Several years ago, my 81-year-old mother hired Perry's Home Services to demolish and rebuild her existing freestanding deck. The project was simple: same size (16' x 20'), pressure-treated lumber, enclosed on three sides with railings, one staircase, and less than 40 inches off the ground. By Perry Schulman's own words, this job was "well below" his skill level. Before work began, I drove nearly six hours to meet with Perry to ensure we were aligned on expectations. He presented himself as a skilled and experienced contractor who had built many decks. We thoroughly reviewed the scope of work: demo, dumpsters, footings, framing, decking, railings, staircase, schedule, and payment terms. He promised an 8-10 day completion and agreed that once started, he would stay on the job until finished. He also agreed to properly protect my mother's new asphalt driveway from dumpster damage. What followed was a six-week nightmare. A fully loaded dumpster sank into the new driveway and blocked garage access for the entire duration of the project. Perry took no responsibility, blaming the dumpster company he hired. During demolition, he was instructed to preserve all electric and coil it for later. Instead, he cut the wiring flush to the foundation, requiring a new line to be run through a finished basement. The construction deficiencies were extensive and alarming: * Deck is 4 inches out of square * Footings approximately 12 inches misaligned (code issue) * Posts out of plumb by roughly 2 inches over 24 inches (code issue) * Joists not crowned and spaced inconsistently (16"-21" O.C.), some not even parallel * No structural connectors (joist hangers, post caps, hurricane ties) (code issue) * Girders and joists rolling due to lack of hardware and blocking * No diagonal bracing (code issue) * Rim joist short by several inches * Deck boards installed inconsistently despite specific direction * Staircase... I requested 48" wide, but only 36" clear width was built. * Stringers improperly attached, severely over-cut, compromising integrity (code issue) * Stair risers not enclosed (code issue) * Stair risers vary more than 1/2" per step (code issue) * Uneven deck board overhang (¼" on one side, 2 1/2" on the other) * Most Balusters are not plumb * Very Rough finish cuts * Inconsistent and unsafe fastener installation (some protruding high enough to create tripping hazards) Nearly every detail discussed and agreed upon, was ignored. All expectations were documented in the contract and as well in email correspondence, where Perry repeatedly assured us of his competence. When I finally returned to inspect the deck due to his delays, I was shocked by what I found. I contacted Perry and requested he come see the work. He seemed confused by the concerns but asked for an opportunity to fix the issues. I reluctantly agreed, only to learn my mother had already paid him in full -- despite my prior agreement with him that final payment would not be made until I inspected the project. My leverage was gone. He made a brief, inadequate attempt at corrections and then disappeared without explanation. He never returned. Registered letters seeking resolution were returned. Perry only 6 weeks earlier touted his personal accountability, and commitment, to now playing hide & seek after he was paid. At this point, correcting the serious code violations became the priority. Shortly after, my mother experienced health issues, which delayed any legal pursuit. While legal options may no longer be available, I feel compelled to share this experience to prevent others -- especially elderly homeowners -- from enduring similar hardship. I have documentation, correspondence, and extensive photos to support every claim made here. I look forward to a challenge about them. The poor workmanship speaks for itself. But more troubling than the construction failures was the way Perry handled this situation. He took advantage of an elderly client. Homeowners deserve honesty, accountability, and professionalism. Unfortunately, we received none of those. BEWARE Go to google reviews to see some pictures. read more

See all

Perrys was one of four firms I contacted for quotes to landscape our garden. I sent them all the same photos of the area to be landscaped and the same text in terms of what I was looking for. While the person who came to meet with me was punctual and enthusiastic, he was the only one of the landscapers I met with who (a) charged me for the estimate and (b) decided to "design" a different area of our home than I'd asked for. Unfortunately, he charged me up front for the proposal so I didn't know about (b) until he'd taken my money for (a). I should have known something was wrong when part of his proposal was to demolish a brand new deck. When I saw that he had prepared a proposal for the wrong area, he said he would charge me another $100 to prepare a proposal for the area I'd originally asked him for. Suffice it to say, I declined. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice... read more

Perry wants to be a serious contender and a jack of all trades, but he's a bit of a mess. I hired him last season for landscaping. He was okay, but there were little red flags. He tried to sell me other services before I had a chance to even evaluate the one I hired him for. Then he asked if I could leave him a positive review, putting me in the uncomfortable position of having to say no because he had just started with me and I didn't really know enough to leave a review. When he sent a bill, I would get a follow up looking for payment before the check even had time to get there in the mail. He did my fall cleanup and left the in ground pool cover covered in leaves. I had to ask him to come back and finish. All little things, so I would have still used him this season because it wasn't so bad that I felt I needed to look for someone else and he's also a nice guy. This March 21st, I got a voicemail from him saying that he had to raise prices and that I needed to sign a contract for services, implying he had already sent it. I texted back saying ok, but I didn't get the contract. On March 23rd, he responded that they were having computer problems and that he would resend it. I didn't hear back again until today, March 30th. He left a voicemail reminding me of who he was and that he did my landscaping last year, obviously not even making the connection that I'm the same customer that he had been texting with about the contract only a week earlier. In the message he informed me that the landscaping route was all filled up, but that wasn't why he was calling. He wanted to know if I wanted my rear patio power washed, a job he tried to sell me last year. I immediately called back reminding him of who I was and the back and forth texts about the landscaping contract I never received. I told him that I'm still waiting for the contract that never came. He insisted that he sent it. He didn't. I conduct virtually all of my business via email and this just doesn't happen. Then he told me that I should have checked back with him and that now it's too late. He's all filled up. Now I have to go through the hassle of looking for someone else because he's a mess that tries to bite off more than he can handle without taking care of what he's already got. I can tell that I'm not a one off. This is just how this guy operates. My advice would be to look elsewhere. read more