Emslie Building and Remodeling

Dave and his team transformed our unfinished basement into a beautiful rec room for our children. The workers were very punctual, professional, and did a high quality job. I was amazed at how quickly the work progressed and when they were done I was very pleased with the results. In my opinion, the evidence of quality craftsmanship is in the details, and I look closely at these things. Areas such as stairs, trim, corners, joints, and door frames were done with care and quality. Also, the cost of the job didn't go over what was bid, except in cases where I asked for additional work. Over all, we were highly satisfied with Emslie's work and would recommend him unreservedly.

A wonderful experience! Not an easy job at all. All went extremely well and I love my new kitchen!

I couldn't be happier with the work done thus far by Emslie Building and Remodeling.  We entered into this major project in July, and are wrapping things up now.  Throughout the process, Dave and all his associates have exceeded every possible expectation.  The quality of work is superb.  The level of responsiveness and transparency from Dave have been so fantastic, and very much appreciated.  Can't wait to finish things out on this phase - will update my review with more detail then.  Already planning to work with Emslie Building & Remodeling on upcoming projects!

Emslie Co. is professional and very easy to work with.  They are a pleasure to have in your house.  They are a family business which makes the feeling very comfortable and safe.  They take a lot of pride in their work.  I would recommend them highly!

From the beginning, we were impressed with the Emslie crew.  Dave worked with us to design a quote that met our budget, helping us to prioritize and balance our wish list items with the work that was necessary to complete.  Dave and his crew are each terrific craftsmen, as well as thoughtful, personable, professional, and collaborative. 
The crew did the demo work when we were not yet living in the house, and much of the finish work while after we moved in.
 On moving day, Dave stood at the door and greeted us with, "Welcome Home!" and then helped us guide the movers to the correct places.  This was way beyond our expectation - Dave was an amazing support on an otherwise stressful day.
Over the course of three months, the crew demo'd and stripped most of the rooms in the house, along with remodeling and
re-finishing the following:
- Kitchen - design and installation of custom cabinets, propane stove, specialized venting for indoor grill, electrical fixtures, flooring, tile and 22 windows. Repaired major water-damaged areas and raised/leveled a sagging kitchen floor.  We hired an engineer to review the structural integrity and he said, "You could raise the floor, but that's a lot of unnecessary work. Structurally, it's fine - just use floor leveler."  When I called a couple days later, a breathy Dave answered and said, "Call you back!" I later learned that he decided the ?right thing? to do was raise the floor, and was in the middle of that when I called.  This is the level of craftmanship you will encounter should you hire Dave and his crew to work on your project.
- Family Room ? Replaced an extensive bar setup with home theater area.  Built custom cedar bench to match existing woodwork, designed electrical layout, plastered walls and ceilings, refinished cedar walls, installed new flooring and painted.
- Office, Bedrooms, Study & Storage areas ? We hate to lump these together because it was a lot of work - replaced ceilings, installed lighting, repaired water-damaged walls, plastered walls, framed and installed new windows, new flooring, replaced doors, repaired closets, stripped and refinished cedar walls.
- Stripped and refinished or replaced every surface of the house - walls, flooring, ceiling. 
- Stripped and refinished mahogany staircase and cedar walls throughout the house.
We lived in the house while Emslie was doing all of the finish work.  We went through a major renovation project in the past with a different contractor and I can tell you that having Dave and his crew this time was heavenly!!  We trusted Dave and his crew completely around our home and our children.  They arrived on time in the morning and left the house clean at the end of each day. 
 The best thing about working with Emslie Building is that we had the sense that they really care about their craft, our house and even our family.  Sounds corny, but we were a little sad when the project was complete.  We are looking forward to doing more updates to the house and when we do, we'll be calling Dave.  They're the best.

Dave and crew were precise, capable, honest, efficient, reasonable price, and very, very easy to work with.
The quality of work was excellent and I am very pleased!

Included enlargement with reconstruction of screened in porch.  Replaced entire framing, support, and decking using Azek / PVC material. Emslie Building Co. were not the cheapest but came with very high recommendations from some very particular friends; combined with our interactions and discussions with Dave, we were comfortable going forward with the project.  Dave is an accomplished carpenter and very attentive to details during the planning and execution.  He was very approachable and responded rapidly to any questions that we had, either by email or phone.  We were very happy with the project and would certainly consider going back to him in the future for further remodeling work.  

Working with Dave and his crew was fantastic. They are very professional and their work is flawless. They were quiet during the project and left the job site clean and neat. We had zero surprises and are quite pleased with the outcome. We even hired the crew for a few more projects and recommended them to others.

One job that is easy to describe was the construction of a
garage.  After we had drawings done they took over the construction from
tear down to finish and did a terrific job.  The new structure matches the
house perfectly and matches our needs as well.  There was one small hitch
in the location of an outside wall (due to set-back limitations) and Dave
Emslie worked with all parties concerned to take care of the problem in a
manner that was approved by the city.  This alone would make us life-long
fans of the company.

Dave Emslie was referred by an architect friend for whom he had done extensive work beautifully. Dave gave us an estimate and arranged a schedule. He met the schedule and price. His son Andy is a master craftsman. They quietly and methodically did the work.

They gave additional value in knowing materials and sending us in the right direction for windows that would resemble the 100year old ones. They wee able to design the small cabinets to fit under the hearth that wee a challenge for our master cabinetmaker.

I felt comfortable giving them a key and allowing them to work in the house when we were away.

I liked having them around and enjoy their quiet wisdom.

Demolition of large concrete front porch and back patio began in early October of
2002.  Our family chose to stay in the house during construction. The excavation
under the guest room (which would become the new basement bathroom) and office
space was next, and the new construction was built in the back of the house first.
Then they broke through the wall and sealed off the rest of the house from the construction
area.  We had a temporary kitchen for about 6 months, which Dave put together in the 
former office (soon to be guest room)--complete with sink! (It worked out fine!) Hardwood
floors were one of the final steps, with sealing in June of 2003. (the only time we really had
to be out of the house).  All through, Dave and his sons were respectful, honest, responsive, kind,
thoughtful--really a joy to have around! The subcontractors they hired were fine and did
good work (with the exception of the electrical sub-contractor).  Dave took time to do really fine work while making sure we were surviving
the construction well.  We missed having them here when they were done!

This exceeded our expectations!!
We are extremely pleased with the results and the entire construction process which took 3 months. Dave Emslie's personal invovlement in the design and planning significantly improved our original concept, saved us money, and in general produced a result that was better than we had hoped. Dave's involvement in the design and then the actual construction really made things go well. We recommend you involve Dave as early as possible in the planning.
We were particularly pleased at how well Dave worked with us during the 3 months of construction. This occurred over the Christmas holidays and while we were doing another major remodeling project (kitchen) inside the house. Dave worked flawlessly with us and the other project so that we were always able to use our house the way we wanted to throughout the construction period.Dave and his people, in our opinion, went "above and beyond" what was expected to make this both a great result and a great experience.
We very strongly recommend Emslie Remodeling.