James Whelan of Clare Home Improvement is a true godsend…read more As a first time homeowner, I called about a dozen or so local and nearby contractors for an estimate to jack up the front porch and replace the footings. It became one big headache after another. Contractors were either charging an arm and a leg or alternatively wouldn't take on the "difficult" job. Most made me feel like they were taking advantage with the price. I called James Whelan one afternoon and he was able to meet at my house that evening even though it was a 45 minute drive from where he lives. He was friendly, knowledgeable and able to communicate the scope of the job in a way that wasn't condescending or curt. Although he humorously described the toughness of the job as "not HGTV," he put me at ease with his personality and openness. Although a family emergency postponed the start date, once the work began - it barely took him and his crew a week to complete. He is such a hard worker. Even the neighbors were impressed! At our first meeting, I had a gut feeling about Mr. Whelan and immediately trusted his craftsmanship and years of experience. I really look forward to using James and only him on more upcoming projects.

We did two projects, one an interior repair, second an exterior project…read more First one went well so we figure, no brainer who we'd use. You can't let this contractor do his own thing. You need to watch his workers so they dont cut corners that are expensive later to fix. You need to get the agreement in writing, otherwise promised work will be forgotten and you will have no recourse a year later when the cut corners finally reveal themselves. No matter how much they come with a sob story, stick to half on deposit and not another cent until the project is complete and a punch list is done. This is a business transaction and his employees financial woes are not your problem. I should have trusted my gut when the siding guy was working alone and using nails, now Im having someone come by to quote how much its going to cost to tear down everything and redo it. Appears they have the skill to do great small interior projects, but cant manage employees to do anything larger. But the one big thing, get a written contract or plan on paying someone else to fix problems later.

I never posted the pictures and text exchange between myself and the owner. This may bring clarity…read moreand disprove his comments. Ty

Mark Cooper called us on 5/6/26. He gave my husband an estimate of…read more$17,500.00 to put in a new asphalt driveway to his hobby garage. My husband told him the estimate was too high. He then gave us an estimate of $15,500.00. That price was to install a paved driveway for a hobby garage and sealcoat our existing house driveway. He was to grade the new hobby garage driveway before paving. He got the job and said his workers were in the area and could start work right away, That was our first big mistake. All verbal contract and nothing in writing which is how he does business. Owner's son did not grade for the new driveway. No grader came on site. Mark's son and 5 workers started paving immediately. He just put down barely 2" of asphalt and rolled it. The next day 5/7 in the rain the son insisted he had to seal coat the new driveway. My husband told him no one seal coats a new driveway for at least 6 to 8 months after installation besides it was raining. He was told if he did it that day it would never have to be seal coated again. Another big mistake on our part. He proceeded to put on a very thin spray on coating on our existing house driveway without filling any cracks as promised. The son then went over to the new hobby garage driveway he installed the day before and seal coated that one also with a very thin coat of spray on sealer. My husband tried to tell the son no one seals driveways in the rain but the owner's son insisted that was the way they do things. When done the son insisted another $2750.00 for sealcoating the new asphalt driveway and the existing house driveway. My husband argued with the son and we paid him with another check for $2000.00 after arguing about the extra cost. We were never told that was not in the original agreed upon price. (Mm original quote was for $17,500.00. This is how he was going to get his original price of $17,500.00 out of us.) We were led to believe the original cost quoted was for everything. My husband told the son to leave the property. Next day it rained heavily and needless to say our new driveway had massive puddles. It is an absolute mess and will probably have to be ripped up and started over. The pass door to the hobby garage barely opens which my husband told the son about when he started paving. My husband also told him he better not get water in his big hobby garage where the overhead garage door is. The son assured my husband that would not happen. Checks were cashed same day as written. Owner comes in, gets his money, and now we are on the hook to repair the mess. Never would we recommend this unscrupulous company! He preys on emotion and smooth talks you. We should have known better than to start something the same day. We already had another paving contractor look at this driveway and was told it was around an $8000.00 job! We are senior citizens on a fixed income. Customer beware!!

My driveway was cracking and weeds were growing up through it. After the town paved my street,…read morewater during rainstorms would run right into my driveway. Ice would form during the winter. I called Eddie from ER Paving to come and look at it. He arrived when he said he would and gave me his opinion. I asked if I could look at an example of his work and he provided me the address of someone who just got their driveway paved a few miles away. After looking at their work, I hired ER Paving to rip out my old driveway, use gravel to raise the level of a new driveway, and then pave. They arrived at the times they said they would for the 2 steps necessary for the project. The crew worked hard in very hot weather and did a magnificent job. They cut the road so water now goes straight down the sewer when it rains. The project cost exactly what the estimate had been. I highly recommend ER Paving.

I had to get back on here and update the Community on this incredible business. As a homeowner, we…read moreworry about who we're going to bring in to do work on our homes. Will they be reliable? will they leave a mess behind? Or heaven forbid, will they take dangerous shortcuts? Most importantly, are they trustworthy? From my experience, Hudson Valley Energy will not let you down. They didn't let me down.. My son came by for a visit the other day and I couldn't wait for him to go and see the work that was completed in the attic. He was so amazed because he remembers trying to struggle up there to get our Christmas decorations out. Our attic was getting so bad that we completely gave up on trying to return those Christmas decorations and just put them in the basement. I am so excited to regain some of my basement space while still being able to access our holiday decorations and important boxes. If you are thinking of doing a Energy audit or having work done through Nyserda, I would make Mike Dunleavy at Hudson Valley Energy your first call. I'm not sure what's going on with the one star rating but I can only tell you what my experience is. Great service and the value of knowing that people are doing the job right is priceless. I'll keep y'all updated as the season's change.

On May 2, 2025, we were assigned to NYSERDA Contractors Mike Dunleavy and Matiss Riters…read more We never met Mr. Dunleavy. He was absent. He never came to our home. In his confusion, Mike Dunleavy created a bogus storyline of events based on second-hand information and misinformation from Matiss Riters in an alleged effort to cover up alleged Contractor Negligence and Insurance Fraud. The primary contractor we worked with was Matiss Riters along with his crew who proceeded to damage three (3) ceilings and one dining room wall in our home. Mike Dunleavy and Matiss Riters denied responsibility. The qualified homeowners are now forced to pay another contractor team out-of-pocket to complete the work and correct the damages done by Hudson Valley Energy, Inc. No Certificate of Insurance was ever provided. No proof of Work Visas for the crew was ever provided. Matiss Riters led us to believe the maintenance in our home qualified. Matiss Riters stated, "This qualifies, but Mike has to approve it." Instead, Matiss Riters and his crew installed insulation in the attic. During this insulation installation in July, 2025, Matiss Riters and his crew damaged our entire kitchen ceiling and unintentionally blocked the air handler in the attic. Matiss Riters and his crew came back to our home in August, 2025, to correct and paint the kitchen ceiling, but we can still see the damages through the paint. On November 4, 2025, the homeowner attempted to perform the quarterly replacement of the air handler filter when he discovered the blockage. The homeowner reported the blockage to Mike Dunleavy the next day on November 5, 2025. Mike Dunleavy acknowledged the report. Six weeks later, the homeowner followed up on the report. Mike Dunleavy apologized profusely, in his own writing, stating he had forgotten about us. Thereafter, Mike Dunleavy blamed the homeowners for not cutting into the insulation installation to unblock the air handler filter, but a homeowner modifying or altering an installation voids the warranty and contractor liability. In his own writing, Mike Dunleavy stated he was confused, doubled down on the misinformation from Matiss Riters, attempted to gaslight the homeowners, blameshifted to avoid responsibility, projected the homeowners were trying to scam, then allegedly committed Insurance Fraud by suggesting, in his own writing, that we cover up his Contractor Negligence by filing the damages done by Matiss Riters and his crew as a Homeowners Insurance Claim. This suggestion was given to Mike Dunleavy by John Kulk of Kulk's Plumbing and Heating when John Kulk came to the house to stop the water leak caused by the blockage. John Kulk stated, "If the air handler had been on, the antifreeze would have prevented the damage." John Kulk then advised us to claim the Contractor Negligence on our Homeowners Insurance. John Kulk made the same suggestion to Mike Dunleavy. This suggestion shifts liability from the negligent contractors to the homeowners. This suggestion is Insurance Fraud. Despite the homeowners being kind and accommodating to these contractors, the contractors took advantage of two disabled people. The homeowner is a former Hartford Insurance Administrator and qualified New York State Business Ethics teacher. It is our intention to litigate these matters to the fullest extent of the law. We have discovered circumstantial evidence involving a pattern of consumer harm by Mike Dunleavy and Matiss Riters of Hudson Valley Energy, Inc. slamming insulation installation jobs instead of complying with NYSERDA in reviews under their alternate company name, Better Energy Solutions, Inc. Mike Dunleavy has served as president for both Better Energy Solutions Inc. and Hudson Valley Energy Inc. According to his professional profile, his leadership roles at these companies include: Hudson Valley Energy Inc.: He has served as President since February 2020. Better Energy Solutions Inc.: He served as President from September 2015 to February 2020. UPDATE: On May 9, 2026, Martin Bracken of M&B Solutions in Warwick, New York, committed Insurance Fraud when he wrote a fake review for his friends, Mike Dunleavy and Matiss Riters of Hudson Valley Energy, Inc., to cover up their alleged Contractor Negligence and Insurance Fraud. All statements above are true, verifiable, and protected under the Consumer Review Fairness Act.

M P Blount & Son were hired to do some basic handyman & carpentry work and paid 4k to start. They…read morewere to replace the cladding around the garage doors, replace a post in the deck, nail down some siding trim that had come loose, remove the old garage entrance door and replace with prehung door, replace a bedroom door, replace bifolds in bedroom closet, repair front door and replace sill and wash the exterior of the whole house. M P Blount & Son were paid 11/19 and promptly cashed the check. The only work M P Blount performed was the cladding around the garage doors (buckling) , incorrectly replacing the post on the deck, incorrectly replacing the bedroom door and incorrectly installing the prehung garage door and this took until 12/13. Constant cancellations( M P Blount & Son get "sick" a lot), the coming late and leaving early were compounded by the poor workmanship. 1- The clear cedar post that needed to be replaced was replaced with a knotty cedar post. The light attached to the post was installed an inch lower than it was supposed to be( the other lights are 2.5" from the cap, the light Blount installed is 3.5" from the cap), the post itself was damaged and has a noticeable loss along an edge; the post was not properly glued and cured causing a very noticeable split down the middle which is getting wider as it gets colder and the support post was installed upside down (see photos) 2- The bedroom door didn't fit so they removed the door and removed the wrong edge (bore side) ruining the door (see photos). Micheal Blount admitted the door would need to be replaced. 3 - The garage entrance door was installed at an angle and sticks out. The top of the door was left unpainted creating a warranty violation, the interior trim was not done, the paint job was sloppy and the handle was not installed. (see photos) When I pointed out the poor workmanship Micheal Blount's response was "Arguments over workmanship during construction happen all the time". good to know After another week of no show, it getting too cold to wash the house and the knowledge that the work would have to be redone, I asked Micheal Blount to provide receipts and an accounting for the work performed. Blount decided to gouge me and evaluated the work performed to be worth 3570.00 which included the labor and cost for the door he agreed they ruined and despite the fact that half the work was never done. Once I have a real carpenter repair the work that MP Blount and Son did, I will sue them. Texts are admissible as evidence and I have weeks of them. In the meantime, social media, the bank where MPBlount and Son got their PPP loan, the Better Business Bureau and the IRS will have to do. What I should have done before hiring M.P. Blount and Son was google Micheal Blount as well as do a search of the Orange County Clerk's records because if I knew then what I know now I wouldn't have hired them. Only hiring licensed and insured from this point forward. Paying for materials myself etc.... Multiple lessons learned.

I found Michael on Another app and it was really really random. He is one of three people responded…read moreto my request in the area and probably the most responsive as well. ( best time to contact them is after work hour to be honest or texting) ask for their cell number I have small to medium size work being done. Small is from my kitchen backsplash and range hood. Medium is full size office renovation including insulation, doors, window, drywall and painting. They can much bigger project to restaurants. Price is reasonable comparing to other quotes I got. I value their father and son team as well as their work ethic. Unfortunately Michael got a flu during my project and that's something no one can predict. He kept me in the loop as soon as he feels better. Workmanship is amazing. My wife loves it and zero complain. They cut one of the siding just half an inch too much. He kept that in mind to change the whole siding for us. Even the actual cost of the material went up, Michael honored his quote for the work being done. He is super reasonable and honest person to work with. He see thing that needs work on in my property that I don't see coming. Roof cleaning and general repair work are within his knowledge. If you can't do it, this is the guy to ask. He was honest with our request to reseal the floor but refused because he said it's in very good condition and it's not needed. This guy just turn down money haha. So far he does home up keeping and improvement. One of the real estate deal I am working with has him manage the property repairs and all. The son part (William) is inspired to build furniture and restore furniture on the side. If you are looking for someone without paying an arm and a leg, you should reach out. I can't attest to his work but why not. Michael did restore and old vintage chest for his daughter with hours and hours of labors.

Beyond pleased with the time and care taken to get our pool in the best condition in years…read more Highly recommend for their professional and courteous service!

Complete cash and grab operation. Do not even bother. Do your research throughly when dealing with…read morepool contractors. There are very good ones! But the industry is what it is. A lot of bottom feeders seize the opportunity of quick cash. And sensational are bottom feeders. No communications. I've had a problem with my new installed pool for over a year and was never resolved. Good riddance

Vinny Fini recently redid out main bathroom and the transformation was amazing. My wife was…read moreextremely pleased on how it turned out. We highly recommend V. Fini Custom Construction for any project you need done. He also did our walkway, steps and the back deck on our house. He is a Mason in trade but can handle any task given to him. Definitely a 5 star rating!

I felt like I was in great hands. From the moment I got the quote, the office was very easy to deal…read morewith and didn't pressure us to get our deposit in. Started and finished on time. They ended up doing more work outside of the scope and estimate and were gracious enough not to charge extra for that, because they clearly wanted to do the best quality job. We would definitely recommend!

During the February 3/4 ice storm here in the Hudson Valley, I discovered that our sump pump system…read morewas not working--at 1:15am. There was eight inches of water in the basement, which fortunately had a slightly pitched floor. The pitch allowed for some space between the house's furnace motor, but was threatened, as was the hot water heater. I called the 800 number at 1:30 a.m. and received at call back from Mike at approximately 2 a.m. Start there: who does that? He told me he would have a crew out the next day. I bailed as much water as I could with large buckets, up and down the stairs and out into the ice storm to keep the water from threatening the furnace. The guys arrived at ~ 9 a.m. and had the system replaced within an hour. Bad roads, middle of the night call and B Dry of Wappingers, responded and had everything done before 10 a.m. the next morning. What can I say? That my friends, is SERVICE!!! Everyone on I spoke with a dealt with was friendly and helpful and the Juan and Alex, the guys who did the work, were consummate professionals. AA++