In need of a GOOD contractor... (Seaford, Nassau: house, neighborhood, buy)

[pjandamom]

We are thinking of doing some home improvements to our house in Seaford, can anyone suggest a good contractor that has recently had work done on their home?

[AndreaII]

The best advice I can give you at this point in time is to be careful who you hire.

My house will finally be finished from a major renovation on Feb. 1 (supposedly). The job that was supposed to take 4.5 weeks (quoted from owner of the contracting company) has taken 4 months so far. Mid job in December things stalled out; we were put on the back burner because other customers yelled louder than we did to get their jobs done for the holidays.

Finally on Jan 2 I called up and asked to have the house delivered finished by Feb. 1. Met with foreman (you don't want to be passed on to a foreman - you want the head contractor - the owner of the company - to over see everything every day) Jan 4 and he promises to have everything done Jan. 18. Well, that date came and went.

We demanded on this past Monday to have the job complete by Feb. 1. We'll see.

One of the things I wish I had known about is overages - extra work authorizations. Beware of a contractor or foreman asking if you want, for instance, walls to be finished off with molding where the walls are rough and need some kind of finishing. The contractor would just as soon leave them ragged, and for the molding you will pay through the nose. Just one instance of ripoff.

We are being gouged for a piece of Pergo floor that measures about 3 X 4.5 ft. I was told by the foreman at the time that they had some Pergo left over from another job and would I want it if they through it in for free? I forgot to turn on my tape recorder that day, believed what he said, and we just got the bill tonight for the Pergo that reflects $500. (I can assure you that they will be getting $500 worth of bad PR from me, and I have a big mouth.)

So, be careful. I think most of them are crooks, they will pressure you to pay the bill in it's entirety at some point, and if you fall for that they'll leave the job site unfinished and you'll never hear from them again.

Check with the better business bureau to look at any complaints if you find a company that strikes your fancy.

Do some smart shopping - in this bad economy renovation jobs aren't that easy to come by for these contractors - they win about 1 in 10. House Magazine has plenty of LI contractors advertising and most of these companies are well established. I'd definitely go with one of them the next time - and I still have plenty left to do. I'm very glad I didn't hire them to do my kitchen, or powder room, or patio, or walks, or driveway, etc.

[watamensch]

PJ, send me a private message and I will give you info on a GREAT contractor. I don't think the boards should be for direct advertising.

[BovinaCowHateWindTurbines]

X2I on andybuildz Not sure the thread will survive, but I would have Andy build anything for me... And I just follow his threads and philosophy on renovations. I also used to live near his tepee and great job no doubt... Drove by it every day for quite a while. So very nice home on one of my favorite streets on LI.

[Keeper]

Just to clairy the position of CD on advertising.

We concentrate on removing blatant cases of advertising. We don't mind forum users giving out recommendations. It probably makes the forum a bit more useful.
We had a poll about a similar case: How should we handle threads asking for business recommendations? and the majority voted to allow business recommendations except by businesses themselves.

[mom2three]

Originally Posted by pjandamom

We are thinking of doing some home improvements to our house in Seaford, can anyone suggest a good contractor that has recently had work done on their home?

I did recently have work done on my home (dormer), and was very happy with my contracter. If you are still interested dm me and I will give you the name and contact number. Good Luck

[franaissance]

I just sent you a PM of a very highly regarded contractor who did major work on 3 homes in our neighborhood.

Originally Posted by pjandamom

We are thinking of doing some home improvements to our house in Seaford, can anyone suggest a good contractor that has recently had work done on their home?

[jj7105]

Hi I recently just had My bathroom and kitchen redone, with outside siding all done by the same contractor. He is a young man who did an excellent Job, he had lots of great references that I checked and people were very happy. Also, I got a few other estimates on the jobs and he seemed to have very reasonable pricing. I was 100% satisfied, he didn't disposed off all the construction dubree on the jobsite and the job was done meticulously and it didnt take MONTHS to get the jobs done which I liked. He did work on my home in long Island his Name is Joseph Bozza and his number was (631)697-3604. Hope I was a help to you.
-Nicole

[LIMA]

I like Mike Holmes

[okaydorothy]

Beware also.

Our project was supposed to take between 3-4 weeks. They started in the middle of sept and my the middle of December I canned them. I had to finish it with help myself. It was just the small stuff ; didnt finish vinyl tiles, didnt finish molding, didnt finish ceiling tiles.

Always keep a huge amount of the payment back. They will tell you that they need a check so they can buy materials, can pay their workers etc. If they are so good, they can budget all this into the job and give you a payment schedule. Make sure they have a home improvement licesne with Nassau County ; go to their website and see the list of horror contractors.

Good luck