Narrative Construction

Went great.  Very friendly and did thorough job.

I uncovered a weakness in the framing design of my old house that needed to be addressed.  Fred diagnosed the main problem, figured out the implications, and came up with a great retrofit, tweaking his ideas insightfully as he went along.  He was communicative and efficient.  Fred has all the virtues of the craftsman and obviously enjoys his calling.  Recommended.

He called as soon as I purchased the deal. Came over within a reasonable time frame.  Completed all work I orginally asked for. I added a couple of extra projects and he was happy to do them.
Very pleasant and work was done well. I would hire him again.

Fred the General Contractor/owner called me promptly after I inquired. He checked out my job quickly and then gave a job quote right away.  He also gave me the option to do an hourly rate.   I didn't want the job to cost a fortune because I was more concerned with preserving my foundation rather than making the space livable so he kept that in mind.  We also weren't sure what we'd find behind the walls so he was flexible in his approach.  We decided on a game plan and he was clear to communicate how he would perform the tasks.  He said the work would look good and straight and it did.  I was relieved not to have to drag in a bunch of tradesmen, too, so that was key in choosing Narrative.  He the great idea to idea to get a WM bagster bag instead of a dumpster or going to the dump himself which ended up saving me several hundred dollars.  Fred was very clean and he secured my basement windows at night which increased his level of professionalism in my eyes.

Fred Roth is truly a detail person.  If you have an old house, he is very good at matching trim.  His finish work is first rate.  I would say that it would be better to get a bid rather than work hourly.

Looks great, he picked up some of the material himself which was very helpful.  Very happy with completed job.

I purchased an Angie's List big deal for 8 hours of general carpentry work.  I wanted to replace the trim in my house with craftsman style trim.  Fred helped me figure out the design by finding an article on proper dimensions, he told me what wood I needed to buy and recommended a place to purchase, and he did excellent quality work.  I will definitely use him again!

It was very exacting work.  Fred made everything look very finished and beautiful.  I am very happy with the results.

Very high quality work, excellent carpentry. Fred pays attention to detail and doesn't cut corners. Both the door and the drawer look better and work better than they did before. I wouldn't hesitate to call Narrative Construction again for larger remodeling projects in my home.

Started with the big deal.  Fred was great to work with. Very accommodating to my schedule and install thoughts.  VERY skilled at what he does.  I hope you use him again in the future.

Fred arrived on time and got started after we chatted about what I wanted done. I acted as gopher and picked up all the materials so he could just work.  He ran in to one snag in that what was to be the partial back wall of the closet was originally put in crooked so he pulled that and straightened it out.  I was a little disappointed that at the end of the day he had the closet only partially framed because I was hoping to get it finished including getting it sheetrocked and getting doors hung.
I asked Fred what it would take to finish the project and he estimated another full day to day and a half. We were unable to coordinate our schedules so the project sat for awhile until I had the opportunity to have someone else in who finished framing the closet, sheetrocked it, hung the doors, trimmed it out ( not part of my original plans) AND insulated and trimmed out an egress  window in less than 8 hours. He said Fred's work was meticulous.
Soooo, if you want meticulous, quality work, hire Narrative Construction. I just would ask for a bid and wouldn't pay by the hour. I think I got a good price because of the Big Deal but I'd have Fred bid any other project I had him do.

Narrative Construction did an excellent job installing the garage door and storm windows - making sure the door worked properly and the storm windows looked good on the inside and outside of the house.  The deck was built to St. Paul code, structuraly very sound and sturdy and looks great!  Fred built the deck with concealed screws and was willing to learn a new tool for putting in the screws in cedar without showing on the top of the deck.  The design was well thought out and will last for a hundred years!  Fred is will listen to your concerns and try to design a solution to meet your individual needs. 

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Overall the project went well.  Originally we met to decide if it was even possible to do what I wanted.  After looking at the project, we decided to move forward. 
The project required a lot of measuring lengths and angles.  He had to do some tricky work to make the bottom stairs that were exposed look good. The quality of the work was very good, very detailed oriented. I am very pleased with how the project turned out. 
Most days he didn't start until 10:00 in the morning.

It went pretty well. Everything turned out nicely. He was able to work me into his schedule when I needed. I asked him about some other issues/ideas that I had regarding the house and he seemed knowledgeable.

It took several weeks to schedule the work, which I expected because A) it was a popular coupon and B)  everyone wanted their outdoor jobs completed.  When we finally  arranged a time for Fred to look at the project, he showed up punctually.  We discussed options and agreed on replacement of the storm door and the threshold, and set a day for Fred to return and begin work. He estimated it might take a day and a half of work, but nothing was written down.
 Fred found a close-out stormdoor at Menards and cut it down, saving us a couple hundred dollars.  After he found the crumbling foundation , communication broke down a little.  Fred told my husband about the foundation, but he never provided a written or verbal estimate of how much additional time that replacement would take. It took 2-3 days for Fred to dig the foundation and pour the concrete, in addition to the time to install the threshold and storm door.  During this time Fred showed up every day and worked steadily, --even on a Saturday--but he never gave us any update on his work or an estimate of completion time. Some days he didn't even say hello or goodbye. 
Labor and parts came to about $800--at least $400 more than I expected to pay.  Fred could tell that I was pretty annoyed and offered to re-figure the labor at the coupon rate.  I told him that I wasn't upset about the price as much as about the lack of communication on how the project was going, either time-wise or cost-wise.   We finally  agreed that he would do a couple hours of additional work at no additional charge.  Fred weather-stripped the original door as well as another door.  The house really feels draft-free now!
Fred's work is very good and he obviously wants to do the right thing.  And,  I know that every project on  100-year old house is more complicated than it first appears.  I just would have been much happier if  Fred had talked to us more along the way.

JANUARY UPDATE:  Almost 2 weeks of sub-zero temps and my house is cozy and draft-free.  THANKS FRED!

I have to say that they did a fantastic job, considering what they had to work with.  I have a 100 year old house, so anytime I make a change to the house I never know what problems I'm going to run into.  As problems were uncovered, they were able to deal with them and keep things going on the correct path.  I have to give them credit for tackling a job that most contractors would run away from.

Fred was great to work with. I had a list of several fixit jobs I needed completed, but I wasn't sure which could be completed within the 8 hours. We prioritized them together by complexity and urgency, and he got to work. He worked efficiently and with care for the house. I will call him again to work on future jobs.

Fred from Narrative construction, worked with me and my wife one the details and specs on what might work best; we had nothing to on but the fact we wanted a Pantry put in the corner of the kitchen. He Had several ideas which were creative and which we agree with. He knew how to trouble shoot problems well. The Pantry turned out better than what we had first envisioned. He was punctual in starting times and worked long hours to finish the job. He showed his experience as a carpenter. I will be useing Narrative construction in the future.

Great!!!

We bought a new house and it had a microwave oven mounted in a bulky box above the counter top.  We wanted to put a microwave with a vent hood above the oven but the cabinet there didn't allow for the space.  We asked Fred to remove the box and swap the place of the narrow cabinet above this with the tall one above the stove.  This was no easy task as the cabinets had been built in place and the frames had to all be salvaged without damaging them and rejoined without altering the surface. Afterwards, other than having that ugly box gone and our new microwave over the stove, it was impossible to tell that any alterations had been made. We were very happy with the result.