James Thomas Renovations Inc

We had a few set backs at the onset, first a personal issue causing a delay, then discovering a structural issue early on. We worked with Jim S on the project, he was very understanding about the first issue and juggled scheduling for us. On the second issue, Jim was able to bring in a structural expert and create a crew to work on a Saturday to correct the situation and minimize further delays. The work was superb! Martin was the lead, would HIGHLY recommend him as he is meticulous about quality workmanship. Every member of the crew was exceptionally professional and personable. I rated them a B on cost because I have no idea if I could have gotten better pricing on work that we added after signing the initial contract, but, in general I feel good about everything as a firm believer that 'you get what you pay for'.

We worked with Jim S. as our main contact but also Martin as the project leader. This was the first time that we used a contractor and didn't know what to expect and we were a little nervous about it. After the first day that Martin was there we didn't have any other concerns as he and his worker were here right on time and started right in to work after a question and period for us. This continued on for the rest of the project which overall took about two weeks which is exactly what Jim had advised us. The cabinet crew and the flooring crew were all punctual and professional. All in all we were well satisfied with the results of their hard work as they took our kitchen out of the 1980s and updated it the current year and trend. The contacts that we were given for the counter tops and back splash were both helpful and reasonably priced. The small problem that we had with the counter top was taken care of immediately and with no arguments. I would and have highly recommended James Thomas Renovations to neighbors and family in the area.

As a preface this is the second major project we have done using James Thomas Renovations, Inc. and thus our second review of the company on Angie's List. At the outset I will say that as customers we are almost ridiculously demanding and high maintenance. I will also say that given that, the folks at JTR have dealt with us with the utmost professionalism, patience and consideration. Owner Tom Holakovsky represents the company's concern for quality and customer satisfaction superbly. This translates into the people that do the hard project work. We especially note project leader Adam Carey who has led both of our projects. He takes pride in his work and takes the time to listen to every question and concern. With the project that is the subject of this review we did a complete gut of our kitchen including ripping up a heavy tile floor down to the subfloor. We gutted a downstairs powder room and partially gutted an upstairs bathroom. Additionally we did some minor work in our utility closet and installed a backup sump pump which also was handled by James Thomas. From the outset of our first meeting with Tom H. about the project he took the time to listen to what we wanted to do, he inspected the space carefully and came up with a reasonable proposal for the work. We did not shop the project, partially because we had experience with Tom and his company previously and because we believe that Tom is a straight shooter. As we ordered the cabinets and flooring Tom made sure to stay in regular contact with us so that we could meet the agreed upon start date. On the start date, prior to any demolition work beginning, Tom and Adam made sure that we all were on the same page relative to project scope, timeline and any questions. Once demolition began the project moved as planned and smoothly. The only hiccups we had were with cabinets and delivery and a damaged cabinet when delivery was made (none of this had to do with James Thomas) and some confusion we had with the flooring vendor (again nothing to do with James Thomas). As with our previous project we especially note the high proficiency of JTR's electricians and plumbers. Excellent infrastructure work here. Installation of cabinets was done with care and JTR went beyond the call to make sure that the cabinets were not only properly installed but that the soft close cabinets and drawers worked properly. Fixture installation, painting and finishing showed pride of workmanship. We installed a number of solid wood doors. Again JTR went above and beyond to make sure that we were fully satisfied with the quality of the staining work on the doors. Tiling work in the upstairs bathroom was excellent. As with any major project inevitably there will be unexpected items that arise. Though there were not many with this project JTR addressed each one with care and concern and was very diligent in coming up with reasonable and workable solutions. We are very pleased with the end result of the project and we believe this work has done much to not only fully modernize our home but to enhance the home's value. Now the final part of this is that we have found that JTR is not just about doing a project. This project completed in July of 2015. A couple of items have surfaced since then - nothing major - just some adjustments and minor fixes. JTR has gladly and timely addressed and fixed these minor items. Their service goes beyond just remodeling, they are committed to making sure that their customers are fully satisfied even if some service work is needed after the project is completed. We believe that JTR is worthy of a high degree of trust and that they exemplify integrity. We would gladly recommend them and would definitely call them again for any other project we may do with our home.

Adam, our general contractor, has been doing a great job. We are currently in the middle of the remodel and the job is going smoothly. He let's us know every step in the process and is willing to listen to our ideas. I would highly recommend using James Thomas Renovations for your next project. I know I will keep them in mind for our next renovation!

We met Tom H. with James Thomas Renovations through one of the local home remodeling shows (Harper College) and had Tom initially bid out our Master Bathroom and a 2nd floor laundy room project. We later added a mud room project.
There were three reasons we accepted James Thomas for the work;

1. 1.) their project pricing was market competitive, as compared with two other providers we considered
2. 2.) the company's outstanding referrals/testimonials and A+ rating on BBB
3. 3.) Tom's consultative approach and ability to bring his team over to our home to do a walk through of the projects.

As for the actual work and results my wife and I are thrilled with all three of the projects completed! The Master Bath and 2nd floor laundry room required signficant electric and plubming work, James Thomas brought in licensed experts in this area and ensured all the work was done to code and passed the village inspections. As for the finish work we had marble installed in the Master Bath and Ceramic tile in the laundy room, all of the tile work looks AMAZING! The lead for our projects (Adam) was a fantastic project manager and carpenter who worked with us every day to ensure the project was moving along as planned and communicated any changes to the plan as they came up. We are most impressed with their work in our Master Bath which included marble tile floor, tub and shower surround, granite countertops/thresholds, heated tile floor, a frameless glass shower surround and tile mosaics in the shower and cabinet backsplashes. There was a lot of fine detail required and Adam did a superb job!
There is one final attribute to working with James Thomas we want to call out, Tom has an extensive network of retailers and specialists (plumbing fixtures/granite/cabinets/shower glass doors/insulation/etc...) that he brought to our projects, this is extremely beneficial in rounding out all the work required to do your remodeling project the right way!

They did okay. They didn't know how to do a bathroom flood test.

Tom Holakovsky visited my home to review my project requirements. Tom did an excellent job of listening to my needs and asked questions to insure he understood all my requirements. He provided excellent input and suggestions regarding materials, colors etc, from his vast experienced background in home improvement. He bid the project at a very fair price. I have a friend who owns his own roofing company and Tom beat his price hands down with his first bid. I booked the project with James Thomas and although late in year they promptly scheduled the crew to get the job completed. The materials were ordered without a hitch and were delivered right on schedule. The crew showed up right on time, and got right down to it. They were friendly, energetic and FAST! Most importantly, they did a fantastic professional job! All in all, I'm very pleased with James Thomas Renovations. I would recommend them highly.

My experience with James Thomas was very satisfying from the start of our first project. We found their entire team easy to communicate with, punctual and professional with each and every project. As mentioned we first hired James Thomas for a large kitchen remodel. This involved a transformation of the entire first floor of the home, incorporating a living room, dining room and kitchen into one large open design. They were extremely helpful in proving multiple design options and constructual advice. They were able to remove walls, old flooring and cabinets, relocate plumbing and utilities all while we were still living in the home. They maintained the schedule of the project and installed new cabinets, flooring, doors, and granite countertops.
The following summer we had them remove our old, delapidated deck and design and construct a new one. This project took only 4 days and after immediately began a bathroom remodel and custom cabinet project in our lower level. The bathroom turned out awesome, with a new tile shower and tub, tile floor and new vanity. The custom entertainment center became the focal point of the room.
A few years later after suffering hail damage to the siding of our entire home, we again called James Thomas. The owner of the company came out to meet with insurance adjusters personally to help insure we got the problem corrected as we deserved. We were looking for something different than the rest of our neighborhood when they suggested using fiber cement shake and a wider style siding to separate our house from the neighbors. At the same time, we also purchased new windows for the entire home, which they installed during the siding installation.
In the fall of 2012, we decided we had outgrown the home and were listing our house to sell. The realtor mentioned the only black eye on the home was the 20 year old roof. James Thomas came out and installed a new roof with Architectural shingles that nobody else had. Our home was now complete and a stand alone in the neighborhood.
There is no doubt that the remodeling and craftsmanship that James Thomas did on our home helped us sell in less than 30 days and full asking price. This at a time where the average listing exceeded 9 months and prices were falling.
We have become big fans of James Thomas and are sure to use them in our new home as projects arise, and I know they will!

We contracted with James Thomas Renovations for an extensive remodel of our master bathroom/master bedroom. The actual construction time of the project was about 45 days. Much of the project went well and the end result generally looks good. We provided our own materials for this project and these were generally higher end materials. We used natural stone tile for the bathroom floor and natural stone for the shower walls. Bedroom flooring was Bellawood Brazilian Redwood, a very hearty wood flooring. I will start with the negatives as these most heavily influence my rating. We do not believe that the company has extensive experience working with/installing natural stone and with the particular wood flooring we selected. We found a few cracks in the stone tile in the shower after the stone had been placed and installed. By that time there was no reasonable fix. The company tried to address but to no avail - the best they could do was caulk to prevent water getting into the cracks. The construction team also struggled mightily to install the wood flooring. We found fastener shanks and some gapping that were not addressed as the floor was being installed thus the end wood floor installation is not as clean as we would have liked. We believe the construction crew further exemplified unfamiliarity with the wood flooring product as when they tried to clean it after staining the wood trim in the bedroom they left several large areas of solvent staining on the floor. While the company worked diligently to clean (adding 2 or so days to the project) and it appears that the solvent was effectively cleaned we are not certain as to the longer term impact to the wood, if any. We would not expect to have that type of doubt after embarking on this magnitude of a project. The last major negative had to do with one major communication gap regarding the staining of the wood trim in the bedroom. The construction crew did not verify with us the actual color of the stain before they went ahead and stained the trim and installed it. It turns out that the stain they selected was not what we wanted and thus the crew had to redo the staining. Summing up is that our significant negatives with this company include questions about their quality control, their apparent approach of installing over mistakes rather than inspecting and fixing as they go along and their familiarity with higher end materials. Additionally we note a key communication gap during the project.

On the other side of the fence we found many positives working with this contractor. We had our primary discussions as we were bidding the work, designing the project and ongoing through the project itself with Tom Holakovsky, one of the owners of the company. This was one of the pleasures of the project. Tom is a great guy. He is very personable, responsive, and has the patience of Job. He truly enjoys his business and working with people. He is straight-forward and does not dodge issues or items that need to be discussed. Our project leader, Adam, clearly took ownership of the project and worked extremely hard, listened to how we wanted things, listened to concerns, answered every question and where possible worked to fix issues. We found that the plumbing and electrical work, the infrastructure and mechanical work - and there was a lot of it - that was done for our project was really excellent. I would say this is a real strong point with this company. I cannot emphasize this enough as we were very pleased with this as was the village building inspector. The framing, drywalling and the woodwork (they built the in-wall entertainment center and except for the snafu with staining the trim) was also top notch. The price was not cheap but we bid out the work and we found their price to be fair.
Note that James Thomas Renovations does the demolition and construction. At the time of our project they were only the construction company. They did not directly sell materials such as cabinets, flooring, fixtures etc. At the time of our project they partnered with another company that provided those materials. We had the option of contracting separately with that company kind of as a one stop shop for all the materials. We initially went down that path but started to find that we were limited in selection and quality. Ultimately we shopped on our own for our materials and found that we were able to greatly up-tier quality and get what we really wanted for basically the same price we had been quoted for materials by the partner company.
I am torn by the question here as to whether we would use this contractor again. Some of the quality issues left me with disappointment which given how much we ultimately spent on this project - I would not expect to be left with any disappointment. They are very decent and amiable people. With the benefit of past experience with this contractor I would certainly talk to them about another project and as long as I could establish a quality control and communication protocol they would agree to I would consider using this firm for a future project.

We had three companys bid this project. We were shown before and after pictures of similar kitchen remodeling projects. James Thomas, Inc was the low bidder. There were no hidden costs or confusing calculations in their contract. We paid 10% of the total cost to schedule the project. We selected the granite to replace our counter tops. We requested two changes in the project which included more granite and the interior painting of all cabinets. The extra costs were put in writng on a change order form. From tear out to finish took three days. The workers answered any questions that we had and they cleaned up before they left. They did an outstanding job which we are very proud to show off. We did a checklist review after the project was completed. Everyone we dealt with at James Thomas, Inc. was professional. We highly recommend this company to friends wanting to do a remodeling project.

Found his group at local home show. They worked closely with us to insure that we got what we wanted. The tub was a design effort that required moving a wall. They were very good at resolving damage to central vacuum piping. They were very flexible in changing pay dates.