St Paul Range Hood Installation

Our kitchen has a granite slab backsplash that was cut to the exact size of our cabinets and old microwave range hood. When the old hood broke, we discovered that no new microwave range hood in the market today would fit in the space (basically they all need at least 16" of vertical wall space, and our old one was 15.25"). Cutting the granite was not an option (too risky), so we had to modify the upper cabinet to make room for the new hood (potentially requiring cuts to both the cabinet doors and the cabinet box). Several kitchen remodelers and contractors would not do the work, either because they thought the job was too small or they weren't willing to cut the existing cabinet. I finally called Outlaw and they were not only willing to do it, they seemed genuinely interested in the project and seemed to enjoy doing this sort of retrofit work to solve an unusual problem. They came and looked at the job and provided an estimate quickly, and showed up for the actual work appointment right on time. Jordan and everyone at Outlaw were easy to work with, and they did a great job. They were able to modify the doors so that it is not noticeable unless you know what to look for, and were able to use some available space up behind the crown molding to avoid having to cut the box itself. They then mounted the new microwave and painted the modified door with some color matched paint we picked up. The results look great and solved a very challenging problem for us. I appreciate that they were willing to take on a smaller, more unique project and come up with a creative solution. We're now talking with Outlaw about a much bigger project that we're excited to have them do for us.

I want to begin by saying that my experience with the electrical side of Stafford was amazing. Couldn't have been better. This review is for the HVAC side of things. When my husband and I bought our house last summer, the inspection noted that the range hood was not properly vented out through the roof; it was blowing air directly into the attic. Seeing as the range hood was already installed, we just needed someone to finish the job, so we decided this would be one of the first things we'd have someone come out to take care of. Dan (one of the owners) came out to do the estimate last December. Vent existing hood to existing opening $386 Replace existing bath fan venting and install proper hood and termination $129 Total: $515 $500 was a bit more than we were wanting to spend at Christmas time, so we decided to hold off. In March, we were contacted by Stafford to see if we'd be interested in proceeding if we were offered a 15% discount. That sounded good to me; so we got on the schedule. Later in March, a tech from Stafford came out to do the job. He came, went up in the attic, and realized that a part that would be needed to connect the top of the range hood to the venting was missing, so he wasn't able to do anything that day. We ordered the part and said we'd contact Stafford as soon as it came in to reschedule the work. Well, the next day, I got a call from Dan at Stafford saying he was going to have to charge us for the visit the previous day. I said, "you want to charge me for the visit even though nothing was done?" He pushed back and said it wasn't Stafford's fault that the part was missing. Then I asked if it was something that could have been noticed in the estimate, and he said yes, but that they typically aren't looking THAT closely at things during an estimate and that he just "popped his head up in the attic" when he came to do the estimate before. I told him that's not what I expect from an estimate and that I was frustrated my husband had had to miss a half day of work for an appointment at which nothing had happened. When I mentioned that I would be including the additional charge in my Angie's List review, he backed off. No charge. When the part finally came in, we rescheduled with Stafford. Neither my husband or myself were going to be able to be home at the time, but they said that wasn't a problem as long as we left them a way to get in. I called them to tell them I'd be leaving the garage remote in a certain location. At the end of the day the work was performed, when I got home, I looked for the garage remote where I had left it, but it wasn't there. I thought that was odd. I thought maybe they weren't done and had taken it with them but thought it was strange that they hadn't called. When I went inside I saw the range hood kind of hanging off the ceiling (it had previously been flush to the ceiling), and then I figured they really WEREN'T done, but I again wondered why they hadn't called to let me know they weren't done. Then I went into the bedroom and looked at the closet (where the access to the attic is), and they had completely taken apart all of the shelves and pins and poles and left them strewn about the bed. At that point I decided to try to call Stafford "after hours" to figure out what was going on: missing garage remote, range hood unfinished, things strewn about. I got a hold of Dan who seemed put out by my call; he kept telling me to send him pictures, so I did. He got ahold of the tech who had come out and the tech confirmed that he had "finished the job." Dan called me back to let me know that everything, as far as Stafford was concerned, was done. He said the garage remote had been left in a different location than where I had left it (somewhere I would NEVER have found). I assume the tech had forgotten where I had put it. After I described the job as "something a fifth grader could have done" and after spending a great deal of time and energy in making my case, Dan agreed not to charge us for the job. For this I was VERY appreciative (and this is why I gave scores of D instead of F). He also offered to come fix it himself, but after three Stafford visits to the house (the estimate, plus the two service visits), I declined this offer. I felt that Dan talked down to me and just wanted to be done with me and not that he wanted to leave me feeling better. He kept saying that he "wouldn't have done anything differently." A couple weeks later, I realized I had never received anything in writing saying that we didn't owe anything and that everything was taken care of, so I called Stafford to inquire and the receptionist said that she wouldn't know anything about that and that I'd have to talk to Dan. When she said that I felt my blood pressure rise because every time I had talked to him I had felt kind of bullied. She put me through, but he wasn't there so I left a message. He called back and left me a message saying that yes, everything was taken care of and that the reason I hadn't gotten anything in writing was because he had just "deleted the work order completely"; like it never happened. I saved the message on my phone in case any issues come up later, but I guess that's as good as it's going to get. The whole HVAC experiences was particularly disappointing because we've used Stafford for a number of years for electrical issues and I had assumed the Stafford brand was one that we could rely on--apparently not.

This is the second time I've used 651-Handyman and I couldn't be happier. Greg was professional and respectful. My range hood had not been installed very well originally, but he was able to re-attach it as it should have been. Greg discussed the options with me before taking any action. It took an hour, but my range hood is now up very securely and it looks flawless. I will definitely use this company again!

Arthur was very quick to respond, helpful and flexible in diagnosing our issue and solutions, and skilled and thorough in his work. I wanted to replace a shelf and countertop microwave above our stove with a new microwave range hood, but wanted some help as it was a two person job, and wanted more confidence in installing a heavy appliance. Arthur came to look and saw that the cabinet above was too tall to fit the appliance, so he first took out and attempted to modify the existing cabinet to fit. After some tinkering, he determined that it would be safer to get a new, shorter cabinet instead as it has to support some of the weight of the microwave. He did not charge me for the time spent on this diversion. I purchased a shorter over-the-range sized cabinet from a box store, and Arthur came back a few days later to install it, a finishing sideboard, and the microwave. He did a good job securing them, and reinstalled the top trim that he had saved when he took out the original. Looks and works great now!

They were excellent. They were polite, responsive, and punctual. He was friendly and did a good job. He was quick at the service.

As usual, Eric was excellent to work with. We have hired Eric in the past and will continue to do so. He is extremely reliable and diligent about his work. Installing the dishwasher required some extra effort due to the existing installation and Eric handled everything with remarkable skill. Eric consistently goes above and beyond expectations. He has a broad range of expertise and it certainly shows.

Everything was top notch. Pat was very responsive and professional. Excellent work at a very fair price. I would not hesitate to use Done Right again in the future.

THIS WAS A GREAT JOB. I WOULD HAVE LIKED A BIT MORE INFORMATION ON THE SYSTEM AS THEY WERE INSTALLING IT, BUT OVERALL THEY DID A GOOD JOB.

The job was given a once over review before he started work. He and his assistant put drop cloths down in addition to the cloths we put down to protect our new range hood and countertops. At our request they removed their shoes when moving over the carpet. The job took about 2 1/4 hours (faster than I expected), and his sweeping up/carefully removing the cloths were thorough. The ducting looks good and the range hood now exhausts outdoors, which was our goal.

The 2 gentlemen that came worked around whatever physical structures that were there and problem solved when issues arose. I love the outcome and when I cook, the whole house doesn't smell like oil or whatever I'm cooking.