Route 9 Design & Build Inc
About us
We are a residential design and build company owned and operated by John Landry a licensed architect and contractor in Northampton, Ma.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Kitchen & bath remodeling, architectural services & building design, deep energy retrofits & energy conscious construction, dormers and attic finishes, new homes and additions, screened in porches & decks, whole house remodels
Amenities
Free Estimates
Yes
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His overall estimate was in keeping with other estimates that we got at the time - it seemed fair- and we choose to work with him because he seemed good with communication and got back to us quickly- even very early in the process before we even signed with him. Other builders made us wait weeks or months for more info.
There we some errors made in the general construction,as sometimes happens with big projects ,but fixed quickly and professionally by John. Overall nothing that would make us NOT recommend them. Big project always have some unexpected things and the real test is whether the builder will try to pass those expenses onto the client in some hidden way to recoup the errors- we did not feel that this happened.
We had done a previous large building project with another contarctor 3 years ago and they went over budget by 40K!! without telling us until the end, which left us in a cold sweat and a pannick to refinance with the bank. They had not provided a not to exceed number and we did not know that we should have one( live an learn- the hard way).
By contrast working with John and Route 9 Design and Build was a very different and much less stressful experience.
The quality of work was very good with a much nicer attention to detail than out previous builder.
We would absolutely consider using Route Design again and would recommend them to friends.
Proceeding with John Landry and Route 9 Design was a huge mistake. I am sharing my story to save other potential clients the burden, stress, and overall waste time of dealing with John Landry and Route 9 Design.
John Landry agreed to do structural work and plumbing in our renovation. He told me this would cost between $10-15K (in an e-mail). He never gave me a written contract stating the scope of his work which (I later discovered) is illegal. All Home Improvement Contractors completing work costing over $1k are required by MASS GEN LAW 142A to submit a written contract to prospective clients.
The following is a list of problems we had with John and his company:
-Irresponsible management of the project/worksite.
John never knew what was happening at the worksite. I had to come home from work at random times daily to check on the workers. Many times I'd show up to find nobody working or people showing up late/leaving early, etc. John frequently told me over the phone particular work that had been completed that day which had not been done at all.
-We never received credit for mistakes that had been made during renovation and had to be fixed.
An example would be the installation of a beam through our bedroom floor. Another time a worker shot nails through our new radiant heat system. The plumber had to stop what he was doing, fix the damage, bleed the system, etc. The list is endless and we never saw credit toward work needing to be fixed.
-Failure to pull a building permit
I had pulled a permit to do the demo in my house. John Landry never pulled a permit to do the structural work. When the building inspector asked why he hadn't pulled a pemit, John blamed me. He was told several times by the building inspector to pull a permit and finally by me. He finally pulled the permit his last day on the job.
-Poor workmanship that had to be fixed by another contractor.
After firing John from the worksite I had to hire another contractor to come and fix and finish the renovation.
Toward the end of our business relationship I called John to tell him he needed to get a building permit and he proceeded to yell at me over the phone telling me how hard he had worked, how his work was "top notch" and how i was too young to understand that this is the way projects go. Getting yelled at by someone I was paying thousands of dollars to was the last straw. I told him he had until the end of the week and Friday he was off the job.
Up until this point I had paid every invoice in full. He sent me a final bill for $6K--which would make the total project come to $21K. Considering all the issues I had and the quote from the new contractor to fix and finish the work I contacted my lawyer. I told my lawyer the story and he said I shouldn't pay. I decided not to pay and soon got a court summons saying that John Landry was suing me for the $6K. My wife and I had to wait two months to go to court, but the magistrate ruled in our favor (telling John he was “fighting an uphill battle”).
Working with John Landry and Route 9 Design was a nightmare. It seems like everyone has a horror story about working with a contractor – we really didn’t think that would be us with our first home right after getting married. The money that was completely wasted on working with Route 9 was the tip of the iceberg. Hiring them will mean entrenching yourself in stress, incompetence, and disrespect. The work they did was inadequate, irresponsible, and unsafe. Our house is still not to code because of the work they did. Please don’t make the same mistake we did – do not hire Route 9 to work on your home.
"You did use our company again after we satisfactorily completed your roof job which was not a standard roofing job. We stripped the existing roof shingles and dormer siding, added 2" of rigid insulation over the entire roof, added venting channels, new plywood roof sheathing, new roofing material and new dormer siding. We did a quality job at a good price. We did make some billing errors on the second floor renovation but we gave you significant discounts that more than made up for my mathematical error, we referred you to our subcontractors who you have used on more than one occasion, and allowed you to use our open permit so you could act as your own general contractor to finish the job and save you money. We have bent over backwards for you to help you save money and complete your renovations on a shoe string budget and you have given us a C rating?"
Licensing
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