Gary Blunt Construction Inc

Gary and his son did a great job in replacing the rotten framing under our sunroom. They finished the job by their original estimate and are very trustworthy. Their level of craftsmanship is excellent and I would recommend them in the future.

I own a 19-yr old home whose trusses were failing due to improper construction when it was built. When I bought the house 2 yrs ago I was aware there was a problem (had a structural engineer (SE) examine the problem) & was told that the problem had existed for 17 yrs & wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon but at some point in the future I should address this issue. I called 3 contractors who came up with 3 different fixes-all of which were mere band-aids (remember, these quotes were from 2 yrs ago & do not reflect the hefty inflation we have all suffered: $12,000-$27,000-$39,000; they also did not reflect any plumbing changes or electrical changes that would need to be made-I guess they figured they would surprise me). Thank goodness I had enough construction knowledge to know that the 3 contractors who bid on the "fix" were merely putting an expensive band-aid on a serious problem which would require me to throw even more money into the problem down the road (money that I wouldn?t have if I had gone the ?band-aid? route). So I waited until I could wait no longer; my house was still sinking & I had to take action. Our HOA recommended Gary Blunt Construction. I was loathe to call another contractor, & go through the same rigamarole again but I knew my "source" to be honest & forthright & quite frankly I was at the end of my options; I gave the Blunts a call. The Blunts are a father/son team. We scheduled an appt; they showed up for the appt. on the date & time specified; they spent several hours looking at everything in the house-this was the 1st-but not the last-time they were out looking at everything before quoting a price. They called in an SE who spent apx. 4+ hrs going over everything with them. I mention this b/c their process is to ascertain the specific cause(es) of the problem & to be able to create a permanent fix as economically as is feasible. They bandied about different ways to correct the problem with the SE (see ?Todd Duncan?) & even got on their phones to preliminarily sort out the economics of their ?ideas? on the spot (by getting prices from suppliers) so that they could decide if this idea was feasible monetarily. I can?t tell you how many times I heard in this conversation: ?Yes, but is it affordable?? Both Mr. Blunts were even calling different suppliers for the same items to see who would give them the best price. I gave them my ?wish list? about the fix realizing that I couldn?t afford my ?wish list? (that the sinking parts of the house could be restored to their original level so that everything was ?straight? in the house). It took apx. 3 mos of reviewing the house & talking to the SE before I got an estimate. The Blunts kept me informed all the while on where they were in the process (I had also told them that I couldn?t afford to start until after the first of the year). After receiving the quote it took me apx 7 wks to get back to them with the go-ahead to start the job (during this 7 wks I was constantly calling to ask questions-get confirmations-etc.). They were nothing but patient & respectful during this entire period. They even called me to say they could save ME money b/c they worked it out that I could stay in my house-which I ended up doing. To put things a little more in perspective I was TERRIFIED that I would spend my entire life savings to fix my house & would be ?taken.? I even related this to Mr. Blunt, Sr. & to my surprise I didn?t get a sales pitch on how I shouldn?t worry. He told me that it?s good to question no matter who it is & they totally understand that people are scared b/c they?ve been badly burned & don?t want it to happen again. So I had to bite the bullet (so to speak) and hired them. I asked for & they promptly gave me their state license number, their Certificate of Insurance (COS), as well as the COSs for every one of their subcontractors (which, quite frankly, I didn?t think to ask for). I even called the state licensing board & their insurance agent (who refreshingly was very upfront). When I told them I was going to call before they started work,there was no hesitation on their part & in fact they encouraged me to call to check on them. I have to admit that I was very tough on them in the beginning-probably unduly so-but to their credit they were once again nothing but patient & respectful to me. I was completely stressed out when they started (again they started when they said they would & and didn?t leave my house until EVERYTHING (even add-ons) was completed). Once I saw the neat, clean job they were doing I started to relax because I then realized I had indeed hired the right company. The Blunts did everything possible to accommodate me & my stay in the house (they even apologized for the noise!); they made sure I had running water in at least one bathroom & had heat & electricity every day before they left. Their parting words to me everyday were: ?See you in the morning. If you need anything, call us at any time & we?ll be right over.? I had to take them up on this one night when my supply lines were blowing on my toilets due to spikes in the water pressure created by a faulty pressure reduction valve (PRV) on my side of the water main (by the way, buried at the end of a 125-foot driveway). This was not even their problem, but true to their word they promptly came out twice in one night to stop the flow of water running through my house. They even dug up the PRV because Tennessee Water (TW) technicians said there wasn?t a PRV at the main; it was in the house, which we know wasn?t the case b/c all the plumbing was totally redone. Mr. Blunt, Jr. not only dug up the PRV for me (without any hesitation & without my even knowing about this act of kindness until after the fact) & he bought a cap to put on it so it would never have to be dug up again once the new PRV was installed. When TW came out to check the water pressure at the meter & then came to speak to me, the Blunts were right beside me listening to what they had to say & basically ?taking charge? to protect me from misinformation. When HomeServe sent out a plumber, Mr. Blunt, Jr. was there to talk to the plumber to be sure he knew what he was doing & he kept on top of the situation until it was properly fixed & HE was satisfied. Thanks be that he did b/c the first PRV the plumber put on was apparently defective & started leaking within an hour of his leaving. If that had been buried I never would have known it was leaking until a $600 water bill appeared in my mailbox. Has anyone had a contractor who ?had your back?? I cannot even begin to state how appreciative I was & I still am for these simple acts of kindness. At the beginning of the job I asked the Blunts how they billed; they responded that as substantial parts of the job were completed they would let me know that they needed a check. I requested that they give me 2-3 days notice so that I could transfer money. I never had to repeat this request throughout the entire 5-6 wks they were here. B/c I was adding extras that were outside the scope of the original quote, I asked for an accounting b/c I am on a fixed income & needed to know where I stood so I could pick & choose what I could afford to do.The Blunts sat down with me & gave me a full accounting. They never asked for the final payment until the job was completely finished (including all the extras I added). At that point I sat down with Mr. Blunt, Jr. b/c I had some questions on what I thought were discrepancies. He discussed these alleged discrepancies in a mature & calm manner (all-in-all I?m only talking about a few hundred dollars here) & clearly & forthrightly explained to me where these numbers came from & what they encompassed. It was clear at the end of this conversation that there were not discrepancies as I had thought. Mr. Blunt reiterated if I had any further questions I should not hesitate to ask him. EXTRAS: In my past experiences contractors come up with all types of ?extras? that they can charge you through the nose for; this was NOT the case with the Blunts. I had some thoughts along the way, as did they. I wanted to add a storage area in my garage; they suggested that I add a utility sink & some other small things. The Blunts were not pushy about their suggestions, but in my book they were very welcome because they were small extras that would have cost me a bundle after the fact. Simple example: an outlet in the ceiling of the garage portion of the basement to add a future garage door opener. I never would have thought about this & once the garage ceiling was drywalled it would have been too late. They just saved me a lot of money. Their experience & forethought was most appreciated-not to mention practical. At the end of the job the Blunts were finishing up & I heard water splashing & was curious about what it was.The Blunts had swept (which I had expected) & mopped (which I had definitely not expected) the basement floor including the garage & storage room. You could just about eat off the floors. Just one of the many great surprises I ran into with these contractors. I challenge anyone to top that! Finally I never thought I would use the word ?honest? & ?contractor? in the same sentence. The Blunts have made me a true believer (& quite frankly, I?m a very difficult case). The Blunts were AWESOME! They were HONEST, practical, kind & did AMAZING work. They turned a very dangerous structural problem into a structurally sound house. All their subcontractors did a great job & were easy to work with & very accommodating-not to mention they were also kind, honest people. I want a job to be done once & done right the first time. I don?t like & can?t afford to (as they say) throw good money after bad. After this experience the Blunts will be the only people who ever work on my house. After all is said and done, the Blunts gave me my ?wish list? (see above) for the repairs at an affordable & reasonable price.