A Cut Above Carpentry

We've been using ACAC for many projects, big and small, for going on twenty years. Marty is the best! Very knowledgeable, personable and easy to work with. A perfectionist, he never considers a job complete until it's perfect. Honest, reasonable, reliable and friendly.

This most recent job was, as I said, an emergency. It seems that these types of situations always happen at an inconvenient time.

We immediately contacted A Cut Above Carpentry and told them of our problems. They scheduled a time to come out and inspect the problem (within 24 hours) and arrived on time for my appointment.

I received confirmation of my appointment, as per their usual course of business. Upon a visual inspection, the carpenter I worked with immediately knew what had caused the concern. He offered to write up an estimate and agreed to send it to me in short order as this was an urgent matter. Their estimate included extreme detail of the project and what it would entail as well as a senior citizens discount, which is always a welcome surprise. They did not miss a beat and even offered me ways to save some money which was a nice surprise considering we had not planned on these repairs.

I approved their contract, which is quite simple, but detailed enough to include assurances for us, as well an outline of their warranty terms. In fact, we did have one warranty issue which arose, during a different service call. They immediately returned and honored that warranty. It was not necessary for me to contact the manufacturer of the part as A Cut Above Carpentry handled all of those details on my behalf. They promptly scheduled that work as well and had the warranty work completed in about 48 hours (due to the holiday in between).

Back to the current job they did for us. Despite their backlog of work, they scheduled the repairs promptly and managed to fit me in within 2 days. I again received confirmation of my appointment and anxiously looked forward to their return.

On the day of my appointment, they arrived a few minutes earlier than promised. The work was completed the promptly and the area left immaculate. Unfortunately, I was in and out of meetings while they were there but they did not interrupt and patiently waited for me to finish a phone call before speaking with me about the work that was done. They went over every aspect of the project and showed me how the new appliances worked.

Before they were finished, I received my final invoice which was two dollars more than the estimate, which is more than acceptable. This was due to the fact that I had a small bit of extra work done. They had provided me with a and quot;Change Orderand quot; for my approval of the additional work. The amount of that Change Order was approximately 20% of the original estimate and I was relieved to notice they had the foresight to obtain my approval for this additional work. They explained that it is customary to do so if the additional work will exceed the original approval by more than 25%, however, they continued by stating that they often do so if the estimate will be increased by 10% or more, as a courtesy. Although the additional work was mostly materials, the Change Order included a small amount of labor. In the end, they did not charge me for that labor, it was a small item and this was installed for free, as a courtesy to us. Needless to say, this was another pleasant surprise.

It was nice to receive the invoice before they finished because it allowed me ample opportunity to review it in detail, in private, before writing the check. It also allowed me to inspect the work that had been done, before they left with payment. Although, after seeing their work on three previous occasions, I had no reason to worry; even the smallest of details have been tended to and they are extremely meticulous in their efforts.

As usual, a few weeks later, their office followed up with me to ensure we were completely satisfied. It seems to me, as it should be, their primary concern is...Customer satisfaction! They pursued this job with the ultimate attention to detail - in fact, they noticed a small problem nearby the area they were working on, a shorted electrical connection which created a fire hazard! They also repaired this problem, with no disruption to my meeting, also at no charge!

We recommend this contractor explicitly. They are professional, competent, knowledgeable, and wonderful to work with. It's refreshing to contact a company and have the same people to work with each time. They seem to know my needs, sometimes even before I express them. A Cut Above Carpentry is the only contractor we will work with and we will continue to do so with confidence!

Initially they were contacted by the company which I bought my cabinets from. Evidently, the company which I bought the cabinets from was not licensed for installation in the state of Maryland, much to my dismay and surprise.

I first met the gentleman who came out to provide an estimate for the installation, which we would be paying for. I had envisioned a kitchen that would best suit my needs and style. They listed patiently and when all was said and done, they provided a detailed estimate which included all of my wishes.

After I signed my contract with A Cut Above Carpentry, the company that I bought the cabinets from had gotten rid of the person I'd been working with, this concerned me greatly. However, A Cut Above Carpentry stepped up to the plate and contacted them directly. They worked on my behalf as if they were my own personal and quot;General Contractorand quot;. Many times they contacted the cabinet company, on my behalf, to resolve the multitude of problems which the cabinet company created, without even bothering me.
When the cabinet company failed, in any aspect, A Cut Above Carpentry helped to mediate and resolve many issues for me, much to my relief.

Eventually, when the cabinets finally arrived, the construction began. Fortunately, A Cut Above Carpentry urged me to wait on the demolition until my cabinets arrived; it's a good thing they did because the cabinets were more than 2 weeks late and we would have been without a kitchen. This would have been extremely inconvenient with a family of four!

A Cut Above Carpentry began by sealing off my kitchen to prevent any dust or debris in the adjoining rooms, which I hadn't even thought about! They arrived each day, on time, in a clean uniform, with smiles on their faces. Each day their schedule was consistent, they even stayed late a few days, at my request, with no complaints. They has cautioned me, before the project began, that we may have no kitchen for at least 2 days while the appliances were removed and reinstalled but managed to keep this to one day to avoid further disruption of our daily routine.

When the project started to come together, they arranged for all of the materials to arrive one day before they installed them so as to avoid further delays. They had knowledge that was well beyond that of contractors I've worked with in the past. During this project there was never a time when I felt alone. The office was always there to reassure me of anything I needed and the workers were always asking me if there was anything else they could do, if I had any concerns, etc. Their communication was more than PERFECT, in every aspect.

Halfway through the project we decided to make some changes. I knew this would involve more work, and money, but hoped it would not blow our budget. A Cut Above Carpentry agreed to write up the changes in an estimate and sent it to me within 24 hours. When we reviewed it we were shocked at the low price since we had expected a LARGE price and additional down payment. We approved the changes and A Cut Above Carpentry did not ask for additional money, to our surprise.

As the project came to a close we were slightly upset since we understood that we would not be working with them daily. The workers had become part of our lives and we became accustomed to them being there for every situation that arose.

When my beautiful new kitchen was done they met with us, after hours, and went over every detail of what had been done. They explained how everything would work, why things were done the way they were, what the individual charges were for, and so much more.

Our final invoice was actually a surprise too, it was a few dollars less than the estimate which allowed me to get some new towels and other odds and ends for my new, beautiful kitchen. I wish I could put a picture up to show you the outstanding attention to detail, but have since learned that (with my permission) they have included it on their website, which I am so proud to show to my friends, family, and co-workers. I love my new kitchen!

They followed up with me a few weeks later to ensure my full satisfaction and ask if I had any questions. The only question that I had for them was ... when I'm ready for my next project will you be willing to help? They answered with a very enthusiastic YES and said they'd be here for us whenever we needed them.

I have spoken with them a few times since then and they have continued to be pleasant, professional, timely, and courteous. They always treat me (and my family) with the utmost respect and always seem genuinely happy to hear from us.

We were very pleased with every aspect of our kitchen remodeling project. The finished product is beautiful. Communication is excellent. Everyone we spoke with answered all questions promptly. When they said they would be here at 8am, they were here at 8am! What an unexpected surprise. We can't recommend this company enough! I have passed their information along to many colleagues, friends, and family. They will be our #1 contractor to go to for any projects we have in the future and we're looking forward to our next project with them.

(The only downside I can see is that I don't have enough money to keep them here working for me everyday!). Thank you all for everything that you do and keep up the great work!

I removed all carpeting and baseboards (except two closet baseboards I forgot about). I swept and vacuumed the area and pulled out most staples.

The contractor found one area that needed repair for water damage and leak and worked to get that remedied. The kitchen floor was found to have luan beneath the linoleum and the contractor removed the center island (removing several screws holding it in and disconnecting the electrical (that took about 15 minutes tops for the island). I started to pull up the luan and had them help. I knew it was going to cost somewhat more to do this since one quote for them was $450 to remove carpet and baseboards and prep the floor. As that effort was actually more than what the luan was, I was shocked at finding out how much they wanted for this (will detail later).

I also pulled up the linoleum in the bathrooms and left the luan, asking the contractor if that was sufficient. He indicated it may only need minor sanding...again to be billed at an exorbinant rate later after they did the sanding without even talking to me first about it to see if I'd want to do it myself to avoid charges.

Overall, the laying of the floor was exceptionally slow. The contractor mentioned that the wood had a lot of flaws and that it must be factory seconds. I'm not so sure on this one but he wasn' t planning on charging any extra for weeding out bad pieces (at the end I had 1 full box of waste pieces out of 62 boxes). He said even with that he'd finish on time.

Eventually a subcontractor came in to do the linoleum replacement...and ended up sanding off the paper left on the luan in the bathrooms (2 small ones 6x8 and 5x6. The subcontractor also said I really didn't need to have removed the old linoleum since the type I got was able to be laid overtop without issue...contrary to the contractor's opinion even after seeing my materials. That sanding never had to be done...again it resulted in an exorbanent charge.

The subcontractor was also used and took 1/2 day to lay out one medium sized bedroom and another FULL day to lay out two smaller bedrooms. There were some pieces of furniture that needed to be moved from one side to the other of the rooms but it was not a big deal. Again...something nobody consulted me about to have ME move them...they moved them out and then decided to again charge an outrageous amount for this. The middle of day 3 (supposed to be the last day) I asked again if they'd finish on time. The answer was yes....but a whole extra day was needed....blaming me and all the additional work required to move furniture around and pull up the luan as the reason. The luan took no more than an hour or so, and in total the extra work maybe took 3 hours total while other workers kept doing what the real job was.

When all was said and done, a charge of $1400+ was added to the $2200 amount quoted saying that all this was way over and above what they bargained for. We settled at $800 more, which was reasonable and about what it SHOULD have cost based on the estimates for the labor they did NOT do that were comparable in scope. The quality of the actual flooring install was satisfactory, but the little details were left like putty the nail holes in the baseboards and some trim areas left without being resolved properly, especially around the stairs.

Getting a $1400+ upcharge w/o even letting me in on it as it went along was a shock. What was left as a mess to clean up was something they also wanted to bill for taking care of. It took me an entire weekend to really clean up the mess that was left, and I even helped remove some of it during the whole process (boxes, scraps, etc.). I'll fix the small things myself rather than call them back in to take care of it...just too much of a hassle. They also dented/chipped wood at the bottom of my stairs and I am finding dents in the walls all over the place. I need to repaint eventually, but wasn't planning on it this soon.

I have many other projects to do, but likely will not consult this one again, even though we finally settled on an amount. The big parts were ok, but all the little undone details were enough to really put me off.