KC's Improvement & Construction Co Inc

HOMEOWNERS BEWARE!  I hired KC Improvements for structural repairs under my home in May 2015.  Once the job was completed to their satisfaction, payment was requested immediately.  This was before a walk through had been completed or issues that I had with several spots on my floor were ever addressed.
I emailed the owner Keith about several concerns that I had with the job.  Foremost being that the estimate included $600 worth of fees for an electrician and an HVAC subcontractor.  Neither of which were necessary for the completion of my job.  When I questioned Keith and the foreman Larry about this, I was told that the plumber took longer than they planned.  When I questioned them about all the extra supplies that were not used, I was told by Larry that ?it all washes out in the end?.  When I questioned them about the downspout leader that my landscaper installed during a separate job and why this wasn?t removed from my estimate, there was no response.  
I received another invoice with an email stating that should I want an itemization of what they did, it would cost me $115.00 an hour with a 4 hour minimum fee.  If they had nothing to hide and could honestly stand by their work, why would they demand $460 to prove the integrity of their estimate? I have paid the full balance, but will never use KC Improvements for a job again.  I warn others to do the same.

unknown

My bathroom looks fantastic.  Kept a clean work area. Did everything listed in 2 days.  They are definitely coming back to do the other bathroom.  Would recommend them very highly.

They've been absolutely outstanding. It's not easy to get work done from 800 miles away, but they communicate with me regularly and keep me updated. They did an excellent job and I'm very pleased with them, and their prices are reasonable. I'd definitely recommend them.

We had a good experience using KC's Improvements and Construction (Richard Hodges, Project Estimator) last June (2013), so we decided to use them again -- this time for electrical work. The work was complicated by the fact that our place is a 25-yo manufactured home with improvements not up to code that were made by the previous owner(s).
The electrician sent by KC's Improvement was highly professional -- arriving when promised and working efficiently at all times. He worked with our schedule, making what could have been a difficult project easy.
A significant snow closed the roads in the middle of the project, but Richard and the electrician were on the ball, communicating effectively to let us know what delays to expect and to schedule the remaining work.

We have used KC's Improvements twice now -- for carpentry and electrical work. On both occasions I have been impressed with the professionalism and skills of their workers. I'd hire them again without a second thought.

Our insurance company required that we install the handrails -- not the easiest of tasks from our home in Connecticut. We also wanted gutters gutters installed to help correct a drainage issue. Since we were new to the area, we asked our real estate agent; she recommended KC's Improvement -- so we gave them a call.

Their estimator (Richard Hodges) returned our call promptly. I explained what we needed, and he arranged to inspect the property. He contacted us a few days later with a plan, a budget, and a tentative start date.
The job required two crews -- one for the railings and another for the gutter work. Both were completely professional, arriving promptly and working steadily. Our contact person at the worksite had scheduling issues, and KC's crews worked with us to schedule the work around our needs.
The material for the railings was dropped off the day before the work began. When the work was completed, KC's crew returned to clean up the scraps and remove them. Richard came back when the job was done to inspect the work. Our contact person signed off on the work, and we mailed our check.
The critical factor in this job is that we were new to the area and had no experience with local contractors. We needed the work done quickly, and we were 800 miles away. Our contacts with KC's Improvement (Richard Hodges, estimator) were limited to the phone and e-mail. They made a potentially stressful experience easy.
Would we hire them again? Absolutely.

I called to schedule an estimate and was told someone would call me back. 2 days later I called again and got someone to come out. From the beginning he was negative and his attitude was terrible. My job was a remodel with half that being paint and trim work. He actually made me feel like I should have thought twice about being under contract though he had no idea what I paid or how much the house was worth. He sweated even the smallest repairs and acted as if he would have to rebuild the Taj Mahal. After enduring all this, I have yet to hear back from him after he promised an estimate a couple days later.

My neighbor's tree fell on the back corner of my house (65 years old, plaster walls and ceilings, hardwood floors, aluminum siding) during a storm April 5, 2011. The back room was instantly reduced to 1/2 size, open to rain, critters, etc., and the electric meter pulled off the house, causing the city to condemn the house. I interviewed several contractors and decided to go w/ KC, based on a neighbor's recommendation. The estimate for repair was 5-10 days, $21, 621, to be completed within a month of the contract being signed. It was 23 days before any work was started (1 person, 1 1/2 days), then no one came for a week.   This was the pattern over the next 2+ months:  being told workers would come at a certain time or day, then no one showing up for days. After 3 months and $22,380, I dismissed KC's, even though many smaller items had not been done / finished.        My homeowners insurance approved payment to restore the house to the original condition (plaster walls, aluminum siding, etc.) but upgraded to current codes - the work and price was mutually agreed upon between the insurance adjustor and KC's project leader. Later, when KC's argued repeatedly that they could not get aluminum siding, wood windows, plaster people, etc. I finally agreed to drywall and vinyl siding. The newly hired crew leader argued for removal of the remaining damaged plaster partial wall instead of floating the 3 inch difference, and insisted on bracing the ceiling joists according to code. (I cheered; he was fired the next week.) The house remained condemned, without power, for 45 days before the electricity was restored.        I asked to have a wood, 12 pane window and storm window to match the undamaged window, (as contract stated) or 2 matching vinyl windows if they could not find wood. (I had found the wood window, $135, that could be ordered at a local contractor's supply house) They finally installed a second vinyl window - but no screens/storm windows. Weeks later they brought a screen for each window, but they were too small;  they nailed them in place to keep from failing out. The windows will not open without using a crowbar from the outside, so they are unusable and unacceptable. I now have to have custom wood windows made (as they enlarged the original openings) to replace these, at much greater cost to me.        Random workers would come for a few hours, 5-10 days apart.  In July I had to leave town for a week on an emergency trip and asked that no work be done while I was gone - but of course that was when the interior of the room was drywalled and painted and the floor refinished. The doors were not painted on both sides, or rehung. The ceiling was painted with 2 different colors of paint. Debris was left in the yard that I finally had hauled off in September.  No one ever came to do the final "punch list" check - but by August 5th, 4 months after the damage occurred, I said "Enough!" and I am completing the work myself.       Payment became a problem. Although the work was completely paid by the insurance company during the early stage of the work, the check went to the mortgage holder jointly with me. The mortgage holder would not release funds until identifiable work was completed - which did not occur as scheduled. I ended up having to take a loan to pay KC in installments.
         The experience dealing w/ KC's was more devastating to me than the tree falling on my house and the losses I suffered as a result of the damage. Maybe this is par for contractors, or my repairs were too small for them to be bothered with. In prior years they may have had a reliable permanent staff of people to do good work that earned them the good reputation my neighbor had shared with me. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case, and I definitely would not recommend them.
(I started writing this review last July, but delayed finalizing it until the job was completed. By then I was so angry  I did not go back to it. Over time that review was deleted, so this is a later, calmer version; but my thoughts and feelings are the same.)