JB Construction and Handyman Services

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I am very happy with the work done by JB construction.  The company came by and gave me an estitimate on two projects I was contemplating.  One of the projects I used my coupon on.  The other project was also done but paid him his normal rate.  I found the company completed the job in a very timely manner.  They even adjusted a few things that only took minutes that I was (or was not) aware of but had not asked him to do!  I was very, very appreciative of that.  They were very courteous and kept me updated on the status of the projects and their recommendations when I asked questions / opinions.  They were always prompt (on time).  I would definately recommend this service and know who to call when I need handyman services in the future.  Thank you!

contractor was very busy with another job but did communicate with me and completed the work when he had an opening.  I did appreciate this since it was during the high 90 degree weather.n pu

To say the least, I am disappointed in the craftsmanship and quality of the work done.  It felt all the way through the construction that James just didn't care about or pay any attention to what he was doing.  I told him I was a stickler for details and I am because I've done a lot of construction work and have always taken pride in doing the job well. 
There were a number of mistakes with measuring and centering the railing posts and spindles, a number of things had to be redone or replaced, including a top rail with a noticeable chunk of wood missing from the underside ("you'll never see it" was his response when I pointed it out) and a deck floor board that was cut too short.  I was going to have him do more work on this project, including adding lattice, building a new gate, and filling in siding where the old deck was removed but after I saw some of the sloppy workmanship, I didn't want to have him do any more work.  There are still spindles on one side of the stairs that are all different lengths which I've asked him to replace (the spindles on the other side of the stairs are all evenly cut, which mystifies me), a number of pieces of wood have splintered edges where the cuts weren't very clean, at least one deck floor board has a saw cut in it, one of the stair rails has an edge sticking up above the main top rail, and one of the stair top rails is noticeably longer than the other.  He promised that the deck would be solid and it is, but that doesn't make up for the sloppy workmanship.  He also didn't know a permit was required from the city to rebuild the deck and I'm taking care of that after the fact.  He did show up when he said he would, although he was often an hour or so later.   
 I don't know if he underbid this job just to have more work to do and I've had him do some small projects in the past which he did suitably, but he's done working for me and I cannot recommend him to anyone else.  As it is, I may have some of the deck redone so it doesn't look so incredibly amateurish.

Generally I've been very happy with the work. James listens & communicates well. His construction skill-set is strong and he knows his own strengths and weaknesses. He is very flexible regarding timing. He cleans up well after himself also. He prefers to work on an hourly basis and is slightly slower than I expected.  Since his hourly wage is at the high end for handyman type work ($40+/hour), that means I've ended up spending more than I originally budgeted for some of the projects. However, the quality is good so it feels worth the expense. He is honest and I trust him to be in my house when I'm not there -- he has done several projects in my home and never abused that trust.

I took advantage of the Angie's List Deal of 2 hours of handyman work for $80.



I called and he stopped out that same day to discuss the project. Came back the next morning, 8 AM sharp and got the done- BAM



Hauled away all the old unwanted material.



He was professional, congenial, very generous in sharing his knowledge. I had also wanted to refinish the windowsills in my  house by myself so he picked up the appropriate sander for me. He taught me how to use it, gave me advice on where to get the best products I would need, offered to let me call for further advice if needed.

I contacted James on 4/8/2013 with a list of minor repairs
that I wanted to get done around the house. We set up a meeting at my house on
4/11 so I could show him what I needed.  We talked about past issues with
having water in my finished basement, which was why my broken sump pump hose
was the most important concern we discussed.  I also showed him the
flexible tube repair solution that Menards had sold me to try to install
myself.  He wanted to use pvc pipe instead of Menards' flexible tube and
said he would be able to start with that issue early the following week. He
would then work on the other items, including a wobbly hand rail, wobbly
ceiling fan, and roof vents with birds' nests in them.  On 4/16, I
contacted him to ask: "Since it's supposed to rain pretty hard over the
next few days, do you think I should try to install the sump pump solution that
Menards suggested, just in case?"  He told me he could swing by on
4/17 to fix the hose and then work on the rest of the list on 4/18; he said he
would let me know when the hose was fixed.  At noon on 4/17, I received
this message from him "I just stopped by [the house], gonna get parts and
come back and fix. I am kinda waiting for rain to let up, I will keep ya
posted."  I returned home in the evening on 4/17, after another day
of heavy rain, to find that he had not done anything with the hose.  I
finally got a message from him at 8pm on 4/17 that said "I will be
stopping over in morning [4/18] to install new line for sump pump." 
I replied that as long as my basement is dry, I'm a happy camper.  At 5am
on 4/18, there was water pouring into my basement, coming from the hose that he
did not fix when he said he would the day before.  I notified him of this
fact via text at 510am, and at 640am he apologized and replied that he would be
there at 8am.  He still had not arrived at 9am, so I contacted him again
to ask if he was still on his way. He said he was, but he still did not arrive
until after 10am.  By this time, I had installed the repair that Menards
had suggested, which worked perfectly well to stop the influx of water into the
basement.  If he had either completed the repair when he said he would, or
told me to do the Menards' repair myself, I would not have been angry at all.
On 4/25, he contacted me to ask if 4/26 would work for him to finish the other
projects.  I replied yes, but he didn't reply and didn't show up on
4/26.  On 4/29, he apologized for not getting back to me about 4/26, and
he asked if 4/30 would work for him to finish the other projects.  I
replied yes, and he sent me an email on 4/30 to tell me that he had fixed the
hand rail, he had removed the wobbly ceiling fan but could not rehang it due to
a broken rubber grommet, and he could not identify any problems with the roof
vents.  On 5/2, he sent me an invoice and I mailed the check that
night.  On 5/3, I cut my hand open on the handrail because it had a 3-inch
section of jagged splinters.  I sent him a picture of it and he apologized
and said he would look at it right away and repair or replace it.  On 5/6,
he said he hasn't forgotten about the hand rail, just has a huge schedule this
week and will get to it asap. On 5/20, he apologized for the delay and asked
when he could finish the hand rail.  I told him that they key (that he had
been using for every other visit) was still in the mailbox because the plumber
I hired needed it too.  He said ok thanks, but then I didn?t see or hear
from him for over 3 weeks.  On 6/11, I contacted him to find out when he
planned to fix the hand rail issues that I had first notified him about on
5/3.  He apologized and said he had totally forgotten about it and will
get it done before the weekend.  On 6/13, he said he would stop over on
6/14 to fix the hand rail.  When I returned home on 6/14, I contacted him
because I found that I had no hand rail in place at all.  He apologized and
said he wanted to apply a finish to it, which has to dry, and then he will install
it on 6/17.  I said I wished he had mentioned that there would be no hand
rail at all for 3 days before he took it down, as it was on a very steep set of
stairs.  When I returned home on 6/17, I contacted him because I found
that I still had no hand rail in place at all.  He finally replaced the hand rail on 6/18.

New walls were built using paneling that matched existing paneling.  I had asked for a 3-foot-high box with removable or hinged lid to be built around the sump pump to keep the cat from playing with it; Jamie recommend a closet instead of a box, which was acceptable to me, and will prove to be a better choice when I have the sump pump discharge rerouted away from sanitary sewer.
Sump pump failed overnight during construction.  I had not moved in yet, so I was glad that the workers altered me.  With my authorization they had a new sump pump installed, removed the soaked carpet, and ran dehumidifiers to dry out the basement.
One door was installed opening opposite my request, but this was too minor a detail to ask for a correction.
New doors and trim were stained and varnished, and all messes were cleaned up completely.  Very happy with the work.  Solar tube (skylight) in bathroom is wonderful!

Installation progressed on time. Two issues I was disappointed with was that I had cement board for below the tile but he installed plywood under the shower instead of using cement board throughout. Also he moved the heater/air conditioning vent down in a very sloppy manner so the cover did not fit well.

Mr. Brown was highly professional right from the start.  Was quick to come to our home and review needed work and provide a very accurate estimate.  We hired Mr. Brown and he arrived the first day exactly as promised.  Right from the start, he was courteous, and a pleasure to have working in our home.  We will most definetly rely on him for additional work we need done.  Nothing was impossible for him.  His attitude was "sure I can do that."  And he did!  He is always so pleasant, hard-working and easy to work with.  Whatever we found that need his attention, beyond the original list, his response was "no problem."   His rate is totally reasonable and there were no surprises.  All in all a fine gentleman and highly skilled.  Because he was so good and quick we'll be able to move into the house we just purchased sooner than expected.

Excellent job and a very likeable man.

If I could give James Brown an A+, I would. My husband and I are thrilled with the fireplace mantle that he designed to our specifications, built and installed for us.  We had never liked the mantle that was original to the house, but wanted one that was wider and better suited to the furnishings and the uses to which we put our family room.  After we left a message for James, he contacted us to set up an appointment and look over the project.  We discussed reusing an alternate mantle but the modifications that would need to be made didn't make sense.  We then discussed how we planned to use the new mantle and some design ideas, but we were completely relying on James to figure how to build and mount it to a solid brick wall. 
James stopped in a few days later with some moulding samples that we could use to decide on proportions and size and we shared ideas to come up with a final design.  We did not have any specific timetable but James suggested the whole process could take about a month, which was fine with us.  After that meeting James went to work on the construction job and did stop in a time or two to check on stain colors and measurements, etc.  At the end of a month, the new mantle was ready to install.   He understood our wishes and ideas and designed and constructed EXACTLY what we wanted!  I am only sorry that we waited so long to make this change because it has really made a difference in the room!
I believe James will be posting a photo of the installed job, and we would just like to say that it's even better in when seen in person. I highly recommend him and in fact, we have already talked with him about some other projects we would like him to tackle.  Ihope we will be seeing him shortly to start work on those!

Although he ran later than he'd originally said, James was very good about calling to let me know he was on the way and once he got here he was very efficient in his work.  He also took the time to look at some other potential projects with me, explained what would need to be done, provided cost estimates and answered my questions.  He's very knowledgeable and did a great job with everything he did, including clean up and removal of trash.  I'm looking forward to having him work on other projects here at my house and I know the work will be done efficiently, carefully, and professionally.  I recommend him highly!

James came out to look at the woodshed and get an estimate of materials he would need and time it would take.  Even though we live 10 miles south of Iowa City and he is from Cedar Rapids, he had no hesitation about coming out this distance to do work for us.  He is very busy, but worked us in and did an excellent job.  He is also very interested in making sure you are satisfied with the final product and is willing to make changes if needed.  I would highly recommend him for any carpentry job.

Everything went great.

Very well

Never, ever would recommend.

I hired James for two days last year to remove some broken tile from the bathroom and install a shower surround in its place. It's more complicated than it sounds because there's a window in that wall of the bathroom, and he also reconstructed the sill and border with water-safe materials rather than the original wood. He did the job quickly, the price was right and I was happy with the results.
This year I wanted to do some more work on the bathroom (see above), so I contacted James again. Again he was able to schedule the work quickly and gave me an estimate that was right in line with the preliminary figures we'd talked about the previous year. We agreed on which supplies I'd pick up and which ones he'd be responsible for, and he was responsive and helpful -- even loading a vanity I'd previously bought into his trailer and bringing it to Home Depot so I could return it when I decided I'd rather have a different one. There was an error with a can of paint he picked up for some of the painting I was going to do -- it was a deep base that needed to be tinted, so it didn't actually have any color on its own. James removed it from my bill for materials, and I bought my own replacement. This was a three-day project, and again I'm happy with how it turned out. The only issue was that we agreed he'd return the following week to rehang the mirror and the linen cabinet doors after I'd finished painting; I had a tough time getting a hold of him to pin down an appointment, and it ended up being the next week before those final touches were completed. I don't care about the delay itself -- it came about in part because of an illness in his family -- but the lack of communication that week was frustrating.
But overall, I can recommend James' work and his rates, and I will hire him again. We've discussed a Phase Three of the bathroom remodel, redoing the floor with tile later this year, and I've also considered having him do a collection of other jobs like installing a garbage disposal and painting the exterior doors.

James was great to work with and his schedule was flexible.  He removed and disposed of an old light in the entry way.  He went into the attic and installed the reinforcement for the new fan.  He assembled and installed the entire ceiling fan/light combo.  He made sure that is was functioning properly and offered to stop back in the fall to change the direction of the fan.  He will be the first person I call when planning future home improvement projects.

His overall work was professional. He was punctual and very accommodating. He took care of a few small items that appeared during the course of his repair.

It went very well.  He was professional and even made trips to the home improvement store to purchase items that I did not know I needed when I bought the fans.  He made sure that they all worked as  expected and cleaned up after completing the job.  Very personalble.  I would hire him to do other handyman jobs around my house.

Mr.Brown is very through, and is available in a reasonable amount of time.

It went great.  James is friendly, takes the time to talk about the job so everyone understands everything.  On time, and worked efficiently.  He even injured himself, went to get stitches, and then returned the same day to finish my job!  I definitely would call him again.

Overall it went very well.

We had a new exterior door that was incorrectly installed by someone else.  We called JB Construction.  James gave us two different options and estimates.  We opted for him to remove the door, install it correctly.  He did just that.  Not only do we have a door which will open OVER the rug next to the door, but he covered a gap on the inside floor and installed the threshold as it should have been.  The deadbolt now works too!