Robyn's Nest Inc

They were good and they were fine. I wanted them to do more detailed work specifically in regards to finishing. I will use them in future.

First off, I would hire Robyn again. I joined Angie's List just to find a contractor and Robyn's Nest came up as highly recommended. And for very good reason. Robyn is a pleasure to deal with. His estimate was solid and he identified all of the tricky things with the job when he first saw the site. He has 30 years of experience and it shows (though he doesn't look like he could be that old!) He and his crew were fast, clean, prompt, professional, and hardworking. No complaints. And no surprises. Well, one--but it was a pleasant surprise: My husband decided part-way through that we needed to replace some cabinets. (I had hoped to make do with what we had, but he was right.) We had Robyn build them and they are gorgeous--probably the best part of the kitchen. Turns out that Robyn loves woodworking. I finished them myself to save time and money (this wasn't my first time, Robyn's cabinet finisher was out of town, and I was willing to live with the result--BUT this is not for the faint of heart and a do-it yourself job can ruin the look). If you go with Robyn's cabinet work, be sure to ask him to provide a quote for finishing/staining. On a separate note, be sure to specify the quality of standard items. You will get basic switchplates, sink drains, etc, unless you indicate that you want something better. Most people don't care, and frankly, the results are the same. But if you do care, have this discussion with Robyn in the beginning so he can plan for it (in the quote and when he purchases your parts). This is probably good advice with any contractor. Robyn will try to save you (and him, too) money, but that's not to say that he skimps on quality. I thought he did a great job. And based on the questions Robyn asked and the advice he offered (during the estimate and during construction), I do believe that he is looking out for the client and is really trying to give them something they will be happy with and within their price range. We look forward to having him and his crew back to redo one of the bathrooms.

As I said alll jobs were done very well and professionally, on time and for a reasonable price for an excellent job and I am very satisfied. I keep coming back to Robyn's Nest, because they are the best. .

My experience with Robyn was very good. He was punctual, responded to every phone call and e-mail. His contract for the job was detailed, professional and covered all areas of possible disagreement. His work was excellent. The cabinets turned out like new despite their old age. He made a suggestion to move the new door handles to a more appropriate location. This caused him a little more patching and sanding, however I am glad for this suggestion. This was done at his will without even a hint for any additional charges. Overall very pleasant experience and I will definetly use him again. What impressed me the most about Robyn is his polite manners. He gave me input on several options but also was attentive to my desires and concerns. I met many contractors in the past with the attitude of "my way or the highway" or "you are a stupid homeowner who doesn't know anything". Robyn is certainly not one of them and is a breath of fresh air. Pleasure to deal with. If you give him a chance I am sure you will not be disappointed. Thanks Robyn!

Robyn came to my home and pickup a set of remodel blueprints and then I never heard from him again, I've left several voicemail messages and emails but could not get in touch with him.

Before purchasing the home that we now own, my wife and I looked at a home on the same street with the exact same floor plan. Knowing my desire for a lot of square footage, my realtor said, "The two-story entry room looks nice, but it's kind of wasted space. I wonder if you could build a room above it." That sparked my interest, and I contacted Robyn for an estimate on that project and considerable other work the home needed. The same day Robyn was estimating those projects for me, the bank accepted an offer on the house. But two weeks later, the house we own now went on the market. It had a huge yard (compared to almost no yard), and needed far less maintenance work than that previous house. And of course, the clincher was that it had the same floor plan, and I was now armed with Robyn's estimate! We put in an offer with Robyn in mind to build my upstairs office loft. After closing escrow, we thought it would be a couple months before Robyn could start work, but a previously scheduled job canceled on him, so he started even before we moved in. He had originally estimated six to eight weeks, but he and his crew work fast, and everything went well, so it only took about three weeks. Robyn is always friendly and professional, and the people working for him either follow that lead, or are just naturally that way too! Robyn has a good eye for his work. Don't be surprised if he makes some suggestions you'll love, or just throws in some clever and welcome touches that you didn't ask for. In our case, he suggested and installed a floor outlet after realizing my desk wouldn't be near a wall, and instead of standard light switches, he surprised us with slider-type dimmer switches. Robyn is very professional about giving you a contract up front that specifies the scope of the project and when payments are due. Of course, if you want to make changes once he's started work, it will cost extra. In our case, the only change we made was to match the existing stairway railing instead of going with the cheaper railing initially included in the estimate. Robyn doesn't charge for unexpected problems that make his job tougher than he expected. On our project, the ground-floor ceilings weren't exactly the same height (or even entirely level) on either side of where the new ceiling would connect them. Robyn worked his magic and it's all good now! We did have one small issue that came up. It was far more my fault than Robyn's, as I made an incorrect assumption about the impact of the project and had another contractor do some work that should have been done after the project, but was somewhat undone by the room addition. My contract with Robyn clearly didn't include that work, and his first instinct was to point that out, but on reflection he realized he had also assumed I understood the impact (I should have) and graciously spent another day fixing everything at no extra charge. I look forward to hiring Robyn again for the next project!

Robyn was very nice, had very reasonable rates, had wonderful ideas and really went the extra mile for us. We wanted him to renovate a freestanding room in our back yard (bungalow) including new windows, door, roof, ceiling, and deck outside of it. He had great ideas that fit our budget, and helped us finish deciding all the details. He came on time, worked quickly, and was always in a good mood. We were happily surprised by how quickly the project was done. I insisted on a very complicated (but so cute!) little gas heater stove, and he had to completely take it apart to convert it to propane for me. He also figured out the place where the heater came from was charging way too much for the black piping that went with it, so he bought regular (silver colored) piping for much less at Home Depot and spray-painted it black! We told Robyn about our rain leak issues, and he completely sorted out what was going on, including spending 8 hours snaking out our root-clogged underground drain pipes with his own snake ? which broke! He also dug the dirt out of our water meter to see if we had a water leak. I didn?t even know where the meter was. We loved all his ideas and his work was fantastic. He suggested wood flooring and we?re thrilled with the look ? for basically the same money as carpet. He knew what would look good and where to find bargains. After he built the deck outside our little room, my husband mentioned something about how he (husband) would eventually make a little box on top in the corner to hide the propane tank. At the end of the day, there was a wonderfully made little corner bench/box made of leftover deck material that perfectly hid the propane tank! Robyn made it for us! It looks great. When investigating the water-damaged walls, Robyn found we had a funky electrical set-up, so, with our blessing, he pulled down all the sheet rock, put in a completely new electrical system including a breaker box, and then insulated all the walls and put up new sheet rock. The little room is better insulated than our house is! We were ready for his initial estimate to be a starting point, not the end point, and the final tab was completely reasonable considering all the wonderful work he did. Robyn was also very easy to get along with, and very flexible. As I said, I insisted on a crazy heater, and he had to drive pretty far to pick it up so I wouldn?t have to pay the delivery charge. Then he had to figure out how to install the thing, take it apart to convert it to propane, and sort out all the piping to vent it out the roof. He was a very good sport about it all, even though the supplier was really unhelpful and he was on his own figuring everything out from the 65-page manual. He did a wonderful job and the heater works like a champ. We are definitely going to use Robyn the next time we ever need renovation work done.

Overall I feel this was a very good job.

They were very good. We have used them on two other projects for our other bathroom and my mother-in-law's bathroom. They were very careful with cleanup and other stuff. Sometimes they were not here on time. They were very professional.

The crack opened up a few months later. I called him back and told him and he said that is what happens with garage cracks. He said he told me there was no guarantee to begin with and he's right, he did say that. It wasn't very satisfactory, but I don't really know if it was his fault or whether he should have offered to squirt more glue in the crack. I liked the guy himself, he is very knowledgeable and I once asked him to give me a kitchen estimate. He didn't do a very good job, there is no way anyone could build from and rely on his estimate. It was poorly done and superficial. If I would ask him questions there would be things he didn't include in the estimate. He is otherwise a very professional guy and I was very disappointed. There was also once some wood floor damage that I needed fixed and he only quoted a spot instead of the whole floor. I found that very unprofessional. He was punctual in coming to the house, but not in responding to emails. I wrote him and asked him what was going on and I never really got a satisfactory answer so I would not use him again.

Robyn is a total JOY! We're doing a kitchen reno and until we met Robyn--I felt like i was hitting my head against the wall again and again and again! Surly sales people, lots of communication problems with people whose English isn't so great, blah, blah, blah. And then... (picture a beam of light from heaven and angels singing)...came Robyn. He came to our house on time, he got right down to business and his prices are extremely reasonable. He spent a lot of time with my husband checking out our electrical stuff and he disconnected our cooktop and disposal so the granite guy can start demo. He advised us on what kind of disposal and undercabinet lighting to order. And he didn't even charge us, but we'll make sure he's compensated before this is all over with. Work hasn't begun yet--but we feel very strongly that Robyn will be in our lives for a long time. I wish he'd move in with us--there is sooooo much to be done in our house.

I had received a notice of violation for an unpermitted patio my dad built in 1961. I phoned the Building & Safety Dept. 9 times trying to get a hold of the inspector. I only spoke to the county inspector once and he was supposed to come to my home to examine the patio but never showed up. Then I learned I was going to get cited because I did not respond to the violation notice. In desperation I called Robyn who has many years of experience in dealing with the Building Department. He immediately came to my home on 9/25/09 to get the details of my problem and found out I never received a pink correction slip. On 09/28/09 Robyn met with the inspector who issued the violation as well as the inspector's boss. Then he drew up a detailed house diagram and saw the planner on 09/30/09. Robyn came back with the options available to me to resolve the issue on 09/30/09. As we all know, it is difficult trying to cut the red tape when it involves any county government department. Robyn was there for me and it means so much to me when this wonderful contractor came to my aid. Robyn is a two-fold contractor who not only performs beautiful home remodeling projects but he also has knowledge and experience pertaining to building permits, violation notices, and building codes. His long-standing career as a contractor definitely was put to the test when he helped me with my specific problem.

The contractor had done an excellent job. He was very courteous and we liked his manner. He was very informative too. He had given extra support to the people that he was helping who weren?t too familiar with what materials needed to be picked out. He was very patient with a lot of things. The house had turned out very nice. If I were to find someone to help me remodel my house I would certainly consider Robyn's Nest. Their quality of work was really good. They had finished the work ahead of time, and their price was fair too.

Robyn came out to the house and we stepped him through the various projects we'd like to complete over time, ranging from minor (baseboards) to major (kitchen remodel). He promised to send an estimate. He did send one general estimate but stopped responding to our additional requests for information. We thought he seemed professional and knowledgeable and were interested in working with him. We understand that he can choose not to take on certain clients/projects, so that seems to be what happened here, but it would have been nice to hear something back, even simply indicating that he can't take on our particular project. I'm not sure what to give as an overall grade since no work was done and N/A isn't available as a choice, but the initial consultation was good and thorough; there was just no follow-up or response to our follow-up.

The overall experience with Robyn's Nest was great. From the beginning, Robyn was very accessible, and I could tell he cared about the quality of the remodel. When I wanted to pick out a tile for the bath tub and shower, he met me at the store on a weekend to give me suggestions on what the best material would be. Whenever I had a problem, he was very polite and understanding, and tried to figure out the best way to solve any issues I had. The employees who came to do the work were also friendly and did their best to get the remodel as close to what I wanted. I owe many thanks to Edgar, Danny, Rudy, and Julie. The tiling in the two bathrooms looked great. Robyn even upgraded the shower and bath door at no additional cost. The painting took longer than expected because even with a sanding and priming, there were problems with the old nasty paint lying underneath. However, the finished product looked exceptional, and I was happy with it. The time frame I was quoted for completing the job was doubled, but I was fine with it because they really wanted to do quality work. QUALITY WORK TAKES TIME! Everyone always showed up on time and worked through the entire day unlike previous contractors I had who would work three hours then leave. A special thanks has to go out to Edgar who went above and beyond to finish the job the way I wanted it. This included changing out a light a couple of times until I decided on the correct light for the bathroom. The only problem I had was with the varnishing of the countertops at the end. If you want a matte or satin finish, this should not be a problem. However, if you want a gloss finish, go with polished granite instead of meganite. Meganite is a good material, but varnishing it is a real pain. Robyn tried various methods to get the shiny mirrored look, but could not quite get it right. I have also tried a few methods without success. I think the best way to go if you cannot afford granite is to go with the meganite with a two part epoxy finish. That will be my next step. Other than that, working with Robyn's has been a great experience and I would recommend them to others and use them for future work.

See above. It went extremely well overall.

I felt that the initial quote of $13,500 (The quoted price does not include fixtures; sink, toilet, faucets, lights...but does include a frameless, glass shower door.) was reasonable and that the additional charges were a bargain for the amount of additional work performed. If you are looking forward to a project and are not absolutely certain in advance what the entire scope of the project will be, I highly recommend Robyn?s Nest. It is a great feeling, knowing in advance that you will not be taken advantage of if there are additions to the initial project. That feeling is, in large part, why I would certainly use Robyn?s Nest again. That and, of course, the quality of their work. Everybody from Robyn?s nest is much more than merely polite. Politeness is the minimum expectation of somebody working inside another person?s home. Robyn himself is praised repeatedly on angieslist for being a nice guy. Well, nice guys hire great men and women to work for them. Everybody from Robyn?s Nest is genuinely nice. The other important thing is how well everybody knows their job. Without spending a lot of time watching them, I noticed that everyone makes important contributions to the outcome. Andrew was my foreman. Daniel and Marina spent considerable time on this project. But many other Robyn?s Nest employees helped along the way: Ken, Julie, Edgar, Marina, Eric, James, Rudy? I asked Robyn during the initial interview if he actually works on the project himself. He does! Not 100% of course, but he is often on site, getting his hands dirty. If this is what it?s like having construction workers around the house, I?m ready to buy a vacant lot and spend several months with the ladies and gentlemen from Robyn?s Nest.

Our initial contact on the phone was extremely pleasant and I was looking forward to meeting Robyn. We had settled on a weekend morning date and time. The time came and went, but wanting to give the benefit of the doubt for a previous engagement taking longer than expected, we gave him 30 minutes before we contacted him on his celphone - when we did call, it went right to voicemail. We tried the 1-800 number which we discovered had been forwarded to his celphone - so again, it went right to voicemail. A concerned and polite message was left asking whether he would be able to still meet with us. The phone call I received back four days later while extremely apologetic, was one admitting he completely forgot and went out of town for the weekend instead. We made a follow-up appointment which he did keep but we were less than impressed. I guess a bad taste had been left in our mouth and we just should have left the missed appointment as one opportunity we all should have left in the past. Right away he pointed out to us that we have an electrical panel that will probably need to be upgraded (a separate $5,000 cost). Subsequent investigations reveal to us that this will not be necessary for our project. He asked us our budget which we did not reveal as we wanted a truthful estimate for the actual costs. Our home is period so we impressed upon him our main objective is to keep the style of the home and should you drive by, you cannot tell that it is a recent build. He dutifully went through the motions of additional inquiries, asked for our email addresses and told us he would have a bid to us within a week. That self-imposed deadline came and went and we never received the bid. Maybe it was just bad chemistry, but while he has many excellent write-ups, our experience sadly was not the same as others.

In fact this illustrates a significant limitation of Angies List: when on rare occasion one finds a useful lead, so do hundreds of others, thus subjecting small businesses with a potential growth curve that they cannot sustain. It?s easy to kill a small business with kindness. As explained by Robyn, he is the totality of the back office of his small firm, and he was fielding 35 requests for quotations at same time as ours. I do wish he had refused to respond! As a result of this disappointment on the most critical use I've had of Angies List in the 2 years as a member, I will cancel my membership.

I had some work done by Robyn's Nest last year. They did an OK job, and I was satisfied enough to request a quote for a medium-sized kitchen remodel + a quote for some outdoor brick paving. Robyn was prompt in getting to the site to make his estimate. He is personable, knowledgeable, and my wife and I both had confidence that he knew his business. He had good ideas and suggestions but was not overbearing or pushy in the least. He instills confidence. Then we got the quotes. They were incomplete and pretty much misleading. He never included materials for the paving job, and when I inquired about it, his response was to pick them up at Home Depot (!) The remodel included fixing some damaged oak flooring which required replacing T&G oak planks, sanding, and refinishing. His quote - I found this out pretty much by luck when I asked - included only the few square feet of damaged flooring. Clearly, the entire floor area would have to be sanded and refinished; otherwise, the affected area would look entirely different from the old floor, especially where the new varnish meets the old. When I asked about it, his answer was, "I only measured the affected areas, the quote is Not for the entire floor. I would need to re measure, if that is what you want." "If that is what I want?" What a strange response! My wife and I found that to be very irresponsible and definitely not caring about quality. (Which is at odds with our impression of him when we met.) So to get the floor right, we would have found out about it after he had 'spotted' the area, and when we would have no doubt pointed it out to him, he would have said he could fix it, but it wasn't in his quote. He would have been right, of course, but we want a contractor who succeeds by caring not by "gotcha." Luckily, by questioning his quote, we found out before the fact and saved ourselves a lot of grief, I'm sure. Besides, we would have based our contract on his bid price, which was below what it ultimately would have cost. It felt like bait-and-switch. A final thought: our e-mail correspondence over the period of about a month from mid-December 2008 to mid-January 2009 was characterized by his responses becoming increasingly brief and evidencing a growing lack of interest in our project. I sent him 3 e-mails at one point which he didn't answer, and I had to re-send them to him to get his responses which were terse to the point of brusque. He definitely gave us the impression he really didn't much care about our project.

I asked for a quote on some plumbing work but got a much larger scope of work than I requested. I felt that the contractor did not listen to what I needed.

The man was on time. He lived in the neighborhood. The price he quoted was good, but I could not afford it right now.

Robyn went above & beyond the usual in helping us meet our specific needs (for example, soundproofing offices etc); he contributed ideas that will in the long run save us both time and money. We contracted the doors and setting up the computer network separately; both those contractors have had an easy time coordinating with Robyn, and our computer guru commented on the quality of Robyn's work and expressed appreciation for the obvious pride he took in doing a good job. Once we had the city's go-ahead (all the permits), Robyn got to work and is actually bringing the job to conclusion a bit early. Robyn is easy to work with, on time, does what he says he is going to do; his work crew is efficient, pleasant, and leave a tidy work space when finishing for the day. The quality of his work is excellent; details are done correctly; no sloppiness whatsoever. He brought the job in within the budget we agreed upon. When we were buying materials that were outside the budget he helped us find the best prices. I'd recommend him without hesitation. If we do another project we will certainly call Robyn's Nest.

He was nice and very professional. His price was way too high, and I have heard that when contractors give a high estimate, they just don't want the job.

I didn't end up using this company because I had called the man to see if he was coming over and if he'd be early or late but I wasn't able to reach him. He did show up on time and gave me the estimate. He also asked for city permits which were not needed.