Fix St Louis

Horrible, repair estimate was for 2 days but the partial repair took 6 days and they only completed 3/4 of the agreed upon work. Workmanship was lousy and I just wanted them out of my house! Owner threatened me with legal action if I left honest review

unknown

unknown

contractor met all my expectations

Initially, we were considering replacing our double front entry door which is of an obsolete size which would have made it a prohibitively expensive undertaking.  We found House Doctors on Angie's List and hired House Doctors after the owner came out to estimate how they could solve our two most important criteria: increased security and weather-tightness and assured us they could meet the criteria in a professional manner and that their work was backed by a one-year warranty of satisfaction.  We scheduled the work for March 29th, 2012.  The workman arrived as promised, however he didn't have a work order and wasn't sure what he was to do.  I explained what was to be done, but became uneasy after he headed off to Lowe's to purchase supplies.  I immediately called the owner, Mr. Boriss, and explained my concerns and told him I didn't wish to proceed as my confidence in their ability had waned.  Rather than just apologizing for sending out the workman without a work order, or any idea what he was to do and simply abiding by my request, Mr. Boriss chose to convince me to go ahead.  He was argumentative and unwilling to simply end the conversation.  I became hot under the collar when he wouldn't listen to me and told him to "shut up" and listen to me.  He then got in my face about me telling him to shut up.   He resorted to the "sympathy close" by inferring his "professional" workman wouldn't be paid if I cancelled.  Ultimately, I agreed to allow him to proceed...unfortunately as the guy proceeded to make a wreck of our front doors.  After the first attempt we could see light coming from between the doors which would certainly indicate they weren't weather tight.  We contacted House Doctors and they sent him out to solve the issue.  On the second go round the workman said he'd put in some 'better' weather stripping.  I was in another room of the house when I heard the sound of metal being filed.  I rushed out to see what he was doing, but by then it was too late.  He'd massively messed up the lock plate and cracked the wood surrounding said plate by trying to chisel it out so as to move it to accommodate the weather stripping he'd applied. When that didn't work he set about filing away at the plate compromising its strength and security of the locking mechanism.  The screws of the plate weren't even sunk correctly, or evenly so now the heads are cockeyed.  The doors are no longer flush with one another.  I told the workman I was completely stunned by what he'd done and entirely dissatisfied and sent him on his way.  I contacted House Doctors in writing informing them of my dissatisfaction and lodging a claim on their warranty. I decided to give them the opportunity to stand behind their word regarding 100% satisfaction guaranteed as verbally communicated by the owner and the verbiage of the contract.  It's been six months and I've not heard a word from them.  So, I decided to tell you of our experience and will be contacting the BBB, as well.  Caveat emptor!  Shoulda followed my intuition, eh?
Update 1/31/12:
I have not responded to the provider's response until now as my wife took ill and subsequently died just before Christmas.  The provider's claim that they were unaware is a bald-faced falsehood.  I have the email and phone records to back up my statement.  We did not accept the provider's offer of a refund as the damage they caused far exceeded that amount.  Further, by accepting their offer my original review would have been expunged from Angie's list.  I didn't want that to happen as I feel fellow members should be aware of the truth.

Dealing with House Doctors in Chesterfield was a refreshing experience compared to other handymen/contractors I have had experience with.  The owner, Steve, came out to inspect the work that needed to be done.  He then emailed me an estimate that was very reasonable.  I contacted customer service to set up a date for the door installation; the receptionist told me that Dan, the handyman, would be here between 9:15 and 9:30 on the date we scheduled.  Dan showed up at 9:20, and he was finished by 10:45.  I appreciate the promptness and efficient way the job was completed, and the thorough clean up as well.  I will definitely use House Doctors again!

I initially called and made an appointment.  However, I got an e-mail a day or two later indicating they had trouble with their scheduling software and I had to reschedule.  They offered an extra $25 discount for the inconvenience.

When the workman arrived, they hadn't passed along the information on the work that I wanted to have done.  I went over the work that I needed.  He was able to take care of the bathroom fans and the smoke detector.  He let me know that they were not really equipped to handle the attic insulation job that I wanted to have done and suggested an alternate contractor who specializes in that type of work.  He also let me know that he couldn't safely access the roof to replace a couple of cracked vent hoods.  I appreciated the fact that he was up front about what he could or could not safely accomplish since I was dubious about that job anyway.

The workman tried his best to get the bathroom fans working quietly, but no matter how he tried, the fans ended up noisier than I had hoped they would be (we provided the fans).  He offered to return to fix or check on any potential installation issues if the fan manufacturer thought it might be an installation problem.

The workman was very friendly, courteous, helpful and fair with the time he spent.  He did a good job of cleaning up as he went along with his work.

A call was placed to House Doctors to schedule some work.  One of the items on our list was to seal some flashing around our chimney that was leaking, but the representative said they don't do that sort of work.  So, they placed a call to another contractor for us, which was nice.  They were able to do the other two items on our list (caulking an attic window and installing an exhaust fan that we had purchased for our home).  The work was scheduled for the following week.  Our handyman was very courteous, knowledgeable, and he did an excellent job.  The caulking of the attic window was done neatly.  We were concerned about rain later in the day, so he took extra precautions with the sealing of the caulk so that it would not be damaged by the water.  When installing the exhaust fan, he first covered all of the bathroom fixtures and the floor with plastic to minimize dust, dirt, and plaster getting all over the room.  When the work was complete, he cleaned everything up.  We had him vent our fan through the roof, and he took extra care with the vent in the roof so that it would not cause any leakage into our attic.  Overall, a very professional company.  I gave them a B for pricing because the price seemed awfully steep for only doing two things, especially since we purchased the exhaust fan and all of the parts necessary for venting through our roof on our own.  The price would have been over $500 had I not used a coupon.  They charge by the half day, I believe.  However, I don't mind paying for quality work, which this was.  I would definitely use them again. 

They have been great.

No problems 

I had no problems with this experience. The owner sent out someone to make sure nothing on my home's exterior was old enough to warrant any contamination containment, which I appreciated. The estimate, heavy metals check, and work were all done while I was at my own job, and I simply left a check on my front porch.

Keith was on time and did all that was needed.

Fantastic! He arrived on time, was friendly and clean, did the job very well, and cleaned up after himself. I'm thrilled to have found a good handyman. And House Doctors gives a year guarantee on their work!

I was extremely happy with the repair and professionalism of House Doctors. Their technician arrived on time. My appointment was confirmed in advance by phone and e-mail, and I received a phone call 15 minutes before his arrival. Their technician arrived in a clearly marked van and was dressed in a clean uniform. He was insured and bonded, had over 20 years of experience, and was respectful and friendly. They seem to specialize in smaller, "honey-do"-type projects like the kind I needed done, but the handyman told me he can handle bigger jobs and commercial handyman work as well.