Aim Higher Construction

UPDATED REVIEW AS OF 12/2/13 I am lowering their overall rating by one grade (to "C" from "B"). Again, they did a great job with the interior work but then finished the exterior work only after much nagging on my end. The reason for the lower star rating now is that I asked them for a new roof/HVAC estimate over SIX months ago and AIM keeps telling me that they are close to finished with the estimate but I still haven't heard from them as of today. It's too bad that my experience with them has ended this way after spending close to $200k with them already. I like their team on a personal level but to not respond with a real estimate after six months is unprofessional. THIS REVIEW IS ONLY FOR INTERIOR HOUSE RENOVATIONS I interviewed several different general contractors since renovation of my newly purchased house was going to be such a large job. I'm new to the area and the project was going to be expensive so I was understandably nervous. In the end, I went with Ted/Gregorio of AIM Higher Construction due to a referral from a trusted source even though their quote was a bit higher than the other contractor's quote. However, I felt that Ted was highly intelligent and thorough so I went with my gut. I posed the challenge to Ted that they needed to be done with all of the interior renovations by a certain date so that I could move in immediatelyafter my lease (at my other residence) ended. Amazingly, they were able to pull of all of the renovations (see long list above) in time and I moved in without any delay. I was very happy with the quality of the service and the thoroughness of Ted's planning. Ted and Gregorio clearly take pride in their work and it affects the work. One great example is that I posed a challenge for Ted where I wanted a large screen TV in the media room but needed a way for people to go through that wall. A simple door could not be used due to structural issues. Ted came up with a great idea to build a rotating wall with the TV on it. He worked h****** the design and was meticulous. He also figure out a great solution for preventing more water build-up along a side of the house from hillside water run-off. Selecting him for his intelligence paid off. In addition, Ted also has a very nice team of people who I didn't mind interacting with. Overall, super happy with their renovations on the interior of the house. Skip ahead six months. I've been living in the house and the interior is great. Had a few issues with their installation of certain appliances (clothes washing machine did not work properly, dishwasher leaked on two separate occasions most likely due to incorrect installation by their team - eventually fixed by certified Kitchenaid specialist who noted that the installers had not used the right hookups) but everything else is high quality meant to last. However, I am now waiting on Ted and his team to finish the exterior of the house. It has now been six months since the exterior renovations were completed and the backyard has still not been landscaped. It took close to 4 months just for Ted to take the time to do the full sprinkler assessment that he had promised. To be fair, some of the delay is not his fault since we've been waiting to get the city of LA to approve the burial of power lines in my front yard so the front yard had to wait. However, none of this issue affects my backyard. I have had to call and email Ted many, many times in order to get a response. Ted is always apologetic each time and promises to follow up but he sometimes forgets to even do that. He also promises to get me proposals for some of the specific work (e.g., installing a power line out to a part of my backyard) but then doesn't follow up. Not sure if the long delay is because the exterior work is now the lower priced work relative to his other projects but it has become frustrating. I will update this review with a full review once my yard renovations are complete but here is the bottom line so far: Positives: - quality of work - attention to detail - creative solutions - nice people Negatives: - timeliness of response - take a long time to get you proposals to approve - work can sometimes take too long (depending on the project - some projects were fast once they finally started) - price is slightly higher than others