Classic Home Renovators

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James was just incredible! He is meticulous and a true craftsman. I will always go to him first with any home repair or remodel.

James is, by far, one of the best contractors I have ever dealt with. He truly saved us from a great disaster and made our kitchen better than we could have ever expected. We will use James for any home renovation that we do from this point forward.

We live in a 1910 four-square home that had an old, 1970s kitchen that was in desperate need of renovation. The walls are plaster, the plumbing is old and the outlets were only partially working. We didn't have a dishwasher and our sink was rusted. We had hired a contractor to complete a kitchen renovation but it turned into a nightmare. We fired that person part way through the job. I was in an absolute panic -- we have three small kids, our kitchen had been out of commission for over a month (at least two weeks behind schedule already), and we had already sunk $8000 into the kitchen. Our neighbors recommended James -- he came over the very next day, with our kitchen completely torn apart, and assuaged any fears we had that our entire project would never be finished. Not only did James immediately send a crew out to being repairing all that was wrong, but he painstakingly documented the issues so we could attempt to recoup any funds from the first contractor.

James and his team took down all the cabinets, repaired many mistakes and rehung every cabinet to correct specifications. The trim work along the cabinets is amazing. James had to make a section of filler by hand because our original contractor measured the cabinets incorrectly. His crew tore up the entire floor that the first contractor put in backwards (it was click and lock laminate), replaced all the underlayment, laid all new flooring and did meticulous trim work. James worked with our granite fabricator to re-template the countertops, he was there to direct the installation of the countertops, and he inspected the entire job before the installers left.

We wanted to turn our attached mudroom into an eating space but our first contractor told us that it was impossible because of a load-bearing wall. James designed a wonderful eat-in space, placed large supports in the wall (one beam we decorated with our childrens' hand prints and names before they drywalled over it), and finished it so nicely it looks like it's been there the entire time.

James' craftsmanship is impeccable. For instance, he was able to custom make trim to match the existing 1910 trim when he renovated the mudroom. You would never know the entryway had not been there since the house was built. Inside the eat-in space, James again custom made the trim to be historically accurate. He designed a decorative cabinet out of our stock cabinets to hold my Jadeite. James hung the Tiffany lamp that belonged to my grandfather in the eating space and wired it to a wall switch -- something that had never been done with this particular lamp. It's absolutely gorgeous.

The men (and one woman!) that James employs were top-notch. They were all courteous, very tidy and sweet to my toddlers who were fascinated with what was happening. One of his men, Carlos, literally talked to my 3-year-old son all day as he sat in a chair watching Carlos drywall and paint. The back yard was never a mess despite the number of tools and materials going in and out constantly. His team arrived when they said they would, worked consistently all day, and left long after any other contractors I have used. Not a day went by when he didn't check on the day's progress. In fact, many times James himself was there until after dark doing work that he wanted to make sure was perfect.

James constantly checked in with us, gave us detailed invoices, and we never once worried that our money was being used inappropriately -- something that was common with our first contractor.

Like I said earlier, James is amazing and we will never use another contractor again. I can say that it was truly an honor to work with him.