviews for John. We contacted him first thing Saturday morning and he called back promptly. We told him of the problem with the leak and he not only opened the wall, he did the repair as well. He came by early in morning and was very courteous and professional. Would recommend him very highly

It was not positive. I didn't get a call back for a while. I had to connect again or email to remind him that I had paid for it and wondering when he would be able to make it. He did get back and was very apologetic. It was a busy time. Actually, there was an ice storm. So he said he was pretty busy. Then, he and his son came in to do some grout work. It just seemed like not very much was accomplished for the period of time the two of them were in the bathroom, working on the grout. He didn't really follow my instructions. He did some things that I had tipped specifically not to do, with the grout. So, I would not call him to work with him again. When I realized that not much was happening, if I remember right, I think I told him just to stop at the end of that period of time. He wasn't going to finish the job anyway. He just was kind of brusque. He wasn't really listening to his customer.

It went well, and we will most likely have him back to replace the whole door.

John was very professional from soup to nuts. This was the second time we've used him. This was a custom job that required a bit of direction-following. The job was as follows: Insulate behind the drywall in an already finished basement, while minimizing the cost. I had already devised a plan that involved cutting out horizontal 4-foot high sections of drywall, as opposed to gutting the room entirely. John provided his own expertise to improve on the plan. He understood the specifications, and provided a fair estimate. John also accommodated a last-minute request to extend a new power outlet while the studs were exposed. He added $40 to the bill for this. John followed the specifications perfectly, and finished the job in just two days. The finishing included taping, spackling and sanding, but not priming. My wife and I are handy enough to take it from there. Apart from a small handful of "spackle globs" here and there which took me about 5 minutes to sand off, the work was otherwise "perfect" in the strictest sense. Once again, we were very pleased with John's work.

He was very responsive with returning my call, did the estimate right away and managed to schedule our job and complete it ahead of schedule. I didn't shop around a ton for pricing so can't completely comment on that part so gave that part of the review "fair" assuming it was a fair price probably not the lowest I could have found. He did a fantastic job, was a pleasure to work with and we would use him again!

I was very pleased with the work Mr Elliot and his son did. The work they did (removing and installing 2 ceiling fans, 4 light fixtures and 2 bathroom faucets and drains) was done quickly, efficiently, and neatly. I feel the price was very reasonable. I would definitely recommend the 2 Mr Elliot's (father and son) to anyone needing a contractor.

I was very pleased with the work Mr Elliot and his son did. The work they did (removing and installing 2 ceiling fans, 4 light fixtures and 2 bathroom faucets and drains) was done quickly, efficiently, and neatly. I feel the price was very reasonable. I would definitely recommend the 2 Mr Elliot's (father and son) to anyone needing a contractor.

Very well. John called me to let me know that he'd be there a little late because a previous job was running him over time. He and his son finished the job over two days about 7 hours of work total.

John did an excellent job. He was friendly, professional, prompt and performed the work flawlessly without any problems.

There were two workers that arrived. They did have to leave once to purchase materials. I thought the price was little high for what they did, but we had not discussed pricing ahead of time so that was my fault. Otherwise the quality of work was good and the time it took to complete was reasonable.