Orvis Construction

James cleaned the gutters and checked back with us after subsequent rain to make sure everything was OK, I don't remember the exact cost but I remember thinking how reasonable his charges were.

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I contacted this company a few times for a quotation but without success. I passed my business elsewhere.

While James's table-side manner sometimes left us a wee bit cold, this was clearly outweighed by his professionalism and the craft in his work. Again, thank you James.

They did a good job. They worked with us to figure out what we wanted.

The guy really cares about what he leaves the customer with when the job is done. We had a materials vendor sell us some problematic and quot;goodsand quot; that created problems once James installed - instead of blaming the vendor, he came back and worked to resolve the problem at no extra charge until it was fixed. Wow! When does that ever happen?

Although I was impressed with their knowledge, unfortunately the bid was beyond my budget.

My experience working with James Orvis was great from start to finish. I highly recommend him. He came to the house before the demo to discuss the scope of the project and worked with me at every step to make sure that the work was in line with our vision for the room. He was both professional and friendly -- a pleasure to work with. He and his crew were very respectful and conscientious. James and his crew were careful to prep the room for demo. They protected the existing windows and floors-- sealing the room from the rest of the house so that we didn't have to deal with dust, fumes or other elements during the work. After the demo, James added framing which included collar ties to the existing rafters, blocking to the tie plate, and framing to define the tray ceiling. He was very careful to make sure the framing was done properly. The subcontractors that James used to perform the electrical work, install the drywall, and do the painting and wood staining were all great. The last phase of the project -- installing walnut paneling on the sides of the tray ceiling (see photos)-- required a high level of technical skill and attention to detail. James handled this work himself and did an outstanding job. The finished product surpassed our expectations and we are thrilled with his work.

I requested that this contractor come to my house for an estimate for some construction work on my garage, and possibly a new structure. He responded that he would only come to look at my house if I had plans and permits. I responded that I nothing was decided and, therefore, no plans or permits. But, that I would really like to speak with him about some options and obtain some estimates. His response, essentially, that if I had no plans or permits that he could not come out, and that I should look for an unlicensed contractor in the Penny Saver. Don't believe me? Take a look at chain email listed below: Hi ,I would be interested in looking at your project,If u already have plans and permits. If u need a designer or architect I maybe able to help u for a fee.Sincerely, JamesKeep it on the level------Original Message------From: omar To: [email protected]: Pasadena ConstructionSent: Aug 18, 2011 10:21 PM Mr. Orvis:I would like to know if you do construction in Pasadena? If so, wouldyou be willing to provide an estimate on construction?The construction would be demoing a garage, moving to the back of theyard, and building a two-bed room, one bath in the yard.Thanks,Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile Reply Forward Reply to jamesorvisshow details 9:56 AM (28 minutes ago)James:I am thinking of scaling back the project. I don't have plans or permits.If you would be willing to, I would like to discuss with you some options for construction. Let me know if come to my house for a discussion and some estimates.Thanks,- Show quoted text - Reply [email protected] to meshow details 9:59 AM (25 minutes ago)Sorry , I don't do work without permits and plans. Check the penny saver there are a lot of un license contractor in there.Sent via BlackBerry from T-MobileFrom: omar anorga and lt;[email protected] gt;Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2011 09:56:07 -0700 To: [email protected] lt;[email protected] gt;Subject: Re: Pasadena Construction- Show quoted text - Reply ForwardReplyomar anorga to jamesorvisshow details 10:04 AM (20 minutes ago)James:I don't even know what I would be getting permits and plans for - nothing has been decided. That's why I would like to speak to a contractor.Your comment about the Penny Saver - not so cool.Thanks for your time,- Show quoted text - Reply [email protected] to meshow details 10:16 AM (8 minutes ago),I get the same feedback for several people a month asking the same Questions.How did U find me? If I drove around all day long giving out Free info. I be broke. If U are TRULY wanting to have work done on your home.... U would have a construction consulted help u for a fee. I have no idea want. It is u do, but I sure u don't work for free. I have to give it to u straight because to many guys call them self contractors and all they do is file paper work.Sincerely ORVIS CONSTRUCTION As you can see, I never asked for a free estimate, and I didn't think it was unreasonable to have this contractor come to my house before plans and permits. I would stay away from this guy.

James Orvis was 1 of 4 A rated Angie's List contractors located nearby that come to our home to give an estimate. 3 of the contractors gave price estimates within a $3000 range. James' was in the middle. The 4th contractor never got back us. We chose to work with James for the following reasons: He seemed very knowledgable and experienced as a builder. During his vist for the estimate, he reallly studied our balcony well and took the time to explain how he would approach doing the work.. He noticed some details other contractors had not mentioned when they came to give their estimate. Overall, we felt his personality would be the best fit for us to work with. When James presented his estimate, he was upfront in saying he could not give an exact price for the work because it would be dependent upon how much damage the horizontal metals beams had which could not be determined until the old wooden boards were removed. Intially, this made us feel a little uneasy, but once we thought about it. it made sense to us. In the end, metal damage was not more than what he was suspecting and the final cost was within what he intially projected. We liked the fact he was a hands on contractor and did a majority of the work himself, subbing out just the painting and welding. During the job itself, he always maintained good communication with us in regards to the progress of the work. Their were times when he would show up later than he initially said he would, but he always callled to let us know the reason he was being delayed. The project took a little longer to complete than he initially stated, but it did not exceed maximum allowable time on the contract. The reasons for the minor delays were understandable. For instance, James wanted to obtain some special screws to properly secure our boards to the metal beams, but it turned out they had to be special ordered from out of state which added a 3-4 day delay to the project. Lastly, he was very considerate to our out of the ordinary sleep schedule and worked quietly and always cleaned up well at the end of the day. Overall we were pleased with our interaction with James Orvis and would recommend him to others.

His name was James Orvis and he was wonderful. He was phenomenal. It was a wonderful experience and I got more than I paid for. He was super conscientious and did a great job of cleaning up after himself. He was a perfectionist and very detailed oriented. He was a wonderful person to trust my home to.

Our new house was a big fixer-upper. We had a wall that was pretty much in your face when you walked in the front door. James removed the wall and some built in shelves in the adjoining living room. He enabled us to have a very well lit, open living room/dining room/kitchen area. He also installed french doors in a wall in the living room bringing in even more light as well as allowing us to enjoy the view from our home better. There were also 3 joined rooms in the back, 2 of which used to be the garage. The doors into these 2 rooms were skinny and the stairs going down from them were rickety and also skinny. Using an architect's plans We opened up these rooms to be a bedroom and a nook/guest room coming off an office. The nook has a half wall at the top of its steps so the light in it shines through to the office. New french doors in the office as well improved lighting and outside access along with new up to code windows in the 2 other rooms. James was also able to make some suggestions on the architect's plan that fit better with our needs. James also worked on our kitchen, helping us get better use of the space. A stove needed moving so he installed new gas pipes, and there was now more space for cabinets where the stove was, so he built them. He also replaced all all the "sliders" on the kitchen drawers so they opened easier and quietly. Overall I think he does excellent work.

It was great. They did a fantastic job and we are very happy.

I met Orvis last summer while he was replacing windows in the house across the street. 8 mos later I wanted to replace our own windows but I had to do it on a tight budget. I worked with Orvis to figure out a strategy. He advised/tutored me on the prep work of the job that I could do myself (which was a lot) and then he came in at the important times, with his workers, to do the vital things -- like hang the windows level, make sure they're waterproof, add trim that looks professional -- and, notably, blow out one of the walls to turn a window into a sliding glass door, as well as install a very large window 10' x 4'. We live in the hills and have sweeping views of the city that are now WAY better. This approach, esp. showing me how to do a bunch of the work myself, probably saved me $10k. He was punctual, friendly, and doesn't cut any corners. I highly recommend Orvis Construction. It was a great experience with great results.

Our 1947 bungalow badly needed an exterior remodeling. Our neighbor's similar-vintage house had been undergoing a thorough renovation from top to bottom, which we'd been watching with interest; since the final results looked fantastic, we asked the owners who had done the work, and they pointed us to James Orvis. James has extensive knowledge about and experience with historic properties as well as more simple postwar homes like ours, and his sensitivity to the proper feeling and look of our house was instantly apparent and barely needed to be discussed at all. His pricing was extremely fair and very well-explained, and there were no surprises. His crew is super pro, neat and friendly, and we couldn't be happier with the work they did. Our only regret now is the fact that we can't start our interior renovations with James as soon as we'd like to. We recommend James to anyone we can, whether they might need something small or large done.

The project took approximately 6 months from start to finish, and I couldn't have been more pleased with the final product. James was professional and personally accountable for all aspects of the project. Further proof of James' fine work was reaffirmed when my house was featured on "My House is Worth What" on HGTV; the segment originally aired in October 2008 and the remodel was deemed a success.

Our house is over 100 years old and it was very important to us to find a contractor who understood the quirks of an old house and wouldn't get frustrated by the imperfections that we held as character. The new had to seemlessly blend with the old and since our house was once on the cover of Cottage Living Magazine, the integrity of the work had to be impeccable. My sister had used Orvis Construction and was very happy with their work so after getting several ridiculously high estimates we decided to go with Orvis Construction without getting a firm bid. Our reason for doing this was because we were finding that other contractors were giving us these high bids because they were afraid of what they would find with our house being so old and James Orvis just honestly said he would charge us what it cost and we would discuss everything as it came up so we could decide if we wanted/needed to do something. It seemed like a crazy idea, but it was the best decision we could have made and I think in the end really saved us money because we only paid for what was actually done. I don't know if I would have done this with another contractor, but we really trusted James and since we weren't paying huge deposits but only for work as it was completed it seemed like it would work. And it really did. We have heard so many horror stories about people doing kitchen remodels that lasted longer than a year but our experience was just over 4 months. James did everything he could to work as quickly and efficently as possible, especially since we had decided to stay in the house for the remodel and he knew how important it was for us to get our kitchen back. He kept in constant contact with us about all decisions and we really felt like he cared about the remodel as much as we did. Also the fact that James, the contractor, was there at least 80-90% of the time made us feel secure that things were being handled and thought about. So overall it was an amazing experience and we couldn't recommend Orvis Construction more.

This was a fantastic experience. James was really great in working with my changing requirements as the project began and I kept having new ideas and requests. He spent a lot of time with me discussing options and resulting cost for each option I threw out at him. With his help I ended up creating an artist oasis out of a scary dirt room under the house and a backyard that was pretty much just mud and a chain link fence. I actually ended up with a way better solution than I had ever dreamed of when I started. I have asked him to continue doing other smaller jobs for me and I feel VERY blessed to have someone as skilled and professional as James for my building needs. I will definately be hiring James again in the future.