Brian R Kates Restoration & Construction

Brian Kates of Kates Restoration and Construction is a rare find. I hired Brian to rebuild a composite deck after discovering that the previous contractor violated zoning by laws and did not follow manufacturing guidelines. He rebuilt the deck accordingly. He also rebuilt the exterior stairs to be in compliance with building codes. In addition, he added the railing systems. During this reconstruction, Brian exhibited a high degree of professionalism, knowledge and ethics. I extended my initial contract with him to complete the interior carpentry projects including stairs (new treads, balusters, newell posts and railings). He did an excellent job renovating my laundry/bathroom including the installation of tiles. Brian has demonstrated his ability to troubleshoot and work with other professionals i.e. structural engineer, electrician, plumber and appliance installers. Brian’s quoted contract prices are fair, reasonable and competitive . He is a hardworker, conscientious and a pleasure to work with. I will not hesitate to contact him for future projects.

Everything sounded so promising at first since Brian Kates claimed to have “over 20 years of experience in construction work.” However, when the project is completed, I've found many flaws with his work and took over 40 pictures of what should be fixed. We went to the Quincy Building & Zoning Department to request for another inspection due to the fact that the we were not present when the inspector initially came over to inspect the deck. Thus, we do not know if he did actually come inspect it. The inspector agreed to re-inspect the deck and when he did, he said he would contact Brian Kates and have him come over to fix the problems with the deck. In the end, it's been over the month since our meeting with the inspector and we heard no words from either the inspector or Brian Kates. Now we don't know what to do.

Smooth transaction.

Everything went great. Brian arrived at the agreed time. He was straight forward and honest. He didn't try to pressure me into hiring him. In fact, he was encouraged to hear that I may want to do the work myself. He offered some advice on how to proceed and even offered to be available to consult in the future.

Brian was our last contractor to provide a bid for us.  He was very detailed in his work and even suggested some work on the railings that we needed.  He was very prompt and detailed oriented with his work.  Took the 2 days he said it would take. 

We love the way the lattice fencing looks and we would absolutely use him in the future.  We highly recommend him and his work.

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Brian did a great job of getting the materials for the railing system.   He provided me with options for the railing caps as I wanted solar lighted caps and he was happy to let me order the ones that I wanted from an online distributor and even let me know what adapters he would need to make them fit the railing system.  

The work came out beautiful and he even used better hardware than the manufacturers provided as he knew the screws provided would not keep the caps on the railings without loosening in the future.  Cleaned up after himself and did the finished product looked great.

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Overall the project went very well.   We had a tight timeline of 6.5 weeks to complete the entire project (while my wife and kids were away on vacation visiting her parents).   We were able to complete the project in that timeline aside from a few minor punchlist items.    The sub-contractors Brian used were great and responsive as well.   Unfortunately there were a number of unexpected surprises uncovered along the way that led to cost overruns but overall we are glad the project was completed.    I have and would recommend Brian and his crew to others.

Brian and his crew were professional, did what they said they would do.  Gave an estimate and then communicated clearly throughout the project and stuck with the plan and the estimate.

Brian was very thoughtful and added value throughout the project.  Honest, smart, skilled leader.

Brian is extremely fair in pricing and very responsive. We've had him do a lot of work over this past summer after hiring him to do some siding. 4 more projects later, we love working with him and now have our guy for house repairs that I won't tackle myself.

Everything went great!  Brian was timely and always very professional and upfront about detail of work and cost.  -- No surprises.

It was obvious that there was a lot of thought put into a job before performing it.  I had a deck which other contractors told me had to be rebuilt.  Brian managed to save the whole deck by lifting it and repositioning it rather than taking it apart.  That saved me thousands of dollars.  His other work also exceeded expectation.  I always knew what was happening and why.

Since my late husband was a building contractor, I have some understanding of the business and look for certain characteristics (positive and negative) in a potential hire.  I've been impressed with not only the knowledge level of this provider, but also the professionalism of his communication and performance.  I haven't met many of those who work with him, but have been totally satisfied with those I have.

I would definitely recommend "Brian R Kates Restoration and Construction" to others looking for a reputable contractor and have done so in the past.     

He completed the job on time and within budget

Brian came in and viewed the work to be done, remove & replace drop down attic stairs. He removed the old stairs and when he went to put up the new one which I had purchased he discovered it was to small for the opening. We decided I would look for another one of the correct size. Brian was great about the whole thing and came back a few days later and finished the job by replacing the stairs.

 Great guy, very personable and I will recommend him to friends and family in a heartbeat.

Thanks Brian

Dick

It went very well.  We needed help in a short timeframe to prepare our house for sale.  Brian assessed the work needed, recommended an approach, and then delivered what we needed.  The first challenge was to repair or replace rotted deck railings, ballisters, and trim.  Brian's carpenter repaired what needed repair and worked around what was good.  I'm sure this more "surgical" approach saved us quite a bit of money.  He did the same for rotted trim around doors.  We also have a mansard style roof on the back section of our house.  It was covered with old wood shingles that have long since overstayed their welcome.  Brian researched different types of shingles for us, brought over samples, and helped us find a really nice looking architectural asphalt shingles that made the roof look better than it's ever looked.  He also addressed roofing issues by installing new gutters and roofing.  In the ratings above, I was tempted to give Brian a B rating for price.  But the fact is, we were on a tight schedule and we'd already let two carpenters go because they didn't show up or were dragging the schedule.  Brian, and his project manager Matt kept us informed, kept things moving, and responded to all our requests and questions.  We got our money's worth, and then some.  If I we have work to be done on our next place, I won't hesitate to call Brian and team.  Thanks guys!

Brian and his team (Matthew in particular) did an amazing job in regards to the work. Where they really came through was on punctuality, responsiveness and the amount of information they shared about the job, options, etc. I was very impressed that they approached the job as a partner with us, informing us as a friend would have done as issues were uncovered. They stuck to their estimate and I feel that I received more value than I expected. Very, very highly recommended.

They were great. They came in and gave a quote. They met the time line and did a good job. I would recommend them.

Brian is terrific!   He is very reliable and I put a great deal of trust in him and his work.  He took the time to talk through each project and made sure we understood what would need to be done and the costs associated to them.  He is more than just a carpenter and has a background in engineering....he is a smart guy.  He listens to what you want and comes up with alternatives to stay within your budget if your ideas are expensive or unreasonable.  A great thing. 
We can't recommend Brian and Kates Construction enough.  They are a small 2 man team, but they can get the job done.  Will definitely use them again and have been very happy with the different projects.  If he is not comfortable doing a specific job or feels someone else could do it better, he will tell you.  A great thing! 
Highly recommend Kates Construction. 

Brian R Kates Restoration & Construction charged me twice as much as what he told me it was going to cost. My experience with them has not been very good. He cheated me, basically. He came in here with numbers, the amount of time it's going to take him to do things. He was absolutely dead on with how long it was going to take him to wash the trim on the house. But then when he got to the painting, he estimated the amount by half. He knew it was going to take more money. He just low balled a number to me. He was billing by the time and they worked slow. He mixes up the terms "man hours" and "hours" too, so you're not sure what you're signing on to pay for anyway. He didn't do a very good job, either. He washed the house one day and then came back the next day to paint. I questioned him about that. He said, "Oh no, it's been pretty dry out. It should be just fine." It's seven months later and I'm looking at a bunch of paint peeling. I'm going to repair it myself. He was very discourteous to my property. They broke bushes with the ladders. At one point, they took a flagpole holder off my house. He took it off and threw away the screws that held it on, so I had to replace that. I could have taken that off myself, if they had asked me. They didn't take off the parts that they should have taken off, like the handles on the garage doors. They just sloppily painted around and got paint all over them. They weren't careful with some things and was sort of disrespectful of my property. They took the shutters off the windows on the front of the house. Inside those shutters, I had written code numbers to where they go. They put them in one big pile, all mixed up. I sorted them out and put them under each window. They pulled them off and put them in one big pile again, although apparently, he did get them right in the end. But the screws were very lose and I had to go up with a ladder and tighten them all up.

Brian has been performing work at my vacation rental house for about three months now.  In that time he has completed one project to my great satisfaction; started another; and has managed various sub-contractors in completing repairs caused by Hurricane Nemo.
In my opinion, Brian is a consummate professional whose greatest strength is a strong intellect and a great capacity to think creatively.  
I have placed a tremendous amount of trust in Brian's capabilities and judgement and have been well rewarded by that faith.
Do not hesitate to hire Brian as I have the utmost of confidence in his abilities.

Very professional appraisal of potential work, followed up by a reasonable quote.
Work done as specified and in a timely manner.

Brian responded quickly to my email.   He was able to schedule the work for a reasonable date.  He arrived as scheduled to write up estimate.  He also arrived on time once the date was scheduled.
The  result was excellent.  The new windows were a huge improvement.  They greatly improved the brightness and feel of the room.The new windows were casements that slid open and featured a built-in screen.  What I had expected to be a repair turned into a big improvement.!
Brian is very personable and responsible.  A very positive experience.

Good experience- reasonable price for amount of work.

Brian works hard to be conscientious, professional and thorough.  But, in retrospect, it seems that there are repairs he doesn't know how to do (or doesn't do well), and he uses several tactics to conceal this fact. 

For replacing the attic door with a window, Brian told me the hourly rate was $65 and he estimated it would take a day (8 hours).  But he said nothing at all about 2 carpenters (himself and another man, who seemed to be the skilled carpenter).  I heard them casually chatting away as they worked - and the cost was going to twice what I was led to believe.  I mentioned this to Brian and he lowered the rate to $45 for one of the "carpenters."

A previous contractor had replaced most of the exterior window trim and 3 window sills with PVC, delaying the completion of the job (not filling the screw holes, not caulking the gaps) for several weeks before I finally started to look for someone else to finish that work.  I asked Brian to remove one of the PVC sills because the previous contractor had left a 1/4" gap below the window (because the side trim was 1/4" too long) and I asked him to replace another wood sill because it faced the same direction (a set of 4 windows, side-by-side).  Brian did replace both sills, but he set them at a 90 degree angle - not slightly downward (with the ends parallel to the wall), allowing water to drain away from the window.  I suspected he hadn't done this work before.

A previous contractor had opened 2 sections of wall to investigate water leaks, one of them under the windows with the replaced sills.  I asked Brian to patch these with drywall.  Although Brian put insulation under the windows (I had already purchased it), he left a 3/4" gap between the new drywall and old homasote wall.  Even with tape and mud, this would have left a nice gap for heat loss.  The interior wall patch needed to be shimmed because drywall had been placed over the original homasote.  Brian placed 2 sheets of drywall in the opening, not bothering to cut out sections to allow for a cast iron vent pipe, and his patch was a half inch difference (both inward and outward) from the adjacent wall.  It was the worst drywall patch I'd ever seen by a "professional" - obviously, the problems were easily avoidable.  I believe Brian reduced the cost when I mentioned that I redid the wall myself.

I originally asked Brian for an estimate to fill the screw/nail holes in the window trim (left by the previous contractor) and to caulk around the trim, filling all possible water leaks.  Because I couldn't afford for him to fill the holes, I asked him to simply caulk the trim.  It looks like he spent a lot of time filling the space between the wood shingles and the trim, but he was rather awkward and stingy with the caulk, leaving small gaps.  He didn't even attempt to caulk the inside edge of the trim, including 2 large gaps that remain beneath one window (pictures attached), even when I explained that 2 windows had already been caulked properly (as an example of what I hoped for).  When I asked him to finish caulking - especially those 2 large, thumb-sized gaps - Brian sent a series of strange emails, insisting that the inside edge of the trim had a bead of transparent caulk, asking if I wanted him to caulk over this bead.  When I insisted there was no visible caulk of any type between the trim and the window, he said that he couldn't not do the work that I wanted - not even the large gaps.  I suspect that Brian was not proficient at caulking and he was looking for any excuse to back out of the work.

I'm satisfied with the window replacement (at least, I'm not aware that there was anything wrong with the work) but I feel like the other work was substandard and, even with partial discounts, was not worth what I paid or worth the time I spent waiting for Brian to do the work, and then the time spent trying to convince him to return to finish it.  I think he's essentially conscientious (he was great about putting all details in writing up front - much appreciated) but I wish he hadn't accepted a job doing (pretty simple) work he wasn't capable of doing well and that didn't merit his $65 per hour rate.

He did a wonderful job.