We hired Joe Ottlinger, a licensed and bonded general contractor, to install a new counter top,…read moresink, and tile two vanities. The crew arrived a bit early and were polite, professional, careful and worked with precision. They were organized, efficient, and worked with good hustle. They made very good suggestions to improve our bath remodels. Their bid was competitive, they kept to their original price and they used some of my plywood to cut costs. They also helped us decide on how to manage other projects that we are doing. When we need more remodeling, we will call them again.

After a near miss with a "contractor" aka "handyman with a license" I was on my second round of…read moreinterviews of contractors when I met Joe Ottlinger of Ottlinger Custom Building. I wanted to add a shower in the master bath and finish off the room that would accommodate the "pop out" created by the shower. I knew what I wanted, how I wanted it finished and even had the tile picked out. The range of contractors I interviewed went from a fairly large company that actually had a "project management team" (which I didn't want or need for my small project) to a guy who came to the appointment late, hurried through it, couldn't be bothered with discussing the finishing off piece in the third bedroom and then literally begged me for the job weeks later after I had already settled on Ottlinger Custom Building. Most of the bids were much higher than necessary, and once the contractors figured out I knew that, started to negotiate the price down. Joe came up with a fair bid from the beginning. Despite the fact that I knew exactly what I wanted but being a single woman, some of these guys were to say the least a little condescending. It almost felt like they were patting me on the head as if to say "Don't think sweetie, we know best." After these experiences, my trust when it came to contractors was marginal. However, Joe really impressed me with the fact that he listened to EVERYTHING I wanted including the finishing off piece in the third bedroom which was equally as important as the rest of the project in terms of making it all look cohesive and wasn't an afterthought or an add on. Since I live in California and this is my second home, not being there was a big issue for me. So I decided I would go ahead and have Joe do the demo and come up for installation. When I arrived for the actual installation, Joe couldn't have been more helpful in terms of explaining the construction phase, permit process, why he used the same subcontractors to ensure quality installation, as well as what type of construction materials were the best quality and would ensure that there were no problems with mold etc. The reason Joe can keep his prices low and quality high is that he does most of the work himself with the exception of plumbing, electrical etc. and uses the same subcontractors that he knows do quality work and are dependable. Joe has wonderful "people skills" and has great relationships with his subcontractors and inspectors so there was never a problem/hold up getting items scheduled or approved. If you have a vacation home you want work done on or live in the area of Sunriver, Bend or Redmond, Joe is the best kept secret around. Whether it's a big job or small job, he is a perfectionist, who loves what he does, making his customers happy and takes pride in doing a quality job. The job was done on time with a minimum of hold ups. He did a fantastic job on my bathroom, took great pride in his work and even had the house cleaned when he was done!! Don't hesitate to use this contractor. I wouldn't use anybody else. See Ottlinger Custom Building on Facebook

Ted came out and tackled a disaster of a gravel driveway for us. The rain water was draining in all…read morethe wrong places. He put in a french drain and graded the driveway at a different angle so it would change the path of the water. He was here when he said he would be and kept me informed of everything he was doing. Job well done Ted, thank you.

I would not recommend anyone to hire this company! They did a job for us and (in my opinion) they…read moretotally ripped us off. We had to hire an attorney to deal with him! We had a contract for him to remove fill dirt and put down erosion control, and he did not seem to follow the contract on many levels. We had to hire someone else to correct what they did because we continued to have issues. Consultants told us that he left 3-4 feet of dirt that was all supposed to have been removed down to native and that he put the erosion materiel the wrong way on the hill. We asked him to come back and fix what he failed to do, but he refused. If you want someone honest, in my opinion, I would not recommend anyone hire this guy!

Finding a contractor, let alone one who is an excellent communicator and extremely detail oriented,…read moreis a hard thing to do in Bend. My husband and I really enjoyed working with James, owner of Smitty Construction. James helped us complete three renovation projects: our kitchen, a full bath and a powder room. From the beginning timeline to the final walk-through (and follow-up visits) James was a pleasure to work with. He transparently communicated pricing and change orders, extended his professional discounts, and was just plain nice to have around the house for almost two months. All of his subcontractors were a pleasure to have around and spoke very highly of James. One even mentioned how he's one of the few contractors in Bend they will work with because of his honesty and follow-through. If you want a contractor you can trust, James is definitely the guy for you. We can't recommend him highly enough!

James replaced windows in our 1978 home. Work completed quickly with care and fair price. We look…read moreforward to working with him on our next ptoject.

Shawn and James were very easy to work with. Great communication, great design and construction of…read moreisland cabinets. They were proactive with our insurance company, and went above and beyond. They were recommended by a general contractor, and we would not hesitate to recommend them. Gary and Jan Hooper

Can I heap more praise on Shawn and James? These guys run this great business. We worked with…read morethem to remodel an older home we bought in Sunriver right out on the Deschutes. Shawn did the design and permitting for us. We set up under a cost plus model. That's how they work. My wife and I were super worried about this, but reluctantly agreed with our "been in Bend forever and did us right" realtor's recommendation. We fortunately found out that they were incredibly economical in executing the project, and more. Costs came in consistently under their estimates. I don't think that happens very often, and we didn't budget that way, so we were so pleasantly surprised and thrilled that costs came in at/below expectation. They are a small business, and there were times when they were working other projects and our things were on hold. From our experience, as long as Bend contractors are busy, an ideal match customer for their business will be someone with some time flexibility, who wants lower total costs and excellent work. Not to say they were particularly late. They completed the baseline scope of work pretty much on time (a month or two longer than their forecast at project start). We have added a few things, and my sense is they've juggled those asks with bigger projects they're working while trying to attend to when we're planning to be in town/out of town. We're fixing up a second home, so no big deal for us to work within this framework. So if you want great price, great quality, a trustworthy, super friendly and super super competent team to do your project, and you can live with less than perfection on schedule, you can't go wrong with White River. Cheers! Jay and Jane Daniel

What amazing customer service and our floors look fantastic. Our ten year old floors are better…read morethan new.

Did an absolutely amazing job. Can't even believe that it is the same floor. The finish is…read moreabsolutely beautiful and they are very friendly to work with.

Highly recommend! Mike was quick, easy to communicate with and did exactly what I asked for. I had…read morejust moved and the movers left damage on my front porch step. Mike was able to quickly get back to me and check out the damage, perform the fix and even follow up with some further suggestions that I might need to do in the future, all while I was already moved and out of state! I would highly recommend using his services, the pricing was SO FAIR, and he didn't try to oversell things or do more than what was EXACTLY needed and requested at the time. Thank you Mike! I definitely will be using his services again for any future projects or fixes.

Call Will next time you're looking for someone to do the job right, at a competitive price and with…read morea great attitude. Will went above and beyond installing new siding, exterior window trim and soffit vents on my house. I couldn't recommend him more!

Will is a real craftsman. He does high-quality work. He's a good communicator and has a great…read moreattitude. He has done a range of projects for us on multiple properties. He just finished installing a custom rough cut hickory floor that had random-length boards that also came in 6 widths and varied thicknesses. Very challenging. He did a great job at a very reasonable price.

I am so happy with the work that was done for me! I reached out to multiple contractors before…read moreKevin and everyone gave me the run around or were ridiculously priced. Kevin was kind and my tenants thought he was very professional. He got the job done on time as he said he would and it looks great! I will definitely recommend him to everyone I can.