We hired Noble to do an addition on our house. Their bid came in right in the middle and Bob, their former sales manager, seemed to feel it was going to be a quick & easy job. This was March of 2020, so right in the beginning of COVID times, so we were definitely prepared for some delays. Accepted the bid and paid 10% down then heard absolutlkey nothing for 2 months. Not a peep. Reached out and Bob seemed surprised to find out I hadn't been contacted by Pedro, who was described as the project manager. Within 2 days I had an answer and suddenly Pedro wanted to meet with "plans". The plans were anything but. They were quickly sketched line drawings that a 6 year old could've done and didn't represent the scope of the bid nor the project. Red flag number one was the willingness to waste my time and try to BS me. The design work was then outsourced and 3 m months later we had plans in front o us that looked good. Mind you, we are now 5-6 months into this and nothing has happened with the exception of us spending money. With Fall fast approaching it was becoming clear that our project would be severely delayed and with that, our patience was growing a little thin. Communication was sparse and weeks would go by with nary a peep out of Pedro or anyone else. Finally, with plans ready for submission, it was noted that perhaps some work had been done on our home prior to our purchasing it that was not permitted. Fine, that happens and we can work through it. This now became a recurring excuse for delays. Finally, one Thursday afternoon, Pedro let me know the foundation guys were coming to dig and put in the forms for the foundation. Mind you, the plans had NOT been approved by the city, but Pedro was confident there would be no issues. There were issues. Seems Pedro didn't know about RTZ's or "root protection zones". We have 3 large Doug firs in our yard and the addition was encroaching upon those. Everything stopped for the next 6 months. We went through winter with the crawlspace where the foundation was to go exposed to the elements. We had freezing pipes. I had to block holes with anything I could find in order to keep the freeze out. It was, to be fair, a pain we could've done without. In Spring, things finally got going again (this is a yeaR after we signed the bid and started paying) At this point I was asked for more money, to pre-order materials, etc, as COVID had impacted the supply chain. Understandable, but should not have been my problem nor my expense at this point. I think they just needed liquidity. Whatever, we're in this now and want it done. for the next 6 months it was one thing after another until it was finally, after 18 months, done. Then came the surpise that final inspections hadn't even happened...
They eventually did and we concluded our business, but the entire process was awful. Communication was lousy, excuses were ever flowing and Pedro seemingly never, ever made any mistakes. It was always something else that caused the issue. Never was it simply Pedro not knowing or making a miscalculation. Always someone else's fault. Always a reason completely out of their control. It was BS from day one and continued that way until the end.
In the end, we have our addition, the work, so far at least, seems satisfactory and ultimately we got what we wanted. The process, however, was less than okay and it all stemmed from the inability to be honest, transparent and forthcoming with information.
I feel as though the team was learning as we went along, and much of the process that was undertaken with my project will benefit folks in the future. I don't believe that Pedro, Manny or any of the team intended for this process to be as difficult as it was, I just don't believe that they were experienced enough in the construction side of things (they started out as a painting company) to foresee the potential challenges they faced. With that, they were often combative and defensive rather than understanding and educational. We never felt as though we could stop worrying and trust the process to Noble. They just didn't foster that sort of relationship and that, to us, is unforgivable. After all, they are the pros that were hired to guide us through the project. They got it done and it is satisfactory. That is, in the end, all that they needed to do. The fact that this is all that they did is the problem in my opinion.
I wouldn't NOT recommend them, however, I wouldn't recommend them either. Kind of like a mediocre meal that didn't wow you but turned your life upside down for 18 months. read more
