NorthCraft Builders Inc

We wanted to do something a little different with our deck from a traditional rectangle. Jeff immediately got what I wanted, and his crew executed it perfectly. we had some issues with our HOA and had to make a few changes along the way. Jeff was extremely responsive and helpful all along the way. The work was excellent.

We are very happy with the end result! It looks great and friends and family are giving us great feedback on this outdoor addition to our home. The cost was what we agreed upon (except for a few changes we made during the project - which were priced fairly by Northcraft as changes to the original scope of work). The crew was here every day working and they kept a very neat work area in the back yard. For such a large project, this was very easy for us... I would highly recommend them and have done so already!

Working with Jeff was also good. He discussed options with me. We decided to go with wood which is the cheapest solution. I wish we could have afforded stone, but the most important thing was to get everything functional again. We can always hide the columns with lattice as well. I am so happy to be using the porch again. Thanks NorthCraft!

We needed our deteriorating front deck replaced, plus the adjacent kitchen floor which suffered from years of water damage and inadequate subfloor. We hoped that the water damage had not affected the original joists on to which the new deck and floor would be constructed and hoped to find a reliable and knowledgeable contractor who could cover both jobs. Received several estimates, higher, lower, same, covering both jobs or each job individually. Finally chose NorthCraft Builders, based upon high ratings/reviews in Angies List, Checkbook, Better Business Bureau, Yelp and having met owner Jeff Kelley who came to do the estimate and inspires confidence! Further, the cost estimate and projected start date met requirements. We needed work to be finished before end of June due to visitors arriving and due to county requirements. Work commenced on Monday Jun 17 as promised and all, including tile laying, was finished by the end of the week. Luis and crew kept the place as tidy as possible. They (and Jeff, Jeff's Dad, and office administrator Lily Singh) took care to explain what they were accomplishing (I was home all week, knew nothing of the process, and consequently had too many questions). The end result is very nice and neighbors have been making positive comments about the deck. Even better, the homeowner's association and county inspector are well satisfied. We would use NorthCraft Builders in future and would highly recommend them.

Highly recommend! Jeff and his crew are great.. Answer all my questions, very professional, and very patient with us as we kept going over different design options. Deck is beautiful and we love it. Definitely recommend for all decking needs.

A company that needs no review, the work speaks for its self. The workman ship was top notch, crews on time, Jeff had his finger on the pulse the entire time. they did a great job and we are very happy, job well done.

We chose this contractor as a result of a porch he had built for a friend that was totally pleased with the work. We had some problems with the permitting process from the County that delayed the process as the county would not allow the porch to be built as designed as it came too close to a lot line. We owned 3 lots, the lot to the north had the drainfield and well located on it and had been permitted by the county. The house was located on the middle lot with the porch approaching the north lot. The county insisted that the lots be combined into one parcel before they would issue a building permit at this time. The contractor assisted us as best he could with the County requirements and in no way could be held responsible for the delays with the County Bureaucracy. The contractor was prompt and worked with us to design and build the porch we desired on our home. He gave us options to choose from for the flooring, railings and finish. The workers were courteous and pleasant to deal with and tried to give us the details we wanted. When they thought that something might be questionable they would confer with us. They gave us a choice of the finish colors to select from and we were pleased with the finish product. We were totally pleased with the finish product and the dealing we had with North Craft Builders. The small details that they provided such as the arches over the top of the screens, the starbursts at the roof supports and the chamfered corner where the porch extended beyond the front of the house gave a very pleasing look to the finished product. We had several neighbors drop by and express what a pleasant addtion we had.

Overall we're really happy with our porch. Everything took quite a bit longer than we had hoped, but (1) the contractor told us up-front about their backlog to get started, and (2) most of the delays once construction began were out of their control (e.g. weather). We got an estimate in mid-May, signed a contract in early June, construction started in early August, and we finished in mid-October. So the backlog was 2 months, and construction was a bit more than 2 months, when I think they originally said it would take 4 weeks once they started. Despite the long time frame, there was just one missed appointment and a couple times they failed to write/call back quickly, and in each instance they apologized, so I'm not really upset about that. As for the construction itself, quality and attention to detail were great overall. The porch feels extremely sturdy, of course. It has survived a handful of severe storms already with no problem. Their trim work looks fantastic, and they gave the porch a very well-finished look. A few months after they finished, I did find a little white paint on some black balusters and a missing screw that caused a railing to come loose, but I was able to fix each of those problems myself with just a few minutes of work, so it wasn't worth calling them back. Cleanup was good but not perfect - I found a few scraps of wood and other debris in the yard after they left, but again I didn't think it was enough to ask them to come back. Their staging areas also killed some of the grass in my front and back yards, but we were expecting that up-front and frankly our yard wasn't in great shape to start. Part of the electrical work was indoors and involved cutting into our drywall and adding switches for the fan and lights. Even though it was small, I was quite impressed with their electrician's work and cleanup. I think their prices were reasonable - not cheap, although some of the estimates we got were substantially higher, there was more than one in this general range.

We contacted NorthCraft builders for a new deck project. Jeff from NorthCraft Builders was extremely professional from our very first meeting. He was very candid with all his suggestions -- whether discussing the best building materials to use or reviewing design options to keep costs down, etc. I found him and his crew to be very flexible and easy to work with. We needed the deck to be completed before a planned family event. Thanks to Jeff and his crew for delivering a good quality product within a tight timeline. I will definitely use their services again.

Everything went well. Everything was completed exactly as promised, and both Mr. Kelley and his staff did a great job of recommending small, but significant, improvements to our design ideas. We got exactly what we wanted, even if we didn't exactly know how to ask for it. The job was done on time, and done well. A minor warranty issue was corrected quickly, and without any hesitation.

The original front porch on our 90-year-old house was sagging, and the retaining wall in side yard was broken and needed repair. Northcraft's Estimate was clear and matched final cost. Work began at the proposed start time and was completed promptly. Crew was conscientious about children coming in and out and worked hard to minimize disruptions to our ingress and egress; they also were careful to prevent our cat from escaping when they needed to plug into an electrical outlet inside the house. Team returned for touch up painting promptly when requested. Since the job was completed we've gotten several compliments from neighbors on the improved appearance of the front of our house. We are very happy with the project and would recommend them.

The work they performed included 2.5 days of work (not consecutive). Some of that time, two carpenters came out and some that time two masons came out. It took a couple weeks to complete the project because I wanted to be at home while the work was happening. Jeff called to find out my schedule and eventually we found some days that worked. His crew did such excellent work that I didn't need to be at home to watch their progress. They were very professional, capable, and efficient. We also had Northcraft build a new set of wood stairs with handrails. The stairs are very nicely crafted and every time I walk out into the yard, I appreciate what a great job they did on them. I haven't sealed them yet but expect to do that soon. Eventually, we will have Northcraft come out and repair our front porch--it's next on our list. I trust them to do a great job with that project too.

We have used Northcraft Builders for all of our big home projects and have been so pleased each and every time. Completely trust Northcraft Builders. Very professional, timely with fair pricing. Only contractor we have used and will definitely use again in future. The next projects on our list are the biggest yet (bathroom gut/remodels, office addition, extensive basement drywall) and are certain Northcraft Builders will continue to do a fantastic job!

I own a DC rowhouse in a historic district with a covered front porch and three wooden columns. The floor and a portion of the railing needed to be replaced due to rot. I had three estimates of which NorthCraft was the most expensive, but they had great reviews so I decided to go with them. In the initial meeting with the president of the company I was told that the columns did not need to be removed because he would slide the new flooring underneath them. Unfortunately, the work was not completed as specified by our meeting and written contract: 1. The new flooring was not installed underneath the columns as was promised. Instead they cut around the columns and left them resting on the old rotting floor which meant my porch was not structurally sound. 2. They did not inspect the framing (as was written into our contract) to ensure it had the necessary downward pitch required for drainage. Water was pooling at the front edges of the floor and would begin to rot the new wood within a few months if not corrected. Drainage is a basic concept of wood tongue and groove porch floor construction. 3. The rotting railing sections were not replaced (also written into our contract). NorthCraft acknowledged their errors on the first two items and made good faith efforts at correcting them. I was then told the structural issues and drainage were solved and that I should apply the stain which would further improve drainage. Unfortunately, water was still not draining, so they came back to further sand down the front edge of the porch which destroyed the stain they had told me to apply, so then they had to fix the stain too. The three visits they refer to in their response to this review were required to correct their construction errors, not out of courtesy. The extra time they had to devote to my project was their fault, not mine. At no point, did any representative from NorthCraft ever recommend replacing the columns on my porch despite their response below, nor do they need to be replaced. In fact, on two separate occasions I asked the president of NorthCraft whether the wood bases underneath the columns needed to be replaced and was told on both occasions that they were fine and just needed to be sanded, caulked and painted. Why would I have spent almost $4,000 and not fix all of the rotting wood on my porch. It just makes no sense. I sent final payment because I did not discover the rotting wood they left behind until I prepped the railing and column bases for painting and peeled off the old paint. They had nailed into these rotting pieces of wood, and as the pictures illustrate it is troubling that they would have just left them there without replacing or at least identifying it as a problem. I am now left with columns that sit on top of rotting wood and a railing with multiple rotten balusters that will need to be replaced.

After interviewing several local builders we found a great fit with Jeff Kelley and his team at Northcraft Builders. Jeff and his team helped us plan, design, and create a new deck for our home leveraging the best new materials and design concepts. From the very beginning we felt the Nothcraft team was highly professional and we quickly developed comfort in their recommendations and advice. Our new deck is great, we love the materials, the design and the look/feel. We are very happy we chose Northcraft Builders for this project and recommend them highly.

Asked for a quote. Two days later the quote arrived by e-mail. The price quoted was too high compared with others. Selected someone else.

I called Northcraft about replacing the 40 yr. old balcony/deck across the back of my house. Jeff. the owner, came out 2 days later and we agreed it could be replaced with some modifications to accommodate building code changes. Because my house is in an Historic District and must be approved through a hearing process, it took 3 months to get the building permit. When we had to make a last minute change to accommodate the Board, Jeff hand delivered the drawings with the change to the Board to meet the deadline for that month. I am very happy with the end result. There were a few bumps in the road as there are in all projects of this size; but they got worked out. I am very satisfied and proud to show off my new deck and have already received several compliments. Also, while I did not get other bids, I thought the price was very reasonable for the quality of the work done and the material used.

They used an existing concrete patio. It has 2 skylights, a fan, a light inside, and a motion sensor light outside. The also stained the addition. They are very cooperative, making sure to work with you every step of the way. They took my suggestions and worked with me to find solutions to suit my style. The two carpenters that did the building were just great. I've never had an experience as good as this one.

The front porch looks beautiful. They were very good about looking at the images we supplied and making something similar, or recommending variations. The price was also very fair considering how long it took, and the materials costs. The only thing I didn't like was it took several weeks longer than they estimated to finish the porch. This was not a critical project, so it was an annoyance more than anything. But overall we are very satisfied.

The work was excellent in all respects. We had excellent interaction with Jeff Kelley to outline the job, get plans drawn and permits pulled. Construction began exactly on schedule and the field supervisor was excellent and easy to work with. The work was of high quality. Our costs were a little higher than you might expect because we decided on some balusters that were more expensive and a slightly different look to the railing. We liked the railing so much that we extended another adjacent retaining wall. We were impressed with a first rate professional operation from start to finish.

Junior, assisted by Mark, performed the work in 2 1/2 days. They did a superb job. They are hard-working, conscientious and congenial.

At the outset, let me say that the deck built by NorthCraft Builders far exceeded my expectations. The deck functions as a balcony directly off of my living room and is quite visible from inside the house. The old deck basically rotted away, was not even close to current codes, and was mostly unused, whereas the new deck is a really nice extension to the living area of the house, safe, and a pleasure to use. The process of getting a quote was well organized and helped me decide what was and was not practical given the spatial limitations of the house and the adjacent brick patio. The price quoted was in line with my expectations. Once the contact was signed the main problem was scheduling around an unpredictable rainy season. Actual building of the deck involved a two-man team with John in the lead. I was pleased to find that John had a good working knowledge of the Alexandria codes, which are just a little different than found in some other areas (these codes are generally available online and I recommend reviewing them yourself if you are planning a deck). Except for knowing in advance at to which would be the days where work could go on, the construction process itself went pretty much as planned. There were however a couple of hiccups in communications, both between myself and John regarding the schedule and, I assume, between John and his manager (Jeff Kelly) regarding one particular work item: repair of portions of the brick patio that were affected by the new deck. In the end everything got worked out, though there were more phone calls back and forth than I would have liked and the small amount of masonry work involved was, while adequate, not in my opinion up to the same level of quality as the deck itself. In the course of this project I learned a few things that might be useful to others in a similar position. First, I had not really investigated the ins and outs of the new deck codes but recommend some reading before even planning a deck project (awc.org is one place to start). This may incline one towards being a busybody during construction, but there are many steps that need to be done a certain way for safety that are not readily visible in the final product or even to the city inspectors after the fact and where shortcuts will only show up years later. Second, there may be side-effects to consider even in what might appear to be a simple replacement project. In my case, drainage of runoff from the old deck was marginal at best and the process of excavating the footings of the new deck rearranged the soil and resulted in a net drainage of water towards the house and, in fact, towards a ground level basement window. In my case I was able to regrade under the deck after it was installed and also install a false window well for the vulnerable windows but only after narrowly avoiding a flood. This might have been addressed as part of the deck installation and there are a variety of ways of addressing things like water runoff as part of the deck design. Third, it is very handy to always have someone on site who speaks the same language you do. I probably pestered John with more questions and comments than necessary (though he did not complain to me about it), but the few occasions when he was not around left room for mistaken communications. For example, wanting to know that pilot holes were properly drilled before installing the lag screws attaching the deck to the house may sound overly picky, but such simple things can have big safety and structural implications down the road and are not really visible on inspection. Being able to discuss such details at the time made me feel much more comfortable about the final result.

The process started off fine. The price quote was several thousand dollars less than a competitor (also well rated on Angie's list) and the early meetings inspired confidence. We discussed in very specific detail what we wanted in order to get an accurate quote and even wrote many of those details into the contract. The boss, Jeff, drew up some basic plans for the purpose of getting permits that showed the layout but did not show all the detail. He said this is what the permit agency needed but that they had the contract and understood what was to be done. This was mistake one for us: we should have insisted on detailed plans. To their credit, they also offered to start right away since they had a gap in their schedule but we were about to leave on vacation. When we returned we ended up waiting near 4 weeks to get started even though they had suggested it would be only 1 or so, but I wasn't too upset about that since we had been offered an earlier date and couldn't make it work. The demolition was quick and the workmen nice. Then the deck building started. The biggest single issue of all for our process was LACK OF COMMUNICATION. Workers would show up without advanced notice. Worse, they would fail to show up on days they said they were coming. They built the framing and that was generally fine. Then they left for a week saying they had forgotten to order the ipe and it was a special order item. Ugh. The order showed up along with the railing systems and the workmen returned. The main carpenter for our project, John, was great. He was very nice to our 5 year old who was fascinated with the building process and did good work. We have no issue with him at all. But as we saw the build out we saw problem #1: No privacy wall. There was one in on the old deck. And it was clearly in the contract even down to specifying the exact type of wood and lattice. We called Jeff and he said: "Now you want a wall? Well, I'll have to get back to you with a quote." We said, "we have a quote -- it's in the contract" and he saw this was true. Now another special order was needed. Another week delay. John showed up the next day to work and we said "I thought you can't work until the privacy wall materials are ordered?" He had not been told of the changes by Jeff yet. The order shows up and he had ordered the wrong kind of lattice (again, specifically specified including a model number in an email I had sent him). Another delay. We finally got back to building but by now we were a clearly a lower priority. I don't blame them for wanting to keep the guys busy while waiting for materials to come in, but when they do we shouldn't always be second fiddle. This wasn't a cheap project. John would show up at 4p, clearly after having worked all day somewhere else, and put in a few hours before it was dark. Obviously, this must have been exhausting for him but the issue was not his but with the person (Jeff) doing the scheduling. They finished the privacy wall (which ultimately did come out great) and started enclosing the underneath with lattice. My wife and I thought this would be pretty obvious. We wanted roughly what we had before and what was in essentially all the brochure pics. But when we came home it was mostly done but looked bizarre. Some of the lattice was mounted with the vertical slats in front. Some with the horizontal. Parts of the lattice extended up to the deck level. Other parts ended blow a 12" beam. It looked like a patchwork quilt -- not at all aesthetic. We called Jeff and told him this and, after a long delay to get back to us, he came out. He hemmed and hawed pretending he didn't see the issue. He agreed to fix it but they didn't have enough lattice. He said "how important is this to you?" Uh, pretty important. Another special order to wait for. When this finally got done, we gave John a tip since he had worked so hard. His work came out very nice in the end. Now on to the staining. I don't know if at this point they had just decided they were underwater on this job and wanted to shortchange us or whether they are always this casual on staining, but the process was hugely unimpressive. There were a bunch more delays where workers didn't come out when scheduled which were compounded by weather to push the process out a few more weeks. When they finally did show up, they trampled all over my wife's garden even after specifically asked to be careful. The staining crew spoke almost no English which made it harder for us and a real problem since Jeff is clearly a poor communicator. They did a very quick sanding with only a finishing sander and rubbed the wood down with acetone. Now, it is true that Ipe, in part because it is so hard and durable, can also be a challenge to stain well. They used a product called Flood CWF. The problem is Flood actually explicitly makes another stain called "Flood CWF Hardwoods" that is for ipe... presumably because they have seen how poorly the regular formulation takes. I learned this too late although I shouldn't have had to do as much research as I did. Within just 2 months, there were large streaks all around the deck where the stain had completely worn off even with relatively light use. We emailed Jeff again. no response for 5 days. Emailed again. Finally a response after 3 days. Eventually he came out and agreed to restain. They came back out to strip off the old stain and resand (this time, thankfully, with an actual belt sander). But while they were supposed to stain it the next day (it was to be sunny for two days) they then said we'd have to wait until the following week. Why? Jeff hadn't realized the stainer was going on vacation for Labor day. Ultimately, the second sanding job was very good, and the staining job better. Here's the net: - Price was good - Carpentry quality was good (not excellent, but I would use John again if not with Jeff) - Honesty was good. For all the frustration with the process, I've never felt that they were ever trying to screw us. In fact, they've agreed to fix everything so far without additional cost so, financially, all these mistakes have only hurt them. Less scrupulous vendors might have decided to cut their losses. I appreciate that. - Initial staining quality was very poor - Punctuality was poor - Communication quality was VERY poor. At the end of the day, my feeling is the communication issue is the root cause. Had we insisted on very detailed plans (perhaps translated up front into Spanish and at the worksite) up front, the materials misorders and many mistakes might not have happened. But even with that, there were plenty of opportunities to get things back on track had communication been better with us and with the workers. Ultimately, we reached the finish line and are quite pleased for the most part. But the process was too frustrating for me to recommend them right now unless for a simpler job.

We went out for bids to 5 contractors. Northcraft was by far the most responsive, and helped us narrow down our choices and come up with some good ideas. Initial bid was somewhere in the middle, but they worked with us to win the project. They created drawings for our HOA that got instant approval, and took care of all permits.Construction went very smooth. They were there when they said they would be, and worked hard every day (with the exception of weather). I know a little about construction, and these guys obviously know what they are doing. They knew the building codes and what was going to look good or bad. They were very receptive to me checking in with them frequently, and consulted me with tweaks to the plan where they found it necessary or when I thought of some detail that I wanted on the project. All in all, they built a high quality, beautiful deck/screen porch that passed every inspection the first time. The project was completed with paint and electrical, which also went very well. The bottom line is that they did great work, and were excellent communicators. During the quote process other companies took 3+ days to get back to me with information, which gave me a bad feeling about how they would work when they got the project. With Northcraft, I got answers on the same day in most cases, and they kept it up during the building process. The company president even answers his cell phone!

Very flexible and a high quality job. Highly recommended!