Mark's Construction

1) Mark did not show up the first day with no phone call or explanation.  I should have fired him immediately.
2) He drastically overbilled on materials.  He billed $625 just for materials and later when I had a chance to review the actual materials used it would have been no more than $250-$300.  I can count boards and get the actual Lowes price.  He was very quick to ask for payment and I should have taken more time to review his work before I paid him.  Obviously that was his plan since he knew he did crappy work and was going to charge too much.
3) His original estimate was complete garbage.  He pretty much pulled numbers out of his rear-end and did not take precise measurement and notes on materials or amount of work needed.  After the work started he changed what his plan was to fix the problem which was an early indication that he had no clue what he was doing.
4) He was very arrogant.  I don't care if a person is arrogant or not if they do a good job but  Mark's work was average at best.  The deck is already shaky again so the work he did  was essentially worthless.
5) He had agreed to replace all damaged deck boards in his original quote.  Those were his written words, not mine.  He may have replaced 1/3 of the damaged boards.  Apparently his definition of damaged does not include split, cracked, rough, warped, etc. because there are still plenty of those left.
6) His original written estimate did not include a fee for dumping materials which  I was billed for that at the end of the job.
7) Mark advised me that my deck could be rehabbed instead of being rebuilt even though my instincts told me that the deck should be torn down and rebuilt.  I should have listened to my instincts.
8)  He complained about the amount of time to take down the rails.  A sledgehammer would have taken them down in 5 minutes.  Literally.  The cuts he made were uneven and he cut into the deck outer joist in a few place.  Not enough to harm them a real carpenter would not have done that. 
9) He painted a few boards and just left them on the ground while the paint was still wet.  The paint flaked off and looked crappy.  These were boards he was going to use for the railing.  He had picked out boards that were warped, full of knot-holes, and gnerally in rough condition and should not be used for visible applications like a deck.  I figured those were left over from a previous job even though I was billed for all new materials.

I called Mark to see if he could give me a price and help to install pull down stairs as we were going to be having an air conditioning unit added and I needed the stairs added before they could start.  He gave me a fair price and then came within the next couple of days to perform the work.  He completed the project in a day and everything went well.  He laid plastic to avoid a mess and was good at cleaning up before he left.  I was very pleased and plan to use him in the future for additional work.

We called him on Monday and told him we wanted an estimate.  After hearing what we needed, he gave us a quote which we approved.  He came the next day and did the work.  He came when he said he would, and was prepared to do the work, also was very polite and professional.

Mark and team came on Thursday to cleanup the crawl space and lay black plastic on the ground to improve the moisture problem.  Came back on Friday morning and spent the day leveling the whole house. While under there, found an additional problem and made me aware  of it.  Excellent work.  Plan to use him in the future.  Sue

Mark and Valerie did a great job! No job was too big or small.
I had them repaint and touch up throughout the house, including trim and walls. Mark had to cut and rebuild a door frame for me, thanks to the handiwork of a new puppy. They sanded and repainted kitchen cabinets. Sanded and repainted an outside deck and an indoor porch. Additionally, Mark did a ton of wiring for me throughout the house, where Mediacom left me hanging with their shotty contrator work.
Overall my experience with contractors has not been good. Had people show up to give estimates but never actually submit a price. Had others submit a price but never show up for work. And had still another recently that showed up, started work, but never showed up to finish.
Along these lines, Mark and Valerie were a breath of fresh air.   Mark showed up on schedule to give an estimate, provided the estimate real time and started work the next week.  Each day they showed up precisely on time or called to let me know if they would be delayed going to the store to pickup supplies.
And the work was really nice.   I look around my house now and the paint job, cabinets and doors look like a brand new house.  It's beautiful!  And I look out my window and my deck is gorgeous!
Thank you for the quality of work from you both!

Mark's construction came quickly and replaced all 7 wood columns with fiber glass columns so
we wouldn't run into this problem in the future. He also added large
wood beams inside the columns to give the porch much more support. The
wood he used is treated so we don't have to worry about termites or wood
rot. Since the fiber glass columns were wider he had to take all the
rails apart and cut them down to size to fit between the columns. He
installed everything like it was before and repainted the entire porch.
The porch looks brand new now. I feel so relieved knowing that it was
put back together so well using great quality products. The additional
support beams that he added inside the columns was a great way to
provide extra support. I love that the porch is put together so much
better now. Thanks so much Mark!

To install the new french doors to my office the columns and heavy crown molding had to be removed. The doorway was reinforced to hold the new doors. Because of the reinforced wood holding the doors the entry way was a different size now and the columns/crown molding had to be rebuilt. Everything was painted white and the doors look great now. Everything was cleaned by the contractor and all the old debris was taken away by him too. The doors work and look great in the house. All the crown molding matches the rest of the house so you can't tell any of it was rebuilt. Nice addition to our house.