I was a new homeowner and very naive when I hired Brett to remodel my bathroom, and he knew that and took advantage of it every chance he got. Looking back now, I can't believe I let him get away with all this. But it's terrible that he thought it was okay to do all these things to someone. The shower that he built and tiled had cracking grout and pooling of water which started within a week of job completion. He hadn't even seen the problems yet and he already started getting defensive and saying that I should have to pay to fix it. He blamed the materials (the tile) and said it was my fault for choosing them. Rather than paying him to tear out the uneven floor tile and re-install it (because he was already way over budget) I had to live with pooling water in my shower. He botched the original estimate (by more than 40%) by not looking under the sink to see that the plumbing would have to be re-done in order to meet current code. He charged me to re-do the vent when that wasn't done to code. When he picked up the tile, he didn't verify that he picked up everything and some of the items were missing. I had to buy some a second time - he wouldn't pay for it even though it was his fault. He quoted me for replacing the closet wall, later decided it wasn't necessary, and wouldn't remove the cost from the quote. He got very aggressive and offensive (saying things like "I didn't buy this dump") and said I was "nickel and diming him" by asking to not be charged for work he didn't do. He took 3 months to finish the job when he originally said it would take 3 weeks, and the whole time I couldn't live there and had to find somewhere else to live. He even took vacation before the job was complete so the job had to be put on hold even longer. He botched the permit (got the address wrong) and I had to fix it. He said it would take him much longer than me since he wasn't the homeowner, even though the permit was pulled in his name. He specifically said I didn't need to put down drop cloths outside the bathroom where he was working because he wouldn't cause much of a mess and that he would clean up after himself. It took me three days to clean my entire home because plaster dust was EVERYWHERE. He gave an incorrect estimate of the tile needed which ended up costing me $1000 more than I expected to pay for tile. He didn't know the latest code. He didn't know to use sanded grout for grout lines wider than 1/8". He had never seen a bowed curtain rod before and installed it sideways (bow facing down), then filled in the holes in the tiles from the incorrect hanging with caulking rather than replacing the tiles. He installed the towel rod crooked and, rather than try to fix it, explained to me how he leveled the mounting brackets so it had to be a defective towel rod. If he spent half as much time fixing his mistakes instead of making excuses for them, customers like me would have better things to say about him. He had excuses for everything - he could never admit fault even when things were blatantly his fault, like the grout cracking. Stay away from this guy! Working with him is a nightmare. read more

Brett Burns re-did our roof (Aug 2011) --removed two layers of old shingles, fixed a sag in the roof, and solved a leak problem around one of the vents. We got three estimates from other roofers/contractors recommended to us by friends, but we went with Brett because his estimate was the lowest. Brett was a pleasure to work with; he is very polite, responsive, and reliable. His work was completed ahead of schedule and cost us exactly what he quoted. Tropical storm Irene hit right afterwards and his work passed the test--no leaking at all. We are overall very happy with Burns Home Improvement and would recommend him. However, I do have one piece of constructive feedback (it's a long explanation, sorry). After the job was done, we noticed there was water on the fascia boards, which is not ideal because it can lead to wood rot and ice damming. This happens because there was open space between our gutters and the fascia boards. Our roof work did not include any gutter work; Brett was upfront about it and there was no misunderstanding here. However, as new homeowners, we didn't understand the implications of not working on the gutters at the time of our roof work. What we needed was an expert opinion from our contractor (there needed to be some caulking between the gutter and fascia boards to seal the gap and prevent water damage). Had we received this recommendation upfront, we probably would have paid Brett to do this extra bit of work. We figured all this out after the fact on our own. To his credit, when I called Brett weeks after the job was finished to ask about this, he was still responsive and answered my questions, which I appreciated. read more

We used Brett to partially renovate one bathroom and complete gut another - we couldn't be happier with the results! Brett made sure that everything was perfect and to our satisfaction. Everyone that come through to do work was respectful and always left things clean. During an electrical inspection, the town inspector even commented that Brett's guys do good work. We are loving our new bathrooms! read more

My wife and I hired Brett to re-do our family room. In short, the final product turned out even better than expected. Brett did the job on time and budget, and came up with great solutions to a few issues that cropped up during the work. He also did a great job explaining the project, from the initial walk through, to step by step descriptions of the work during the project, to a final walk through when the work was complete. One point in hiring a contractor that was very important to me was that the contractor return calls and be available to discuss the project. Brett did that, whether it be meeting when it was convenient to me or returning my calls quickly. In addition to the actual work, Brett and his employees were also great to have at the house and were easy to get along with. Our kids loved having them around, were eager to see how the work was progressing, and have missed them since they left. Finally, Brett and his employees excelled at the small items too. They vacuumed the house each day when they completed their work, and at the end of the project they not only vacuumed, but also dusted and mopped. And as an added touch, they repainted some trim in the house that they thought they may have scratched (I'm pretty sure I scratched it up before they ever came in the house). read more

I had a few shingles that blew off the peak of my roof (and could see the sky from my attic). Brett was one of the very few people I called (out of 20 or so I called) that answered right away and was able to schedule something the same week -- I got times from other contractors that were from a few weeks to a few months out. Brett was very professional and courteous, and will definitely be the first person I call next time. read more

Anyone wanting to seek Burns Home Improvement should NOT. We made the mistake in hiring him only to be paying the consequences which include several code violations, inconsistent workers, failing to provided warranties and many more. read more

I found this company because of the great reviews on Yelp. We were looking to have a total bathroom remodel at our home in Milton and wanted to get a few estimates. I spoke to a woman on the phone and she told me that someone would be calling me back to set up an appointment to come by and take measurements, etc... 3 weeks passed and we never received a call! We had two other companies come out during that time and give estimates.. I came onto Yelp and was going write a review, but then decided to call again, just to make sure there wasn't an issue that I wasn't aware of.. I didn't want to write a bad review if there was an honest mistake like taking down the wrong number or something like that... I called again, and spoke to who I believe was a different woman and told her that I called 3 weeks ago and no one ever go back to me.. She gave no apology, never even acknowledged it, and told me someone would be calling me back to set up an appointment.. It has now been over a week and I haven't received a call from anyone!! We decided to go with our plumbing company (who also does bathroom remodels) because they are a very professional business that calls back and understands the importance of customer service.. Their estimate is approx. $23,000.00. I am baffled by these businesses that seem like they could care less about getting work in this economy. read more