Jim Brouse Home Improvement

Jim Brouse is horrible. I wouldn’t wish him on my worst enemy. He did not meet my satisfaction and I was not pleased with his work. He wrote up the contract for everything he said had to be fixed on my roof for $1,000.00. I agreed but, he then proceeded to subcontract the work. The subcontractor who came out was a very nice guy. When he came and looked at my roof, he let me know that it was a small fix. He fixed the entire roof problem within 10 min. That said, Jim still charged us the $1,000.00 that was in the contract despite the fact none of the work in the contract was completed. I didn’t feel he was honest.

I hired Jim and his crew on two separate occasions over the past month, and I plan on hiring them again in the near future. Their work was great, and the prices were very fair given the time and effort they put into the jobs. The best thing about Jim is that he takes the time to get the job done right, even if that means working more days and hours than he'd estimated and cutting into his profit. Take the fence, for instance. The job just ended up being more complicated and difficult then he'd originally anticipated. I'd asked him to fit the fence into a very tight, urban location, nothing was level, nothing was square. It ended up taking several days more than he anticipated. But when he and his crew were finished, I was very pleased with the work. Similarly, with the stairs, we'd discussed only a rough job, a dead-simple staircase so that I could get to the washer and dryer in the basement without having to go outside first. But as they were doing the work, his crew decided to put in risers (for free) and a hand-railing (which I asked for and paid just a nominal amount for). The guys Jim worked with are all friendly, competent pros. I gave him a B for punctuality because there were a few days over the course of the project where he worked only a few hours at my place to take care of smaller jobs that cropped up at other locations. That dragged out the project some. It wasn't a big deal for us since most of the work was taking place outside or in the basement. But anyway, for me what matters is the quality of the job and the fairness of the price, and Jim's tough to beat on those fronts.

He was prompt to come and give an estimate. He tried to send different subcontractors than the ones I had met. He wanted me to give them my credit card to buy materials at the hardware store. He did not complete work agreed upon, and when I pointed that out, tried to increase the bill. Steer clear!

Jim Brouse reponded promptly to my initial call. He gave me a clearly-written estimate, and my husband and I liked the way Jim suggested we approach the problem. When he got the job, he and his men came and did the work promptly, and we are very satisfied with the job he did.

My upstairs floor was so unstable that carpets would not stay flat, and the floor felt spongy. Jim consulted with me at my house and then talked to his carpentry crew. They decided to take out the ceiling downstairs and assess the foundational beams. They found dry rot and many broken beams. They sistered all the beams and tested the strength of the floor; then sistered some more until the floor above was no longer spongy. (The span was too great for the foundation that had been built.) The carpenter also checked out the beams holding up the room they were working in and I asked to have him firm up a major beam and one that had been cut to make room for the furnace. The guys put up new drywall and ceiling moulding, another worker came out and beautifully finished the drywall, and yet another came and painted. Jim came out several times and repaired a problematic light switch while he was there. Jim lined up the workmen so the job was done as quickly as possible, and after the painter finished the ceiling, Jim put up a ceiling fan. I have no yard so the carpenters took the trash with them at the end of the day, sparing me the cost of a rental. Everyone was intelligent, polite, and responsible. I am very particular, about drywall work especially, and was very pleased with everything. Except for the additional work done in the basement which I asked to add to the job, the estimate was right on. (I was not at all pressured to do the basement work; I was impressed at the carpenter's assessment and plan and asked him to include it in the job rather than come out another time.) Both the carpenter and the drywall finisher were perfectionists and it showed. I was on site the whole time. The ceiling, moulding, and new fan have made the room look so good that I am repainting it and preparing upstairs to install new carpet. Jim was not only professional and courteous, he was amiable and a pleasure to work with.

I made the final payment to him of the agreed upon amount. I told him to bring by a copy of all receipts so that I could view them over. The receipts indicated that the job went over $200 for materials and I agreed to pay for this. However, he told me that I owed him $1,300 for extra materials and manpower for the job. I told him that I would not pay him the $1,300 and he began screaming at me and I hung up. He called back all night and left threatening messages on my machine.

Just a great experiance and top quality workmanship.

Jim Brouse is a salesman--I use that term generously. I have been told things second-hand that I believe, but for which I will not vouch because of their second-hand nature. What I know first-hand is that he will come into your house, and if he smells money, he will promise you the moon. What will happen is this: He will over charge you for outsourced work to people who are not up to the job, and it will not end--until you end it.

He wouldn't take my name or number, didn't want me to leave it on his phone. He wouldn't allow me to leave a voicemail and said he couldn't remember to check his voicemails. He said he only contacts people if they email him. He called a week to 10 days later and said he was in the area. He said he couldn't take down my information because up on a roof. He said he would like to take a look at the job and we set a date and time for him to come out. I realized later that he didn't have my address. I called him back 15 minutes later and to ask him how he would know my address. He said he would just call to get the address on his way over. I was critical of that and he yelled and cursed at me and then hung up.

I had called the other company earlier so Jim was at a disadvantage just because of the timeframe.

In both instances Jim and his crew were prompt and dependable, he especially was very professional and shows great concern with the quality of care in his work. Communication was excellent and he and his crew finished the work on time.

Jim does what he promises. If something does not turn out perfect, he comes back and fixes it promptly. Jim is a professional and the people he hires are courtesy and competent.

I first called Jim in April for the job. He came out promptly to discuss this. We had some problems with getting the measurements we needed for ordering the security doors, and he was not available to discuss this and did not get back to us quickly. It took months to actually get the job done (mid-July), and he had plenty of excuses for this. His professionalism for running a business left something to be desired. But all this said - he did the job and did a nice job. When I noticed a few spots he missed he happily came back to fill in, and I am happy with the quality of work - I know the projects weren't all easy and I could have done it.

Jim was very courteous and is personally involved in managing his crews. He gave me a very low price to introduce his company which I found to be smart business. He pointed out some other things that he coudl do that I had not thought to take care of. I apprecaite his frankness, concern for the customer and professionalism

It went well once we were able to approve of the price and the extent of the repairs.

Had a wiring issue in my bathroom which resulted in multiple switches, outlets not working. Contacted two electricians, one gave a ridiculous estimate and the other would not even give me an estimate. Jim found the problem which was the result of improper wiring and resolved the issue

We contacted Jim Brouse to repair a leaky roof that was causing rain to come in our back bathroom window, install an attic fan and do some minor electrical work. He provided a verbal estimate for attic fan and we agreed to have him do work. We mailed him a $350.00 down payment for attic fan because he said it would be the most expensive of the projects we asked him to do. This was Thursday. As soon as he had check he emailed (in a pushy manner) several that he wanted to get started immediately. We explained several times that other work was being done to the house and that we were not ready for repairs until the following week. He continued to push us for times that were not condusive to our needs, but we finally agreed he could come the next Monday. He showed up the following Monday and said he could not install attic fan as he previously promised.The next repair on our list was to repair leaky back window. He looked at it and left without giving an estimate or even saying he was leaving or when he was going to return. Jim Brouse and his assistant showed up unannounced the following Friday and had to be let into our house by the painter. He started work while we were not home including buying materials that we had not approved and without providing an estimate or schedule. He was asked twice that same day, Friday, to provide an estimate of time/cost. He did finally provided a verbal estimate that the roof repair would cost $500-$600 and that the work would be finished that day. Neither of these verbal promises were fulfilled. He did return on Saturday to complete the work. He did not do any of the work himself on either day and just sat there watching his his assistant who appeared to be hungover - shaky hands and the smell of alcohol on both days (Friday and Saturday). On Saturday, after the 'work' was done, we asked that the previous payment of $350 for the attic fan that was never installed be applied to the roof payment. He responded that he had needed this money for materials for the roof and that the money was already spent. We then had to pay another $600 for roof repair for a total of $950. He did say that he wasn't sure that this would stop leak. However, the leaking window is now worse and letting in more water than before he did 'the work'. He was contacted around July 7, 2009 by email and phone to provide a written valid estimate for the roof/leak repair. He committed to do so, but to date, has never responded. He still also has our house key so he could have access but ONLY when we had agreed on date/time for him to be in house to do repairs.

Around April 11 he came and completed half the smaller jobs. Since then (as you can see in our correspondence below the ++++ line) I have asked him several times when he would be finishing the job, but he still has not give me a firm date. He gave me no advance indication that I would have to wait weeks much less months for completion when I first agreed to his bid. I am getting nervous that the work will not be done in time to protect my house from water damage.

It went fine. it took them several days to complete, but only because they kept sanding it down so it would look almost perfect.

Took a while to get him going, but then all went well.

We needed to get a number of small jobs done around the house a short time frame before putting our house on the market. Jim showed up promptly to give us an estimate. During this first visit he was helpful in providing suggestions about the work he thought I could complete on my own. He also pointed out small detail work that I could do to increase the appearance of our house. He scheduled the work quickly, but did have to reschedule one time when a job ran later than he had planned. He was good about calling to let us know. Jim arrived to do the work at our house on a Saturday with an assistant. They were professional, quickly took measurements and went back out to purchase supplies. The work was completed quickly and was done well. Damage to our masonry chimney was discovered upon inspection and Jim offered to complete the repair work for a fair price.

See above. He called me on the weekend, and wanted to come over to pick up his money. He forgot to leave me his phone number, but I had a copy of the Angie's List brochure, so I had it. I called him back, and left him a message that I would be out the next day until the evening. I called him the following day when I returned, and offered to mail him the money order I had gotten for him. He preferred that I hide the money order on my property, and he said he would send someome to pick it up. I was not comfortable with this, but he agreed to assume the risk, so I said OK. When I returned from work the next day, the money order was gone. I did not hear from him again, so I'm sure his employee picked it up.

Mr. Brouse was helpful and responsible. He worked neatly and came when promised. He was sometimes hard to track down; not always completely responsive to telephone calls. He also quoted us a price to repair our outdoor deck which we thought fairly high and we did not use his services

We had accumulated several jobs that needed attention, and were looking for one person who we could go to for all jobs and for things that arise in the future. Jim responded promptly to my E-mail and came out soon thereafter to look the work over. He was very easy to talk to, and was quite willing to give advice and help us think about the best way to proceed. His solution to the woodpecker holes -- bondo followed by wood putty and paint, was creative and worked well. Jim, unlike many contractors, was also willing to walk around the house and discuss several other issues with us, even though we were not prepared to undertake those projects at the time. This included projects that Jim's company could not do -- this was extremely helpful. The price Jim quoted -- $600 initially, before we added the can light replacement to the job, seemed very reasonable, and we liked Jim's common sense attitude, so we went ahead. After we spoke the first time, we decided to add the replacement of the can lights, and Jim added that to the job, and provided the hardware that was needed to get it done for an additional fee, which we also deemed reasonable. On the date we had set, Jim came again with an employee, Luis, who did the work. Luis was very courteous, worked quickly, carefully and never left a mess. He took care to make sure that he understood exactly what we wanted, and that the work was completed to our satisfaction. He came back several times - always on time, and at our convenience. When the job job was complete, Jim came back to check that the work had been done according to our wishes, and that everything had gone smoothly. It was a pleasure working with both Luis and Jim - they communicated well, did good quality work, stayed on budget -- it was simple. This is just what we wanted, and we would definitely use them again.

I sent an e-mail requesting an estimate and heard back the same day that Mr. Brouse would be in touch. We talked on the phone multiple times, but he was never able to personally get out to the house to look at the job. He had a member of his crew look at it when I was not home, and then was not able to break down the costs of the estimate(over $1000 more than another estimate I received for the same job). Every time I called him I had to explain again the project, who I was, and give my address and phone number. He was very nice over the phone and kept saying he wanted to do the work, but he seemed way too busy with other jobs to be able to devote any time to me. I ended up going with another business instead.