Dave's Home Improvement

unknown

Very very good! His estimates are always lower than anyone else. His estimates where 1/3rd of the cost of the other guys. He always does an incredible job. He's also brutally honest. He does not lie or exaggerate in any form.

unknown

Dave is the BEST!!! We have used his expert contractor services for over 12 years!  We have moved from Carmel suburbia where he converted our basement from 1600 sq. feet of empty concrete to a finished family recreation center, bar, full bath, exercise room, and workshop (he's an expert at custom wood work and home theater systems), then to Indianapolis where he amazingly transformed an 1860's home with beautiful hardwood flooring throughout the upstairs to match the hardwoods in the lower level.  And finally, he recently installed the most gorgeous ceramic minimal grout rectangular tile in a master bathroom and upstairs laundry room.  We CANNOT say enough about Dave's quality of work!  He is the best  Master carpenter we've ever known, and so much more as a professional and our little dachshund even likes him!!!

unknown

Unbelievable craftsmanship, it is just perfect.  Zero complaints.

I'm using this review to discuss 3 things Dave did for us.  First, we had a bathroom that wasn't ventilating properly and had some moisture issues.  Dave not only diagnosed and repaired the ventilation, he also fixed the plaster/drywall and made the bathroom look great.
He then re-faced a detached garage, which included removing some of the rotten facia boards, new windows, etc.
And finally, we had some water damage in the kitchen - below the bathroom I mentioned above.  He diagnosed the problem (we had a plumber come fix) and then he re-drywalled the ceiling.
Each one of his jobs above was done well.  Like one of the reviewers, he's not the fastest but you can't argue with the price or quality.  
I will continue to use Dave whenever I can.

The bill was not as much as he originally estimated and he did more work than expected.

I cannot recommend Dave highly enough.  We hired Dave to finish our basement - almost entirely based on the reviews we read here.  Services included framing, insulating, pulling electrical, plumbing, drywall, trim, tile, lighting and paint.  Dave does it all himself except for the plumbing.
 To be fair, we had 2 other contracting companies come in to give bids along with Dave.  The 2 other companies included kitchen cabinets, laminate counter, carpet and tile in their estimates (a very generic level of each) - if we were to do the math he will end up saving us about 5-10 thousand on the whole thing.  We were a bit worried that it would be reflected in the work given the price,  but I have to say we are incredibly pleased with the quality of work he produces.
He does not come across as a polished salesman would.  If you can look past the polish, I think his work is far superior and well thought out.  The contracting companies I've worked with before tend to cut corners whereas he doesn't.  He is more insistent upon doing it "right".
The only negative is that, since he's a one man show, he moves slowly.  It took him 4 months to finish our basement whereas a contracting company would be done in 1.  But, again, I can't argue with the quality or price.

Dave is the BEST hired professional we've ever known!!! In our previous home, he completely transformed a concrete unfinished basement into the most beautiful and functional finished family retreat with a movie theater area with built in book shelves, a complete bar with sink (hand crafting the bar to match custom cabinets), installing a full bathroom (customizing a door to fit in an awkward space), custom designing a kids play area under a stairwell and adding another custom built game shelf to hold various sized games and a reptile habitat with electrical receptacles for special heat lamp designs. Dave is the complete dream handyman! We loved him and his work is 2nd to none!!!

They were excellent.  I liked their price and the quality of their work.  Dave himself did it and he is a great guy.

All I can say is that Dave is one great guy and an excellent craftsman.  He completely finished our basement including framing, electrical, plumbing (he actually has someone do that for him and he was excellent too), drywall, trim, and painting.  He was extremely easy to work with an the final product far exceeded our expectations. He is extremely detailed oriented and gets things as perfect as he possibly can.  Dave is a one man show so the build process wasn't super fast, but he was steady and got the job done. If you are looking really fast Dave might not be the right person for you, but if time isn't an issue I can guarantee you won't find a more honest and hard working guy.
I look forward to having Dave do work for us again in the near future.

Dave did a great job, as always.

Dave Whitesell is the best find we've made since using Angie's List.  I had a handful of bids on finishing our basement, but no one was as helpful, honest, easy going, and friendly as Dave. When he came to look at the job, he was the opposite of a salesman; he told us the truth in detail about all the things that we needed to consider. For instance, one contractor said we had more than enough power in our basement for what we wanted and "not to worry about it" (a full bar, can lights, and bathroom fan), but dave told us in detail how much power we needed for what, and went to our garage to check our breaker box and explained everything he was doing while he did it.  Right off the bat, we felt comfortable exploring options with him.  He explained how much money we'd save on material and labor if we made certain decisions, keeping our interests in mind before we even told him a budget.
Even though we changed our mind 3 different times, he was more than patient! He came out to review our ideas with us and updated his bid to reflect our new plans.
The work itself was superb. Through every step of the process, he was clean and detail oriented, giving us spectacularly finished drywall and electrical.  He worked almost entirely by himself, so we felt comfortable with him coming and going while we were at work.  The fact that he got so much done himself is amazing, when most contractors we spoke with had a team of workers to do the labor.  We felt like we were getting an incredible deal for work that we knew was getting done right.  When he felt we'd get a better deal going through a different service provider, he didn't hesitate to tell us.  We will continue to use Dave for anything we can think of for as long as he'll work with us!

His work is Impeccable.

He takes his time to make sure everything is a high quality finished product.  I will definitely continue to use him again.

Dave is very reliable and easy to work with. I think his prices are competitive, and I would certainly ask him for help again in the future.

What they have done has been terrific and the cabinets look great. They were half the price of commercially made or factory made custom bookcases. We are paying it in stages because of the other cabinets.

DID A PERFECT JOB. HE IS MY "GO TO" GUY.

It was very good. He is excellent. He is very detailed in his work. He is very meticulous. He does it right. We have never had to call him back on anything. He does a better job than you would expect. Anytime I need any job I call him first to see if he could do it. I have recommended him to so many neighbors and everyone has loved him. He is extremely honest. He will tell you what can be done and what can't be done. The price was for the stairway up to the attic. His carpentry is unbelievable. He is the most polite person and pleasant to be around.

Excellent!

They couldn't have been better. When he quotes a price he sticks to it, even if there are other complexities that come up throughout the job. He does great work, he works quickly and he cleans up after himself. He works around my schedule and I would highly recommend him.

Dave's price was less then half of the other quotes. Original quote based on using our paint. When it turned to be unusable, he spent his own time to shop & match the paint, also doors cost him more then he quoted, and he would not charge us any extra.

The work and price was just absolutely top notch.

The workmanship is beyond excellent. If he didn't' think the work was exceptional, he would go back and redo it. He is a perfectionist.

We have used Dave numerous times over the past few years. His work is top notch. He is honest and responsive. A rare gem in this industry.