My landlord hired the Hardy Group to remodel the ~1,000 sq ft house I was renting. Bob and his team:
-- built a new deck
-- remodeled the kitchen
-- moved the laundry room to the garage
-- installed new sliding glass doors
-- remodeled 2 full bathrooms
Altogether this remodel was quite extensive but Bob structured the construction schedule in a way that allowed me to continue to live in the house during the 3-4 month remodel. During this time I got to know Bob, his employees, and his subcontractors quite well. Here are some of my impressions and thoughts:
Cleanliness. Three months of living in a construction zone could get very tiring, but Bob was very attentive to my request for a clean job site. All the floors were protected from Day 1 and he put up several layers of thick plastic to seal off the various portions of the house. He even agreed to put in a zippered door (http://amzn.to/yzyPuF) to make it easy to get in and out.
Excellent Subcontractors. I was very impressed by the value-for-money subs that Bob lined up. I know from talking to the landlord that this was a tight budget. The demo team finished in a day, the deck team finished in two days, the plumber was in and out, and the electrician was solid.
Courteous, respectful, and good rapport with Bob & employees. I always had a good relationship with Bob, despite not being the one footing the bill. I borrowed some of his tools occasionally. I had a few drinks with him and his employees. Bob is very accommodating, passionate, and full of enthusiasm. Bob sent me emails so that I would know when a dumpster was showing up or a subcontractor would be banging away at 8 o'clock sharp. His guys even took our trash out to the curb on trash day.
Talented employees. One employee, Martin, stood out in particular--a Dutch guy who has moved to the US, he showed up to the job site in an older Mercedes and a wooden tote full of old-world hand tools. It didn't quite look like this http://bit.ly/w8CwI9 but it definitely reminded me of it. There was something a bit nostalgic and quite comforting about seeing Martin hand-planing a piece of oak stock on saw horses. I guess you would call it "craftsmanship" and it stands out in an age of mass-produced Home Depot slap-dashery.
Although he making jokingly argue otherwise, Bob is not a construction god among lesser mortals. The project wasn't perfect and remodels always have unexpected contingencies. From my own observation and talks with the landlord, I think two of the biggest issues were budgeting and scheduling. Both of these elements, however, require a bit of context.
First, we didn't have a complete view of the entire remodeling project from Day 1. We engaged Bob first to only remodel the kitchen. As that project progressed, the landlord agreed to add other elements like the deck, laundry, and bathrooms. We didn't have any bid drawings or specs to give to him, and the description of work we did give to him was piecemeal in conversations, emails, and over the phone. We also had a few change-orders once we saw the physical space beginning to take shape.
Second, with a moving definition of what we wanted down and a few change orders, packing in all sub-contractors and their dependencies (plumbing needs to wait for electrical to finish, cabinet makers can't work the same time as painters, etc) becomes tremendously complicated very quickly.
To his credit, Bob balanced both budget issues and schedule challenges very well. For us, budget was the over-riding priority and so an obvious way to meet that goal was to allow the timeline to extend a bit. And budget challenges were always dealt with professionally.
In the end, I know my landlord is very satisfied with the remodel, including the cost. We are enjoying the remodel and certain features still surprise / delight me every day. Walking to the kitchen in the morning and seeing tons of light pouring through the sliding glass doors and then stepping onto the radiant heat kitchen floors is a great way to start the day. Overall, I would recommend Bob as a talented builder and an enthusiastic and competent professional. read more