Get matched with top gazebo pros in Houston, TX

"Well, what can I say about Colony Builders? Well, this will be kind of long... but they get full marks from us. We were looking for an enclosed patio for our backyard that joins onto the house. Mainly due to the breaker box being outside and the royal pain of going outside in the pouring rain to flip the breakers every time the power goes off. We also wanted a nice place where we could make the area look nice with potted hanging plants and planter beds. We searched online at various sites including Amazon for what we wanted. The pricing of such a patio online was around the $5,000 range and the reviews were just awful due to the bad workmanship and lack of instructions, so it was there I decided to look up local building companies, and that's when Colony Builders popped onto my screen. We made an appointment online, and within a couple of days we were paid a visit by business owner Ali, who politely sat with us and from there we discussed our ideas of our vision of what we wanted. He worked with us and offered suggestions of his own for an enclosed patio. When we were done, he quoted the price, which was 4 times the amount of the shoddy kit patios we were researching earlier. Unfortunately it was out of our price range, so after he left, we thought about it for awhile before deciding we didn't need it enclosed. After contacting them again, Ali's nephew Mahdi came out to meet with us to discuss this different route. Mahdi is a born people-person and was wonderful to talk things through with. He was respectful and treated us like good friends instead of potential clients. He also understood perfectly of the changes we wanted and offered suggestions to help us save more money on the project. For instance, we have a concrete slab outside our back door. It is standard for townhomes in our area. We also wanted a tile floor on the patio which would be expensive. He offered the faux-tile stamping option, which was much cheaper. Basically stamping tile patterns into the freshly-laid concrete with different powdered colors to give the perfect illusion of tiles, which was perfect for us on a budget. From there we were certain we wanted to go ahead with the project. We decided on an open design patio on sturdy posts with a roof to match our existing roof tiles. All this on a new slab of concrete, much longer than the existing slab with a beautiful rustic mosaic tile-stamp pattern. They could even leave the existing slab in place. A deposit was asked upon agreement of a few thousand dollars up front. Our patio would cost $14,380 all up with no more to pay. Still more expensive than I would like but the craftmanship would be much better. They offer finance through Medallion which gave us the lowest interest rates, and we can even set up automatic payments online. We financed for 144 months to reduce the monthly payments but we have the option of paying more without penalties. Next step after our ideas were laid out was having the architect come over and draw up plans several days later. Madhi was also present for this. He literally was with us for every step of the way which was awesome. Plans were submitted to the HOA. Of course, they were rejected (I hate HOA's!). Apparently our HOA won't allow any structure to be built directly on to the house. So, ok. Mahdi came back over and we discussed further options for approval. The architect came out again... We planned it 3 feet from the wall instead, leaving a nice gap for the rain to fall through, but we'll figure something out later to stay dry. Also 4 posts instead of 2, as it was now free-standing. This time our second HOA rejection. We were getting frustrated at this point and were seriously thinking of scrapping the entire idea. The HOA's newest reason? The entire structure had to be at least 3 feet from the wall. Well, we thought it was! What they were talking about was the roof overhang, it would protrude closer than 3 feet to the wall. Once we redid the plans a 3rd time and kept the roof overhand 3 feet away from the wall, the project was finally approved. Within a few days the concrete guys came out to start the project, it was all happening now! They did a great job and had the slab laid within a day with the tile-stamp pattern already embossed into the concrete, it looked great! They also dug out the corners where the posts were to go, to 2 feet deep. They filled them with rebar and completely filled them with cement, these were for structural support to balance the posts. The second day, they power washed the new patio floor and weather-sealed it. Job done, and we were very happy with it. So were they, as they were often caught dancing away on our security cameras while they worked. They love their job also! A couple of days later, the framers arrived to start on the actual patio. Very quickly they put up our patio and roof tiles and did a great job. The posts themselves were fixed in place by hurricane straps, so it would withstand hurricane-force winds in a storm. The posts were sealed with James Hardy seal. Basically, the wood posts were encased in a super-strong material that protects it from the weather and rotting. It kind of resembles drywall, but much stronger. We were also told this in the planning stage, that we couldn't hang hooks or anything on it because it would crack the seal if we did. The builders would hang them for us using James Hardy nails and hardware. which they did with no worries. It turns out there was a slight miscommunication between us there. You can use normal screws in the wood after it has been sealed, it won't crack it, but can only use the James Hardy nails as they are stronger. They gave us some nails for future use if we want to add more hooks or a trellis. The builders did put a hole in our window screen, which we reported. Mahdi came out right away with a screen he had lying around the office to see if it would fit and replace the damaged one, which it didn't. A nice gesture. The next day the framers/builders finished the job and painted it to the colors of the house and it looked amazing! They also replaced our screen with a new one with no problems. Mahdi and Ali came out that day to see the final result and to make sure we were happy with it, which we were. Mahdi in particular was so helpful throughout this entire (ordeal) project, he was always there for questions and suggestions. He even showed us many ideas of designs for the patio and also the tile-stamp patterns. At no stage was there any doubt of where we all stood on the project, we were always on the same page at all times for every step of the way, and that was exactly what we needed, as this was our first real costly project, so many thanks to you Madhi, you made our life much easier! Your pleasant attitude, extreme patience and kind nature was so appreciated by us so much we can't express. Thank you to Ali too for making this project happen and for offering improvement suggestions along the way. To sum up, this was our first project and we are glad we chose Colony Builders, they work with you every step of the way and never once did they make us feel like they were pressuring us into "selling us something". I would highly recommend them for any project, they get top marks from us. By the way, they offer a 5 year warranty on the patio and base, then a 30 year manufacturers warranty on the roof. We can't argue with that, any hopefully will never need it. This patio is sturdy! Now, all we need is to find a good quality rain guard for the back door and breaker box... We will be using them again to build a small kitchen window box in the future, but that's another review for another day. Thanks again guys, you all did a great job! I have included some pictures of the finished patio, the progress with the concrete base, tile pattern and the color brand used."

"I would highly recommend V&R"

"JPA was wonderful"

"Mike and crew are the best! They completed my yard in a timely manner. They kept in contact when there were weather delays. We worked together to come up with a design that was beautiful and within my budget. My backyard is now the paradise that I've always wanted."

"I scheduled an appointment with Joey to give me an estimate for some landscaping work. He forgot about the appointment until I called him, resulting in him being 1 1/2 hours late. Following our meeting, he was supposed to provide me with a quote for the work we discussed, but I haven’t heard from him. I’ve since read reviews on Backyards Plus. He either is a 5 star, or a 1 or 2 star based on the reasons I’ve cited above. Not sure if he treats all potential customers this way, or maybe my project wasn’t enough $$$ for him. I was ready to have him do my landscaping project and take over my lawn service. Doesn’t seem to want the business."

"Rob was very communicative during the whole process. They came and removed a weed/bush that had overgrown my fence and electrical box in less than 30 minutes. Highly recommend."

"Working with Tom Ruddell was great. He was knowledgeable in his craft, timely, and most importantly, honest about balancing our needs versus wants to maximize our modest budget. I would definitely consult him again about future projects. Thanks, Tom!"

"Excellent,great job"