* Fast response; very easy to set up meeting for estimate and was able to get the ball rolling pretty soon after.
* Very professional, friendly, extremely knowledgeable beyond handy work/construction and makes sure we are both on the same page about everything (even if it takes a little extra time.)
* Price seems comparable, definitely more than you'd pay an average Joe, but less than or the same as similar legitimate companies.
* Does offer discounts for future work (this may just be for full remodeling)
Details:
I can't function in life without checking Yelp first. Sometimes I wonder how I ever got by before checking to make sure people on the internet approve. Just kidding, sort of. But really, any time I decide to do something I always put a lot of research into it and will often make a permanent decision to utilize a service/company before meeting with them and I won't bother shopping around beyond my computer screen. This may seem foolhardy, but I have hardly been let down this way, and truthfully my lifestyle (stay-at-home mom w/two evil kids under 4 years...okay, not evil, they just don't like me) needs me to make hard decisions as soon as I can or I head down the road of procrastination...kids always come first. I do also research beyond reviews on Yelp so I have an idea of how much I expect to spend and what I can expect from the overall process, so stop judging.
Anyway, Matt got back to me almost immediately after requesting an estimate and we were able to work out a meeting very easily about a week out, though I believe we could have met sooner, I needed to do it when I'd have someone to help with my kids or I can't understand what anyone is saying to me and usually forget entire conversations beyond, "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mammamamamamamamamommymommymommy!" "What?" "Hello."
Finally met with him and found him to be an extremely professional and friendly guy. Zero awkwardness and felt more like dealing with a cousin or brother. I'd like to point out that my youngest son (1.5yr) is not Mr. Aloha like his older brother....he hates strangers. He generally cries if new people try to hold him, sometimes just talking to him gets him going...he was totally attached to Matt. Even gave him a hug and kiss when he left. I'd like to think of babies sort of like dogs and cats, you know, they tend to have a sixth sense of who can be trusted and who's gonna poke them in the eye or take their food.
Matt spent a lot of time with me discussing not only the initial problem I needed fixed (front porch was falling apart), but I explained we planned on remodeling the entire home, and building up/expanding half of it, and during the interim I need other odd jobs taken care of, so we discussed just about everything and he came up with a plan based on my overall needs. Basically while they're doing the small stuff, they will just do what's necessary for us to live normally until we can get the remodel started -- not setting me up to spend thousands on something he'll be tearing down in a year. Only reason we can't get the remodel started right now is we still need to buy the house. It's one of those "grandpa left it to four kids with various stipulations" kinda deals. There's another thing Matt knows about...he's also a realtor and was able to help me figure out how we go about getting the ball rolling on that stuff. I seriously have no clue, and our situation is slightly more complicated since we already own two other houses but have to live in this one.
He doesn't push anything on me; he will let me know his opinion if it's different than mine, with an explanation why my choice might not be what he'd do, but ultimately (no arm pulling) will go with whatever I'm comfortable with. I appreciate getting a professional's opinion (I've worked with other people before and have had them just do exactly what I told them to which didn't work out very well because I don't always have a full understanding of the way things need to be done, or I've had them flat out refuse to do something unless I go with exactly what they want.)
So they've just completed the first job which was tearing down our old porch (some termite damage and a brick wall that was probably being held up by ants and their homes), and rebuilding/expanding it. I was able to show Matt some pictures of what I liked and my porch looks better than I imagined. His team, Tim & Kawika are super friendly and professional as well, and they also passed the test with my kids. They're coming back today to start on putting in a window a/c, then on to bigger projects. I'd write more but apparently I've (for the first time) hit Yelp's limit. I'll be writing reviews for every project and posting pictures, don't fret. Mahalo Matt, Tim & Kawika! read more