
FREDERICK COLLINS CONSTRUCTION & REPAIR
About us
With over 30 years of home improvement and remodeling experience in south Oakland County, thousands of satisfied customers, and a personal commitment to bettering his community, you can depend on Fred Collins, and Frederick Collins Construction & Repairs. Fred has spent his entire adult life involved with his community — as a Boy Scouts leader, member of the Dad's Club, the Berkley Jaycees, Friends of the Library, and the Berkley Chamber of Commerce. He served on the Berkley City Council for eight years (1997-2005), worked as a park clean-up volunteer,and participated in the Yard Clean-up for Seniors Program and the Dream Cruise Committee. He currently serves on the Berkley Tree Board, the Berkley Christmas Parade Committee, and the Berkley Environmental Advisory Board. Fred and his team were responsible for restoring the antique sleigh that brings Santa Claus to Berkley every year as part of the annual holiday parade. We would love to work with you on your next project, so call today!
Business highlights
Services we offer
ADDITIONS, DECKS, DOORS, MAJOR REPAIRS, MINOR REPAIRS, PORCHES, REMODELING, ROOF REPAIR, ROOF REPLACEMENT, SIDING, WINDOWS, WOODWORK.
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
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86% | ||
8% | ||
4% | ||
1% | ||
0% |
"Thank you for the kind words."
quotes.
"Thank you for the nice review."
"Thank you, I am glad we could help."
"Thank you for the nice review."
"Thank you, we were glad to help."
I would definitely recommend Fred for any roofing work. I just may need him again when I buy my next house.
"Thank you, I am gave we could help."
"Thank you for choosing Frederick Collins Construction & Repairs."
They replaced the valley by interlocking new shingles. They replaced the boot around the chimney and added new shingles around the chimney.They also replaced needed plywood that had rotted out from the water leak. I watched from time to time. It was a lot of work to be done. A lot harder than just laying down a new roof. Alot of companies just want to sell you a new roof and not be bothered with doing repairs.
There were three workers. It took two days.They worked in the rain part of one day.Any debris was cleaned up and hauled away. Mr. Collins came to the site several times to check on the work being done.
Initially,I left a voice mail message requesting an estimate.He called back in a couple of days.We set a time for the inspection and he was on time calling ahead to let me know that he was on his way.He inspected the roof and we came to a mutual decision on the work to be done. The price seemed fair and he knew exactly what needed to be done. I had a long list of questions to ask him. He took his time in answering the questions and explained things to me until I fully understood. I felt good about our meeting and did not feel it necessary to get another estimate.The result of all of this was NO Roof Leak
They cleaned up daily, even running a rolling magnet over their work areas to pick up nails and keep the site clean.
Once the job was complete, the owner stopped by and verified the job was done and that I was happy with the work. He even got up on a ladder to take care of a small thing for me that I could have done myself.
Since the completion, we have had rain storms that have been the worst in 30 years and not a sign of leaking inside at all.
All in all, I am very happy with the quality, professionalism and speed of the work. Definitely have and will recommend to anyone needing work on their house.
Chimney work was done first by a mason that the contractor hired, no problems there.....
gutter and caulking work was done by the contractor and his crew, had a small problem originally with the caulking that was done, contractor understood and agreed about resolution of the problem and sent his crew back out to take care of it........
I believe I received a good value for the money that I spent with these folks
When Fred came out to quote the project, I provided him with copies of the Township code and requested that he get a permit. During our conversation he mentioned how he does not buy wood from the "Big Box Stores" and would only get wood from lumber yards. His quote was in the middle of the quotes, and promised completion three days after starting the project. All seemed OK and we scheduled the job for approximately 1 month out.. Then the problems started.
Three days before the project was to start, Fred informed me that he needed a site plan per the permitting process and would need to charge me an additional $300 to do it. When I commented on how this was rather sudden and he had been given the paperwork on what was needed a month prior, he said he could walk me through the steps on how to create one myself for no charge and to fax it over to him. Through his guidance, I was able to get it over to him in two days (both fax and email). The day he showed up, he mentioned that he had lost the plans, and if I had made copies he could have. He then mentioned that he was running behind schedule and would not be there for the project. He also told me he had gotten the wood from a big box store down the road.
His sons were a nightmare to work with. This first evening I came home and noticed they had cemented the posts along one section of the fence line with varying distances between them. Not a couple inches off, but feet (8ft for one section, over 10ft for another). The first few pickets were nailed (yes nailed, with zinc coated nails) so they were resting on the ground. I called Fred that evening to get the situation corrected. The next days his sons said it was a good thing I called, and they couldn't believe they forgot about ground clearance. (?!?)
To speed up this review a little bit, I will just list the major issues we have had:
1) Project took over 1 week to complete, plus additional trips to correct problems
2) When removing existing wood fence I asked that they save the Arbor connected to it and showed them the screws that did so. The fence was just ripped out of the Arbor, leaving screws and holes where the fence was once attached.
3) My double gate began to sag by the first week of installation, I asked Fred to come out and fix it, he lowered the drop cane and ripped the boards where the gate joined. By Fall the problem had come back. and the gate would not stay closed if there was any wind. We had to stack wood in front of it to keep it closed all winter. This may have to do with it being a 5 foot gate attached to one post only for each side of the double gate (total of 10 feet across).
4) I had to have Fred come out twice within two weeks of the original install to replace 30+ boards that were cracked from nailing them in from the nail hole to the top or bottom of the board).
5) His sons told my wife that they were making the fence like our neighbors, because "(Our town), was full of conformists."
6)I had mentioned when they started that if they cut up the fence scraps to under three feet, I could bundle it and put it out with my trash, thus saving them time and money for debris haul away. The scraps were not cut up, and just thrown next to my garage along with two full sheets of plywood. Fred then added the price of these sheets to my bill, until I mentioned that I did not want these sheets. He then took them off my bill and come to pick them up.
7) One of our walking gate latches was installed incorrectly, so all winter long it would not latch. We had to tie it shut until this spring, when I could fix it.
8) The corner braces that were put on my gates only had 2 to 3 of the six screws required actually screwed in. This caused some parts of the gates to develop an extreme warp in under a year.
9) After only a year all hinge screws were completely cover in rust. and beginning to stain the cedar
Needless to say, I have had to rip out the double gate, and will be replacing it this summer, as well as fixing the other issues this year as well. If you add together the money and time I have spent fixing the issues, I would have been better off going with the highest quote I had received.
Through the course of the project, Fred was only there for the two days of repairs at the end. The work he did himself was pretty good, but you can only do so much to fix the mistakes his crew had made.
"I am sorry that you are unhappy with your project. I personally came out to do the repairs and try to make you happy with the fence. If you had additional problems with the gate you should contact me as the job is under warranty."
Licensing
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