CONNOR CONSTRUCTION

We did a major remodel and expansion of our kitchen. Tom Connor started off on the wrong foot by initially standing me up for our first appointment. After waiting an hour, I called his cell phone and canceled the appointment. He obviously got that message because about 40 minutes later, he showed up at our front door and apologized, begging to be forgiven, etc. I reluctantly relented and sat down with him to outline what we wanted done. Looking back, I wish I could have known then that this was a harbinger of things to come; he pulled the same thing twice more. During the course of the work, there seemed to always be irritating things happening. Every day, I came home from work and found all the doors in the house wide open. That resulted in flying insects in the house, the kind that buzz around your head when you're trying to go to sleep. I finally put up signs at the front and patio screen doors, saying ?Please keep this door closed.? That was a waste of time; the signs were ignored. None of his subcontractors seemed to have any respect for him. The new plumbing under the new sink was not done as I had instructed Tom to do it. My idea was to position it such that it would be less of an obstacle in the way of things that would be stored under the sink and Tom was supposedly OK with that. Instead, the guys who actually did the work didn't seem to speak English so I couldn't communicate with them and the work was completed the way they wanted to do it, regardless of what I had said to Tom. I highly doubt that he ever told them what I wanted. Overall, the worst thing is that the new flooring area in front of the sink feels ?spongy? when you walk on it, as if it's weak and will eventually give way. As I stand there, I can ?rock? the floor. Second worst is the fact that every time I open the cabinets under the built-in gas stove top, there is a faint smell of gas. Then there are the protruding nail heads that are painted over but obviously protruding, etc., etc. The only thing that is close to satisfactory is the new kitchen cabinets and that's because I had them custom made by a company I had worked for and trusted. Tom is a talker and spent way too much time telling me about his divorce and about jobs where he felt he'd been cheated by customers and/or other contractors. What he never seemed to realize is that his stories revealed how he had screwed up the jobs himself. After the job had started, when I was trying to fire him because he kept standing me up on appointments, Tom even told me that someone had told him that he has adult ADHD. I could well believe that. He is, however, good at begging and talked me out of firing him, again. As the job was nearing completion, I made a list of things that needed attention, things like the nails sticking out, paint smears, etc., things that should have already been fixed. Then, I came home from work one day to find that Tom had found my husband home, told him that the job was finished and gotten a check from him for the balance remaining. My husband had not been involved in this project because he'd been gone most of the time and it was completely my project. Tom knew that and had simply seized the opportunity to grab the money and run. There was never a final walk-around to be sure everything was done, never a phone call or e-mail from Tom to see if I was happy with the job, nothing. He just disappeared. Because he had been such an irritant, I decided to just let it go because I was glad to not have to deal with him again. A year later, he had the gall to e-mail me to ask if he could bring someone to our house to see our kitchen. He acted as if I had hurt his feelings when I refused but blew it off with "you just can't please everybody." I'm surprised that he's still in business. I know I'll eventually have to pay someone to fix the floor and the gas leak.

I can hardily recommend Connor Construction for any size job, the overall quality of the work was top notch and dealing with the owner and main worker was a pleasant experience. Tom Connor is a master builder and exacting finish carpenter who builds to his own standards which exceed most others in the field. Tom is the most responsive person in the field I've ever dealt with, he answers his phone 24/7 and returns calls immediately, on occasions if I phoned his cell and hung up, he'd phone me back knowing he missed my call. One of the nicest things is Tom's connections in the industry. This job started out as a vague notion in our minds as to what we wanted. He introduced us to the right people at the right price. We saved a great deal of money by using a local draftsman as well as a small engineering company he knew. All the subcontractors spoke highly of Connor Construction and each interaction when seamlessly.