Neal Homes

As a homeowner that was flooded, I put a great amount of time interviewing contractors and felt that this company would give me the best remodel of my downstairs. In the end, I signed a 20-page contract (against the advice of a lawyer friend) and gave Stephen and Ryan about $120K of my insurance money. What I got was an extremely stressful, expensive experience with a variety of results. This should've been my first sign of trouble - - On my quote, Ryan refused to itemize my remodel expenses as all other companies do and this has caused an ongoing problem with insurance and with a subsequent flood. After giving them a 1/2 deposit, it took them over 3 weeks to even begin the project, which they blamed on permits. I was told that, "I could email the permit office," which I did, and received notification almost immediately that the project could commence. This should not have been my job. They demoed up 1200 square feet of tile creating a ton of dust and debris and despite my pleading, they would not clean it up. I became more sick than I had ever been in my life. I was then told that they would begin spraying oil paint on the new cabinets and it would be better to try to get out of the house. Within 24 hours, I arranged for a trip to Mexico and left. When I returned, it seemed that they also took a vacation and nothing was done. Money wasted. I then became more sick and wound up staying in a camper in my driveway as I couldn't afford to go away again. The $7K stairway I paid for is at best sub-standard for the money. He had a company come in and put in a vent for my kitchen (90 degrees to the outside. The guys messed up the outside hole and was in the shape of an oval (should have been a circle and covered). I asked for this to be repaired multiple times in emails and in person and it took over a month to get this done. Then, dealing with a second flood, and installing the hood, I was told by 2 separate installation contractors that this vent wasn't even sufficient for a dryer, and had to pay for it a second time. I had windows replaced, big ones. One of the windows already has a broken seal. I was very happy with the painters, the millworkers and the countertop fabricator. Their crews were very nice, competent and respectful. However, during the process, I learned that they were sometimes not paid on time and the blame was put on me for "not paying on time." That was a lie. I have since remodeled the house a second time and I am keenly aware of pricing for contractors. My half deposit more than paid for the full remodel and furthermore, I paid Ryan in full on the schedule which he created. I held up my end of the contract and expressed to Ryan that this was the worst business experience that I've ever had. I literally had nightmares about it for some time. Sure, being flooded is a traumatic experience but it didn't even begin to compare with what I dealt with Neal Homes. The items that I listed are really just the tip of the iceberg. Again, I waited a full year to write this and also until I rebuilt my downstairs a second time to make sure that I was explaining this with a clear head. My thoughts are the same. I'm now the poster child for all of those people that get taken advantage of by a general contractor. It's a sad story and a very expensive lesson learned.

We have had him do multiple repeat projects for us and we could not be happier.