Altruistic Home Repair/Remodel

I needed shelving in my laundry room and a window seat in the kitchen. After stacking my washer and dryer I had a fairly small space left and thought shelves would be great for storage. Al and his guys built a cabinet that fit right into the space, worked around a plug and a dryer vent and gave me shelving almost to the ceiling! It is fabulous! I also had them build a window seat with storage in the kitchen. It turned out great. I'm not happy with the paint, but he and I never really discussed what I wanted, so I plan on re-painting it. Not a big deal. It looks like it was built with the house, which because I have a custom home it was very important that they did a quality job! The guys were hard working, asked questions when they needed clarification and were very professional! I will definitely use Al again in the future when I have other projects!

I was out of town when Al did most of the work. I am in a condo with some pretty obsessive rules. In order to finish, the water needed to be turned off, etc. He managed the condo issues and got the work done. I have used Al twice before. He and his staff always do a great job. They are not cheap, but for me, I got what I paid for and more. I have found them trustworthy which, since I work and cannot always stand around to watch them work, is worth the price to me.

For the most part it was pretty good. We did have some issues. He was training some new workers so that was a little bit of a problem. He was conscientious but the new people were less than satisfactory. It was unfortunate timing for us because they were just getting started. The experienced people had left. We are still finding problems with that work and we haven't called him back. The work was okay but we don't think we would call him back. We are sure that the new people are gaining experience and might be better now. We are not in the mood to use them again. There was a lot of tension to get things done but we think the owner is conscientious but they were training. It is a family business. We can see the paint drip and roller patterns and spots that they missed. They also missed some places that we told them to grout.

We were very pleased. He was on time. The workmanship was great.

He quoted $800-$1000 for all the jobs. He was a really nice guy. He knew his stuff. He was punctual and very professional. I would recommend him because he is exactly what is represented on the website. He is a good guy. He seems affordable compared to some of the quotes I have received in the past. I will consider using him in the future.

He was great. He wasn't able to help me with the sliding glass door, but he was honest about that. He actually gave me three recommendations for others that could complete the job. He came when he said he would, looked at the situation with the fan and told me that when it warmed up a bit he would be able to help. He called me promptly when it had warmed up to come work on the fan. He actually bought an additional fan just in case it needed replaced. He actually only had to repair the fan. I would use him again in a second.

Very professional start to finish job. Mainly one person but had one more on the second day.

He was very knowledgeable and answered any questions that I needed to ask. He was quite honest and knew what he was talking about. However, I didn?t use him as I ended up going with someone else that I had contracting experience with before.

Al came the same day I called; he was clear over the phone, but when he arrived he discovered the repairs were relatively simple and gave me the option of doing one myself (which saved me $$$). He was honest and could have gouged me, but chose to do the "right thing." Refreshing to find someone honest and straightforward.

No problem. We think of him now as someone reliable we can call on when a new problem comes up.

Al saved my hide when the kitchen ceiling fell in at the rent house. He responded promptly, diagnosed the problem as a leak in the vinyl flooring in the bathroom above, and began the work the next day. His flooring job will last longer than the original and looks great! Plus, he patched the kitchen ceiling and repainted the wall so you can't tell there was ever a problem. I really appreciate his promptness, professionalism, and reasonable price.

Overall, went very well. Very friendly, prompt. There are some areas of peeled/chipped paint on some doors where the doorknobs were replaced, but I suspect this was unavoidable, and am not concerned over it.

Al arrived at exactly the time he said he would, and after describing what he thought might be the problem, he called his next appointment to say that he was going to be just a few minutes late because he thought he might be able to repair it. Once he actually started working, though, it took him about five minutes from start to finish, and because it was so easy (easier even than he had initially thought it would be), he only charged the service fee, so instead of $120 it only cost me what he would charge to come out in the first place. He was prompt and absolutely focused on customer service. I will definitely use him again.

We called Al because we had used him before for a stubborn front door problem and were very satisfied. We are thrilled that our house looks great -- The limestone half-wall on the front of the house looks FANTASTIC - he got the exact shade and used the exact color of grout we requested. Beautiful sill we didn't expect. We had talked to several professionals about what to do and Al is the only one who came up with this great idea. His idea and execution of putting a lower perimeter of hardyboard around the house is such a relief - it is seamless and now it is protected from garden splash. The up-high siding repairs are fine and barely visible (we didn't buy new siding for these little areas). The new rails are sturdy and look great. We had been told for years that the concrete wouldn't hold new rails, but he receded the concrete base where the base of the rails needed to go, in order to provide the grip the screws needed, then patched. The screws that came with the black rails were blue, and they even painted the screws black. They sanded and painted a rough area on the handrail that was the factory's fault. The repair of the huge ugly hole in the side of the porch is perfect. Can't even tell. The bathrooms look new and are very pleasing. He made the larger floor a floating floor, due to seasonal shifting of the house (built in 1935). The quarter round looks great and is finely sealed. The French door frame had a lot of rot. It was half the cost to repair it, instead of replacing it. He also caught rot under the threshold. The two windows which had rot are good as new. We thought the faucet was a simple leak but it wasn't, which required more parts. Repaired! The work got done on time, with unavoidable delays due to a deluge of rain. His people are nice. His masonry people are true artists. The insulation falling down under the addition has been a problem for years. He fixed it. There were a few little things we wanted tweaked (extending a piece of quarter round on both sides of the door, a rough spot on the railing that it turns out was the manufacturer's fault, and I made a comment about the little rock left over from the masonry work), and Al clearly has the belief that the customer is always right. We have a 75 year-old house in Rosedale. We added an addition in back in 1993 but it is not a mini-mansion. We live between two striking houses on either side. Since Al's work, we have gotten comments like "beautiful" and "I want a castle like this" and more! We will be calling Al anytime we need talents like his, and for ideas - he had two unique ideas that no one else ever came up with, and which saved us money. He is a good manager, has appropriate boundaries and is personable.

Anytime you are remodeling, as homeowner you do not anticipate all details of such project, but they came exactly when they said they would, they contacted us when additional work needed to be done before doing it and workmanship and professionalism was excellent. I gave "b" on price simply because I spent more than planned, but in hindsite price was correct. I will definitely call him again, when projects come up. Incidently, I handled this project long distance, using your service was such a help!

Service was pretty good. Installer forgot to do a couple things, but came back out the next week to correct.

He was very nice and very responsive. He took his time and was trying to figure out ways to save money. I liked him very much, but I ended up going with someone else. I would consider using him in the future.

Other than a couple of unforeseeable issues - like the paint peeling off in sheets and a small leak - the whole project went very smoothly. Al's guys are real pros - they show up on time and work non-stop. The entire team, including Al and his wife Amanda (who gets conscripted into running for supplies and helping with urgent matters like the small leak in one of the new supply lines) and the rest of the team are just great. You couldn't ask for a better group to work with or a more pleasant experience. And we all know how awful remodeling is during the experience! I also use Al's guys to do work at my daughter's house - mostly handyman stuff - and she loves them, too.

He was prompt and professional. The job was well done.

They were very professional and it was a good experience so I could see myself using them again.

He is on time and professional, but he is also expensive. His work is good quality, though, so you definitely get what you pay for with him.

He was way overpriced as far as I was concerned. I told him that. He was very professional but very pricey. I had another handyman do the work for about 1/4 of what he wanted.

They were prompt. They were reasonable. They told me what they were going to do and they did it. In one of the projects, they kept going after it, way beyond what most contractors would do.

Master bedroom closet has a control line from the airconditioner, and it developed a leak, resulting in mold-damaged corner of closet. Found Al via AngiesList and he came out on July 5. Al is very friendly, quick and accurate. It took about 10-15 minutes measuring and discussing the options, and he agreed to come back to do the work on July 8. I wasn't present when he did the work, so I left him a key and a check for $300. When I came home, the job was perfect. I was most amazed that the paint color matched exactly, as the color was difficult to match on a previous repair. He cleaned up the area, and left the remainder of the quart of paint! I was very pleased Al in all aspects of the repair.

I found him on Angie's List and he was very good and professional. He and another guy came out to look at the job. He gave a great quote, but we just didn't follow through with the work. He was all business, stuck to the point and was very matter-of-fact. He would have had to use a subcontractor for the cabinets. He told me the guy would have to call me and come out to do the measurements and boom the guy called me like clock work, came out and provided a quote fast. Al was efficient and the one sub he required was equally efficient.