B&L General Contracting

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We are 90% done so this review will be updated and further expanded on in a month.  First and most important question - would I hire B&L again - Yes.   I found them to be hard working, honest people.  To me, this is most important point for a GC.
Typically on a huge project, there is quality, price and timeliness.  I hope to get at least one and two is great but either quality or price usually changes if you get something faster than possible.   While we have had our ups and downs  (if you build a house - you ALWAYS WILL!), overall, the project has gone pretty well  (better than most of my friends who have quite a bit of horror stories).  Bill is one of those unique individuals that I believe could build the house by himself - as his knowledge on every aspect is quite good.  He is a worker and not a slick sales guy  (which you will find MANY slick sales guys in the general contracting business.)   His knowledge on costs and timing was excellent as he was one of the rare individuals who helped us get our costs more inline with what we needed - and he offered excellent variations that were a bit cheaper - that the other GC's really struggled with doing.   I think most of the slicksters, just bid the job out and then hand it over to a job foreman without any real knowledge of the intricacies  (I met many GC's that could not even give me basic pricing on things that I even had a decent understanding of).   I will be submitting lots of other reviews on GCs during the bidding process.  There was one I would give an A to other than B&L, and the others C or worst.  So I am quite critical!  So please take that into account when looking at my reviews  (I don't give good grades for average work like I see so many people doing)
We started the process about 19 months ago, as we hired our own draftsman  (more reviews on other providers coming), then turned the plans over for bidding about 13 months ago.  B&L's bid was not lowest or fastest but was the best for the knowledge;   and the only other GC we liked was slightly higher.  We then had massive trouble with our septic drawing and Cape Coral permitting  (due to the drawings not being perfect)...  Building started in June 2014.  While we really wanted to be done prior to year end, I do believe the quality has been good.  This was a custom 2 story house with concrete and framing (not the simplest of houses to build and thus I knew would take a tad longer).  Many of the sub contractors were very good and went out their way to make things how we wanted.  Bill seems to have really good trades guys working with him.  Perhaps the downfall, is that Bill is very busy.  He works everyday in the field as he oversees all his projects personally (instead of turning them over like the other GCs).  This is nice but also not good for getting in contact at times  (phone and email slugishness).  If you need your hand held in a big contract like building a house, perhaps you would be better off with an "office" GC who is there to answer frantic phone calls, etc...   If you want a GC that knows and builds - than B&L is a great choice.
More updates as we finish up coming.   Feel free to call me or email me - 239-257-4085    [email protected]   Gary Wilson

The Schmelzer's (Bob and Lillian) were great people to work with. Here is the breakdown:
Original estimate was $6,000 final $6,489 due to some changes. Not so bad on extras. Original time to complete was 2 weeks.. took nearly 6 weeks to 2 months due to delays by the tile trades persons. But bathroom usable with only some tweaking left.
Demolition day was great! They removed a walk in closet to expand the bathroom to add a walk in shower. Determination made as to exactly where and what size everything was to be made once we could see the empty footprint.
Security system.. unexpected on our part, so we authorized them to cut the wires.. set it aside for it to be redone. Added attic access in the new closet area to fix it. In the end we had an additional security panel added and we re-wired it ourselves. Working perfectly.
New closet placement.. and it is working out well.
I asked for some additional work.. removal of popcorn ceiling in the bedroom. It looks fantastic! They even repainted the entire bedroom.. everything bedroom and master bath look great now.
We did not think moving the new 72and quot; vanity with granite top was going to be easy. These workers must be on steroids or something! 300 pounds and they CARRIED it from garage to the bath all the way on other side of the house. Then they lifted it to put on the pedestal feet.
Tradesman hired by contractor:
SAVIOUR PLUMBING was fantastic. Quick, efficient, no down time.. hardly a lunch. They had to move a vent and replumb for reversed tub, extra sink and new shower. We requested a curbless shower and a linear drain. They were familiar with it and had done one before and we are pleased with the placement and installation.
GARY JENKINS INC (Tile firm).. I would not rate them awfully high, but not bad. They delayed a lot and halted construction by over 2 weeks and had to come back to fix some small tiling errors. Tile job looks great now! The delays were quite annoying.
WEST COAST GLASS.. did a fantastic job on cutting and installing the glass shower panels. Price wasn't really competitive but original part backed out. There is a small chip in the shower door. We decided to let it go and not replace it.
Contractor and tradesmen were always prompt and advised us in advance of any changes in the schedule of work to be done. They left the site tidy at end of each day.

We knew we had a big problem when we went out on the lanai on the upper floor and noticed that the outside edge of the tile floor was three inches lower than the screen cage. My neighbor is a retired contractor and suggested I remove the ceiling on the lower lanai to see what was going on. There was substantial water damage to the lumber suopporting the upper deck. We then cut some holes under the lower lanai and sure enough there was damage there as well. We found Band L through Angies List and Bill Schmelzer came out to give us an estimate. We probably should have hired him right away but we were trying to see what legal options we had to recoup our losses from the original builder, Nease Inc. Ultimately our lawyer said that the quote that Band L gave us was probably less than we would have to spend to go to court. We contacted Band L again and they were able to get to us pretty quickly. Very professional and friendly staff.

We have since requested a quote from Band L for interior painting and it is very reasonable.
I would highly recommend Bill and his crew..

A relationship that developed from a cold-call in the summer of 2006 from Aurora Colorado developed into the beautiful home that I live in now in East Fort Myers. Having purchased a vacant lot, Bill dealt with EVERY aspect of estimating, developing and building my home. In addition, he (and his wonderful wife Lil) have become friends long after I had moved in.
Probably the most rewarding experience for me was the fact that MOST of the planning and building of my home occurred while I was working in England. Try dealing with that and a 12-hour time difference. Bill got the job done and we coordinated almost entirely via email. I did have rotations back into the country and twice came down to pick out materials for my home. Bill had lined up all the suppliers and sent me off to pick out specifically what I wanted. I did, but you have to imagine, that even then - you are not there when the installation is being done. I had a great deal of anxiety about that, but was absolutely thrilled with the end result. So many design features were purely Bill's vision, especially the tiling in the master bath. Bill is very adept in interpreting what you want and guiding you in the process. I am still trying to find out how I can post some pictures with this review. They are stunning!
Even though my house was a new build, I checked the above categories because you have to see the results. Whether new build OR remodel, his taste is impeccable and his manner friendly and professional. I highly recommend Band L General Contracting, Bill and Lil Schmelzer. They will treat you like family.
P.S. My one and only complaint (and Bill knows it) was that Bill was constantly losing his phone, so was sometimes not as prompt returning calls or emails as I would have liked. Having said that, it doesn't mean that he wasn't moving forward or doing what you had asked him too. He just wasn't glued to his phone.

It went very well. They were done in a day and left everything clean and in order.

The owner is William Schmelzer. I had my own house build a few years back and I had three questions about my builder that I was going to use. Was the builder on time? was he within budget? would he build my next house? So when I had that house built that was the answer to all three of my questions. I applied the same principle against Band L contractors. They were on time, they were on budget and if I got another problem or if I want to do anything more with this house I am calling them first.

Very well.