Jakel Contracting Co

Overall, the job went great.  I had several contractors come in to assess the situation and offer suggestions;  I went with Terry  because I liked his ideas, he did the carpentry himself and I felt that he had a level of attention to detail that would pass muster with my engineer-type partner.  I also trusted that he would find specialists that could perform at his level of quality and had the experience to know who to trust.  I was not disappointed with Terry's work or any of the specialists.
Because my partner was to do all the electrical work as well as some other parts, we arranged a cost-plus contract, leaving it open as to how much my partner might step in an do himself.  With a trustworthy contractor, this arrangement can be a cost savings because they do not have to build in contingency.  Although this arrangement also has no cost cap, that did not cause a problem for me, because Terry had told me from the beginning what each component would cost, barring my choice in materials.  The cost reflected in this report does not include all the materials, such as the tiles, plumbing fixtures, paint, light fixtures and mirror, which I paid for separately and which probably total another couple thousand.
As with any complex construction project run by amateurs (such as myself), we ran into several speed bumps, some of which Terry warned us about, such as having some of the components fail to arrive per the schedule.  We remained tolerant and flexible throughout, since some of the delays were due to choices we made, which impacted the project more at the later stage.  As such, we worked with Terry around his availability to return and complete bits and pieces, which stretched the project out to about 2 months.  Throughout, Terry was responsive, reliable, and made helpful suggestions.  His punctuality as well as some of the specialists was not always perfect, but not bad either.  I would most definitely welcome working with Terry again and highly recommend him.