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Smithwright Home Improvement is a general contracting company providing a broad range of home improvement and home repair services in the Suburban Maryland area. I am a company of one and use subcontractors only when absolutely necessary. 99% of the work I take on is performed by me. Smithwright Home Improvement is licensed with the Maryland Home Improvement Commission since 2004 under license# 89597. I've done mostly flat-fee work under contract with the home owner. Small projects, or handyman related work, bills out at $80/hour with a 3 hour minimum. Angie's List customers receive a 10% discount off labor charges that invoice over $500.00. Discounts do not apply to materials cost which are in addition to labor charges. I do not add any additional costs to materials. You pay what I pay. My business, up to now, has grown strictly through referrals from satisfied customers. In the 20 years since I started this business, I have served hundreds of home owners in this area doing everything from simple drywall work to building large room additions and decks. I pride myself in delivering results that far exceed my customer's expectations. (Please note, the nature of my work can make it quite difficult to take phone calls during the day. The last thing I want is to offend anyone by not picking up or not returning phone calls. Please contact me via text at 410-707-5542 or email at [email protected] as well and I will try to respond to you within 24 to 36 hours. Thank you!).

"VKB far exceeded out expectations for our new kitchen design and installation; as well as, the resurfacing and stain/varnish to my existing floors and stairs. My wife and I are very pleased with the final outcome. Money was well spent. Base on our experience, I would not hesitate to recommend their services again. Jack and Suzanne McClinton."

Welcome to J.A.K.E Prestige Renovations Inc.\nTransform your home with JAKE Prestige Renovations INC., your trusted partner for Home Renovation, Bathroom Renovation, Kitchen Renovation, and Interior Design. Owned and operated by Jose Rosales, with over 23 years of industry experience, we bring a personal touch and professional expertise to every project. From modernizing your kitchen to creating a luxurious bathroom retreat or redesigning your living space, our dedicated team ensures quality craftsmanship and attention to detail. Discover the perfect blend of functionality and style with JAKE Prestige Renovations INC. Contact us today to start your renovation journey!\nCheck out our services offered and call or click to schedule an appointment today! \nwww.jakeprestigerenovations.net

"They power washed the exterior of our home fixed a door frame and cleaned gutters! Excellent job. I will hire them again."

"Our technicians (Marcos and Josh) did excellent work. Their craftsmanship was high quality, and they were truly a pleasure to work with. I definitely recommend JW if you have an old house with a lot of repair needs -- it may be more efficient to hire them to do several tasks at once, instead of hiring separate contractors. We will certainly be hiring them again."

"Carlos helped us plan our kitchen makeover. From selecting the right cabinets and making strategic suggestions along the way, he helped us to have exactly what we wanted - even when we weren’t sure how to explain it. He went above and beyond to make everything in our kitchen high-quality - from re-routing pipes under the sink to selecting the under cabinet lighting. He and his team were extremely responsive and efficient, completing our project in 6 days. Carlos took the time to ensure that everything exceeded our expectations and we are thrilled with the results."

"They did an excellent job. Our garage floor looks better than when we bought the house. It has a lot of damage and now it looks brand new."

"Update: 9 September 2015

Updating overall grade to B, bordering C, based on quality of work and the provider's unprofessional responses to our review. Just learned from a different contractor who is constructing a screened porch and deck for us that we have a fire hazard (yes, a FIRE HAZARD) on our hands. The under cabinet wiring was run incorrectly behind the siding of our house where they (Chevy Chase) had placed cardboard (even as "inexperienced" as I allegedly am, I know bad wiring + cardboard = house go bye-bye), and they (my current contractor) will have to tear off the siding running the length of the kitchen and rewire all of the under cabinet lighting in order to fix the issue and pass inspection, since, as it is now, it would "definitely not pass". So, it seems that looks aren't everything. If this corner was cut, what other shortcuts were taken? Before this, I would've just said that I wouldn't use Chevy Chase again. Based on the fact that we have, unbeknownst to us, been living with a fire hazard since April, the additional cost we now need to pay our current contractor to fix Chevy Chase's oversight/laziness, and the provider's unprofessional comments since posting our obviously too generous initial review (see below), now I will adjust my recommendation to "Not only would I not use them again, but I wouldn't recommend anyone else to either".

As far as using them for an exterior project shortly after they completed the kitchen project, the back of our house looked hideous after they took out the sliding glass door and installed a regular door so we wanted it addressed with new siding as soon as possible. We added new roofing, gutters, and shutters to maintain a cohesive look. We did not want to spend the time or have the hassle of vetting several other contractors, and figured exterior work is pretty straightforward.

To the note about being inexperienced, yes this was our first major reno so if our suggestion to move the fridge into the house after the removal of the sliding glass door was not preferred or feasible, then fine; that should have been stipulated when we made the suggestion before work even started. Not just agreed to as it was, and then we were left wondering why the fridge remained in the garage. It is just another example of poor communication. Seriously, putting the blame on the client because they are inexperienced with a massive home renovation project?? Since when does a customer need to have the experience? That's what the provider is hired to provide.

Also, might I add, the unprofessionalism of the provider was made clear when he sent me an email after my initial review that started out "Just had a client cancel a contract that was signed yesterday because he read your review. He said he can't afford to have the problems that you had on your job. An 85000 dollar complete renovation." To receive this after simply writing an honest review on Angie's List was appalling to us. The tone and announcing the fact that he lost a 85000 contract over my review (which I highly doubt was the only motivating factor there) were uncalled for and a blatant example of this provider's inability to accept any constructive criticism; apparently I should have just lied in my review and answered "Yes" to the question of if I would use them again, and also not included any negative points.

And, I might as well add, according to the contract, the approximate work was to be performed in 6 weeks. Actual project timeline: 3 and a half months. So, as you can see, I exercised a significant amount of restraint in my initial review. I only highlighted a few areas of improvement to explain why I gave them an overall "A" but still answered "No" to the Angie's List question of if we would ever use them again. There were many, many more difficulties, hiccups, and examples of frustration that we experienced throughout the process that we did not include in the initial review and have not included in this update.

In conclusion, it turns out that my initial review was too generous; however, it was completely honest. If the provider can't handle this type of honest feedback (as demonstrated by this "defensive" response and two equally defensive emails he sent after the initial review posted) and see it as an opportunity to improve his business, then that's too bad and they need some serious training in customer service.

Now we have to hire a professional to ensure everything was installed correctly and no other shortcuts were taken. Something tells me that what lies beneath the surface won't be as pretty. Please feel free to reach out to me directly via message if you have any questions about our experience.

Initial review: 24 August 2015
Overall, it went well. The work was completed as promised, and the first level is literally gorgeous. However, the process could've gone a lot smoother and there was plenty of room for improvement in terms of organization and communication. We were not provided with a schedule of events or a list of what to select, when we needed to have it selected, and where to select it from at the outset of the project. Therefore, when Steven would send an email asking whether we selected a certain material since it was needed for the next step in the process, we would be like "ummm...no...we didn't get the memo that we needed to have that selected now..." so we often found ourselves scrambling in the middle of the work week trying to figure out how we could get to the tile place or a granite place as soon as possible, so as not to hold up progress. 

An example of where communication could've saved some time and effort on the part of the crew was the fact that we suggested to Steven before the project began that the new large refrigerator be brought into the house when they removed the sliding glass door and before they installed a regular three-foot door and sealed the rest of the opening, since we knew the fridge was too large to get in the house any other way. Well, that advice was not passed along to the crew and the process was delayed several days when they had to call a repair service to remove the fridge doors so it could be moved into the house. Another lowlight was when our newly installed washing machine sounded like a space shuttle during take-off and literally walked itself into the kitchen every time we tried to wash a load of clothes. We voiced our concern to Steven and the crew supposedly addressed the problem by balancing it; however, this did not help. We called the manufacturer, who sent out a technician and it turns out the shipping bolts had not been removed (step one on the instructions; it was even emphasized with pictures...). In the final stages of the project, everything was wrapping up and we asked when they would install the under-cabinet lighting; turns out it was forgotten about and we had minimal time to select what type of lights we wanted and the electrician had to get creative to wire the lights; fortunately, they could run the wiring outside since the new siding hadn't been installed. Talk about stressful...

Anyway, in the end, all issues, minor or otherwise, were resolved one way or another. Steven is a nice guy and very personable, and his crew and subcontractors are skilled in their work (shipping bolts oversight aside). It seems odd to be giving a contractor an A but saying that we won't use this provider in the future. To explain, I'm giving Chevy Chase an A (an A minus to be exact) for the final outcome (our first level is stunning); however, we won't be using this provider for our second level because seriously we need more organization/meticulousness/communication in our life.
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"It was quite an ordeal finding a company who was willing to pick up where another company had left off- much less a company who was willing to work on a project where they weren't in charge of the electrical, plumbing, or HVAC work. After being hung up on by several other companies, we came across Omar's- and I am so glad we did.
In the initial consultation Rafael met with us for 2 hours to discuss the scope of work and to check out what work had already been done. We negotiated an hourly rate for them to fix the framing and get us to a place where he could generate a quote. Not only was he detailed and thorough, he was reliable, punctual, and communicative. Throughout the entire project we found Rafael to be a very reasonable person to work with as well as an excellent problem solver when unforeseen problems arose. His commitment to seeing a job through to the end and having it be done well was apparent during and after the project.
Rafael sent his guys Monday through Saturday- sometimes on Sunday even if there was a time-sensitive part of the project. Not only did they move at a nice pace, the work was outstanding. We selected floor to ceiling tile in the entire master bedroom and Rafael's tile guy, Giovanni did an excellent job. His woodworker, Jovo, did an outstanding job on all the door & window trim and the crown moulding.
I really could not have asked for a better crew- to top it all off, they cleaned up after themselves daily, which unfortunately could not be said of our other contractors.
I am all-around extremely satisfied with Omar's General Contracting, and would highly recommend them to anyone else considering a major or even a minor renovation."

"DVR was the best remodel work I have ever had. Did my upstairs, main floor and basement. The work was detailed and precise. Including new fireplace. Outside work included my pier, decks, stairs and paving work. They stand behind all their work as they responded quickly to any concerns I had. Price was by far the best I found. Lastly, they are good people too. That is what I liked the best."