S&J Builders and Restoration Services, Inc

After a water leak at a vacation property, we decided to have S&J do the work and also change the flooring from carpeting to vinyl. We were happy with the initial consult with S&J but were let down with the execution. After replacing the flooring, there was a huge gap between the vinyl and baseboards that the carpet used to fill. They wanted extra money to make adjustments and fill that gap. It looked awful and is something that any contractor should have anticipated. Even worse, we allowed the employees to use the bathrooms in the house (to save money on a Port-a-Potty), and they filled the toilets without flushing (seen on a walk-through). Once they finished the job, we were having plumbing issues. When we addressed this with the management, they said "prove it with a note from a plumber." The plumber came out and found the foam from a paint roller that had been flushed by the employees! Their response: sorry about that.

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I was not happy with the work done by their sub or S&J's project management. I hired S&J company specifically to have a general contractor with experience on water damage to do the work to ensure the work was done correctly, to code and specs were followed. This work site was between two properties and involved working with an HOA and following HOA approved spcope of work following lengthy litigation. The job was delayed a few days because there was no subs lined up, that concerned me, and I was very unhappy that they went with a landscape contractor to do ALL the work, but the project manager Mike was very pleasant to work with. The sub they hired did not follow the scope work, when I pointed this out to the project manager he told me it would be fixed, and it did not happen. The sub ( AC Landscape) took short cuts, and flat out lied about what they were doing, I had to check everything and the PM was not on sight checking their work even after this happened several times. My contract says they work M-F 7:30 - 4:00 and that did not happen until I pushed for it, which made me lose time at work. I had to keep asking the sub not to park in front of the fire hydrant and handicapped parking and they argued with me! I left a message for the S&J customer service agent Gracie, then followed up with an E-mail and got a snarky reply claiming she had called me back, when in fact she had not. When I did finally speak to her, she was very nice, and I told her about the repeat problems she told me they would have a production meeting that day with her Mike and the owner, Sean. I was hoping that would resolve the problem but the next day, the concrete poured by the sub was done without the required expansion joints against my foundation, so I contacted the PM by Email and said don't do any more work until we figure out how to move forward. The next AM the owner called me at 6:45AM and said "if they did not install the expansion joints, then they would fix it. I said, there is no IF, there are no expansion joints at the foundation AND I don't want that sub working on my house any more. He proceeded to tell me I had no choice, and needless to say I was very unhappy and was not very polite and hung up. We traded Emails back and forth and they tried to blame the problem on me, eventually that was resolved and the concrete had to be torn out after re-done and the owner took over the project management but the problems continued. The owner Sean, was very cordial but refused to give me any discount or extend the warranty and I had to push to get credits for work that was NOT performed, and he would do the same as the project manager, tell me he "checked the work and was sure it was to spec," but when I checked myself, something that was suppose to 4" was 3", and when I asked why I got a lame excuse, and then they came out and re-did the work, in spite of being sure it was right. That lack of integrity is something I find unacceptable, mistakes happen in the field, my Dad was a contractor so this is not foreign to me, and it was VERY hot during the first weeks of demo, but lying and covering up mistakes is just plain bad business. I could have hired a landscape contractor to do this work for a lot less but I really thought it was worth the price to have this companies expertise and that was was a mistake. BUT, I have more work that will need to be done and I'm glad I learned how this company operated before I let them inside my house. I am VERY dissapointed that they have an A rating on Angie's list; live and learn, read ALL the reviews on Angie's list, don't just look at the rating, it's misleading, S&J had straight F's going back more than 3 years.

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S&J was courteous, professional, and did the work on time; when they said they would be there, they were. The project manager Mike Francesco rode heard on the workers and drove them to finish in a timely fashion. They followed our interior design professional plans to the letter. I highly recommend them.

The estimate felt high but was pre-approved by insurance company which was underwriting the costs. There was one unnecessary visit after the estimate was made; namely the project manager came by to inspect once again before work was done. The work was finished in one day, but the laborer told my wife that the company would come back for one more thing. The empty, wall high bookcase was in need of return to original location over the new tile and I had left a note on the front door about this request. When I phoned the company about the subsequent visit, I was told the job was done. The company rep was quite surly over the phone. I expected the company's courtesy to help return the bookcase less than three feet to the wall. I've worked with dozens of housing contractors who have had more caring professionalism and customer follow-through.

WE CHOSE S AND J BUILDERS FROM A REFERRAL BY A NEIGHBOR. THEIR BID WAS COMPETITIVE AND TIMELY. THEY FINISHED THE JOB AHEAD OF SCHEDULE, AND THE QUALITY WAS GOOD.