They built our home 4 years ago and the builder was a joy to work with. Flexible, high quality and…read more responsive

My wife and I had a horrible experience in working with Pat Schultz/Stonecliff homes. He worked…read morefor us for about four months, and then we finally fired him and hired a new general contractor. We would not recommend Pat Schultz/Stonecliff homes to anyone. He was dishonest, immature, lazy, and did extremely poor work. The first major incident occurred when Pat had to replace a piece of rotted sub-floor in the kitchen with a new piece. I went over to the home to check on the work and noticed when I stepped on the new piece, it was very weak. Upon further observation, I noticed the new piece was not proper sub-floor. He used a piece of T1-11 plywood siding panel. In addition to it not being the right piece of wood, it was cut very poorly with large gaps around it when installed (pic attached). So, I contacted Pat about the issue. Several days went by and I never heard back from him. Finally, when I did hear back from him, he said he would take care of the issue. So, I went back to the home about two weeks later, and the issue was still not corrected. I then contacted our HUD consultant about the issue and he contacted Pat. After our HUD consultant contacted him, the correct piece of wood was installed. Due to the sub-floor issue, my wife and I contacted Pat and expressed our concerns over his lack of communication, lack of work supervision, and lack of progress updates. He replied back and apologized so we decided to give him another chance. However, his behavior of not communicating, not supervising work, and not giving progress updates continued. The next major incident occurred when the new kitchen and bathroom cabinets were installed. Instead of properly measuring and cutting the holes in the backing of the cabinets for the pipes to go through for the sinks, they were ripped and torn (pics attached). And things just continued to get worse. They installed a faulty toilet in the 1st floor bathroom that leaked on the new floor and damaged it. So, during the removal of the toilet to replace the damaged floor, they scuffed up and dirtied the brand new base trim that was installed (pic attached) and never cleaned or replaced it or communicated at all about what was going to be done to fix it. The final incident that made us decide to fire Pat Schultz/Stonecliff homes was when we found uncapped electrical wires in the master bathroom that were live and no one was there working. We immediately contacted Pat about the issue and told him it was a severe fire hazard-something a professional GC should know- and we told him to please ensure it did not happen again. He told us OK. But when we went to the home the very next day, we found more live uncapped electrical wires. So, we immediately fired him. After we notified our HUD consultant that we had fired Pat, the HUD consultant had to come out to do an inspection to assess what had been done properly. During the inspection, my wife and I found out there were several other things done wrong. The HUD consultant said that Pat should have gotten a smaller dumpster for the demolition phase of the work because instead, he got a large one that did not fit in the driveway, so he set it partially in our front lawn which caused heavy damage to the lawn (pic attached) and now that needs to be fixed. Also, the pipes connected to the sump pump were broken during the demolition of the back deck (pic attached) and that was never communicated to us either. Also, the 2nd floor guest bathroom had trim that was cut and installed incorrectly (pic attached). One of the new kitchen cabinets was assembled incorrectly and it was damaged--the backing was completely torn out (pics attached). Also, one of the new windows was installed incorrectly and does not close completely. Overall, Pat Schultz acted very unprofessionally about the very reasonable requests that we made to get the home fixed up properly. He never cared about the quality of work being done nor about the damage he and his workers caused. Nor did he care about us as the customers trying to properly fix up their first home and make it a quality place to live. He does not deserve your time or money!

We had a great experience with Joseph! We hired him to add wainscotting throughout the first floor,…read morestair landing and half bathroom. He also built storage cubbies and upper kitchen cabinets to extend to the ceiling. He completed all the wainscotting and cabinet uppers in two days! He also built the storage cubbies in 3 hours and ahead of schedule. He was very responsive and went out of his way to make updates after the project was complete to make sure it was exactly what we wanted! He delivered exactly what we wanted ahead of schedule and for a competitive price! Being new to renovations, the one thing I wasn't expecting was to have a dumpster ready to dispose of the scrap material. But Joseph swept the garage and consolidated the scrap to help with the clean up. He also recommended a painter who was just as great!

Definitely unprofessional at least. Agreed upon a quote months ago, then backed out less than a…read moremonth to project date after I've declined other trim contractors the ability to take our job because the owner developed a hurt shoulder, however could still do the project just for 50% more than agreed upon months ago. I would highly recommend seeking other contractors to complete your project. In addition, he also connected us with a painter to finish the pain on the trim, no showed multiple times then after walking the project never sent the quote. Unprofessional work and collaboration all around.

10-26-16 The "gift" that keeps giving. We just paid $1000+…read moreto fix another mistake made by this incompetent builder. The genius forgot to tie our existing geothermal water discharge line into the new outdoor drainage system so water has been bubbling out of the ground since. All told we have spent well over $10,000 fixing his mistakes. DO NOT EMPLOY BENCO CUSTOM BUILDERS OR AJAY LALL. Despite the months that have passed since our attorney supervised mediation, my hands still shake from anger while typing this review. Regardless, it is my family's duty to save others from making the mistake we made by employing this "builder". It was not until the bitter end, that we found out why he had no existing negative reviews. Like all the others before us (we now know), his attorneys required us to sign a "non-disparagement agreement" in order to get some of our money back after mediation. Brilliant business plan. Lie and steal from the homeowner and then use their money as a means of ensuring they won't report anything bad about you. However, we could not in good conscious sign that agreement and remain silent because no one should ever have to experience the immeasurable stress, pain and absolute frustration that we endured at the hands of this inept builder. The following are undisputable facts captured as written statements or during recorded conversations (yes, it came to that). Be wary of any response Benco Builders or AJ Lall provides to this review that appears to offer a reasonable explanation or counter opinion- he lies for a living. Pure and simple, this builder is an amateur. He will cite years of building experience, however the bulk of this "experience" was acquired by selling windows at a home improvement store. His amateur status became apparent to us once we were forced to employ a real home builder to hold his hand and supervise his work. Our lives painfully played out like an episode of Spike TV's "Catch a Contractor"(he will be on very soon). My wife and I are not builders so we initially believed his incorrect explanations (lies) and stories when we first began discovering problems. Mistake after mistake, yet none of them were ever his fault. There was always someone/ something else to blame. At one point we even had to hire a structural engineer to produce a formal report for him to finally fix the massive crack present in our newly poured concrete patio that he repeatedly claimed was "within acceptable limits". He was rarely on site. During our 18 months of building (it was contracted to be less than 12) he took 4 vacations (must be nice...). He is clearly not an actor because he had difficulty hiding his surprise during walk-throughs when we discovered the major errors that occurred during his prolonged absences and his lack of supervision of sub-contractors. His go-to excuse was "Oh, this is not finished yet". We quickly learned this was another way of saying, "oops I have to redo this and then charge you for it". He bids low because he leaves out-of-pocket items out or grossly miscalculates/underestimates what things will actually will cost. We paid over $25,000 more than he "expected" for the foundation excavation alone. We find out near the end that "door hardware is not included" which our real contractor (again, the one we were forced to employ to supervise him) has never heard of such a thing in over 30 years in the business. He can also bid low by hiring non-English speaking subcontractors who no one has ever heard of and that cut corners on materials. We found out after the fact that his roofer didn't even use roofing felt on our roof! Every area home supply company representative (lighting, plumbing fixtures, door hardware, etc.) we dealt with either rolled their eyes, muttered something negative about him or flat out stated that they would not work directly with him. We wish we had asked around with such industry folks before we hired him! We recommend you do if you don't believe us. My favorite moment occurred when we brought in the experienced builder as a silent observer (unbeknownst to Benco) and we requested that Benco again explain to us why our basement ceiling was 6 inches lower than it was supposed to be (an error we caught, not him). The legitimate builder quickly picked apart his story (lies) such that AJ Lall turned to us with his tail was between his legs and said "what do you want me to do?" Finally his lies were being uncovered! I could write a novel regarding this experience, In summary, if you want to be cheated and be left with ice cold drafty doors, mismatched stucco, cracks in concrete, squeaky floors, salvaged items charged to you as "new", sloppy painting, a leaky roof, complete lack of insulation in key walls, air ducts full of construction debris, mold in your basement and kitchen because of standing water, raccoons damaging your home because of persistently incomplete soffit work, etc., etc. then by all means hire Benco Builders and Ajay Lall.

I hired Benco Custom builders to build my house and WOW it was the best experience I have had with…read morea builder. This was the 3rd house that I have built since 1993, the first was with a track builder or large builder Centex Homes, dealing with a builder like centex that is building 100s of homes was nothing short of a over priced home with no custom features. The 2nd home I built was with a builder that had just started out within 5 years of building my home and I was satisfied with the work but would not use him again, too many unknowns during the construction process. My last experience with Benco was by far the best I have had, from the sit down personalization of the items I wanted in the home and the ideas that AJ had made this home building process fantastic. I am a picky person and a neat freak, with that being said I was amazed how clean the job site was thru out the whole project, AJ had signs hanging in every window of the house once they were put in stating NO SMOKING and NO TRASH allowed, you could have eaten off the construction floor at anytime during the building process. AJ finished the house ahead of schedule and there were 2 minor issues about a month after moving in and he fixed both within a timely fashion. I would recommend Benco Custom Builders to anyone who is thinking about building a custom home, the professionalism, work ethic and courteousness from all his contractors was fantastic. THANK YOU Benco Custom Builders for my dream home. ET

*warning* do not hire this guy. He wanted $600 to re-tile our bathroom as long as we grout. we had…read moreeverything up already. He said it would be a 2 day job. Him and his helper showed up. Unpacked their gear. He said he forgot his tarp at home (which was to be used to cover the furniture in the room he was working in. Told me I could go to the Dollar Tree and buy one. They have not been working an hour before he cuts his hand pretty good and has to ask me for a bandage. They also asked if I had a roll of paper towels and plastic Kroger bags. For the underboard, he used plywood which is not suppose to be used in bathrooms. There was a 1-2 inch gap between some of the boards he put down. He said I'll fill it with mortar and it will be fine. The hole around the toilet was a little big and cut badly. He said he forgot his main saw and had to use a different kind of saw. it took roughly 5-6 hours for them to lay plywood. Day two.. they show up to lay the tile. this took about 8-10 hours.. the tile he cut was very jagged and rough. we discussed him putting the toilet back on the tile because he agreed to it. His plan was to sit it on the tiles with the mortar still wet. Even he said it is not the right way and if I wanted it done right then he would have to charge us extra for him to make an extra trip to complete a job he agreed to. I expressed my frustration with his idea of cutting corners. H said he had set toilets while the mortar was wet 6 times and it was fine. We told him that we will finish it. When they were done we just wanted them gone. They left and the tiles were not even or level. My wife pulled up two pieces closet to the cabinet and they had no cement on them. The next day the guy texted my wife and apologized about the toilet and said he would come back out and do it right. He asked her to send pics of his work. She mentioned the tiles that had no cement and he immediately blamed his helper and said she would be fired. He did say it is on him since it is his company but we told him we don't need him to come back out and we were unhappy with his job. He said he made sure every fourth tiles was level. In closing, my wife hired the first available contractor she could find because a lot are booked until April. We were able to get out regular people to come out and fix his mess and they did everything from start to finish in 6 hours start to finish in 2 days including grout. I don't think Patrick intends to do a horrible job but he is a hack and has no idea what he is doing. You can Youtube any service he offers and do a better job.

I highly recommend Patrick's services! We hired him to do some drywall repairs, and a patch in my…read moreceiling. I was pleasantly surprised that he was able to match the pattern for a popcorn ceiling. In addition, he painted my 1400 sq house and touched up the trim work. Lastly, he took my spare bathroom from yuck to AMAZING! Considering how many things we were asking him to do, the price was relatively reasonable. I strongly recommend this contractor. He seems to really live by his moto "get the done right the first time".

One of the worst things to suddenly see in the house is a water stain or water coming down. After…read moreasking for a quote not only did Drew from Best Exterior call me within 5 minutes, but he offered to come out within the hour to just talk and look over the damage, then came out again the next day to do additional and closer review. Got us a proposal within 24 hours, and after working with us on the financial side and planning, the job was done within a couple days. I felt like we were their top priority, that they cared about my family (literally were trying to step quietly on the roof during inspection cause my daughter was asleep), and I have honestly never met or worked with a company that was this professional, thorough and efficient. Recommending is not good enough, I would say you MUST use them for your needs.

We found out we needed a new roof because our old roof was leaking into our dining room. We called…read moreBest Exteriors along with a few other companies to get quotes. Drew, the owner, came out, looked at our roof, brought down one of the tiles that had slipped off to show us the problem, and done a patch on the place that was leaking to help mitigate the problem until we could get the roof fixed. The quote came in on par with the other businesses we called, but Drew's attention to detail and his care while he was here giving us our quote was what helped make up our mind. Drew took care of all of the permit issues and preparation that we needed. The day of the work everyone showed up on time, the folks he worked with were really nice, respectful of our property, and generally just OK folks to have around for the day. In the process of putting on the new roof, we found out that the supporting wood beneath the shingles was old and too thin to support the new shingles in the long term. This was an issue Drew couldn't have known without taking the old roof off, he provided us with a couple of different fixes, including the most expensive being replacing all the supporting wood. We ended up choosing to replace all the supporting wood because it made the most sense in the long term, Drew was really great and gave us a discount on some of the wood because it was something that came up out of the blue. If you have a house that's over 20 years old it is bound to have unexpected things come up when you do any kind of work, and we had planned for that, because our house was built in 1963. Even though the scope of the work became more Intensive, Drew and his team were fantastic. The change in scope only resulted in an extra three hours of work meaning instead of finishing the same day they finished the next day, at around noon. Drew came by to inspect the work, took pictures via a drone so we could see what everything looked like on the roof. And his team made sure that our property was cleaned up and looked like nobody had just come in completely taken a roof off and put a new one on. I would 100% recommend Best Exteriors to anybody needing service like a new roof, the owner and staff were delightful, and we received great service and a great product from them.

Work just completed! Anthony and Mikey handled fixing our step/porch/walkway area - it's no longer…read morean angled step and a big leap to the porch! They called ahead of time (two hour window - they arrived a little early!) They were professional and thorough - it looks great, and I feel like it's one more "house item" checked off that's not going to stress me out. Original review below: This is my initial review - I am working with Justin Swegart. I made this appointment what feels like forever ago - and 1. he texted me he was on his way 2. arrived almost on the dot during the scheduled window (c'mon, we all know that's a rough arrival time when they have multiple clients, right?) For Justin: he was friendly, he was clear about the options, and communicated everything out as far as "what needs done," "what's in good shape," and "things to keep an eye on." He didn't push upselling, didn't push me to spend an extra $4k on work that wasn't necessary, he gave us all the options to make an informed decision. He explained the processes, the materials used, and didn't try to get overly technical or litter with terminology to make it seem fancier than it is. I felt more educated in just talking with him! So I've made my deposit with them (thanks to Justin). I'll update this as the contract moves forward!

We needed to have an older concrete stab patio stabilized and repaired. The entire experience with…read moreSmart Level was very professional and painless. From our interactions with Ty and Travis to get our project underway to completion of our project by Victor and DeAndre everyone was a pleasure to work with. Oh and can't forget to mention Sammie and Nancy who took care of payments and scheduling. It was a pleasure working with this team. I forgot to take before pictures but trust me when I tell you it is a dramatic improvement. Thank you all for making this a painless home project. Nora P

If I could give zero stars I would. Worst person I've ever worked with in my whole life. Sloppy…read morework, made my floor unlevel, left such a mess, was rude when I asked him to fix a mistake, demanded his money before the job was 100% done, never came back to complete his work and it's been 3 months. Unbelievably unprofessional.

Francisco did a beautiful job on my floor tile; he is responsive and reliable, and I recommend him…read morevery highly

Tom built a second story deck for us in 2022. His meticulous work and attention to detail are…read moreexcellent. He takes the time to listen to your concerns and provide the best solutions. We will definitely by hiring him again for all our home renovation needs. Tom's prices are extremely reasonable.