Tobin Building & Remodeling, Inc.

It's a Friday evening when I discover a large and growing water problem on the kitchen ceiling. The problem is water coming in around a vent pipe in the roof. Who is available on a cold weekend!? After making several contacts, Rick was the only person who responded. He spent 6 hours shoveling snow off the roof, working at the ice dams, and (literally) uncovering the problem to repair it...on a Sunday!! To my mind, this means that I am not just a dollar sign to his business. He did some work for me in the past and I am pleasantly surprised to discover this means I now have a business relationship that I can depend on in the future. If he hadn't appreciated the seriousness of my situation, my kitchen ceiling would be soaked and fallen onto my kitchen floor by now. He did this work with a pleasant attitude, safety precautions in place, and persistence. Thank you!

He has been my guy for a couple of years. I have used him for a couple of jobs in the past like he has done the roof over and has built a deck for me. He is good. He would be the first guy I go to for anything I do. The price was a good price. I love the shower.

I hired Tobin Building and Remodeling to design and build out a commercial retail space in Franklin. From the begining I was very pleased with Rick's proffesionalism, craftsmanship, punctuality and price. He was very accessible, he would answer calls or return them very promptly. He would always show up on time and ready to go. He was very diligent working with the town and getting permits approved. He and his team would always leave the work site clean when leaving for the day. He coordinated with all other contractors so no one would hinder anyone progress. His work is exceptional, I was very pleased with every aspect of Tobin Building and Remodeling.

After talking with 4 contractors, I went with Rick Tobin and I’m happy with the experience and the results. Pulling a building permit and making a small design change set into motion a significant chain of events. The proposal for my screened porch had to go before the Conservation Commission, which meant waiting for a monthly meeting, paying both Con Com and Rick for the process and adding crushed stone to the project. I hear it could have been much more involved, but my situation was pretty simple. After paperwork approval by Con Com, building could begin. New building code required additional work done to secure the porch to the house. As I learned more about options for materials, the price of the deck increased, but, I was prepared for this and the increases were not unreasonable. The town assessor stopped by to reassess the property. A town requirement for an “as built plan” meant the entire property needed a new survey, payment to the surveyor. The structure and the process were more complicated than I expected and I was grateful to Rick for his mild-manner and thoughtful, careful work.

Rick provided a very detailed and competitive quote and based upon this and excellent references he won the contract. He started and completed the work on schedule within the quoted price. Rick and his team fulfilled all our expectations ,the work was completed to a very high standard. Rick also was very open to suggestions and had some very good ideas on how to tackle the job. Rick and his team were very organized and kept the worksite clean and everything was ship shape when they completed the job. Overall I am a very satisfied customer.

I have been remiss in waiting so long to write up Rick Tobin for the fantastic job he did on my home back in the winter of 2006. Rick showed the breadth of his skills and experience when he took on and completed all aspects of the work described above. This was a major re-building project on our home that had serious dampness and rot on the entire second floor and roof. My young family and I were faced with the fact that it all had to be replaced unless we wanted to collect rain water with buckets all over the lower floors of the house. Not only did Rick do a vast majority of the work himself, but he also oversaw the sub-contractors that came in to do specialty work as well. In the end, Rick delivered on what he proposed, to the budget, plan, and timeline that he originally laid out. What was more impressive though, was his commitment to seeing the job through all its parts, all while maintaining the highest levels of professionalism in having the most minimal impact on the lives of myself, my wife, and my three small children at the time. In the end, not only did Rick repair my home to last for decades, but added significant resale value in the process.

As always with Rick, the job was priced conservatively, constructed according to plan, and finished within project timelines. Rick always does fantastic work with an ethic second to none, and a great level of attention to Customer Satisfaction!

As always with Rick, The job was planned and priced out conservatively, built and constructed according to plan, and finished within project timelines.

Rick is a very nice and pleasant person to work with. The reason for the lower grade is a few reasons. One being that the work was suppose to be none in 2 months at the very most, and that is adding a week on from what was estimated (two to three weeks per bathroom), instead it took from April through September, 5 months. Some of the delays were not his or the other contractors fault as F.W. Webb did not deliver some items as promised, but it still took far too long. The way the vanities are installed is sort of off because he did not clearly communicate and measure properly ahead of time and then charged us extra to retro fit them into place.The quality of the work is good. Some of it is quite good and some of it is less than average, and some of it still remains unfinished. I am happy that my bathrooms are new and modern and do not leak and look nice, but for $20,000.00, I would say they are just average.
Because Rick is so nice we were not overtly specific on the final price, and that was our own fault. In the future I will not allow a contractor to be as vague about the the price and leave things too open ended, that was my fault, but still disappointing.
I would say I was left feeling like I overpaid for something because I could not do it all myself, and was just glad to have it done, rather than being pleased and feeling like I received good value for my money.

Tobin was on time, worked hard, was pleasant to have around, cleaned up after himself, and created a room that exceeded my expectations.

In each of the above projects Rick presented me with a professionally prepared proposal, carefully prepared each site with the removal of old materials on a daily basis, carefully coordinated the work of specialists needed in the completion of each project, demonstrated his attention to detail as he finished off each project with the skill of a fine craftsman, and left each site upon the completion of the project in what I would describe as pristine condition. Rick is a stickler for detail and his work ethic certainly proves this assertion.

It is important to note that the above mentioned projects were done on a home with accompanying garage built in the 1890's. Needless to say, Rick had to contend with buildings which had settled over these past 121 years; where corners and walls were not exactly square. Rick analyzed each situation and used his ingenuity and skill in overcoming the flaws in the home and garage.

Each of the projects was completed in a timely fashion as promised. I would not hesitate to engage Tobin Building and Remodeling in future projects, which I will certainly have, in a home dating back into the 19th century.

I am grading my overall experience with the contractor as a D for the following reasons

Price - labor for the original job was underestimated by the contractor by roughly $400 and we also had to buy additional materials for roughly $500 as that was underestimated as well. This does not include two change orders we made (although materials were again underestimated for that) or the extra day of digging that was required due to rocks in our soil. Additionally, the inspector and another professional said the deck foundation and number of posts and quot;was overbuiltand quot;, which is not something we requested, which drove up the material and labor cost. Additionally, the contractor does not get a contractor discount at any of the lumber yards so, that has a dramatic impact on cost, particularly for jobs of this size. This was a firm price bid, and net of change orders, it went roughly 15% overbudget.

Quality - the deck foundation was solid, but the quality of the finish work on railings and planking was poor. Railing boards did not have even cuts where they meet and there are noticeable gaps at the corners. When asked we were told we should have gone with Trex instead of pressure treated, but the angles of the cuts were off and had nothing to do with warping. Also the toe step at the top of the new set of stairs was not screwed in properly and is now breaking and a couple of planks were not nailed down and were note evenly matched. Also, the top rails that were put on were of uneven width and had to be sanded down and planed, but are still noticeably uneven.

Responsiveness - This was an issue, particularly the last half of the project. The deck was supposed to take 2-3 weeks and it ended up taking roughly 6-7 weeks. There would be days where no one showed up or showed up quite late in the day. The customer had to reach out to confirm what was going on and the schedule, communication was an issue.

Punctuality - towards the last few weeks of the project, the contractor was continually late are started work after noon. Towards the end, final payment was withheld until the work was finished and the punctuality improved somewhat.

Professionalism - this is definitely the worst area for this contractor, as explained below. A) invoicing was inaccurate and the contractor forgot that they had invoiced the customer already for a need for more labor and materials on the original spec, and requested double payment for some labor. Some invoices were hand written, others typed up and emailed, two were verbal. Two in total (one verbal, one handwritten) were forgotten by the contractor. B) The contractor asked me for final payment prior to the work being done even though he had specified final payment would be given when the work was completed. When asked why I was told it was because and quot;I am really hurting manand quot;, which I did not find an acceptable reason and withheld final payment until the work was completed. C) The contractor came over (during a 3rd grade party and two other times) when work was not going on, and I had to speak with him that he was not to come to the house unless he was working. D) There was an incident with the spouse of the customer on a Saturday morning (roughly 9 AM) where she was in the backyard talking with a friend, who was also a friend of the contractors. My wife heard the contractor coming and asked him not to come in the backyard, he said hi and kept on coming, she repeated her request explaining she was in her pajamas, the contractor stated and quot;he did not mindand quot;, and the spouse then ran in the house.

Rick Tobin was amazing! He was on time, offered a great price for the quality of the work he did, and was a perfectionist. He was pickier than I was. He greatly increased the value of both properties.

It was amazing. They matched eveyrthing including the thresholds. They were meticulous and fabulous. We used them again to do a built in library shelving in what was a living room. It looks like it came with the house. It was oak wordwork. At first the shelves he stained did not match to his liking so he redid it. He also put in a fireplace and put in molding. It looks like it came with the house. He was meticulous. They are very nice people. I reccomecn them highly.

He is on time, responsive, and easy to work with. He is a great carpenter and very friendly. He is very clean and does a good job with cleaning up.