North Star Homes & Development LLC

Stuck to schedule, crews were in and out. Roof crew left work area clean and no loose shingles or nails on ground. No overspray or blemishes on the paint. Gutters straight and secure. Did numerous follow-ups after work was done. Easy to get ahold of even during that time.

Was flawless service. Laid protective film on carpet while he went in and out to cut tile. Cleaned up after himself and work area. Even explained maintenance suggestions to keep floor looking amazing. Still looking good.

Several requests were made and agreed to when I agreed to use North Star Homes to replace my roof after a hail storm. David was a good salesman and seemed very knowledgeable. During the process, it became clear that he had poor organizational skills and either ignored some requests or decided not to perform. I had specifically requested certain brands of components, both of which were readily available from local supply stores. I had also specifically requested the work be performed when I was home and mentioned one weekend in particular when I would be away.
Unfortunately, I received a call during THAT weekend from David saying that the work was starting and the crew was already at the house. In hindsight, I should have demanded that no work be performed without me being home. The components that were installed were not the ones we had agreed to. When confronted, David swore that they were the correct components. I told him I had evidence in the form of boxes that I pulled from the dumpster. He ended up replacing one key component but swore that the other was not available (shortly after, I found the exact make/model at Lowes so I believe he was lying on that count). In addition, I had an opportunity to review the estimates he was submitting to my insurance company. Quantities were grossly exaggerated and components he ended up never replacing were included in the estimate. Worst yet, I have experienced a chronic leak since the roof replacement was performed. My wife called David back out and his explanation was that I had over-caulked when I was repainting the house. I find this very hard to believe.

UPDATE: The source of the leak was identified as being wood-rot on some trim on my chimney. The leak was not caused by any roofing issues. With this new finding, I'm revising the quality rating to a C and overall rating to a C.

David worked with local municipalities to obtain all required permits, presented us with a plan of action to build a new home along with estimated costs obtained from local trades. He then scheduled all trades effectively and supervised all trades as far as scheduling them, reviewing their work prior to paying them, and basically keeping them on budget and on-time, BOTH of which was appreciated! 

We got the home we wanted at the price we agreed to, on time, Enough said! :)

I had a wonderful experience and love my new basement. The family is so happy. He answered all of my questions and provided great customer service. Now that I know a reliable contractor, I won't use anyone else.

It was a wonderful experience. David was always on time and always informing me of any changes or issues and was always quick to fix them. It took time to meet us at the designers to help us pick out our selections; he was very patient and didn't mind coming to our home anytime we had questions. Really seemed like David was interested in making sure we were 100& happy and answered as many questions as possible. Even more pleasing was how clean everything was after he finished all the work.

David really took his time and made sure everything was detail oriented. During the entire process we could really tell that David took great care and pride making sure everything was done correctly.

We would highly recommend David to our friends and family. If you are considering anyone else I highly suggest him as a first pick!!!

Thank you!
[Member name removed]

P.S
We were very happy to see David came back to adjust a few items even after he was paid several months later. It's nice to know I have a contractor I can depend on like David.

When we first met with David Russell, we had a basic idea of what we wanted our mostly unfinished basement to look like. We wanted to make it an area that we would use. David took measurements, listened to our ideas and went to work. He came back with several different plans for us to look at. We were completely impressed with his common sense approach to laying out the basement. He thought of things that we never considered and they all made sense. We agreed on a plan and asked about tweaking a couple of things, which he was very willing to do. He came back with a finalized plan and an price list broken down with allowances for the project. He understood exactly what we wanted and didn't try to talk us into things that weren't important to us.
This is the first time we have done any remodeling, so we were pretty ignorant of the process. David was very helpful in pointing us in the right direction whenever we needed to make decisions on colors, carpet, etc. He was extremely patient with our lack of decisiveness. In many instances, we asked him to make suggestions and we almost always went with what he would have chosen. He always offered to go with us to pick out stuff if we wanted him to. We took him up on it a couple of times.

While the work was going on, David was great at communicating with us. I think we talked or texted almost every day. He would always let me know what was going on and would ask our opinions on any decisions that needed to be made. He would let us know whenever he needed something picked out, such as lighting or countertops by a certain date.

We chose to upgrade a couple of things once we got into the project, but other than that, David stuck to his bid even when things ended up costing more than he projected. He also finished the project in the time he said he would.

I liked the fact that when I was dealing with David, I was dealing directly with the person that was doing the majority of the work. He is very detailed and we got to the point that we knew we could trust him to make things turn out right. We were amazed by his knowledge and abilities.

The final result is everything we could have hoped for and more. We love our basement. Everything about it feels right. It has been done for a couple of weeks now and we use it constantly. He made our basement look so good that now we like it better than the rest of the house. This was a fantastic experience. If you are looking to do any kind of remodeling work, I would highly recommend talking to David. His knowledge of homes and his common sense approach are what made this project turn out so well.

We had an excellent experience with North Star Homes & Development LLC. We were able to get two places done for the price we thought was going to cover just one area. They had leftover material to do the second area. They came out on time. They did an excellent job. You can't see what he patched at all.

Dave did a great job everything was done with quality and professionalism I would definitely use him again very good communication.

Dave was absolutely on top of the entire job, even with material shortages, Dave found the products needed at the price promised.
Never had to pay up front more than materials at the time of each part of the job.

Dave retains values I am looking in any business relationship:
- Honesty and integrity.

The quick version is this: We selected David. We are happy we did. His work is top-notch. He jumped through hoops to save our project. We are extremely grateful.

We have never done a remodeling project like this before and we met with several Angie's List contractors to provide quotes on our basement project. Most asked what we wanted done and gave us drawings and prices, but David was the only contractor that offered suggestions on alternate floor plans. For instance, he pointed out that our utilities could be moved and consolidated to a smaller enclosed room that he would build to create more living space. He also suggested removing a wall that separated the stairwell from the basement and adding some wrought iron spindles and custom railing. Both of these recommendations created much more space and made for a classier entrance to the basement.

In addition to his creativity with the drawings and planning process, his quote was very competitive relative to others. He incurred some extra expenses during the project, but he stuck to his quote. The only areas where we went over budget were for things that were "allowances," such as hardware, vanity, granite for the bar, faucet, shower door etc. He estimated these on the lower end, but we upgraded most. These weren't huge expenses for such a big project - I would just recommend to anyone doing a remodeling project like this with any contractor to expect allowances for builder's grade carpet, tile and hardware. Price it ahead of time if you have taste that requires higher quality and are concerned about costs.

David gave us a time estimate for completing his work and he finished on time, which was no small feat. Our project was nearly derailed after the shower was installed. We found sewage backing up into the new shower. It was as nasty as it sounds. David snaked the drain and discovered an issue. The builder of our home (which is 8 years old now) didn't allow for enough grade to run the sewage out, so it would back up and build pressure. The previous owners never noticed because it would eventually push out - now that we installed a shower, the sewage had a place to go.  With the basement mostly finished and carpet getting installed in a day, we made the decision to have David jackhammer the concrete floor and do the ground rough the right way. He pulled a crew together on short notice and completed the work that night - and AT COST. I think he saved us at least $8,000. It would have been more if he would have finished and then the basement flooded with sewage later ruining all the new carpet.

We had another instance where he finished the bar and I was unhappy with how the stain came out. Again, not his fault. I picked the stain but had no idea how it would look on the wood. He ordered new doors and drawers and re-stained the surfaces to give it the look we wanted. He ate the cost and did not charge us for this.

Can't say enough good things. This project could have been a disaster without an honest and transparent contractor. David is a perfectionist and completes work as if he's doing it for himself. He completed 90% of the work with his own hands and enlisted help for tile and painting.

I can't speak to the service of other A-rated Angie's List contractors, but I met with and received quotes from most of them. I can say that I'm glad we chose North Star. David impressed us from the start and he continues to follow-up to tie up any loose ends.I would use him again on any project and I will always recommend him to friends and family.

It was a great experience. They were fair on price, did very well, and did the job as we expected.

David made good on everything which needed to be corrected during the renovation process. Overall, the outcome was very good. One piece of advice is to know that most items will be contractor grade. This means, for example, that custom made cabinets probably won’t be stained and finished. Also, make sure the contractor’s vendors list is up-to-date, because mine was not.

Everything was great. They really took their time, came in on budget, and answered all of our questions.

Everything was great. The company was extremely professional, took care of all of our wants and needs, and did good work. I have used a lot of companies in the past, and I would be crazy not to use this one again.

He was timely, very thorough, and looked at some other projects or problem areas and gave me his opinion but without trying to upsell me. He is a nice gentleman to work with.

I was impressed with the professionalism. They always maintained good communication and worked in a timely manner. I'm not one to offer praise easily but I was very happy with their work and price. They stayed within budget and we talked over a few minor additions I wanted during the project. I did not feel pressured to purchase more items. I would definitely use them again.