Cary Reconstruction Co LLC

Very responsive to come out ainitially and access damage and get fixed as all was paid for by insurance. They also agreed to installing a skylight where the tree came thru (there was not a skylight before). It was installed well and has never leaked. That's all the good news I have folks. HOWEVER we had 'total replacement to original status' insurance coverage and first go around all they were going to do was patch damaged areas of roof. matching tiles "as best they can". After much bickering back and forth, they finally replaced entire roof. 3 times. yes, three times as the first 2 times work was substandard- and eaked. They did not overlap roof tiles and did not flash properly. When insurance overseer finally agreed to redo entire roof to "original" with a 30 year guarantee, she was subsequently fired by the insurance company after the job was done. Inside the house, the subcontractor they hired to fix our wall and ceiling was horrendous. "Johnny" from Mississippi put up a wall that was not linear -nit bowed. He said our house was crooked and he could not fix that. There was a good 2 feet crawl space between inside wall and outside house. We insisted he redo it (multiple times.) till he got it straight, finally, He said "the wife" was being too fussy. Then he replaced smooth ceiling with a popcorn ceiling because he said he couldn't fix the drywall plaster lines...now we have the task of taking off the popcorn, replacing the drywall ceiling, and replastering correctly. . We grew weary of him and decided not to have him redo. As for coming "on time", well, we learned that "on time" is a relative term...seems to mean just showing up sometime in the morning. Bottom line: Don't let your insurance company bully you into using this company and certainly do NOT hire them on your own.

The work they did for us was fine. They showed up when they said they would and did what they say they would do. We turned down their contract.. They had a contract that basically said we was responsible for all problems and they were responsible for none. They did work for our neighbors and did a very bad job. They replaced our air conditioner with a smaller unit. They replaced some of our furniture with second rate furniture. They installed a complicated storm door.

CRC arrived fairly quickly. The project manager walked through and took pictures, and had me sign the paperwork. He gave a verbal estimate of $4,000 to $5,000. They removed the carpet and drywall that were soaked and placed them in front of the garage for removal. It started raining again, and the rubbish heap they created prevented the water from draining away from the house, and caused the garage and basement to flood a second time. They brought in a team to dry out our belongings. After several hours, they asked if they could take the remaining items to their drying room at their location because they wanted to leave for another job. I agreed, and they left. Later, I noticed that they had thrown out several of my personal belongings, and had broken a picture. I was annoyed and wished that they had asked whether the items should be thrown out, and wished that they had mentioned that they broke the picture frame, but whatever. A little over a week later, they dropped off the items that they had taken back to their drying room. Upon opening the boxes, it appears that they took 2 boxes of CDs and DVDs, and the third box contained a plastic trash can ($7 at Home Depot). Then things started going down hill. They submitted their bill to the insurance adjuster for $14,400. It included over a charge for over $1100 for drying the CDs and DVDs (and the plastic trash can) in their drying room. They also charged approximately $3300 for the second flood that they caused by blocking the storm drain with the rubbish heap. Fortunately, the claims adjuster would not accept those charges, so they were removed, leaving us with a bill for just over $10,000. We asked why the bill was double the verbal estimate, but they would not provide an answer. We reviewed the bill and questioned a number of the charges. For example, they charged us twice for spraying anti-microbial spray. They charged over $1000 to remove a 21'x21' carpet and pad. They charged us for approximately two hours of monitoring the dehumidifier per day. I assure you, no one came and spent more than 10 minutes. We attempted to discuss the charges with them, but they refused. Finally, they accused us of insurance fraud and threatened to call our insurance company. We offered to give them the number of the insurance adjuster we were working with at USAA, but they hung up. On a final note, the sole purpose of the project manager appears to be to schedule a time for their estimator to come and give an estimate for repairs. CRC's estimate was over two times the cost of any of the other estimates we got.

First, save yourself time, money and frustration by hiring someone else.
USAA, my insurance company, recommended CRC for my water mitigation.  They did the estimate for my reconstruction project that was approved by USAA.  I should have known when every other contractor I called for estimates had a few week to month wait, and CRC could start tomorrow.  Red flag #1.
Let's break down their services by job...
Water mitigation.  Like I said, this affected every room in my home but one.  Guess how many people they sent to move my furniture and remove drywall, etc?  Two.  One guy to get me to sign the paperwork, who left after 30 min or so, and another guy to actually do the work.  After about a week, we were still drying out my house.  I decided I needed to put my kitchen back into some sort of working order, and when I tried to hook up my dishwasher, I found out they cut the main drain line.  They also lost the cap to my garbage disposal.  What did they do to fix it?  They stuffed a rubber glove into the hole and covered it in tape.  When asked about it, the guy who came to change out the fans told me he'd never disconnected one before and thought that's what he needed to do.
Project manager.  I really think this was her first ever construction job.  She wouldn't call with updates, and if i wanted info, I had to call her.  She was hardly ever on my job, and when I would speak to the subcontractors, they had no idea who she was.  They said they were hired by another construction company.  That means my contractor subcontracted my job, who subcontracted that job.  No wonder there was no quality control on this project.  When I had a major meltdown after she texted me saying the job was complete (as I was standing in my house that wasn't anywhere near complete) she said she get someone out to meet with me.  That morning she texted me to see if she should attend the meeting too.  Um, yeah... you're supposed be in charge, remember?
When the job started, I was told it would take 6 days to complete.  After 2 months, I finally removed the lockbox from my front door and told them I no longer wanted them on this project.
As far as the subcontractors, less than stellar.  The drywall guy was the first one and showed up over four hours late.  The plaster guy didn't cover a thing and I'm still finding drywall dust in places that never had drywall repair.  The painters did a BEYOND horrible job and they ended up sending another company to fix their mistakes.  At one point, I had a punch list that was over 2 pages long... It seemed like every time they would fix one thing, they would break two more things... that's why I chose to end the project.
Billing.  About 3 weeks after I told them to end the job, I received a bill saying I owed the insurance $$ PLUS another $1100 for a job that wasn't complete.  I told them to send me a list of their expenses and receipts and I would be happy to talk it out and pay them if needed.  I was told they don't give out their internal paperwork, and they did everything on the insurance estimate, so that's what I needed to pay them.  After several attempts to settle this issue (so I could hire real contractors and get my house back in order), we finally settled the bill and they ended up owing me money.
Learn from my mistakes, and get multiple estimates and find out why other companies can't start right away.  FYI- When I started working with this company they were called "Carey Reconstruction Company".  Then paperwork started showing up as "CRC" and finally "Response Team 1".  No matter what their called, they need to  get heir act together.

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Very well

Our neighbor called them about a water leak in our basement/ living area, while we where away. They responded right away. That's the good thing they did. For that reason i gave them a C under responsiveness. They only had a two man crew, my neighbor and son in law did move many of they items out of the water and took the gym equipment apart..which I felt like was CRC's job. CRC set up the drying process. When I returned home the next day... it had tripped the breaker, I moved the outlets around till they would run without tripping off breakers. Several fans had not been running. I called them to tell them about the breakers and that several of my storage boxes where moved on the wet carpet. They showed up that night, they said they kinda "ran out of dry areas". Their plan was to dry one area, move the stuff, then dry another. I asked at that time about getting a pod to store item to get them off the wet carpet, they said that would delay the process. My insurance company gave them the ok to remove the carpet, it was starting to mildew, items setting on the wet carpet where leaving rust stains. I worked a day getting the items we had in cardboard boxes out into plastic boxes because they where soaking up water. Two days later they where still drying out the carpet...stoping by at night to move their equipment around. When I asked about why they where still drying it out, when the carpet was suppose to be out of the house, they said it had to be secluded. Then I asked about getting a pod to put my items in, they said that would slow the process of getting the carpet out, because they would have to wait two more days, for the pod to be delivered. They repeatedly told me, on several occasions that I talked to them ( because I called them, they didn't call me), that "they where very busy", had a lot of jobs. After two days of still drying out carpet that was supposed to be removed, we decided fire them, to tell them to get their equipment out, so I could get the carpet out with another company and stop the mildew from growing and smelling up my whole house. The lead man over the job ...I never meet till he came to my house to pick up his check. I told him that there was a lack of communication, he said we talked on the phone every day...well that's because I called him, with issues. He also said someone came by every night...yes someone did, to look at the equipment that was drying a carpet ... that was supposed to be removed!

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My small leak turned into a huge project. A job that could have been done in one day took almost 2 months. I would never in a million years use this company again.

CRC was on the short list of providers given to me by my insurance agent and adjuster and had good recommendations. They packed my belongings very quickly and began demolition at the house soon after. However, they did not bring a contract until over three weeks after beginning work.  
State Farm promptly sent me copies of the estimates as they were approved and then mailed me the checks to pay for the work. The permits were obtained but work slowed at my house once the remediation phase was complete. Weeks would go by with no progress. CRC took months to give me a copy of the inventory of my personal property which they had put in storage, and gave me no documentation on expected timelines for progress of the work.
CRC was reluctant to provide documentation for the costs of repairs, and unwilling to document change orders unless I insisted.  
I had three different project managers; not because of my request but because CRC employees kept leaving. My last project manager was a newly hired young man who had never been involved in the completion phase of a home before.
I finally learned that CRC had been sold to a company called Response Team One. During the transition they abandoned the project for weeks at a time and rarely managed to get workers to the site more than two days a week. They did not oversee the work of their subcontractors and repeatedly had trouble passing inspections. Many things were lost or damaged and work would often have to be done over because of the lack of oversight. They claimed they were about to get the Certificate of Occupancy soon for over two  months!
The original estimate for completion was six months, but it took over ten months to complete the work so we could move back home. I had to delay delivery of newly purchased furniture, mattresses, and appliances several times because of their repeated failures of inspections. 

This is my second wonderful experience with CRC. Each time, I've had Sean Baker as my project manager and James as my repair technician. They are both great to work with. James is punctual, friendly, and does top quality work. He was busy doing my drywall when I asked him how I could patch a weird hole in my exterior window trim (totally unrelated to what he was being paid to do). He showed me how and even left some extra supplies with me. That kind of above and beyond service is typical for CRC. Each time I've used CRC, it has been for a small job but I still get treated as if I am a high-paying client with a big job. Sean always follows up to make sure I am satisfied with the work. After all is said and done, they make payment seem like the farthest thing from their minds. Both times I've had to hunt them down just to pay them, haha. But it really does make you feel like they are your friends just trying to help you get back to your normal life. The prices are great too. On this particular job, the work was completed for $250 when I was quoted $550 elsewhere. Thanks to everyone at Cary Reconstruction, I really appreciate the great service.

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It took them almost 9 months to finish this job (It took my home builder only 3 months to build the entire house 60 years ago).

The insurance policy calls for full replacement. The quality of products they used is not equal or better to what was existing. They used particle board siding (grained textured masonite?) instead of real wood on the exterior.  Also the siding does not match the siding on the other gable end of the house (smooth solid wood picwick
design).  The white exterior paint appears very thin.  They closed-off the original gable attic venting (now no longer vented to outside).  They covered up the vent to the bathroom exhaust fan.  They replaced my storm windows (which had existing screens), with windows without screens.  Missing drip edge section.  Fascia board bottom not cut straight. 

They replaced the existing carpet (which didn't have a seam) with carpet that was pieced together with two different shades (from different rolls?).  On top of that, the carpet we selected was not the carpet we picked out.  The interior paneling they put up (wall papered particle board?) was not even close to the quality of the existing birch wood veneered plywood paneling.  Ceiling tiles were installed crooked.  Molding was used to camouflage off centered alignment of tiles.  Finish carpentry workmanship poor.  Straight line edges and surfaces are crooked and some cornered areas are not square.    

They did a poor job cleaning up debris on the ground and inside my home (I still have dirt/dust and debris behind the knee-walls).

During the whole reconstruction process, communication and scheduling were very poor.  We never knew exactly when they were going to show up to work.  We were inconvenienced terribly by staying home each day waiting for the work crew to show up (so we would not cause a work delay).

Mike H.

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Our home had gotten broken into & I called CRC after they were recommended by my insurance company. They responded quickly and sent someone immediately to board up my window. Since their response was so quick, I decided to use them to replace the window & fix my damaged door. It took over a month before they sent someone to replace the window. And, they were a different company that they had subbed the job out to. The project manager assigned to my case never returned calls or emails. And never sent anyone to fix the door. I ended up contacting someone else to fix my door. Now fast forward to December. I started getting calls on a daily basis because of an outstanding bill which I never received. So, my recommendation to you is if you have a break in and need a quick window patch, call them. For anything else, find someone else.

We were assigned this company by our insurance adjuster, and our experience has been a NIGHTMARE! We were given an estimate of 4 to 6 weeks, and the house was in worse shape when we fired them after 5 MONTHS. They recontaminated the house three times, requiring three separate cleanings - and it went downhill from there. CRC made one mistake after another. They covered up serious damage, leaving my home in shambles. Nearly a year later, a new, competent, restoration company is still cleaning up their mess. Stay away from this company! After dealing with several of CRC's managers, I found the group to be incompetent, shady people out to protect the insurance company, not the homeowner.

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The job went very well, from the mitigation of water damage to representing our interests to the insurance company to assure that the resulting flooring was attractive with no sign of the damage to the original flooring. Their supervisors and floor crews knew what they were doing and completed each step of the work professionally. The several crews showed up on time, were courteous and informative, took the time to inform us of any issues, what they would do about them, and to inform us of any maintenance that we would need to do to keep the new flooring in good shape.
We were impressed with the process and result. CRC exceeded any expectations we had and, from experience with other contractor groups we have worked with deserves the solid A rating that I gave them in this review.

I was out of town during the fix. They did a decent job. They got the job done for what the insurance covered. It took them 2-3 weeks to do the job. However, they didn't clean up afterwards. I've got a lot of rotted timbers and insulation in my crawlspace. They had over-extended themselves, and had to make excuses on when they could or could not arrive. I felt like they were too big for my job.There was no follow up after the job was done.

It went well.