Avalon Building Concepts

Larry from Avalon went above and beyond to help me coordinate the new vinyl siding on my house with the colors on my new pole barn and to answer all my questions. I went with the Veriform Coastal Blue siding which comes with a life time warranty. The color was a perfect match to my pole barn. The siding crew arrived on time every morning and even worked through the cold rain in October. They were done in only a few days. This was my second experience with Avalon & it was just as pleasant as the first. The crews from Avalon are professional, polite and very respectful. Working with Avalon is like making a new friend, you just feel so comfortable with them. I intend to use Avalon for all my future building and remodeling needs because I know I can trust them.

24 hours after calling Avalon, the sales rep., Larry was at my house to discuss the new roof I wanted. Larry thoroughly explained all the options along with the pricing. There was no ?hard? sell to buy any particular shingles. Larry simply & honestly explained everything to me and left it up to me to decide what I wanted. I went with the GAF shingles with a 50 year warranty. Because Larry recommended the ice armour to prevent ice dams, my insurance company gave me a discount on my home owner?s insurance. 48 hours after Larry was at my house, there was a roofing crew on site. They worked nonstop from 7:30 am until dark and finished in just one day! When the roofing crew left, they did such a great job of cleaning up that you didn?t even know they had been there except for the beautiful new roof on my house! I can?t say enough good things about Avalon & Larry. I?m so glad I used Avalon Building Concepts and have recommended them to my neighbors & friends.

.Here is the result: We then had Hansons quote vinyl siding - they started at $27,300........ and with "special discounts" and if "we signed today" the job would cost $16,700 - but if we waited till next day..... the price would be $17,800. WHAT!?!? We than had Champion quote vinyl siding. They started at $23,000 and after a bit of wrangling, came down to $17,600 to "match the Hansons price". !?!??!? My wife talked to our relations in Illinois, and my brother in law and nephew came up - and with help of another friend - we installed 23 squares of PREMIUM vinyl siding for $4,600.00 - COMPLETE. INCLUDING STEAK DINNERS FOR ALL. The job went quickly and without issues, and had our siding job installed and finished in 3 days!!!! Thanks to the weather cooperating in the 40's!!!! SO - THE SCORE? DO IT YOURSELF AND SAVE $5-13,000

The roofing crew was very fast. They completed the tear off and shingled the roof in under 8 hours. Cleanup was thorough and they did an adequate job protecting landscaping. I was a little disappointed with the aesthetics of some of the work, but someone came back and fixed those things, so overall I am very satisfied. The sofit, fascia, and gutters look great! I would definitely recommend Avalon

They arrived on time, worked one day, didn't returned for a couple of days, and then returned and completed the job in two days. Shingles and new roof look great.

The project went very well. Avalon w/b highly recommended by us. Our contact Jonathan Kroll covered all aspects of what was needed from start to finish. I believe they hire the best contractors for each process. The only reason they didn't get an "A" for price is because we didn't have a cost to go by.

John spent a good deal of time with us showing us our options and explaining things before we scheduled to have our roof done. Since John used to actually do the roofing himself he really knows his stuff. He also has a lot of experience in working with our type of house (cape cod) so he could make recommendations as to what would be best to deal with our ice problems. He added 5 pot vents that should greatly reduce ice jams but he was honest with us that ice will still need to be dealt with. He recommended we get a roof rake to help as well. The guys doing the roofing showed up promptly and got right to work. It was a large crew working on our roof that day and they worked together beautifully. You could tell they knew not only what they were doing but what the guy next to them was doing as well. They were all courteous and they cleaned up amazingly well, finishing with a giant magnet to be sure they got all the nails. We were told there may be some nails under the dumpster that would be picked up after the crew left, we found 4. No nails have been found anywhere else. We were very pleased with the work and the cleanup done. We could not be more happy with the work done or the price we paid. Excellent value and experience all round.

Overall, the entire experience was terrible after the original sales pitch. We worked with David S. on the original quote. He was very likeable and seemed trustworthy. We paid more for the roof with Avalon because of the transferrable warranty "Golden Pledge". He made a point of telling us that all the employees work only for Avalon, had for years, and were part of the family. He also said they would come in professional Avalon trucks. The first morning they showed up there were many cars that descended on our neighborhood. Only one van was marked as an Avalon van. There was what seemed to be a family along with a young boy and woman that were picking up shingles as they scraped them off the roof. I found it troubling that they had a child working on such a dangerous project. They were supposed to protect our house and bushes etc from damage. They leaned sheets of plywood against parts of the gutters which left the gutters marked up and bent in several areas. They also didn't protect many areas because we had torn screens, our window surrounds were dented in a few areas and we had black tar marks all over our house, every side. We also had a lot of damage to the vinyl siding on the chimney. There were marks that were clearly from the shovels scraping away the roofing that cut through the siding and left it hanging off in spots. When I contacted David about the problems, he first claimed that the damage had been before since our house was built in 1993 and those were original gutters and siding. However, the gutters on the back and side of the house were only 2 years old so I had proof they were not previously damaged. It was ridiculous because you could see the exact spots that the ladder bent the gutters right where they had been sitting. I made it clear that he walked all over our house and on our roof when he did our estimate so he should have noticed if our chimney had pieces of siding hanging off (which it was not before they did the tear off). He also said that this was a big roofing job so i should expect some damage. I promptly reminded him that he told us during the original sales pitch and quote that they would be cleaning up everything and were very professional. He also told me to get a rag with some mineral spirits and walk around and scrub the tar off the house because they wouldn't do anything about that. He finally said he would send someone out to repear some of the things. The man they sent was nice. He also brought a slightly older child with him (probably middle school age). They "repaired a couple of the severely damaged window surrounds and one screen. He later sent someone to repair some of the gutters. He never sent someone for the chimney so i called to remind him and he said i never told him anything about the chimney. After much back and forth and me threatening to call his boss, he finally sent someone to repair the siding. It looks okay but nothing like it did before the tear off. We still have 2 areas on the drip edge where it doesn't come together correctly so water can actually leak behind the siding. After multiple additional calls by my husband, we still have had no one repair that. When the Golden Pledge warranty inspector came out, i mentioned it to him and he said since it is below the roof line it would have no bearing on his inspection, but it definitely need to be repaired and wasn't done correctly because water will leak down and rot the wood behind. Overall, our experience was terrible and i would never recommend this company to anyone. Since we have had our roof done we talked to 2 other customers that also had bad experiences just this year. Also our neighbor hired a different company and when we got their quote they were $5000 less expensive than Avalon. I have nothing but regret in hiring Avalon.

I can't say enough about the positive experience that I had with this roofing company. I live in Louisiana and found this provider on Angie's list as a highly rated company. Now I can see why. The transaction was handled by Larry. I own a duplex in Muskegon, MI that needed the roof replaced. I wasn't sure how this job was going to go being that I live out of town from the site that needed to be worked on. Larry was very professional and reassured me that everything was going to be handled. He gave me a quote for a new roof and this included replacing up to 25 sheets of decking that were bad. The quote also included installing ice/water underlayment, a new drip edge, synthetic deck armor, new boots, and new flashing (including chimney flashing). The job also included a dumpster and removal of all materials and debris. This all came with a one time transferable 15 year warranty. Larry stated that they were a stable and large company that has been in business for quite some time. So this helped put my mind at ease. I accepted his offer and told him that I needed it done ASAP. He called me like 2 days later early one morning and said that he had a crew ready start if I gave him the okay. So I did and they got the job done in 2 days. The thing that really impressed me was that they encountered some issues with dozens of wasp nests under the decking and also had to replace more than 25 sheets of decking. Despite using dozens of cans of wasp killer and replacing more decking than originally anticipated, they stuck with the original quoted price. I was also impressed with how easy this company was to deal with out of town. This is a top notch company and I would encourage anyone locally or out of state to use them if you want peace of mind knowing that the job is going to be done promptly and professionally. Thanks Larry for your professionalism and exceeding my expectations. Satisfied customer in Louisiana. David G.

Difficult to contact. Work was complete but now roofing material is blocking drain. Have inches of standing water when it rains. Roof under sun porch is now leaking. I am now stuck standing on the roof and using a push broom to move the water towards the drain. Dan from Avalon has not returned my message about this. Will never use again. Update - After a lengthy conversation Avalon came back and repaired the roof.

It was so easy. I contacted Avalon and was connected with salesman Larry Sidebotham. Larry came out to our home and went over all the things that would happen to accomplish this big project, took measurements and gave us a written quote. We told him we would be in touch right after our vacation in two weeks. In the mean time I did some checking around and found not only were other quotes higher, but it was very difficult to actually speak to a "person". One company never even came to the house. His quote was done using Google Earth. Larry Sidebotham did such a great job of sticking to the quote, arranging the work in a timely manner and sending us reliable, diligent workers. The crew did our large ranch roof in one afternoon. Even the neighbors were impressed. The crew leaders were very easy to talk to when we had any questions, and they did a great job of clean up when they were finished. We so appreciated knowing our time was just as important to Larry as this project was to him, so he was always just a phone call away. I have already recommended Avalon building concepts to a couple of my friends. Great people to work with. Thank you Larry and all the Avalon crews for making a huge project so painless to accomplish. Sincerely, Mrs. Colinda Ferris

The workers (a crew of 6-7) were promptly on the job the morning after I signed the contract. They worked from 7:00 AM until after 5:00 or 6:00 PM and performed some clean-up each night. I was very impressed with the quality of their work and feel I received an excellent price for the 3 full days they worked. They corrected a problem area with an upper level deck that was leaking into my back porch roof and a proper roof system was installed. The deck was completely removed and there was wood rot underneath. The wood and deck was all replaced by a crew of 2 specially selected carpenters . I do not feel I will have any problems in the future with this area. In addition, a new section of gutter and gutter covers were installed on all of my current gutters. I am very pleased with the results.

Avalon was the only company that would give me a reasonable bid for a simple project I needed done. When others wanted to see more work than there really was, Avalon was quick to offer an hourly rate for the labor I was requesting. When things got a little more complicated, they took care of me and made sure I was pleased with their service.

The gentleman that came out was on time and friendly. They did not have all the materials they needed and came back the next day and brought extra people to get the job done. I was happy with that and they did a great job. I would use them again.

From start to finish everything was a pleasant experience. The sales person, Jeremy, was very professional and answered any and every question that I had put to him and believe me there were many. The scheduled day of install had to be postponed due to rain. The next day the installer came out and was punctual and appeared to be eager to get started. I had some questions for him, Karl, to make sure that I was going to get what I had paid for. Everything actually went better than I had expected. Over all the wife and I were very pleased and happy with the work and look of the completed job. Clean up was very thorough and now with our new roof we should be able to expect many many years of feeling happy and secure with our upgrade.

Honest. Quick response. On time. I called on a Wednesday and it worked out that they were working in the neighborhood on Friday. I had spare shingles already and they worked with me--taking that into consideration--to lower the cost of the repair. It's hard to find a good company to do a minor job. They did not take the opportunity to upsell or to sell new roofing. Rather they said my roof was probably good for another 10 years. I'd recommend and I'd call them again for any repairs or roofing needs. I see they do roofing, siding, insulation, and window replacement.

Avalon's sales team worked with me to figure out what window models I ultimately wanted (traditional, with muntins) and that the size/shape of the resulting grids were as consistent as possible across the different windows in my house. The crew worked quickly and efficiently when replacing the windows and doors, despite a power outage in the neighborhood on their first day on the project. One of the windows was not as ordered, and there were a few snags in the screens, but Avalon immediately ordered replacements and is returning to perfect the job. Similarly we are waiting on the door handle I wanted, but that will be installed as soon as it is in. Avalon has worked hard to ensure that I am happy with every last detail of the project. The crew even replaced some of the wood surrounding the windows inside my house and painted the replacement pieces to match the rest of the trim. Avalon is now in the process of putting new siding on my house and garage, and replacing my garage door, so I will be sure to post a review of that project upon its completion.

Of the three estimates we obtained for the roof work alone, only the Avalon sales representative actually climbed up onto our roof, and looked at the roofs of our two outbuildings. His estimate was significantly higher then the other two bids, but Avalon was capable of building out a window through our barn-style roof. The principle reasons for the decision to go with the higher bid was having the additional construction work performed, and the confidence of the salesman to address our water infiltration problem. Getting the job started when promissed failed 3 times on the window installation, and 1 time with the roof project. The company was reponsive to our complaints in this regard, and at least some coordination issues are to be expected when dealing with contractors. The problem getting the window job started was likely an unusual circumstance and not a common issue with Avalon. Both crew leaders were excellent in terms of dealing with anxious customers, and keeping the mess and inconvenience to a minimum. Clean up was complete, and the work looks great, though the test of snow and ice buildup is yet to come. Replacement of gutters was promised by the salesman but omitted from the contract; however, the company performed the work at no additional cost. The only item not completed was replacement of the interior trim removed with the skylight window replacement. We believed this would be completed with the last phase we contemplated with Avalon, which was the interior repairs from water damage. Unfortunately, after payment was made on the contract, we could not get the company to even provide a quote for this work despite repeated requests. This review is written over a month after the job completed, and the coordination and responsiveness issues are less significant to us in comparision to the overall work, which is professional. We would indeed have used Avalon for the interior work, but could not get their attention.

Avalon is an amazing company! Their sales person, Larry, was knowledgeable, friendly, and did not push us to sign a contract immediately. Instead, he urged us to research the companies history, reputation, product, and warranty first. Their reputation speaks for itself. We did not feel pressured to use Avalon, and instead we were confident that they were the right company for the job. Carl and his crew did a great job roofing the house. Not only was everything done perfectly and in a timely manner, but Carl answered all of our questions and the crew too extra care not to get any roofing debris in our gardens or on our patio furniture. Carl and his crew were very friendly, knowledgeable, and did a great job cleaning up afterward. My husband and I would recommend Avalon to anyone. We are beyond pleased with their work.

My son and I wanted to open the interior of the house so it flowed from one room to another giving us a larger living space. Larry explained what needed to be done, it was more of a process than we had expected, since the entire top of the house had to be supported while the beam was being installed. Walls were removed, light switches and plugs were moved, wall heat vents went to floor vents, flooring had to be replaced, and plaster was reformed and repaired. It was quite an undertaking so he brought in his specialized crew to do the job. Every time his crew comes in to do work, I happily report they are fantastic. I have never seen a more professional organization. The job with completed with no glitches, we have a wonderful natural-looking living space that flows from one area to the next---we are on to the kitchen for the next job with Avalon.

Larry explained in detail the type of services available and then had his crew start my roof the next day. The crew was fantastic. At no time were they disrespectful and they went out of their way to make sure all my questions were answered about procedures and materials. Afterwards they professionally cleaned the work area and my yard. During the work day Larry checked back several time and made sure everything was going smoothly; even going after additional supplies that were needed and he has check back several times to make sure we were still satisfied with the roof.

Roof was done right away had some delay due to rain. Everything else went smooth. Its important to have a little bit of patience. Good experience overall and would definitely use them again.

Larry made sure the work was done before the week promised by bringing in additional crew members. The crew worked well as a team and had a consistent work flow, so that no downtime occurred. Once again they were polite, friendly, and very professional. They found several open holes in the walls where previous owners had reinsulated and they fixed them with no charge. Now the siding looks great and the house is warmer. Once again Larry was on site making sure the crew had everything needed and answered questions that I had. He has checked back several time to make sure I am satisfied--which I am. I have a lot to do to the house and I will use NO one but Avalon.

They never contacted me when they said they would. When I talked to someone from there that I thought knew what he was doing and he couldn't understand what the job was.

We had a major issue with roof leakage and were basically in an emergency. The previous contractor had improperly installed the roof and it needed immediate attention at a time when Grand Rapids was having lots of rain issues. Avalon Building Concepts sent staff to immediately cover the roof with plastic to protect us from further damage and began repairs within the week. I found their staff, Scott, Lee and Zack to be highly professional, knowledgeable and very pleasant to work with. I would definitely call them again.