My husband and I decided to have a deck built onto the back of our house, and knew we'd have to find a reliable contractor to built it. We did some footwork and scheduled three contractors to see what it would cost.
From the beginning, R.A. James was our first choice. First of all, they were on time. This may seem like a minuscule thing but when you've only a few hours a day to get all your errands done, it's super important that your contractor values your time. They were straight forward and upfront while being friendly. We got our estimate within 24 hours and after receiving our other estimates, determined that we felt best about R.A. James and asked to start in about 3 weeks. He agreed that with that time frame he could get our permits approved (the city of Berwyn is the most persnickety about permits).
I have to say, I was hesitant about having strangers in my home and turning my backyard and kitchen into a construction zone. As expected they were on time every day, but what really impressed me was how unobtrusive they were. Each day the project manager would ring our doorbell, greet us and let us know what they'd be doing that day, if they needed access and that was it! They also took great care to use the existing finishes on our windows so that the flow to our deck would be flawless. We wanted to add a sail shade while they were building-- "no problem." We decided to add a lamp and therefore needed an electrical outlet--"sure." Our fire table is 200lbs -- "let us help you with that."
They were courteous and even more than that--fast. It took 1.5 weeks start to finish and that included Berwyn coming out to check the depth of our posts, 2 rain days, and both the electrician and the stone mason to reconstruct our brick. It was so painless, the price was competitive and the finished product was flawless, I couldn't be happier and would recommend using them for any project you might have in mind. read more