Let me get straight to the point in order to make it easy for anyone shopping for a General Contractor.
Background: I hired Grats Decor (GD) for a full house remodel (everything torn down to the bones and built up again) + new construction with large square foot addition both horizontally and vertically.
Pros:
* GD's quote was cheaper than 3 other General Contractor companies that I got quotes from. In fact, if you were to look closely into the contracts, some of them would skip on some essentials such as roofing and flooring labor since the cost of labor greatly depends upon what you want to go with (concrete vs tile vs laminate, floating panels vs glue down, etc.). But GD's contract included all of the essentials so that I didn't need to worry about getting a change order later based on my flooring choice. Only one other company included all of these essentials, but their quote was about 12% higher than the quote from GD.
* The company is very professional and will work through without any complaints on any inconveniences that they might come across from demo to completion. You won't realize how great this is until you come across another contractor who complains about the smallest of issues.
* Any issues after the contract has ended? No problem! GD is not a company that finishes a project and moves on. So, you find any problems or need any clarifications on the work that was done, Gene/Yuriy will answer any questions and would also visit you in person to fix the issue.
Example: 2 weeks after the contract was completed and everything paid off, I discovered that my smoke detectors were missing the interconnection wire. This was because I got the "smart" smoke detectors and the electrician had assumed that they interconnected with each other through WiFi. Well, when I discovered that they do need to be physically wired to one another, I called Gene/Yuriy and explained this to them. In less than a day, the electrician came home, spent 3 hours and got everything wired. No questions asked...no grumblings....and no charges. Awesome service!
* Finally, they are very friendly and respectful. This goes all the way down to the people who work for them. I especially loved the demolition crew. We had mentioned that everything inside the house is unwanted and can be trashed. But we accidentally left behind a few artifacts. The demolition crew could have easily trashed them, but instead they kept them safe in our garage and even reminded us about them during one of our site visits.
Cons (or, more like "things to be aware of"):
* EVERYTHING needs to be in writing, and, I mean every little discussion. After the contract was written, but before signing, we agreed on including a few more items to the quote for the same price. But this was not written down, and was thus forgotten. When the time came, there were heated debates on whether the items were to be included in the quote or were to be charged extra as a change order. So write everything down...best as an addendum to the contract, or if not, as an email or text immediately after discussion. Everything means EVERYTHING. It's not that GD is going to back down on the agreement. It's just that they have many projects (because of their 5 stars on Yelp) and thus they cannot keep track of the small details and the context of the discussion. So discuss it, and WRITE it down.
Examples:
1. Closet installation included in your quote? Well, does it mean installation of a full-fledged closet system, or simply a couple of bars to hang your clothes? Discuss it and write it down!
2. Rough material is included in the quote (Finished material is not). Not sure if something, like your sub-panel's main electric cable, is considered as rough material or finished material? Discuss it, and write it down!
3. Number of HVAC vents in the house, and their locations. Decide beforehand how many you need and where you need them, and write it down!
* EVERYTHING needs to be checked for errors. To err is human, and even though GD is very professional, there were some errors made. It is very important that you catch these immediately. GD makes few mistakes and also does correct them all without complaints. But the more you delay in catching a mistake, the more it costs for GD to fix it, and this can lead to very uncomfortable situations.
Examples:
1. One of the windows was not centered to the inside of a bedroom.
2. A few of the walls were wavy and curved in some areas because of a random nail behind the wall.
3. Some of the bathroom tile edges were sticking out.
Note: All errors were fixed by GD for no cost. But all of them were caught by me because I checked everything!
Conclusion:
Finding a good General Contractor is very difficult, and nobody is perfect. I got mine after a lot of research and now that their work is complete, I can truly say that GD would not just meet your expectations, but exceed them....in price, quality, customer service, and overall satisfaction. I give them 5 stars! read more