John is a top-notch builder that our architect recruited to bid on our job. We really liked John best after our initial meeting. He is a good listener and very conscientious. He has a passion for what he does and a commitment to excellence. We had our fingers crossed that John's bid would come back within our budget. When the bids came back, John's was neither the highest nor the lowest. In fact, one well-respected local builder was about $200k higher than John, who was $20k over our budget and $10k more than the lowest bidder. Since we really wanted John, our architect set up a another meeting with John to go through the bid with a fine-tooth comb. John was very patient in working with us to figure out how to get the project within our budget. What a great decision it was for us to select John as our builder!
First and foremost, our house was completed on time with no surprises. Throughout the process, John was at the homesite every day supervising the project. When you hire John's company to build your house, you get John supervising the project, not some employee. Here is something really important--some builders impose a charge every time you make a change to the plans. John doesn't charge anything for change orders (apart from the cost of materials and labor involved). We must have made 100 changes as our house was being built. For example, we made a multitude of changes to the design of the living room fireplace. John was incredibly patient with each change. He accepted our changes with enthusiasm, eager to provide what we wanted. Moreover, he always seemed motivated by maximizing our satisfaction rather than maximizing his profits.
John also gave us lots of lead time and guidance as far as the various decisions that were on the horizon as the building process moved forward. By giving us a clear agenda well in advance of final decisions, we never felt rushed in making decisions. Moreover, John helped us make informed decisions, rather than pressuring us into quick decisions. We had thousands of questions about design options, building materials, and the construction process. John eagerly responded with clear and thorough answers, sometimes in-person, sometimes by email or texts. As a result, we learned so much about the building process. John made us feel like part of his team and his patience really paid off. As a result, we consistently made all the right decisions.
All of John's subcontractors were excellent. Their work was always top-notch (markedly better than those who worked on my last house). They shared John's warm style and eagerness to answer questions.
As we mentioned, our house was designed by an independent design firm. John worked with our designer seamlessly. Both John and our designer were very open to each other's perspectives as well as to our own design ideas. John also contributed his own design ideas (e.g., our fireplace and cabinetry design). Our kitchen was designed by a well-known local kitchen design firm, who also bid on our bathroom, living room and laundry cabinetry. John got us a competing bid from a local amish carpenter (but did so without any pressure on us). We stayed with the local kitchen designers for our kitchen cabinetry, but we went with John's amish carpenter for everything else. Not only did this result in a significant cost savings, but John's cabinet maker did truly excellent work. And with the savings we were able to make upgrades elsewhere in the house. John's flexibility really paid off and our house reflects a hybrid of design perspectives.
It's been two years since we moved into our house. We just love it! We are so grateful to have worked with John. He has checked in several times to make sure that we are still happy customers. When you work with John, you always feel like you are his most important client.
Given that this review is so glowingly positive, we feel somewhat at risk of losing credibility. So we tried to find something to be critical about with regard to building with John. But we honestly can't think of any negatives....Okay, maybe John should have advised us not to put in a KitchenAid refrigerator (but that's another story). But seriously, no negatives.
In summary, John cares first and foremost about meeting his client's needs. Providing personalized and attentive customer service is much more important to him that building a big company or making a lot of money. He is very hands-on and dedicated to providing quality service. It became quite clear that John's definition of success is defined by the satisfaction of the homeowner. read more
