W T Sowder Construction

The work crew W.T. Sowder has is very professional and great to work with. They showed up in the morning when they said they would. When they were done working for the day, they cleaned everything up in preparation for the next day. Scott Sowder was great to work with as well and it was great seeing him work alongside his crew. Scott was very responsive to my phone calls when he wasn't on site. They all answered my questions and explained things as the job progressed so I could understand what was going on and what the schedule was. They advised me when the weather was going to change the schedule (it did a couple of times). This is the second time we have used Sowder. Several years age we had them put in a stamped cement patio after we had an all season room added. BTW we got three estimates to review before we selected Sowder. Their estimate was in the middle of the other two estimates. I would highly recommend W.T. Sowder.

Great!  Very thorough!  Found problems that needed updated.

unknown

unknown

Came when they said, did what they said, left on time, for the money they said. Good crew, good work. I will hire them again

I have a preference for local companies that treat their employees well (employed, not contracted), and Sowder ticks that box. Mr Sowder, the principle, is pleasant and accessible. He spent time with us picking out the stamping pattern to be used on the walkway, and had plenty of references for recent work.
We were pretty flexible with the start date, and told him so. We contracted with him in mid summer, for a Sept date. There was a lot of rain around that time, and I understand this is a weather dependent business. However, he didn't call when he missed a couple start dates, which left us wondering where we should park, and such.
All the employees were pleasant and workmanlike. It was kind of fun to watch. They did cut both the yard light power and the internet cable. To be fair, they weren't marked, and I think their placement did not meet modern code, but I don't know. He did repair the yard light power, and tried to get TWC (Timewarner cable) to fix the cable, but I had to intervene. I do not know if it is standard practice to get your yard marked for cables before a driveway, but it doesn't seem a bad idea, at least for the way things turned out for us. Mr Sowder did not suggest this, even though the lead time was months.
My main complaint with Sowder is that when they placed a conduit under the driveway for the cable, they put a 10 foot pipe under a 12 foot driveway, and we couldn't thread a new cable. I spent time trying to thread the cable one Saturday, and the TWC guy tried too. Several calls to Sowder, and he eventually was able to bang a new, smaller conduit through the just installed line to make the connection. Sowder charges at the high end, and I don't think I should have had to deal with this. Also, putting in the correct length pipe in the first place would have been a good idea.
At the end of the day, the driveway looks great, the slope is fine, the stamping job on the walkway looks great (although it is not exactly as I pictured it before install). The price was fair, but on the high end of our estimates.
I would advise a detailed contract, utility check, and be sure to withhold enough money until the end to ensure that all the details are complete.

Good job of explaining how the work needed to be done. Close to estimated time. Good suggestion on design change and good quality work. Price not cheap,but seems fair.

unknown

THE MANAGER WAS VERY FLEXIBLE AND HELPFUL IN CHOOSING THE SIZE AND COLOR FOR THE STONE SLABS. HE WAS VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE IN THE WORK AND DID AN EXCELLENT JOB OF INSTALLING THE SLABS. THEY CLEANED UP EVERYTHING VERY WELL.