Home Services Direct

unknown

Very pleased with all aspects of work. They did an excellent job on all aspects. All workmen arrived promptly, kept me informed and were very professional and helpful. They worked late several days - the job took 2 weeks to complete - and never took a lunch. The supervisor visited each day, sometimes twice a day, to make sure I was happy, everything was on-track, and to inspect what had been done. He noted a problem with the ceramic tile when it was installed that I had not noticed and made sure it was corrected the next day.
Before installing the grab bars they had me indicate where I wanted them placed and helped me get into the tub so I could show them where I needed the bars.
The paint job in both the bathroom and front room were excellent. Although they only had to paint the wall where the hole was repaired per the contract, they offered, and painted, all four walls for me. The woodwork and adjoining surfaces were taped professionally. There are no paint drips on anything.
I really appreciated that they cleaned up each night before leaving since I'm in a wheelchair and could not do much clean-up myself. They ensured that everything was out of my so I could get to the toilet without difficulty (this is the only bathroom I can access) each evening and any time I needed to use the bathroom during the day. When the job was complete, they even cleaned up the old ceramic tile floor and made sure the adhesive from the tape used and all other debris were cleaned off. They even returned the boxes I had used for my medicine chest and vanity and quot;stuffand quot; to the bathroom for me before they left.
None of the workmen were bothered by my dog and even gave her a few moments of attention each day. One day my dog caretaker was not available to let her out, so the workers let her out for me twice.
My new bathroom is beautiful. It was completed two weeks ago and I have not had any problems. I would highly recommend Home Services Direct and plan on using them in the future when I need work done.

Over budget
Over schedule
Shoddy work
Left LOTS of debris when they left

After finally having everything settle down I am finally able to write the full review of the remodel project on my new purchase home that was completed in August. Initially we were very pleased with HSD as they came out to do their walk through/bid of our project. Bill and Sam seemed to have good insight and understood how the whole process worked with the 203k loan. After not having received their bid in time we probably should have moved on to another bidder, but since we liked their insight so much we extended our deadline to allow them the chance to get our business. The quote came back more than fair and the job was theirs. And the minute that happened we were met with delay and confusion.
We met their and quot;designerand quot; to pick out the necessary elements of the remodel and after having the initial conversation with Jennifer, we never saw her again. She never came back out to visit the job, ensure the right pieces were ordered and delivered on time, or anything else. The only useful thing she did was find the cabinets that were almost exact to what we were looking for. Everything else she completely dropped the ball on. It took us double and triple checking the right pieces were ordered, delivered and installed.
The whole start of the process with updates on permits and lack of communication really put the project off on the wrong note. Sam who was named our project manager clearly had too much on his plate and completely sold off this project to the demolition team that suddenly became in charge of just way too much work. Elton Lamacki and his crew did a great job at basic demolition and framing of the new rough outs but that's where their work should have stopped. The minute they started finishing areas I had to come back to correct everything constantly. Elton was posting ads on craigslist for people to come out and finish work that he was contracted to do. He even ended up picking up someone in our neighborhood to do most of the painting in the house, of which on a random weekend when we stopped by, the painter and his friend were inside painting and drinking on the job. There was zero to extremely little communication between anyone at HSD and the crew working at the house. The only conversations took place when there was a HUD inspector on their way out to make sure they could get paid for the araes they claimed to be done with. Finally I took to being their everyday and it was the only way anything progressed was with myself present directing everyone where to go.
About halfway through the project I think HSD realized that Sam was way over his head and they hired on a new project manager. The new project manager TIM O'DONNELL is the ONLY reason why HSD is receiving a 'C' from me. After it was clear that Elton and his crew were not able to complete the project properly, Tim kicked them off the job and started bringing in his guys (all new to HSD) to start correcting the problems. Tim oversaw everything and the job ran much smoother than it ever had. Unfortunately Elton and his crew had messed up so much Tim just didn't have time to go back and correct everything and I decided it was time to just chalk it up to a bad experience so we could move into our home. Tim was able to salvage most of the errors and make the work acceptable and overall what we were looking for.
While Tim saved the job and I would highly recommend him or anyone from his crew (Nelson, in particular) I do not think I could recommend HSD to anyone. The lack of communication, the lack of professionalism, and general pass it off to the next guy attitude definitely prevents that.
That being said if you can ensure Tim (who should be running his own business) gets your project and coordinates everything, you will be in good hands. However if you don't have him running things get as far away from this company as you can.

This is a great company to work with. I purchased a foreclosure and utilized the 203(k) loan from FHA. Not having a contractor to do the work, I checked Angie's list and liked what I read so gave them a try. I was not disappointed. My lender (Wintrust Mortgage) has worked with them in the past and that was a major plus. Everything went smoothly. I wish I had been able to afford to completely redo the bathrooms and am saving my money to have them done in the near future. The house was always left in clean condition when the work days ended and all trash removed timely. Jack Bolek who did most of the work is awesome - I don't think there is anything he can't do. I mostly worked with Sam Palazzola who has the patience of a saint. To me, besides the beautiful work, is that everything was done timely. They're great!

They really did a great job remodeling our master bath. They were able to make all the changes the way we wanted them. The really were a pleasure to work with.

The over all expierence went ok, however we did have an issue with our general contractor(poor communication) didn't follow through on what he said he was going to do,(then left) the company its self was very professional and came in to save the situation.