CHR Home Services, Inc.

We hired JRL to design and build a custom bar room in our home that involved breaking down a wall between our family room and formal living room. We solicited several bids and decided to go with JRL because they assured us it would be completed by Christmas. As of today, it still has not been completed. Up until less than a week before Christmas he insisted it would be completed. It never was. If he would have been honest with us, we could of scheduled Christmas dinner at another family members home. The entire process has been a nightmare. Broken promises, no shows, excessive overcharges for items that should have been part of Jim’s architects drawings (he hires his own) but conveniently left out so when you find out you need them (like GFI’s, proper lighting), he can overcharge you. He will come in lower but price the lowest level of product – you need to be very careful here with him. This is how he comes in lower. Also, you DO NOT have to pay $500 for a quote. Do not let him talk you into this. He will tell you that he has this super duper design software package that will enable him to walk you through the design, open and close cabinets, etc. When actually is your basic CAD software that he doesn’t even know how to operate and almost every general contractor has. If you are duped into paying it (like I was) he will then try to sneak in another $200 - $300 for an engineer that you never agreed to and should be his cost. He will sell you his services based on his expertise and accreditations. However, after the first check is cut, you will not see him again, ever unless you insist he shows up! He has a much less experienced person show up at your home to manage the job. ALSO, if you do for some reasons decide to go with JRL, PLEASE have an attorney review the language in his proposal/contract. Make sure you take out any language that pertains to paying his legal costs, paying for supplies he has ordered if HE cancels project (read this condition carefully), eliminate broad clauses that he has that allows him to upcharge you for increased costs, trash removal, take out no internet purchases for fixtures, buy your own fixtures and appliances, JRL marks them up considerably. By the way, I have never had to sign such a one-sided contract/proposal on any remodeling projects in the past and I have had several large ones. I should have known better but the promise of “done before Christmas” sucked me in. Do not agree to pay him weekly as “his” bills come in. There should be a percentage paid as the project progresses as other contractors do. DO NOT pay him the last installment until all the work including your punch list is completed. I held back an agreed upon $300 for completion of punch list. A week after my check was cashed; he filed a legal complaint for the $300, plus $6,000 in legal fees and damages due to business HE lost. I believe he did this to another Angie’s list member if you read all the reviews. If you would like to discuss in more detail, please feel free to email me at dwesemann@verizon.net.

We love our new bathroom. We watched and took pictures of the entire process. And felt everything was being done very professional. The work was high quality. The project manager handled things professionally and was very responsive and did high quality work. Don't expect it to go exactly on time but it didn't go over too much, less than expected.

It was wonderful! They were neat, thorough and all work was done to perfection. They would notify me of the schedule weekly ---though I was given a complete plan and schedule at the start of the project---so that I would know who and what was coming daily to my home. They were sensitive to my pets (1 dog & 2 indoor cats), holidays and the final time frame of the project. I would not hesitate to use this contractor again. His project manager always knew what was going on and gave me plenty of notice if I had to be home so that I could crate my rescue dog. They handled flawlessly the coordination with my interior designer and providing her with what she needed so that we could make tile and fixture and cabinet color choices; as well as the arranging of all necessary inspections. The end result is a beautiful bathroom that met my needs and kept to my budget.

JRL Design provides what you want and expect from a contractor but rarely receive. Jim Lebair, the owner, spent many hours coming up with a unique design for our 10x10 kitchen that allowed us to utilize the space in a very effective manner. JRL Design prepared a detailed proposal along with computer generated renderings of the design. Jim reviewed and enhanced the design after reviewing the initial outline with my wife and I. A very thorough and professional process. Marty Delrocco - the JRL on site project manner was outstanding. Prior to beginning the work, Marty laid out a schedule clearly listing out what would be done when. In spite of a few winter weather issues, the project stayed on schedule and finished on time. Marty does an excellent job in communicating with the homeowner - providing frequent updates on progress and was very responsive to any question/issue. Marty was a critical asset in delivering a new kitchen for us. Overall, the professionalism,craftmanship and communication provided by JRL Design was outstanding. I would gladly recommend JRL Design to anyone who wants to deal with a truly professional organization.l

[pictures will be posted] JRL Design, Inc. built a mudroom addition that had several problems. I pointed out a few of these problems to Jim Lebair, but at a certain point in our discussions, he abruptly discontinued further conversation and decided to take the dispute to court. Several of these items are still a liability on his end, as the hired contractor, notwithstanding the fact that the township deemed the project complete. 1) The mudroom is unbearably cold in the winter (despite the upgrade in insulation JRL offered at no additional ost and despite the baseboard heater that we were charged $500 for), 2) the flooring is coming up and not attached to the framing, 3) the dented window took several months to replace, 4) the exterior lights are not working despite repeated attempts, 5) the granite was ordered from one company and then installed by a different company due to a ?professional conflict?, 6) there was water seeping into the mudroom crawlspace and pouring into our finished basement. There were several problems that resulted from the mudroom crawlspace accumulating water. Jim will insist that this is not a result of their construction, but after consulting with several other professionals, we learned that JRL Design, Inc. could have made the crawlspace entryway from the outside to avoid the water coming into our finished basement (which NEVER had a problem prior to their construction work), and that it would be a basic expectation that they would help resolve the issue without going to court and without an additional contract. We were not offered this option. Our case may be an anomaly, but please be warned that in our experience, this company is NOT high performance; especially when there was a problem, Jim did not want to help correct it through reasonable dialogue and at a fair rate. JRL Design, Inc. left the wall and ceiling crudely spackled and unpainted after they cut into the drywall and foundation. I was somewhat surprised that this was not a basic expectation to have the contractors paint the walls and ceiling that they had to tear into, but JRL Design, Inc, politely informed us that since it was not in the contract, they do not have to paint the affected areas. Note how the pictures show the crude opening to the mudroom crawlspace, spackled ceiling soffit and wall, and the water accumulated in the basement carpeting soaking through enough to show up in a photograph. The posted pictures are from mid-December 2014. When the crawlspace was opened during rainy days, you could see a small waterfall pouring into the framing of the finished basement, spilling into the main area and accumulating enough water to see it soak through the carpeting. Marty offered to fix the water problem in December 2014 by installing a sump pump, but Jim refused to honor this promise (they also offered to clean the carpeting, which was also rescinded) due to the fact that there was a ?pre-existing water problem.? What this means is that we pointed out that there was unlevel ground under our deck. I didn?t realize this piece of information might be relevant until our January 2015 site meeting, which is when I shared this with Jim and his mason. I brought this up when the mason mentioned that he had made note of the very wet ground when he started digging in September 2014. Jim ignored this warning in September and still refused to acknowledge this during our January meeting and afterwards, insisting rather that we, the homeowners, were the ones who kept this information from him. Bottom line is that he did not heed his own mason?s observations in September. Additionally, Jim became quite upset when I tried to call the mason directly to discuss this specific issue further. While we considered several solutions, Jim finally submitted a proposal at the end of March for three different options: (1) Downspout, Grading Paver Path $5971, (2) Interior Crawlspace Drainage System $4712, (3) Exterior Drainage System $7425. including language such as: ?I am not convinced Option 3 would be totally effective,? ?I am not convinced that [Option 1] will?,? ?I can also engage my engineer for his advice at this time and let you know his fees.? There are several problems here: 1) He is charging over $10,000 more (for his ?best? recommendation, i.e., option 1 & 2 together), for a problem we ultimately were able to correct for $4,500. 2) His language shows little confidence in the potential results. 3) He promises to let us know of his engineer?s fees yet charges us for the engineer?s visit without our approval, despite the fact that we expressly requested that he not employ his engineer nor did we agree in writing, or otherwise, to any part of his March proposal. 4) JRL Design, Inc. noted the water problem in mid-December 2014 and offered a proposal mid-march 2015. This was clearly not a priority; Jim?s professionalism became questionable, and our interactions with him became quite negative, especially when he abruptly left a meeting because he refused to discuss any possible solutions with our contractor-friend present (in an early February meeting). We decided to withhold the remaining $1,000 due to JRL Design, Inc. from the original contract to offset the costs of what we thought it would cost us (over $10,000, according to Jim), but Jim decided to add the engineer?s fee ($950), and took us to court for $1,950. At the hearing, his lawyer informed us that we could also be liable for an additional $4,000 (approx.) for Jim?s time spent on this case at a rate of $125/hr, (which was in the contract that we signed). He offered to settle for $1,950; we countered with $1000, and he countered with $1,130 (adding on his court filing fee ($130)). We settled and agreed to pay him $1,065 (the remaining $1,000 from the initial contract, plus half the court filing fee). Interestingly, on several occasions Jim claimed that water management is his ?greatest challenge?, but if this is the case, Jim still has not provided a clear answer as to what was done prior to the start of our particular project; he instead spent a lot of time proving his structure was not at fault. It is true that Horsham Township approved the building that JRL Design, Inc. constructed; it is also true that the engineer JRL Design, Inc. hired to plan the job, as well as to investigate why there was water coming into the crawlspace of the mudroom, concluded that there was no structural error or negligence in the construction. We contend, however, that JRL Design, Inc. should have sealed up the soffit and crawlspace opening in the finished basement as a basic professional expectation, as well as clean the carpeting as promised. We also believe that they should not have charged us for the engineer?s visit to assess the water problem when we specifically asked him not come. Finally, we believe that JRL Design, Inc. could have helped us find a reasonable, fairly priced solution to the water problem that was a direct result of their construction, regardless of why there was water in their construction as well as in our finished basement. This is why we withheld the final $1,000 on the original contract, to offset the cost and work that had been left for us to correct on our own. Even after informing Jim of our reasoning as to why we would not be paying the final $1,000, as well as the $950 which we felt was unfairly being charged to us, he decided to take things to court. We are extremely disappointed in JRL?s response to sue us, their unwillingness to take responsibility in any part for water coming into our finished basement, that a ?high-performance? professional contractor at this price point would communicate so negatively and unprofessionally, and would walk away from a job in such an unresolved state as this, leaving their client dissatisfied and confused, and strapped with the emotional and economic costs of correcting the various issues. Many contractors, including JRL, do wonderful work when the going is smooth, but I would submit that the true measure of a contractor is how they respond when things go awry. For us, JRL failed this test miserably, and we have been left to pick up the pieces.

As a bit of background, we used Jim and Marty a couple years before for a 2 bathroom project. They are outstanding communicators and are always reachable. They use subcontractors for the work, but Marty does some of the finish carpentry along with some various other parts of the project. We met with Jim in December and reviewed the proposal/estimate later that month. Work started in early February and continued until May. Jim presented 3D drawings of the project that were very accurate and offered some great layout suggestions. The pace of the project was steady. Marty (construction manager) was great with setting-up barriers to keep the dust down. There were some weather delays due to the cold winter (the spray foam insulation needs milder weather), but we were always informed. There were a few estimates that were higher than originally quoted, but we always had the option of changing to something within budget. The demolition crew was efficient and pretty neat. The electricians were solid with good workmanship. The plumber and painters were good. The tile and flooring people were outstanding. The Quartz counter people were also very good. We could not be happier with the project and will use them in the future.

Using Angie?s List, we consulted three contactors for estimates. JRL Design came back with the highest estimate. However, based on the excellent reviews on Angie?s List and our preliminary meeting with Jim Lebair, the owner of JRL Design, we asked him to proceed with providing us with a design proposal. We were especially impressed with Jim?s environmental awareness and his ?high performance? standards. After we saw Jim?s 3D rendering of our new kitchen, we decided to hire him. Jim is pretty much a one man show in terms of design, proposals, invoicing, etc. He does not have a show room so we had some initial concerns about material selection and coordination. We were novices at this process and did not want to spend thousands of dollars on a complete kitchen remodel and have it look like a hodgepodge of new materials. Jim reassured us he would help us along the way and said no one had been disappointed in theirremodel job up to this point. The project was a go. Right before demolition was to begin, we discovered termite damage in the basement joists under the kitchen and damage to the subflooring. Jim offered to contact an engineering firm to conduct a structural assessment of the damage (for an additional fee) before work began on the kitchen. Based on the assessment, Jim provided us with a proposal to repair the damage since he preferred that his crew do the work. Due to liability issues, the exterminating company?s policy is that they do the work. Initially, there was some confusion about the cost of the repairs but we worked it out and were successful in having the exterminating company grant permission to have Jim do the work. This process resulted in a brief delay of the project. Once the project began, things moved along smoothly. We met with Jim and Marty DeRocco, the Project Manager to review the work schedule and to begin cabinet selection. Jim and Marty were very helpful in guiding us through the maze of material selection. As novices, the process was overwhelming at times and challenging based on the fact that I am traveling out of town half of each month. Jim and Marty were very responsive to suggestions and questions; they were available by phone, text or e-mail, days, evenings and weekends. Jim even worked during his vacation. Both are great communicators and very effective at keeping things on schedule. As work progressed, we decided on a number of upgrades such as spray foam insulation in three exterior walls rather than standard fiberglass, additional insulation outside the scope of the original plan, a new radiator, higher quality Lazy Susan, additional lighting, luxury vinyl flooring (purchased and installed separately), etc. Some of these upgrades seemed rather expensive but again, that could be the prevailing rate. Jim or Marty always informed of the additional costs in advance so we could decide how we wanted them to proceed. Cabinets were our major expense; they turned out beautifully. They are high quality and the stain and glaze we selected looksvery nice. The panels on the Lazy Susan were mismatched but that was corrected immediately. There were challenges throughout the job because nothing in our house is square or level. Overall, the subcontractors were very good, especially the plumbers and electricians. They were conscientious about minimizing dust and dirt and cleaning up at the end of the day. The painting was not part of the original project so we asked that it be added. We wanted the entire wall painted prior to the installation of the cabinets. I?m not sure if it was a scheduling problem or standard operating procedure, but the cabinets were installed first and the painters cut out around the cabinets. Perhaps in a newer house, this works well but in our house, it did not. You could see the white drywall behind the cabinets. My husband did a lot of touching up to correct this problem but in a few places, the white drywall is still visible. In defense of Jim & Marty, we could have called the painters back but we decided it wasn?t worth it at that point. If I were to do it over again, I would insist the walls be painted before installing the cabinets. When the granite countertop was delivered, the granite supplier wanted to install it in a way that was unacceptable to my husband. It wasn?t a major problem; he just didn?t like where the seam was located. The installer said, ?We always install it that way?. Marty intervened and said, ?He?s the customer; install it the way he wants.? This is how Marty consistently approached the job. We decided to purchase luxury vinyl tile instead of going with wood, ceramic or sheet vinyl for the floor. It is beautiful flooring that gives the appearance of stone, requires grouting and specialized skills for proper installation. Jim and Marty were very accommodating in permitting us to negotiate with the flooring company to have them do the installation rather than use their subcontractors. Unfortunately, the flooring company ordered the wrong tiles and had to reorder them, delaying the completion of the project by about two weeks. Marty was able to reschedule his people without a problem. A word of caution to the inexperienced?.when we went to select our granite countertops, the salesperson left us with the impression that we had to purchase our sink and faucet from them as part of a package deal. Their selection was very limited. Perhaps it was our inexperience but we ended up settling for something that is very nice; however, it is not what we would have purchased had we gone to a kitchen showroom where the selection would have been much greater. The only other area of frustration for me was the format used for invoicing. I prefer detail and the invoices were lacking that. I like to see line items of all costs, material and labor. This way, I know, for example, exactly how much the cabinets are costing and how much I am paying to install them. I like to see all known costs for things such as dumpster fees, permits, and anything that is to be ?scoped and quoted separately? in advance of the project start. I like to track the budgeted costs with actuals, knowing full well that some of these numbers will change. There were several mistakes on the invoices and it took a while to figure them out. Once it was brought to Jim?s attention, it was corrected immediately. In defense of Jim, as I stated earlier, he is a one man show and doesn?t have a staff of clerks to do this kind of labor intensive work. At no time did I question Jim?s integrity; they were honest mistakes. Bottom line is Jim and Marty are two of the finest people I?ve dealt with as contractors. They pride themselves in quality work; they are very customer service oriented, personable, and professional. They communicated effectively, kept the job on schedule and followed up to ensure we were completely satisfied. They are expensive but I guess the old adage of ?You get what you pay for? is true in this case. I think if you were to walk through the kitchen door, you would say ?Wow!? I still don?t know how all the design features, colors and textures came together, but they did. The flow and efficiency of the kitchen is greatly improved. I would definitely use JRL Design again because, as they say on HGTV, our kitchen went from ?crappy to happy

The latest project was the renovation of my master bathroom. Jim LeBair is up to date on developments in materials and green building and design. When we started our first project, it became apparent that my 100 year old house was woefully under-insulated. With each bathroom renovation we have used blown-in insulation. As a result, over time, my heating bills have gone down 40%. The JRL Design team is small, so I have had the pleasure of getting to know most of the team individually. They do quality work. They are very careful, when doing demolition, to keep the dust and debris confined to the area they are working in and not to track it all over the house. They show up on time. I really can't say enough about them. They made the process of renovating 3 bathrooms and a kitchen, over a period of 3 years, and while the house was occupied by 4 adults and a child, almost stress free. I would employ them again in a heartbeat, if I had any more renovations to do.

JRL Design did great work on this project. We are very happy with the outcome. Jim took care in the kitchen design and in the selection of cabinetry that works well with the style of our older home. The end result is a pleasure to work in and is a nice blend of modern and traditional which is what we were hoping for. Marty and Jay did very good work. The cabinet and kitchen fixture installations are excellent. Marty, the project manager, was a good communicator throughout the project and provided good advice when decisions had to be made. One reason we feel confident in recommending JRL Design is that we found Jim and Marty very willing to work with us through any issues that came up until we were happy with the outcome.

JRL Design was a pleasure to do business with. I am in an office space that is approximately 700 square feet. The prior tenant had put up 3 partition walls which made the layout awkward. I hired JRL to come in and remove the partition walls and rearrange some of the electrical outlets. His team was very professional, always on time and were extremely clean! I am extremely happy with the new layout of the office and continue to receive compliments from my clients. I will most certainly hire JRL Design for future projects.

I started to read the member comments from June 27, 2014, and unfortunately their comments seemed too familiar to our experience. When we first had the kitchen done I thought I would write a cautionary review but never bothered. Recently the reoccurrence of issues with the work done gave me a reason to go back and comment. We originally found JRL on Angies list, the reviews did not match our experience. We had our kitchen area remodeled using basically the same foot print. In the end my main issue is when you are paying top dollar you expect excellent workmanship and quality. A few of the specifics from assorted issues, after a year the stainless sink started separating from the granite. Lack of proper insulation around the cabnets. The work was completed in the summer so the problem of cold air blowing in around the cabinets did not become evident till the Fall. An ongoing issue with the dish washer not draining properly was finally resolved after it was discovered the drain hose in the subflooring was not properly installed.

We were very happy with most aspects of the project. The JRL Design team was extremely professional and courteous, punctual to all appointments and provided outstanding communication to make sure that all of the features of the work corresponded to our preferences. They offered helpful suggestions to assist us in making our design and layout choices throughout the project. We have been using the newly designed bathrooms and dressing area for 6 weeks and are enjoying both the aesthetics and the quality of the workmanship. Jim (firm owner) and Marty (project manager) were very receptive to all of our communications and if anything was not to our liking they worked to satisfactorily modify it. There was one aspect of their business model which I was not comfortable with based on our experience. Whereas JRL Design allowed us some latitude to choose our own suppliers of cabinetry versus their recommended supplier (which saved us a good amount of money), for many items, such as all plumbing supplies, we were required to either purchase from the supplier with which JRL has a relationship (Grove Supply Inc.) or break the contract at that point to bring in someone else to do the work, which would have been costly and disruptive. We ended up choosing the former, but paid much more for specific items than we would have paid had we been allowed to purchase the items of our choice from a competitive marketplace. One example: We purchased two high-quality Toto Carlyle 2 - Sedona Beige toilets and the invoiced cost to us was $2,110 total. Had we been able to purchase the same product from Amazon.com, the total cost including shipping would have been $1,300. We similarly paid 20-50% more for many other items. Jim did explain to us that he has more confidence in the quality of plumbing supplies from his own supplier than the internet or other retail stores. And there are circumstances where such confidence might be borne out (although Amazon.com and other sites have more transparency than Grove Supply and extensive positive ratings for many sellers). But at the same time, it places the customer in a highly disadvantaged position from a cost standpoint to be beholden to one seller who is aware of that fact and can price accordingly. My suggestion would be to give customers a choice in their plumbing supply purchases and let the customer handle the logistics and costs of any items which arrive defective if they make the choice to not purchase through JRL's preferred supplier (including any added labor costs from JRL). Also, as one prior reviewer noted, we were also double billed by JRL for many items which, regardless of intention, is something that should be improved upon with more careful cross-checking prior to invoicing. The above paragraph occupies much space in my review, but I should emphasize that price is only one dimension of a project and we were pleased with all other aspects as denoted by our overall highly positive rating. Thus, I do not want to give it disproportionate weight. In the end, I feel we received high quality work that I could trust and that was ultimately most important to me.

It's been a while since the work was done because I generally don't want to make anyone's life harder and especially not a small business person, but I have felt compelled to write a review for quite some time now. The work did not go well. First and foremost, we were originally quoted a completion time of two to three weeks. Instead, my home was a construction zone for approximately four months. I understand that third-party suppliers often dictate the pace of a project, but that is no excuse for blowing your predicted completion date by about 800%. Beyond the completion date issue, there were a number of quality of work issues that I feel I need to mention. My wife and I are not poor, but we aren't rich either. $25,000.00 was a lot of money to us and I feel like the workmanship was just not there. I'll list issues I had briefly: first, at one point they installed a vanity light above the vanity mirror approximately 6 inches off center from the vanity mirror (who would assume this was correct? Why wouldn't they have asked us before hand? It was honestly baffling) Second, at one point the wall outlets were all non-uniformly centered above the tile rail (i.e. one was one inch above the tile rail and another, two feet away, was four inches above the tile rail -- it looked sloppy). Third, when the project was "complete," I had the opportunity to sit down on the toilet only to discover that the nearby (small bathroom so "nearby" means two inches) window sill had about a dozen 3-inch nails protruding from its underside -- if I hadn't noticed while sitting on the toilet, I would have been going to the hospital after standing up. Also, when we asked the contractor to move the vanity light to be centered, after moving the light, he informed us that the frosted glass vanity light had a "manufacturer's defect" and had "chipped" -- so we would have to call the manufacturer to secure a new light. Upon returning home, I discovered that "chipped" meant "huge effing fracture completely destroying the light." I don't want to outright accuse the guy of lying, but the light was completely in tact the day before when it was installed off-center. They did end up replacing the light fixture themselves, but it was a situation I didn't appreciate being put in and did not feel as though it was professionally handled. Records keeping issues. My wife is good with numbers, it didn't take her long to realize that they had double-billed us for certain things. This could have been a one-time mistake but it's a red flag. Finally, I didn't think I'd ever feel this way for a $25,000.00 job that should have taken two weeks, but my wife and I felt like second class clients the entirety of this project. We really felt that we were not important to JRL designs. The bathroom turned out ok, but I have regrets that we spent so much money and didn't end up with a product that we love. In the end, I would not use JRL again or recommend them to friends.

Before After

We used the services of JRL Design Inc. They gave us estimates. They performed the services. They tore down a wall. They moved HVAC, the air duct and stuff. They actually came back after we had a storm and helped us with a few things too, like putting up a panel of the wiring that had pulled up. They did tiles. They did everything that you could do in a kitchen. From what I recall everything went great. There was a problem and they handled it. They made everything work to the best of their abilities. I recall that the roof was slanted so they fixed the roof. The ceiling was slanted in the kitchen and they fixed that. They were personable and nice. They were a little pricey. The work was an 'A' but we felt that the pricing was a little high.

James and company were extremely professional. The communication has been outstanding and the entire project has been a wonderful experience. His project manager Marty is outstanding....I will never use anyone to remodel my home. Could I have spent less by hiring others and leaving me to design and manage the renovations? Sure... but it would have been a nightmare....we met Jim and Marty and never bothered to interview anyone else....if you have a project to do, you must meet these guys...it will be one of the smartest moves you'll ever make.

Ironically, I called JRL design in the latter stages of pricing this project. I was uneasy with the provider I was planning to use, when a friend suggested that I contact JRL Design. My initial meeting was with Jim, the owner. I offered him my ideas on what I wanted this project to look when completed. He took those ideas and modified them into a final design that exceeded my expectations and offered a competitive quote. I knew this was the person to use and signed the contract. I was always asked to pick from a good choice of materials within my budget. This included floor materials, insulation and cabinets. He only suggested anything higher price points when he felt the better value for the long term. In some cases, he suggested lower price points. During the construction phase, the JRL team began on the date agreed upon and was there every day until work was completed. The demolished walls and removed floor revealed a few unexpected issues that had to be addressed, but, the JRL team did a fantastic job at correcting those issues at a reasonable cost. This did pushed back the construction completion date, but it was expected and not an issue. The completed work is phenomenal. I am 100 percent happy with the completed work and I get compliments from all who see it. If you are considering any re-modeling work on your home, I would at the least, urge you to get a quote from JRL. If you decide to use them, you will absolutely be satisfied with their work. They are 100 percent professional and excellent at what they do.

My deck had been warped and a post out of alignment after Sandy. After hassles with insurance company, hired Jim and company to do the deck repairs. There were some delays because of the weather, but aside from that I have no complaints. The men came in and repaired the original post and 4 others I did not know were damaged, as well fix the deck. The painters came in and power washed the deck and cleaned the white vinyl railings (they had been splashed with deck stain by a prior company). They got ALL the stain off. Next had the deck refinished. The painter did an amazing job, no stain splattered anywhere. There was a little delay due to the extreme heat with putting white PCV coating around my deck posts and topping them with solar copper tops. The final product looks great. They were all very professional.

After meeting with companies to reface our old cabinets, we thought it was too much money to cover over old cabinets and wondered what it would cost to get new, we figured it could not be too much more. So we went onto Angie's list to look for a contractor to give us a price for a new kitchen make over. We looked at a few companies but were impressed with the reviews for JRL design. The owner Jim came to our house for an initial meeting to see what we wanted done and find out what our budget was. He looked at the kitchen and did feel he could redo the kitchen with-in our budget, which was $22-$24K. Jim did some measurements, we discussed what we wanted and what our must haves were and what would be nice to have if it was within reason. Jim returned with drawings plus pricing that included granite counter top at a level 1 and different options for cabinets. We liked what he did, changed a few things, upgraded the counter top to a level 3 since I know I never like anything at a level 1 after he told us how much more that would be. We picked the mid price cabinet but with upgrading on the drawers. He gave us the pricing after the changes and we came in at a little over $24K. We did give up the longer cabinets and my son-in-law was going to do the painting, re-finishing our hardwood floors and put in the tile back splash as a present to us. This all saved us money. I cannot say enough good things about Marty , who is the project supervisor and Jay who does most of the hands on work. Marty was great in keeping us informed of everything, working with us on each step and scheduling. If there were any issues he would handle it for you to your satisfaction, best customer service. Jay did a great job putting in the cabinets and since our house was very uneven, he did an amazing job making it look so even and the finishing touches with the molding was perfect!! He also was very neat and kept cleaning up after himself so there wasn't much dust or mess. The subcontractors were very good as well, punctual coming on the dates and times they were scheduled. If you wanted to add or change as you go, Marty would crunch the numbers and let you know how much it would cost before they would move forward so you could decide if you wanted to do it. We did make some changes, added more lighting , increased the size of the countertop plus changed the cabinets around the refrigerator to a pantry style. Jim would send you a change order for any changes with the increased amount. When we were done we did increase to $28K but it was well worth it and we knew how high we could go so made sure we put the money where it was best spent and Jim and Marty are very helpful along with Jay in guiding you in looking at the priorities, how to get the most for your money and what items you can add at a later date when you can fit it into your budget later. Jim and Marty gave us a timeline and it pretty much went on schedule. Our new kitchen looks great, and we are so pleased with the work done by JRL. I would hire this company again, all involved are true professionals and know their stuff. Thank you JRL for giving us our dream kitchen. Thank you Angie's list for helping us find JRL.

It went well from start to finish.

They were really nice, professional and polite. They went back to us in a timely manner and they were very helpful. They have a high end work but we decided not to go with them because they were above our budget.

Jim and his team did an amazing job for us. They created our new Master bath out of one side of our bedroom that was a wasted space in our 1930-ish home. Now, every day, my wife says, I love this bathroom; it's like walking into a Spa--peaceful, elegant, and with every feature we wanted, such as the heated floor, window bench and wall mounted radiator. It's slightly modern but also with classic elements that fit perfectly with our home. The second part of the job was a complete restoration of our 80+ year old hall bathroom. It looks fantastic, the functionality is great, and it's fun to see a bathroom that looks brand new but is all vintage style. Design challenges in this tight space were handled to our complete satisfaction. While everything was opened up, we added to the job with the addition of a bedroom closet, insulation, some structural work, replacing old soil lines and correcting some electrical deficiencies. These added to the overall cost but Jim made sure there were no surprises and it was really a big help to us to have JRL take care of everything. At each step along the way, Jim and the team really cared that we would be happy with the final product, coached us on our selections of materials, carefully priced things out, and came up with solutions. The engineering, plumbing, electrical, counter, glass, insulation and tile subcontractors brought in by JRL were the best, and every worker who stepped into our home was not only very competent and experienced but also polite and considerate of our living space, cleaning up daily and keeping things organized. JRL did the custom cabinetry and it was so special that we asked Jay to sign his work. Marty, who directed the installation and coordinated all the players, was there from the first to the last. He was so friendly and inspired such confidence-- there wasn't anything he couldn't tackle or any question that he didn't know who to call. I also overheard one of the municipal inspectors say he thought they did a good job and liked their work, which is saying something since his critical eye is pretty well honed. It's worth adding that JRL handled all the permits and inspections for us, and made sure everything was done right, and to code, which was a relief. We feel very fortunate that we selected JRL and wouldn't hesitate to bring them in again. It was a pleasure.

It went great. The owner was hands on and he worked with me to plan the basement and adjusted the plan as we went. His foreman and all the workers were friendly and hard-working. I was very pleased with the final product.

The job went well. All of the subcontractors showed up on time and did an excellent job.

We started with Angie's list and picked the three best rated kitchen re-modelers we could find. We didn't quite fit with the first two, but felt that Jim Lebair really listened to what we wanted and then added his design expertise to the things we just didn't have experience to figure out. We loved the design and his creative thinking. His crew was outstanding in their workmanship, timeliness, and work site cleanliness. Also, living in Phoenixville, Jim and his crew made the long trips from Abington throughout the process. We were very pleased with the final product and felt that Jim and his team delivered exactly what we were looking for. From a business standpoint, Jim was very professional and accommodating to our needs, travel schedule, and move-in situation. Having worked with many contractors over the years, I would definitely put Jim and his team in the top 5%. As far as value, well, you get what you pay for. JRL will not be your cheapest bid, but they probably won't be your most expensive either. We could have trimmed a lot of corners in our kitchen and ended up with a kitchen that looked "trimmed". We didn't want that. Jim provided upper to high end materials work and fair prices. With regard to home remodeling, bargain prices usually get you bargain results. In our case with JRL, I felt we paid fair prices and got excellent work. I would highly recommend Jim and JRL Design if you are serious about creating a stunning look to your kitchen or bath project. They delivered exactly that with our projects.