Goulart Construction Inc

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He was very careful about letting us know what would be done and when it would be completed.

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The main problem we had with them was communication. They were busy when we called and said they couldn't come out for an estimate until after Labor Day (2 weeks away). They didn't call us back until October. Then they had to wait to get enough jobs to order the sand (can't do a half order of sand, or whatever). They finally called on a Friday to say that they would be dropping off the materials so they could start preparing the area on Saturday morning at 8am. They showed up BEFORE 8am, which was okay with us, but unexpected and could have been embarrassing. We assumed they would be back on Monday, but they were not. They came on Wednesday and Thursday that week. Then, when they did bring the load of sand, they dropped right in front of the garage door, which then could not open! Luckily our cars were not inside or we would have had a problem. They never did tell us what days they would be here, unless we called them.
All that said, the work they did was top quality. I'm sure all the missed days were probably for other jobs but we had assumed that they would work start to finish on our job. Just expect that if you hire them, then if you want to know what's going on you'll have to call them, and assume that your work will be staggered.

Bruce brought his subcontractors with him to look at the job before giving us a quote. They listened to what we needed and wanted, came up with 3 good options and we chose the one that fit our needs. Each option contained labor, materials and time frame. They started on time and each week we had a meeting with Bruce to discuss the time line for the next phase. He was always available if we had any other things to discuss. Bruce calculated that the whole project would take 5-6 weeks and they were finished after 6 weeks. During the work they took precautions to keep the rest of the house as clean as possible and each day they cleaned up after themselves. All of the helpers and subcontractors were very professional and personable. We enjoyed having them here and are very pleased with the work they did. The cost of service did not include all materials, but we knew that ahead of time so there were no real surprises. Bruce went out of his way to be helpful and even took some of our used cabinetry to "Restore", the Habitat for Humanity facility, for us. We now have the bathrooms we have wanted for many years! We will definitely hire Bruce again and have told many friends about the good work he does.

Bruce does his own carpentry work and is very particular with how it should be done. The only time he wasn't on site was when his helper was painting or cleaning up. The site was left neat and clean every day and Bruce kept us informed of his progress either by talking directly to us or hand writing detailed notes with dates of expected completion.
Goulart Construction had an excellent rating on Angie's List. We also had neignbors who hired Bruce to do a variety of jobs on their house. They are very particular and gave him a great recommendation. He may not be the fastest, but he is conscientious, neat and is satisfied with only the best work from himself and his staff. Part of the time we were out of town and had no hesitation leaving the garage door opener with him so that he could get in. Our neighbors had done this as well.
It is so nice to find someone who is dependable and honest AND does a great job! We will have Bruce do other work for us in the future because he goes above and beyond.

We were contacted quickly by Goulart Construction. Bruce came over in the rain to look at our skylight. He was very thorough in his examination and helped us out with a temporary fix. He then pointed us towards a different company that he felt would better serve our needs. Bruce did not charge us any money and the total cost of the fix was $180 which was much less than the $1000 quoted to us by another company that wanted to replace the entire skylight. This was obviously a very positive experience for us and I would recommend Goulart Construction.

The job went well. Bruce was very concerned that he do a perfect job, and he did.

About me:
I work from home so I was able to be here for every little baby step of this remodel. I am extremely detail oriented and a perfectionist. Also I have lots of experience with remodeling and this type of work. I am an avid and very experienced DIY’er and I mange other peoples properties for pay as well. But some aspects of this project were a bit beyond my expertise. “Know thy limits”, as a wise man once said, so I thought it best to bring in the professionals. However, I did know what I was looking at the entire time so my review is going to be an accurate and thorough one.

About the company principal:
As a general contractor, the owner of Goulart Construction, Bruce Goulart, worked directly with me. He was punctual, refreshingly straight forward, polite, conscientious, and ever so easy to work with. A note on how straight forward Bruce is: In most cases Bruce will tell you exactly what he wants to do, exactly how it will be done, and exactly why he wants to do it. But he is always open to discussion and understands that he works for the homeowner. His honesty and openness was refreshing and just what I was looking for. As I told him, “I do not want to hire a yes-man”, and he gave me exactly what I asked for. Beyond this Bruce made himself readily available throughout the entire project. After nearly a year, to the day, since I called him to my home for a quote on this project, Bruce’s last visit here was at the beginning of this week to finish up the last of the punch list work. At that visit, one of the last things Bruce told me was that he will be just as available to me forever as he was throughout this project, for absolutely anything pertaining to this just completed project, or naturally any new projects. I found this to be tremendously comforting. It’s nice to know that he stands behind his work, to use his wording, “forever”.

Price:
Higher end, but then again, so was the work. You get what you pay for. I definitely could have paid far less, but I would have gotten far less. And for my money, the type work and level of service I received made the added expense worthwhile.

The job:
This was a major remodel project that required many different subcontractors. They all did very good work. While the work was done well by all, I did have several complaints about the roofer/sider and his lack of commitment to remain on schedule; most of the time arriving days later than was first conveyed to me, which on more than one occasion ruined the project schedule. Also, said roofer/sider was very slow to react to my requests. There were several miscommunications between him and his crew, particularly pertaining to the mantle detail work over my new garage door (the actual garage door was not part of Goulart’s work, but the siding surrounding it and the trim detail was). This subcontractor left his dumpsters in my front yard way too long. It took him weeks to remove them after they were no longer needed onsite, even after repeated complaints by me and Bruce Goulart. And on the day he finally came to remove them, the truck driver found the dumpsters to be overloaded which resulted in him manually emptying a large portion of the trash onto my front lawn which is where is sat until he came back to pick it up with an empty dumpster. That was all very aggravating. I addition, as I write this, there are several shingles that broke their seal and have begun to warp upward in an open position; about ten shingles in all, so not many. As well, some shingles (about 8 feet worth) are hanging off the roof into the gutter so badly that I cannot fit my hand in the gutter to clean it out. Neither one of these issues has been remedied as both Bruce Goulart and the roofer said it would be better to wait until Spring to look at it and both have guaranteed no leaking; so far, so good. After both contractors return to repair this issue I will update this report. Now, all that being said, these were my biggest complaints of the entire project, and on a project of this scale, that’s not bad. I must say, to be fair, the roofer’s crew was respectful of me and my property for the most part. His siding lead installer was very easy to talk to and quick to get things done after he was asked to do it. Both the siding and the roof were done quickly once the crew was here. And overall they did a very nice job.
One subcontractor who stands out on the job and who is someone I could not have been any happier with was Bruce’s electrical subcontractor; a licensed electrician with many years of experience who thinks nothing of going above and beyond for his clients. He was absolutely spot-on with nearly everything. He’s easy to talk to, easy to work with, always punctual, and an all around great person. I am continuing to work with him on more electrical work, such as a permanent generator install, beverage center install, and many other jobs. He has found a permanent home here as far as work goes.

Summary:
All told we had designers, carpenters, sheet rockers, granite specialists, painters, a plumber, an electrician, a mason, a general contractor, assistants and laborers, and direct employees of Goulart Construction. I could not be happier with the results. Bruce and his team did a fantastic job. Nothing in this world is perfect, but it’s how you workout the issues that come up that can really make or break a job. Bruce and his immediate staff, who work directly for Goulart Construction, truly made me feel as if I was their only customer (which I knew for a fact I wasn’t) and they constantly worked to my satisfaction, not only without complaint, but with a smile on their faces. They were also some of the most pleasant people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Add in subcontractors that do really great work and you have a recipe for BIG success. I do have more plans for additional remodeling in the not too distant future to my home and property and I absolutely will not call anyone else to do it. I am happy to say that after many contractors who have come and gone, I have finally found my “forever contractor”. My parents are in need of remodel work to their home and I am planning on hiring Bruce and his crew for that project as well. What better endorsement is there than that?

*Note: I am not related to, nor do I have a financial interest in, or relationship with, other than stated above, Goulart Construction, LLC. I did not receive a benefit or payment of any kind for this review, nor is there any pending. I am a willing reference.

UPDATE:
The roof was not fixed in the Spring time as promised, but rather wasn't completed until about mid-summer. In addition I had Bruce back here to give me a quote on several items the basically sum up to an addition on the house. He came out at the end of last winter; around February. He said he was going to came back and look at some items. Meanwhile, he was going to get me a quote on the rest. About a month later I got a phone call from Bruce directly stating that he hadn't forgotten about me and that my quote would be forthcoming. To this day, about 7 months later, I haven't heard back from him or his representative about this work. Based on the experiences in this UPDATE, I've reduced Goulart's overall grade from an A to a B. I chose B because I am still pleased with the outcome of the previous renovation project. However, I am now considering other highly qualified contractors to accomplish the next renovation project.

The contractor was amazing and we loved him. He started the work in March and concluded by the end of September of 2008. They were professional, punctual, productive, conscientious, enthusiastic and considerate. They cared about their work. I felt that the principal had tremendous integrity in everything he undertook to do. He was excellent and very good in communicating. He worked to resolve problems and differences to our satisfaction. He had good subcontractors by large. He knew what he was doing. He was experienced and well qualified. He spent a lot of time on the job himself as a general contractor. We almost regarded him as a member of the family. Our architect told us that it would be fortunate if we could get him at a good bid. So his bid was very good for the job. I would definitely use their services in the future too.

The work is great and he has been great! The work should be completed by next week. Bruce was the most responsive and personal of all the individuals I interviewed. He was the most expensive, but he told me that I would end-up with the bathroom I wanted. He said I wouldn't have to pay him until he was done with the job and that I was happy. I am happy and he was worth the extra money.

We were really happy with him and we would like to use him again. He was at our house for quite a long time. It did take longer than he thought it would but it was exactly the price he said and he kept us updated about the reasons for the delay. He’s a great guy, he was very easy to work with, and he is very professional. We are very happy with the way it looks. He basically guarantees things until he dies, he says. During the process we had leaks so we had to call him at crazy hours but he rushed over as soon as he got the message every time. There were torrential downpours and the roof was leaking but he rushed over to put tarps up. He says when you feel comfortable giving me something you can but I don’t expect any money the day I show up. We felt comfortable the whole way along and he was treating us well. There were no unapproved increases in the price or no nasty surprises. His references were absolutely phenomenal; people are so loyal to him. He also rebuilds and refinishes things. We plan on having him redo our bathroom and paint our house. We will use him over and over because he is great. Even though we are in a recession, he couldn’t start immediately and we were more comfortable with someone who was booked for months rather than someone who could be there the next week. He is always busy but when he says he is going to start, he starts. He was very good about communicating to us and it made it much easier for me to cope with the noise and construction.

He was prompt and gave me a great explanation of what needed to be done and why. That was a really nice feeling because you typically don't know exactly what contractors are going to actually do. He does quality work and is concsientious. I would definitely hire him again.