Fresh Maintenance

Joe was prompt; even able to make a visit the day we called him to check out our home. He is an honest and trustworthy businessman, something that is rare these days. Highly recommended.

We contacted Joe because of a mold problem in our garage and basement. Joe immediately scheduled an appointment with us and inspected the scene. He explained everything very well and was able to perform the remediation quickly. We were very happy with the service and would definitely recommend Joe.

Joe arrived on time and checked out the room. He said that the best thing for us to do was to completely clean the room and the carpet and to clear out closets and bookshelves and clean or get rid of the books and clothing. Total cleaning was suggested. I asked him whether a test of the air for mold would be helpful, and he said that even if he did find mold in the air he would still recommend exactly the same thing. The air testing would have cost $200, but he said he didn't think it is necessary. His visit lasted about 30 minutes, and when I asked how much to pay him for his visit, he said that there would be no cost. We found him to be very professional, and he gave alot of thought to our situation. My partner said Joe is a very unusual person in business these days, and I agree.

Joe was helpful in providing tips on what we should do to better circulate the air in our basement and garage. He identified this as the root of the problem.

This guy is a gem, definitely call him. Our basement occasionally gets wet and has suffered flooding over the last 90 years. My husband and I were concerned that the trace mold could be causing my son's sinus infections. We had a different waterproofing company come in for an opinion and this other company saw that we felt vulnerable and went in for the hard sell with a full basement waterproofing. Joe was such a breath of fresh air! He was very honest and helpful in ways that were not self-promoting. He gave me a list of ideas on how to improve the health of my basement without as much pushing a single service. If you want a really good guy to come in and work with you to solve your problem, this is your guy.

After reading about Joe on Angie's List decided to have him check out my elderly mom's condo, after she became ill and had to be hospitalized for lung issues, I though it would be a good idea to check her home for mold and other allergens. He arrived on time, sensing equipment in hand. He tested the air in basement, which was the main source of concern, as water had flooded the finished basement. And as there had once been a dehumidifier running 24/7 pumping, which at some point was no longer functioning, there was quite a bit of condensation, musty odor and obvious mold on pictures and the walls. Yes, there was mold, and no it wasn't that really bad black/green toxic mold that would have required pulling down drywall. Joe was honest and told me, that it was an easy fix, that I could do myself. Which I did. It just required a good mold cleaner and an installation of a new dehumidifier with a built in pump that would run around the clock and empty out through the basement air handler overflow. He then went around the entire rest of the condo, and checked for any other obvious signs, everything looked okay. He took a "control" comparison sensor test of the outside air, and sent both samples off to the lab. In a couple of days, he received the test results, which he promptly emailed the entire report to me, for examination. He answered all my questions, and the lab confirmed what he had already observed and diagnosed on his visit. The 200.00 included his time traveling from Rockland County, NY to Fairfield County, CT and the lab testing. Which in this day and age, in my opinion fair and reasonable price. Considering he didn't attempt to sell me unneeded work, he knows his stuff, and he's also a very personable guy.

Joe and his crew arrived at the time they said they would. They were very organized and explained what was going to happen. They worked efficiently and wasted no time getting started. They made it a painless process for us. They were very professional and cleaned up completely when they were done. I would recommend this company to anyone that is in need of this type of work.

My experience overall was very positive.

I got water in my basement during Sandy and didn't think much of it because it didn't reach the finished part of my basement. I cleaned up the mess that the sump pump didn't take care of and pretty much forgot about it until early in March when I noticed the bottom of the walls in the back of my basement were black and streaked. I have never seen mold so I wasn't sure but after showing my father-in-law, who is an engineer, the walls he told me it was mold and that it had to be taken care of because we could get sick. It was pretty disgusting and it was everywhere, behind the washing machine, in the crawl space, on the studs. It was awful. I called around to a few places and got a few estimates and they were all pretty much in the same price range. Fresh, however, was the only one that offered same week service. I didn't have to wait while he serviced other clients. I was made to feel important and that my home was his priority. He took care of the problem in three days. I couldn't have asked for more. The workers had to come through the carpeted area of my basement and didn't leave a mess despite hauling out moldy, rotted sheet rock. They put up a moisture barrier, did some work outside to seal where he believed the water was coming in and even power-washed the whole back of the house as a precaution. They worked very hard, nearly 10 hours a day. I have a huge basement and it took some time. I'm thrilled with what they did. The mold is gone, the smell is gone and I don't have to worry about my kids getting sick.

The mold was eradicated within a few hours and the price was right. We'd actually contacted other companies, just to shop around for prices, and once again, Fresh Maintenance was the most reasonable and realistic. Thanks to Joe and his team, once again! Great job. Smooth and professional.

Joe, the owner, was a pleasure to work with. We were relocated for work and in order for the company to purchase our home, we were required to correct a mold problem in the basement (discovered by an air quality test). We had a number of people bid on the job; Joe was the only one who gave an honest assessment of the work required. The two other guys were clearly working off some kind of script, dropping lines like "Oh, this is bad" and "This is going to be very difficult to fix". Enter Joe who pretty much contradicted everything that the other guys said and quoted a price for the job that was thousands less. He was in and out quickly, made an effort to salvage as much of the existing basement as possible and, most importantly, the follow up air quality test passed with flying colors.

I called Joseph in the morning and concluded or business by early afternoon. Although I have work to do, I understand what's ahead of me due to his professionalism and his detailed explanation.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, I needed a reliable provider to determine the extent of the mold damage to the co-ops my firm manages, and then deal with cleaning it up. Joe and the Fresh team are extremely reliable in every way. Firm management came quickly to each scene and worked with us to solve the problems at hand, even ones that would put no revenue into their pockets; I found them to be empathetic and supportive. Their work was efficient and complete, and they came when they said they would. I understand that they, along with many firms, were stretched thin after Sandy, trying to cope with overwhelming demand. Fresh Maintenance still came through, kept to their schedule and completely satisfied our client buildings . We were so impressed, we're now working on new projects with Fresh. I would recommend them without hesitation to anyone needing a great resource in a very demanding field.

I would highly recommended Joe to anyone who needs this type to work done. From the thorough inspection, to the fair estimate, and the completion of the work, everything was handled in a professional and timely manner.

He did not detect any mold issues. Therefore, we did not need to move forward with additional services. Would definitely call him again if there were any concerns related to mold. Nice guy, easy to work with.

Failed to perform the mold remediation job, as per industry standards, as well as failed to follow the company's own description of their working practices. For example, Joseph Margherita (J.M.) described that the removal of the wall-to-wall carpet will be performed in the isolation of the contaminated room and the carpet will be bagged in small pieces and carefully removed in bags to outside while preventing contamination of the clean areas - instead, he took the carped out in large rolls through a clean room, and the carpet was never bagged. Gross neglect in following certified environmental hygienist protocol (that was provided by the insurance company), even after several instructional visits by the insurance company. After declaring having completed the mold remediation job, J.M. left visible thick layers of mold/dust behind on moldy furniture, and failed to dispose visibly moldy luggage items. Left behind visible dirt in previously clean areas. J.M. falsely claimed to have cleaned specific areas (proved to having been a lie by follow up testing by the insurance company hygienist). The remediation had to be completed by hiring another company after J.M. declared to have completed, which caused unreasonable delay and significant additional cost. Additionally, the company has unethical collection practices and a failure to provide an invoice or written estimate for service upon request. The originally agreed price for completing the job for one room was $1900. After a few days, the scope of the job expanded to other rooms and the homeowner requested the company to provide an additional quote for the expanded remediation before continuing. J.M. refused to provide another quote and informed that he is in discussions with the homeowner's insurance company and will provide itemized billing directly to the insurance, since he is following their protocol. After completing the job, an invoice of $13000 was forwarded to the homeowner out of the blue for a job that was not completed satisfactorily even in one room. This company is highly unethical in all its practices. The picture on your website of the protective clothing and masks that they would wear for personal protection is ridiculous. They did not wear them even after the certified hygienist instructed them to do so. They did not understand how to protect themselves... and did not care if the mold spreads around in the home, therefore not protecting the client either.

I found Joseph to be knowledgeable, honest, and personable. He came to give me an estimate and said he was "not impressed" by the looks of the problem area (my lower level- mainly the laundry room, adjoining bathroom and garage) since it did not appear to have any major mold issue. I then gave him a copy of my mold report and he was alarmed but puzzled as to where the one bad mold could have been since the area did not appear to have alot of mold. He explained to me the mold that he was concerned about (i did do some research and was also concerned about it) and took a second look to find the source. He took his time, and then went over his suspicions with me and gave me a very fair estimate for the work. I hired them out of 3 estimates and he came with another guy to do the work on the set date. He left air scrubbers on for 2 days and then came to collect it and retested the air with 2 more samples- one being directly inside the suspected room. The results came back- I did have to call him for it after anxiously waiting a couple days past when he said they would be available, but i got good results. I was not pleased with the mess they had left on my floor- nothing huge but i think they should have wiped the floor clean of any marks that were not there before, but that is my only complaint. I would recommend Joseph to others. He is honest, fair, and personable.

They gave an estimate for about $6000 and I gave them half in advance. And like for instance, garbage and dumping was not in the estimation. When you want an estimate, you want a complete estimation. He is a very nice guy and he did all the work, but it felt moldy. I'm highly allergic to mold. So when went down there it just felt like my throat was hurting. That was why I did all the tests by the previous company, because they also felt that something didn't feel completely clean downstairs. For instance we had the old refrigerator removed, and some wooden materials. There was a man that did that and I liked him. So I received the invoice for $8000 for cleaning up this and that. There were so many extra charges. And I disputed with him. And then he send me a mail with these charges. I am willing to pay what he has estimated, but now there were all these charges for the dumping. He insisted it was al done and everything was perfect. I couldn't get an answer for a while. He kept saying that he was suppose to fix the leak, and that is why it caused the mold. But the leak was not in that area at all in the basement. He gets offended very quickly. It was not easy to have that straight forward conversation.

There was water damage to the neighbor below me caused by a leak from the ice maker in my fridge. After seeing some initial mold, my neighbor decided to contact a 'mold expert' which he found from the Yellow Pages. This expert made the situation seem really extreme and basically frightened my neighbor to death. We had previously agreed that my contractor would handle the repairs to his unit but after receiving this opinion, he was concerned that my contractor wouldn't have the expertise to handle such a job. We agreed that we would have my contractor go forward with the work but before closing any walls, I would pay to have a mold expert (someone else) come in to assess that all was good and clear. Before the work was due to begin, my neighbor then decides that maybe we should bring someone in before the work starts so that he can provide some 'advice' to my contractor. I give him Fresh Maintenance's contact information and he contacts Joe. Joe soon after contacts me to fully understand the situation/problem as my neighbor isn't able to articulate it clearly. Joe agrees to go to look at the unit before the work begins (that day, no less!). Unfortunately by the time Joe arrives, the contractor and neighbor have already removed the wet sheetrock and Joe has nothing to assess. I found Joe to be extremely helpful and attentive in what was a very stressful situation for me and he didn't even charge me for the evaluation (or what should have been the evaluation). It's very rare (in my experience, very very rare) to have such a great service experience where I was kept in the loop all along the way. I would highly recommend Joe and Fresh Maintenance - he is honest and frank.

He came and gave me a good offer, but I did not want to spend thousands of dollars. I told him I would go with him. I thought he was coming to do the work himself, but he only sent his workers. He told them a different thing than what he told them. I thought they were going to come in and remove the things ruined by the black mold, but I ended up having to move all of my junk, but they hired a truck to remove my junk. I spent more than they had estimated. I also had to move everything good out of the basement. They ripped everything out and did an OK job, though. The mold has not returned.

It was a very easy process with Joe. Within a couple of days he was treating my house and it was with no inconvenience what so ever. He really put my mind at ease

He told me I don't have a mold problem which was wonderful news for me. He noticed an old dehumidifier sitting on a shelf. He found a hose for it and it is now working. He suggested I invest in a new dehumidifier. I appreciate that there was no charge for his time. He was very personable and professional. If I did need this kind of service in the future, I wouldn't hesitate to call him. He was really nice and trustworthy. Thank you Angie's list!

It went very well. Joe explained exactly the process. They worked quickly and efficiently to Remove all the Moldy materials to a dumpster they provided, then they cleaned everything and used the special mold killing stuff. They ran 2 Giant Airscrubbers for a couple of days.THey also provided a clean mold test report to our mortgage company. The best thing of all was the price was 1/3 of the competitions.

Called Fresh Maintenance based on reviews for Mold Inspectors in my area. Joe promptly returned my phone call and scheduled an appointment for later the same evening, which I thought was extremely responsive. We wanted to have our home checked for mold for a pending sale and Joe provided us with several alternatives and fee quotes. I found him to be very practical, knowledgable and honest. We are currently evaluating our options but will definitely enlist Joe's help for any work that is decided on

Joe showed up on time. We started by looking up in the attic rafters for signs of mold. He then looked in the closets and behind the closet doors. Looked in all cabinets and corners. I do not have a basement . After a detailed conversation about mold and what he was looking for, Joe found little cause for concern.