R A Renovations LLC

Far exceeded our expectations. We spoke with many companies before finding RA Renovations and RA is in a class by itself. Their attention to detail and work was a breath of fresh air after dealing with the other companies, many of which never bothered to even call us back. One even disappeared after providing us with a quote. Keith and his staff were a true pleasure to work with. It was surprising to find a company that cared about our house as much as we did and treated it as a home, not just another worksite...

Terrible experience, sloppy work and didn't finish

Getting close to finish. Have gotten very close to Keith and his guys. They are reliable, conscientious, cost conscious, fun to be around and very capable. They handle everything. I total trust them and I'm so glad I found them. They were the first company I called off Angie's list and never talked to another company. Keith is an incredible guy who has overcome a lot to get to where he is. I can assure you if you are looking for a reliable and honest contractor you have found them. I'm more than happy to speak to you if you have any questions. My cell is 863-409-1316 and my name is Al Jarrell

We used RA Renovations as our general contractor for this project. Immediately, the contractor met with us, walked through the project and created a top notch plan. After we reviewed the plan and made any changes, we FROZE the plans and moved forward with permitting. The contractor kept up with communications and advise us of every sub-contractor that was scheduled to arrive. There was extra care taken with the look of the final product. The contractor provided detailed accounting during the project and stayed under budget (due the a true project FREEZE). We have since suggested that our friends use RA Renovations for their future projects. We are extremely satisfied.

Keith Lawhun walked me through the entire process. His employee's are first rate and did a wonderful job. Keith monitored every aspect of the job and even provided us extra jobs along the way to create a top notch job. I felt very fortunate to have Keith and staff doing the job. We will need to do same job on our bay windows in the kitchen. I am so relieved that Keith will be doing the job

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Keith and his crew opened up my staircase going to the second floor. Before it was just drywall going up and it made the  staircase felt very closed it. Keith and crew came in to take out the drywall and add new newels, spinals and railings. Keith and crew where VERY professional and great to talk with. I am so glad I did this project. It has open the staircase so much nicer and has added value to the house already. Keith and crew did a wonderful and professional job. Everything looks great. I would recommend Keith for any project. He is a contractor you can count on and will not take you for a ride.

Keith and his sub contractors are all extremely professional.  We are so pleased with our extra space

Thanks to him we did not buy a house that would have been a HUGE money pit! We live out of town, so he sat down through the computer went page by page showing us all the issues of the house that we would have NEVER been able to see. 
Thank you so much! I would surely use him again!

Keith responded quickly when I asked for help due to the mess caused by the previous contractor. Keith sent out his specialists (JR for the door and Cliford for the stucco/drywall) and they did a very good job.



Only minor downside was that contractors did sometimes not show up when agreed / showed up late but I understand that our job was rather small hence squeezed into their other projects.

Keith Lawhun, the founder and owner of RA Renovations was excellent!

I had three estimates for the work, based on the architects drawings. Keith came out slightly above the low bid and substantially below the high bid.

Keith is really sharp and professional, but what stands out most about working with him is his deep seated customer focus. H\To judge by our experience, he REALLY wants to get it right and leave his customers happy. By way of example, when the footings for the foundation had been prepared for pouring the concrete slab, the architect noticed that the footings for the 17'x20' addition was subtly  2 inches off center, not something that I would have noticed and not something that was clearly called out in the drawings. However, I hesitantly brought the issue up to Keith and without any discussion he said that, of course, they'd move the footings over two inches to correctly center the addition, and indeed they did.

Another example of his customer focus was in how he staged the project. In speaking with my wife and me he picked up how sensitive we were to our losing access during the build to the parts of the existing house that were to be renovated and also how sensitive we were to having workmen walking through the house to get access to the construction areas. Keith staged the project to have the renovated rooms finished one at a time so that we lost use of rooms only when they were actually being worked on. He also delayed installation of the last window in the addition until the end so that workers would have access to the construction area without passing through the house. The last two weeks, after the final window has to be put in, the workers came in through the window, to avoid inconveniencing us. This manner of staging the work was less efficient and more expensive for Keith, but he proposed the change himself just to keep us comfortable.

Keith is around almost everyday and made a point of involving me to discuss the build, point out anything that I thought needed changing and generally querying my level of satisfaction at each stage of the work.

RARenovations has a crew to do a lot of the work directly but Keith contracts for some particular parts of the construction such as the roofing, electrical, etc. with outside firms, all of which have longstanding relationships with him. His own crew is top notch, particularly the lead mason (a real artist!), lead carpenter and painter. Keith and the mason proposed a major change to the architect's design in such a way as to make the whole structure stronger and simpler. Upon discussion with the architect. the architect immediately agreed that their proposal made more sense and consented willingly to the change. One part of the interior design called for some complex, individual solid cherry framing of a series of stained glass windows. The carpenter, Tom, and painter, Teddy, did a superb job in completing that exacting work. We couldn't be happier!

Keith warned me at the start of the project that most customers love him at the beginning and end of the project and hate him at times in the middle of the construction. My wife and I didn't find that to be true. Although we were glad when it was finished, we genuinely enjoyed the process of working with Keith and his crew during the project.was

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I was on travel when much of the work was done.  The Supervisor kept me informed via phone, text and pictures on the progress and with questions.  They got the work done on schedule, and cleaned up afterwards.  Professional.  
Pricing was right in line with the estimate.   Some additional work, due to uncovered water damage--which was not a surprise to me--was very reasonable.  They seemed concerned with keeping within the estimate, which I appreciated. 
What was really impressive, and really over and above was that they created a molding for the window that matched that with the rest of the house on their own initiative (since I wasn't there at the time).  It took some extra work and materials, but they made the work look seamless, as if it had always been that way.  
It's been about a year and a half since the work was done, and it's all still good.  My first time making a major renovation to a house (no major structural changes in my case), and I was super pleased.  I would use them again.  

Work performed was beyond that requested, of exceptional quality, and very professionally done.  The very high level of expertise showed in virtually every area of work.  A superb job, and I would not hesitate to highly recommend this company to anyone needing remodeling or new construction done.

Keith was fabulous throughout the whole process.  He is extremely knowledgeable, patient, and customer oriented.  His attention to detail is fantastic.  He kept us up-to-date on the progress throughout our project.  He was very responsive, and he helped us make good decisions when things came up.  He was adaptable to changes we requested mid-stream.  If we had a concern it was promptly addressed.  All of our expectations were met or exceeded.  We love our "new" house and would highly recommend R A Renovations and Keith for any building or renovation project.

Keith and his crew were very timely and professional.  I was traveling most of the time during the remodel but felt comfortable leaving his team with access to our home while away.  Keith is a wealth of information and provided great suggestions including where to get the best deal and selection on granite (Amazon Stone in Oviedo).  The work has just been completed and my wife and I are completely satisfied with the work done.  We had originally wanted to include outdoor work but budget constraints put that on hold for the time being.  We will definitely go to Keith and his team again should we need more remodeling done in the future.

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These guys were great.  They showed up on time every day and materials were delivered in a timely manner.  A variance was required and once I had acquired that, the work began immediately.  All of the tradesmen were knowledgeable and professional.  They had no problem with me hanging around watching and asking questions for my own curiosity and knowledge.  The jobsite was cleaned up at the end of each day.  I wanted to lay the floors in all of the rooms which took a while, but Keith sent a guy back to install the baseboards and complete the punch list.  I loved the fact that is was pay as you go and not all up front as a lot of folks require (or at least half).  I have no hesitation in hiring these guys again and have recommended them to neughbors and friends.  I am so sorry that this has takes so long to get posted, but I thought it was already on line.

Where do I begin?!  I cannot say enough good things about this company.  It was a joy working with this contractor...and, honestly, how often have you heard that?!  The owner, Keith Lawhun, is super easy to work with.  Like most people, I wanted the biggest bang for my buck and he really worked with me on curbing costs without sacrificing quality.  The price he quotes at the beginning of the project is the price you get, even if he has to do additional work for unforeseen circumstances.  And in my case, this happened, because he wanted to add another beam for additional support under the room.  Now, if you, the customer, add something along the way (which I did) then of course that cost will be added in.  But he was always very clear with the price in advance and provides documentation for everything so there are no surprises.  I was able to add in several side projects along the way as he allowed me to utilize his subcontractors to the fullest while they were here.  He was patient wilth all of my concerns, questions and every time I changed my mind on something and he was always available.  Great communication.  I, of course, got quotes from other contractors before signing on with RA Renovations and all I can say is thank goodness I found Keith!  Other contractors didn't factor in all of the engineering that went into the room so I would've been stuck with either an unsafe/shoddy room or a much bigger bill than they originally quoted.  Keith thinks of everything.  He is very knowledgeable and very good at what he does.     
All of his workers and subcontractors were courteous, punctual, and neat.  They stacked any unused supplies neatly out of the way and swept up after themselves EVERY DAY before leaving.  They didn't feel like an intrusion into my home, they came to feel like part of the family after a while.  They were THAT great to work with. 
I cannot recommend this contractor enough.  If you have a house renovation, call Keith Lawhun.  You will not be disappointed. 
 

We hired Keith with RA Renovations in April 2013 and construction began in July.  Keith is a nice man and his subs are all pleasant to deal with.  My husband is an engineer, I am a designer.  We have built two homes and done three additions so this was not our first rodeo. To put our experience with RA Construction in a nutshell, we were frustrated and disappointed with the workmanship of some of the subs as well as mistakes made in ordering of our doors and windows, which all came in twice the wrong size. The foundation was poured for the living room to the wrong size and had to be re-done.  The hardwood floors had to be redone three times and to this date the floor in the dining room is still so uneven  that we have to build up our furniture legs to keep the buffet level.

The painter came to us through Keith as well.  Andy is a nice man but not a painter who is used to doing higher end homes. We asked him if he could do as well a few places that needed extra touch up.  We told him that we would be happy to pay him for his extra efforts.  We bought the paint. Not only was the quality of his work a problem but  the most expensive painter I have ever known or worked with. Andy had me buy way more paint than he needed and left with the job unfinished.  We hired another painter on our own to complete the job. Towards the end of the project, Keith never came out to see what the complaints were.  In fact, we never saw Keith again!  Some of the electrical still needed tending to as well as decorative mirror.  He had us contact them directly.

Keith will say that we made all kinds of changes.  Some changes in style of the fireplace mantle and positioning of a cabinet, or adding some decorative trim, which we indeed paid for as extras.

Keith bills you each week, something we have never done with a contractor before.  We usually pay a third at beginning, middle of job and final third at completion. But we never had a final walk through or even had face to face conversation after the painting situation. We were left to finish the details on our own.

One of our biggest complaints was that this job started in July.  We still could not put  Christmas decorations up in December!  All of our belongings being stored in every nook and cranny of our house waiting for completion, which tested our endurance and patience.  The extra work that we added in no possible way added to the delay in finishing this job in a timely manner.  Waiting for foundation to be re-done, windows and doors to be re-ordered, floors to be re-done several times and painter to complete was what delayed our job.

If you have a small or simple job with no attention to real detail, that RA Renovations is for you.

In conclusion, in our experience with contractors and the building process, this was simply a poorly planned job from the draftsman who had errors to the execution of the players involved.

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They did extremely good work and I am very happy with it.  The owner of the company went above and beyond and was extremely professional and a pleasure to work with.

The work turned out amazing. They were very professional. They got the work done on time and they did everything that they said they would. They did an awesome job with the work. They kept us informed throughout the entire job.

I contacted R A Renovations through Angie's List and received a quick response from Keith Lawhun, the owner.  After we discussed the project a bit I asked him to do a bid and he immediately sent me a list of references and scheduled time to come out. Keith's bid was very reasonable compared to other bids we received for the work we needed to get done and we felt comfortable working with Keith.  We had some specific requirements such as concrete shingle siding, specific roof shingles and wood flooring to match the house and he made it happen.  Keith and his crew/subs did a great job while keeping disruptions to a minimum and keeping the job site clean. He was very accessible and responsive via phone, text and e-mail and he sent a spend versus budget summary after each payment as the work progressed to show where we stood. There were some minor issues as could be expected with any remodel but Keith went above and beyond to make sure they were taken care of. We came in right on budget and my wife and I could not be happier with the new room and remodeled deck. We highly recommend Keith and R A Renovations.

It went fabulous !  I found RA Renovations, owned by Keith Lawhun, on Angie's List.  We began our renovations in early March 2013.  Keith was always responsive to my calls, kept me up to the minute informed of workers that will be arriving, discussed planned work for the week, punctual for our meetings, and used the BEST workers for all phases of our project.  AND some worked long long hours to accommodate the simultaneous pool construction adjacent to the new room.
We had a 26'x10' screened porch with a slab lower than our existing floor elevation, 2 sets of french doors to family room, and a 'real' roof. We desired to have that room converted to a Florida Room open to our existing family/living room.  For this portion of our work there were items that caused us to revise our original thoughts on what we want. Throughout this change/revision process, Keith was extremely flexible and helpful in explaining what could be done to make the room the way we wanted.
Our room is BEAUTIFUL !!!  We have windows all around the 3 exterior walls looking out over our newly installed pool and garden. We have arched open entry where the 2 sets of french doors previously stood. 
After we got the interior design firm we did another change on him.  We changed the exterior of this new room from stucco to hardy-board.  All happily fixed to accommodate our change. We, of course, paid the difference between the stucco and boarding exteriors.  You will need to remember that if you add or change work with any contractor .... you pay the difference beyond original contract.
His attention to detail is superior!  Many days he was here many times throughout the day overseeing the work to be sure that all was done perfectly.  His subcontractors are the best I've ever had do work on any of my homes.  They were timely, courteous, clean, and made sure I was happy with the work they provided.  We had masons, concrete workers, electricians, carpenters, insulation installers, window installation, painters, and gutter installation.  Sometimes, many at one time getting the work done between rain showers.
In addition to this room conversion, we had Keith have guttering installed on all roof on both the first and 2nd floor.  They are beautiful and solved our rain water problems.   Keith's choice of painter contractor was incredible !!  They painted the inside and outside of the new room and the 2 new exterior doors (at other locations on the home).  They also painted our entire exterior and trim on our home. 
We are thrilled will all the work completed by Keith and his contractors.  He finished all contracted (and our changes) by the end of July.  This may sound like a long time to some who are considering an undertaking of this magnitude.  It went smoothly with minimal inconvenience to us.  There was the pool construction going on at the same time and all the rain to work around.
We are so pleased with Keith that he is doing additional work for us beyond the completed contract.

They are now asking me for more money, after I have have paid almost $5000 over the estimated cost of the project!  There are several issues with the work that was not done.  I sent him an email letting him know the issues that I had and received a response that if I did not pay the rest of the money that they are telling me I owe them by 7/19/2013, they will be putting a lein on my home.  I didn't say I wasn't going to pay them, especially since I have already paid 100%+ of the estimated cost, but this is the response I am getting?  That is very rude, and he never addressed my concerns with the work that was done.  Why is the brand new roof sagging in?  The response: "We did the best we could." The contract clearly stated a new roof  not a roof sagging. I don't know if he didn't estimate the project correctly, or if he underbid on purpose so he could get the job.  The fact of the matter is, I only have so much money set aside for this project and they seem to be taking me to the cleaners and he doesn't seem to care about the end results of their work.  They just want to get paid.  The house does look much better, but he was originally talking about advertising my home as work he has completed and since I told him that I can't afford to pay him another $4000 to finish my home, which is going to put him at nearly $10,000 over budget, everything has gone down hill.Also, he did not indicate in writing what the $4000 would include. Mr. Lawhun indicated he did above and beyond the call of duty. However, the quality of the work is in question.  In addition, he kept asking for draws put the work was not completed.  We were told, he was finish and we saw several issues that needed to be address. We sent an email asking to correct items such as:
-Warranties (HAVC etc.)
-Knobs or Bathroom vanity
-Installing shelves in kitchen
-Soffit
-Screen Door

Once his worker arrived he stated "that was the homeowners responsibility to complete or retrieve afforemention.Also, the worker indicated could we write a list of items because it was costly for him to travel to fix items. Lastly, he started on March 13, 2013 it is now August 2013. Mr. Lawhun, indicated on several occasions that he had to work on other homes to complete this one while contiunously getting draws from us. We had communicated to Mr. Lawhun. Did we need a roof? He said that very miminumal
work was needed. Afterwards a new roof was needed, not a sagging, not a slopping and not one that looks like its caving in.