HAMLEN HOME IMPROVEMENT

I contacted Hamlen in fall of 2016 - too late to get deck work done. I kept in contact with the owner (Trevor) and he was able to do the work in June 2017. He gave us options, recommendations, and probable reasons we had continuing problems with the previous deck finish. The cost was reasonable and the results are impressive. I had forgotten what our deck could look like - it's beautiful again. By the way, Hamlen was the third contractor I've contacted in as many years trying to get this work done. The owner was the only contractor to consistently return our calls or emails, and meet with us personally. Excellent all around.

Not only did the work we requested turn out great (especially since it required some creativity), but after the installation we were sent pictures of how it turned out, which was very helpful since we live out of state. He also suggested that the old soffits and gutters needed cleaning since the contrast with the new clean ones showed the dirt more. He offered to do that work also and was able to fit us in quickly for it. We were kept in the loop throughout every stage of the process and all work was done thoroughly and professionally.

Wonderful work. Punctual, honest, high quality work. Trevor is an honest perfectionist.

Trevor did all his homework, and gave good advice for a new homeowner. The results are a very big improvement!

Excellent communication. He gave us a lot of options and advice throughout the project  Highly recommend. End result is beautiful.

It went quite well. While it took several weeks until is was done and all the issues were resolved (the door didn't fit, the outside corner boards needed to be reattached with longer nails/screws), Trevor took care of everything in a professional manner. He works in a conscientious and detailed-oriented manner and strives to find solutions that the homeowner can live with.

It went very well  -  everyone who sees the remodeled bathrooms is impressed.  The provider showed up on time, kept me informed of time, dates and progress.  I was able to leave the house for the provider to come and go without any concerns.  The quality of the work was professional with extraordinary attention to details......corners are square, cuts are precise, no flaws to be found. Even though the work spanned a couple months, the "mess" was kept to a minimum and I appreciated that since the work spanned the holiday season.
I also appreciated the creative side of the provider.  It is hard for me to visualize how some idea or plan is going to look.  Trevor spent time with me discussing the best way to lay the tile; took careful measurements to make sure the design would work, and the results show that.  
I would certainly use this contractor again for future projects!

Trevor was the general contractor for the job and contracted with a plumber, electrician, and insulation subs to complete the job. He did a good job coordinating things and the subs he uses were great!  Trevor is easy to talk to and listened very well to what we wanted, but is not shy about suggesting alternate/better ways of doing some things, though we always had the final say in how things were done. He has years of experience and in several instances had better ideas than we had and as a result our project turned out better than we had originally envisioned. Overall we are highly pleased with the quality and looks of our new space and would highly recommend him to others.

He worked efficiently and was easy to deal with. After the project was completed, we noticed a small bump or two in the vinyl floor. Probably from the underlayment not being extremely clean and bump-free before the vinyl was installed. I understand that he also does drywall work and based on what he did at a friend's home, I would hire him for that kind of work.

Very well

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We first hired Trevor to replace some rotting boards on our house and paint the exterior of our house. As he was working, he noticed many more areas of rotting boards than we were originally aware of. He went over all of our options and helped guide us with his professional knowlege without swaying us with his personal tastes. He was very flexible with us and the timing of the project since it took us a while to make a final decision. The option we decided to go with was to have all of the original siding removed and replaced with new LP Smart Side wood composite siding. It's a good thing we went with that option because once the siding was off we found some water damage in the back of the house that Trevor needed to repair for us. He was very informative and helpful in this process, letting us know that it would be a good idea to have a gutter person look at this area to prevent any future damage as the gutters were installed improperly. We also realized that we needed to add new window flashing, also due to improper previous installation, and house wrap, which we asked him to do. Once the new siding was installed, Trevor painted the entire exterior of our house. He paid close attention to detail and was very thourough. He even made a great suggestion of a faux wood paint for our front door and garage door. We are very pleased with the new look of our home. It's like a whole new house! Trevor was always prompt and cleaned up any mess that was made. I never noticed any stray nails or paint. He needed to trim a tree to get to the house to paint and he even cleaned up the brush! He also helped us install new exterior light fixtures and door knobs/locks. I feel like he went out of his way to make our house look great! I would definitely use Hamlen Home Improvement for future jobs. In fact we will be having Trevor replace our roof this summer.

Trevor was here when he said he would be. All staining/sanding/touch-up was completed in one day. A second coat of stain was applied on the front porch railing two days later. The metal spindles were re-attached two days later.

Took longer than expected. Powerwashed deck but didn't clean up the grime sprayed onto the house.

The job went fantastic. The guy is a genius, and he does phenomenal work.

My first experience with Hamlen Home improvement was when I was getting quotes to build a new cedar deck (over 10 feet off the ground, so not an easy job). Of the 5 estimates I got for the job, I went with Hamlen Home Improvement because he was punctual, had great communication and was approachable during the estimate process, was enthusiastic about what he was going to create (passion for his trade), and his price was very competitive.

Since that time I have hired Hamlen to complete a total of 4 major projects. The initial project of the deck was done on time, within budget, had a HIGH level of craftsmanship (it's beautiful!), and most importantly because there was ALWAYS constant communication throughout the project. Hamlen Home Improvement WILL involve you in the project as much as you desire, will check with every decision before a 'cut is made', and will make sure you know of any necessary changes or obstacles (that come up any time you deal with construction/remodeling). He truly wants you to be happy with the end result, and takes a lot of pride in the work he does.

I have had Hamlen Home Improvement complete the following projects on my house/property due to my high satisfaction, and I have been nothing but impressed and satisfied with each project:
-Cedar Deck
-6' Custom Wood Fence (I designed what I wanted, and he built it from scratch!)
-Retaining wall
-Installation of Drainage Tile
-Complete basement finishing: 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, living room, hallway and storage area.

I will touch on the basement finishing, as this was by far the biggest and most impressive work he did for me. Hamlen Home Improvement handled every aspect of this project, and even though he hired other professionals that were experts of specific areas (plumbing, electrical, HVAC, fireplace and stone mason), he was ALWAYS the one that dealt with them and held them to the same high standard of work that he holds himself to. I did not have to stress or worry about the subcontractors, because Hamlen knew his subs well, and was always keeping the communication lines open with me regarding scheduling, foreseeable issues, and general confirmation of design/construction choices. I was never worried about how something would turn out, because a conversation always took place to make sure we were on the same page. The final basement was extremely high quality, everything from wood floors to custom shelving to the inside of closets....It was ALL high quality and great looking!

Every project I have done through Hamlen Home Improvement was done on time, cost came in very close to the estimate (and any changes I was well aware of prior to receiving the final bill), and I was left extremely satisfied. I believe that I have continued to return to Hamlen shows that more than I can say. I have also recommended Hamlen Home Improvement to numerous friends, family and neighbors, and I have heard the same positive response from them.

One final testament to the quality of work: We put our house on the market (the one where all of the Hamlen Home Improvement work was done), and sold the house in under 3 months. In our price range there was over 80 homes for sale for a similar price, and of course the housing market is still down. The fact that we sold our house so quickly, and for FULL listing price, is definitely due to the work Hamlen Home Improvement put into it. We look forward to using them in the future on our new house!

Other than the power-washer failing immediately and the spindles getting back-ordered, almost everything went without a hitch. We had dry, warm weather so there were no weather delays. Trevor does have a small challenge in getting the quotes in a form that makes sense.

We just received (10/12/2011) the final bill which included the Front Porch Railing and spindles and the final charges for stain/paint/cleaner as well as the few extra hours of outside wood cleaning/power-washing that was needed to prepare the wood for painting.

We chose Hamlen Home Repair because Trevor Hamlen had just finished a small front porch on a nearby home. His truck advertised "Building, Remodeling, and Restoration Services" along with decks, floors, roofs, electrical, plumbing, landscaping, and painting. Our 1915 home was in great need of either paint or siding. We chose paint to preserve the character of the house and because Trevor assured us that new paints on the market would hold for many years to come. We chose to go with the top one he recommended at $48/gallon for 15 gallons, making the paint alone $720. We did enjoy interacting with Trevor personally, but ultimately, we came to realize that he tended to either over promise what he could deliver or didn't hold the same standards for quality work that we did. The things that most disappointed us were that he spray painted rather than hand painted the house (we neither asked nor understood the difference at the time), he had promised that no paint would get on any of the windows and later we spent many hours scraping off a haze of paint, and he said that everything would be cleaned up and left in excellent shape, which it wasn't. We were more than willing to do whatever we could to help, including scraping (although we weren't very good at it) but we also found ourselvesncleaning up scraped paint, restacking old lumber, retaping plastic on windows, cleaning up nails, and in general, keeping things as organized as we would have liked them to be. This was very important because we have a business in the home and customers coming and going. Although the paint is of excellent quality and overall is standing up to the weather, we still have had some peeling in places where water had saturated the old boards and had not been treated properly before painting. We discovered this later when we hired a different painter to do the repairs. Lastly, the painting and rebuilding of the porch took much longer than we were told because of health issues in the Hamlen family. We were understanding of this but it seemed to happen on a more frequent basis than we would have anticipated. We shared our concerns with Trevor in writing at the end. He wrote back with genuine concern, which we appreciated. Perhaps the stumbling block in all this is that Trevor often said that he "strives for perfection" in his work. There is, of course, no one who can deliver this and no two people who have the same definition for it. More knowledge of fine old lumber--how to clean, prime, and carefully paint it--was what we NOW know that we needed

Due to weather, the project got off to a slow start. This delay ( an usually cold and very wet spring) were circumstances outside of Trevor’s control. As the project was delayed, we informed Trevor that were holding a party on a specific date and he made sure he had the job completed in time for us to hold our party. He even came in and worked on a Sunday (I think this may have had more to do with weather delays causing him to fall behind with other jobs too, but it showed us his commitment to getting the job done). Before Trevor did any weekend work, he first checked with us to make sure his working outside a time specified on the written contract would fit in with our plans.

Trevor had a couple of set-backs as he did his work. First, the previous deck’s construction (from previous home-owner, not Trevor) was much worse than expected and demolish of the old deck was a lot more difficult than any of us were expecting; however, Trevor exceeded our expectations, rolled with the punched, and always made sure to keep up is the loop with what was going and was very up-front with any changes to the bottom-line final cost of the project.

Really, the only thing that caught us off guard with the project were items outside of Trevor’s control. They were the absolute horrible condition of our previous deck (once Trevor dug, we discovered the previous home-owner’s deck really was not set on a solid or stable foundation and a whole new foundation needed to be dug), and the job took longer than initially expected (again due to much more difficult demolish of old deck and horrible weather conditions.) As the crummy weather caused more delays at times it felt a little like Trevor was trying to balance multiple jobs as instances when he could get work done for any costumers was extremely limited; however, when Trevor was working on our deck, he was a bona fide professional who did a yeomen’s effort. Trevor is extremely focused when he works and does not dilly-dally around or waste time. I was home a lot when Trevor was working. What I witnessed was when he is on the clock, he doesn’t waste a second of time. His focus and work ethic was quite impressive when he showed up to get the job done.

Trevor was extremely knowledgeable with all things decks. It was almost like having my own personal deck savant working on my behalf. He truly has a remarkable passion for deck building. Not only did he want to deliver a sturdy finished product, but the overall aesthetics and final look of the finished product were also crucial aspects of the project to Trevor throughout its creation and process. As he worked and interacted with us, I commented to my wife that at times it seems to me like Trevor treated out new deck like he was an artist creating a breath-taking masterpiece of fine art. This passion produced an amazing looking finished product.

The end results are an amazing looking new deck and staircase. Trevor told us our deck is pretty much 100% covered for five 5 years. If anything warps or goes bad, he’ll replace it to us at no cost. Trevor also added little touches to make up-keep of the new deck much easier. For example, he put a space between the stairs and deck so than when we go to stain it in a year, there is plenty of room for us to stain all exposed wood without having to worry about missing any little nooks or fighting for space. Trevor also replaced our old wood spindles with new, virtually maintenance-free aluminum spindles. Trevor told us our new deck is so sturdy, we could wrestle elephants on it without fear of it collapsing, and I bet we could! Trevor also worked with our local community’s building code folks. He took care of all permits and official inspections. Now we can relax without any fear when we hold Nacho Libre style Pachyderm wrasselin' on our new deck without fear of it collapsing or the deck not being up to local code.

I would hire Trevor again in a heart-beat if I needed another deck built. I plan on calling upon Trevor again in a year to the staining of the deck he just created. I have even recommended he do some deck work for my parents. If you need any deck maintenance, refurbishing, demolition, or deck construction; Hamlen Home Improvement and Trevor are/is the guy to call. I think you’ll be more than satisfied with his end results.

Perfect job, on time, as estimated, no surprises. Trevor is our "Go to guy" for all home repair tasks. Some small, some big.

It is all in the preparation. Work began as promised. Crew with owner scraped (using hand tools) and caulked all necessary surfaces. Custom colors matched to expectation. Two coats for solid and trim colors. Grounds, windows and adjacent improvements well protected. Crew began work promptly each day. Work progressed methodically and well paced. Application of paints was of a high professional quality. Clean-ups were complete. Crew was courteous. Project finished as agreed. Quoted price paid with happiness upon completion. Highly recommended company.

The company provided a reasonable quote for a kitchen remodel, and we had a referrel from a friend. The job was to take a little longer then usual, according to the company because it was just him working on things, we were fine with that. He started the job in Mid May of the same year and still had not finished the job even into October. We ended up having to fire the company because of: Not showing up at all for the day, showing up later then when he had said he would be there, working at other jobs before coming to my job (essentially taking on too much work for a one man contractor, For horrible craftsmanship i.e. nothing was level, square, plummed properly, This person would lie, and make up excuses as to why he could not be there. Long story short, we were not reimbursed for anything, and it was a very horrible experience. I would not recommend this company to anyone. We ended up firing him, and finishing the job ourselves, for an additional 8000.00 dollars to hire others to fix his mistakes.

He gave me a fair estimate, and came in under cost. He was in and out of my home in under an hour! He was responsive and professional during the estimate and the repair. I'd definitely recommend him and will use him again.

Trevor does excellent work and has great design ideas. Thanks to Trevor's planning and suggestions, the fireplace looks like it was an original from 1928. We already are thinking about which rooms he can do next! :-)