J. Trent & Associates, LLC

When we discovered a water stain on the ceiling in our downstairs dining room, my wife and I immediately called J. Trent & Associates (hereafter, "Trent"). They responded promptly, discovered the problem, and discussed with us various options. Since some of the existing tile work would have to be removed and could not be matched and because the home is 35 years old and the shower looked dated, we elected to have the shower demolished and reconstructed. Trent began the demolition promptly and brought in outside plumbing and tile subcontractors who were excellent. The project was completed in reasonable time and for a reasonable price. The quality of the workmanship is superb and we are thrilled with the overall result. We have used Trent for many years and for many other projects including, among numerous others, remodeling our kitchen and constructing a closet in the finished room over our garage. Without exception, their work has been exemplary, completed in a timely manner, and priced reasonably. When we need repairs to our home, Trent is the only one we call. We have yet to be disappointed.

Trent and his team always do good work.

The deck is gorgeous - excellent workmanship from Trent's crew, headed up by Freddy. They were very courteous and pleasant, keeping the property cleaned up at all stages of the work, from demolition to putting everything back in place when finished sealing the deck. There was a delay in getting construction started because of paperwork with the Town of Cary, but once that was cleared up the construction proceeded as quickly as possible given considerable rain delays. I especially appreciated the way Trent collaborated with my landscaper, who had suggested the new design for the deck that makes it more accessible from the driveway and the backyard (which he was terracing), and improves access to the basement. I've gained a whole new aspect to my home with this wonderful extension of living space. Another home remodeler told me the price I paid was quite fair and that the new deck and landscaping definitely add to the value of my property. I get the impression Trent is very busy, but taking that into account I would certainly get in line to have him work on other projects on my home.

Over the previous several years before the roof job, J. Trent & Associates (JTA) had carried out several small and large projects for me, including painting my house, and the quality of the work and customer service on those jobs were excellent. That radically changed when they replaced my roof in summer 2012. A partial list of the problems with the roofing job is what follows. Some of those were found by an independent inspector I hired because of all the problems I was having with the JTA work. After JTA examined the roof problems the inspector found, they refunded the cost of the inspector to me because they agreed he had identified some legitimate problems. 1. The inspector found that broken shingles were left installed on the roof after the job was supposed to be complete. During a meeting where we talked about the problems, J. Trent concluded the shingles were probably broken by their crew while the crew was walking on the roof. 2. When they replaced the old flashing with new flashing, several areas on the siding which had been under the old flashing were exposed because the new flashing was smaller than what was removed. Those "old" areas hadn?t been painted in the past because the old flashing prevented any paint from reaching them. JTA left the newly exposed areas unpainted. It was only after I showed them the areas that they finally painted them. The unpainted areas were on the front of the house and were large enough to be easily seen from the street. 3. They removed the rain gutters (which had Gutter Helmets installed on them) to do the work, which is normal. However, the crew lost several of the mounting brackets for the Gutter Helmets, and when they re-installed the gutters, they didn't replace the missing brackets. The surface underneath where the missing brackets used to sit was relatively clean and easy to see, so the fact that the brackets were missing was obvious to me. And if they had counted the brackets it should have been obvious some were missing. It was only after I showed them where the brackets were missing they agreed to do something about that. When replacement brackets were finally installed, one of them was installed backwards. I pointed that out and showed the supervisor, but nothing was ever done and I finally gave up on trying to get them to fix their mistake. 4. On a sunny day, one of their crew did some ?touch-up? work while I was away from home. When I got home, he was finished and gone and, and I found more than 35 nails and sharp metal cuttings strewn in plain view all across my driveway. The day was still sunny, so the nails hadn?t been washed off the roof by rain as sometimes happens when a new roof is installed. After I told them about the nails, over a week passed before someone came to sweep the area with a magnet, and he found more nails. 5. It was only after I sent the independent inspector?s report that most ? but not all - these problems were addressed. 6. During the interview I had with the supervisor before I signed the work contract, I believe he told me he'd be on-site throughout the job to insure the wok was done correctly. I never saw him there until after the work was completed and after I began complaining about the problems the inspector found.

The J. Trent & Associates team did a fantastic job scraping, sanding, and repainting all the exterior wood surfaces of our 1950's home. Before the work, our house looked tired and worn out. We have thoroughly enjoyed the results of their hard work. It looks as good as new now! They did beautiful work, with great attention to detail. My husband and I were amazed especially at the sanding process. I don't know how many years and layers of paint were removed, but they got down to the original wood and smoothed it so nicely. It was then primed and got TWO coats of paint. That was a year ago, and it still looks gorgeous. I expect it will look great for many years to come, and if it ever needs painting again, we will be calling Mr. Trent. The men who did the work were so efficient. If they were at our house, they were working hard. They were courteous, neat, and tidy. They cleaned up after the job was done, and left no trace of mess at all. Besides painting, they did an excellent job fixing the crumbling mortar on our chimney, and replaced the crown. During painting, they discovered that the frame around one of our windows was rotting. I think a lesser company would have kept right on painting, and have never mentioned the rotting wood, so as to get the job done faster. But J. Trent & Associates don't do anything halfway. They immediately got to work removing all of the rotted wood, and replacing and painting the window frame. I even added a few odd jobs to their enormous task, like painting the front door and the iron scrollwork. It was done with just as much care as the rest of the job. The thing we like about J. Trent & Associates, besides the excellent work they do, is that they are dedicated to making our home the best it can be. We have asked Trent's advice for future projects, and he helps us by talking through different scenarios. He never pressures us, or makes us feel like he is selling us something. J. Trent & Associates are worth every penny. In fact, they are currently back at our house. They were the first ones we called when our basement flooded last week. It was 9:00 at night, and Trent came out that very night with blowers and de-humidifiers. They figured out what caused the flooding, fixed that, and are now removing all of the damaged flooring, drywall, etc. I have no doubt that the finished product, after all the repairs are made, will be better than new.

Over the past several years J. Trent & Associates has carried out several small and large projects for me, including painting my house, and the quality of the work and customer service on those jobs were excellent. That all changed when they replaced my roof in summer 2012. A partial list of the problems with the roofing job is what follows. Some of those were found by an independent inspector I hired because of all the problems I was having with the J. Trent work. After J. Trent examined the roof problems the inspector found, they refunded the cost of the inspector to me because they agreed he had identified some legitimate problems. 1. Broken shingles were left installed on the roof. During a meeting where we talked about the problems, J. Trent concluded the shingles were broken by their crew while the crew was walking on the roof. 2. When they replaced the old flashing with new flashing, several areas on the siding which had been under the old flashing were exposed because the new flashing was smaller. The newly exposed areas hadn?t been painted in the past (the old flashing prevented any paint from reaching them) and J. Trent had left them unpainted. It was only after I showed them the areas that they painted them. The unpainted areas were on the front of the house and were large enough to be easily seen from the street. 3. They removed the rain gutters (which had gutter helmets installed on them) to do the work, which is normal. However, the crew lost two mounting brackets for the gutter helmets, and when they re-installed the gutters, they re-stalled the helmets without any hardware to replace the missing brackets. The surface underneath where the missing brackets used to sit was relatively clean and easy to see, so the fact that the brackets were missing was obvious to me. It was only after I showed them where the brackets were missing they agreed to do something about that. When replacement brackets were finally installed, one of them was installed backwards and I finally gave up trying to get them to re-install it correctly. 4. On a sunny day, one of their crew did some ?touch-up? work while I was away from home. When I got home, he was finished and gone and, and I found more than 35 nails and sharp metal cuttings strewn in plain view all across my driveway. The day was sunny, so the nails hadn?t been washed off the roof by rain as sometimes happens when a new roof is installed. After I told them about the nails, several days passed before someone came to sweep the area with a magnet, and he found more nails. 5. It was only after I sent the independent inspector?s report that these problems were addressed.