SHANNON BUILDERS

Initially, slow to respond to calls. Got project started later than desired. All work performed was good, not great, but good. There were a few mistakes that I had to fix which cost me a few hours. We had to fire him partway through the project b/c he was going way over the stated budget (a cost+20% job). From a business standpoint, he was pretty aloof, he didn't keep records of anything. He admitted as much b/c, when it came time for final payment, he was almost belligerent when I asked him for a detailed hours breakdown for the time that -he- actually spent working on-site (not materials or subs, those were straightforward). He stated that it took him hours to go back and figure out what he spent on each item. His personal labor charged was $10,200 with another $1,500 in mgmt fees. I didn't dispute the mgmt fees at all even though the project dragged on for 10 weeks. The line item breakdown was eventually provided and there were a few items that he could not explain why there were so many hours attributed to them. SOME of them are as follows: =>9 hours to reinstall 30 sq ft of flooring. Tried to say that it took so long b/c he had to inspect the flooring that was taken out to find good pieces.... =>20 hours to re-drywalll, only used 12 sheets. No explanation except that care was taken to not make a mess. There was no mudding or taping involved, just hanging it. =>3 hours to disassemble and remove a laminate shelf unit. It had 8 screws.... (I reassembled in 20 minutes) No explanation except that care was taken to not make a mess. =>5 hours to cut the rim off of a tub and drop it into the hole in the tub deck.... You can decide for yourself if these hours are justified, I didn't think that they were. From a workmanship standpoint, most things were OK, but there were some things that cost me a lot of time to deal with: =>Large window was not installed square to the opening resulting in uneven trim work. =>Cutout for tub was not square to the flooring or wall. This resulted in the stone slab having to be installed crooked and this led to substantial work to mitigate the visual effects by building a tub front that hid most of the problems. =>Broke a light fixture that I have been unable to match so far. =>Cut into a wire when drilling holes and did not repair it, required an hour replace the wire. =>Did not run some wiring before walls were closed up, required 45 minutes to resolve. =>Cut hole through the shower tile in the wrong spot, required 45 minutes to resolve. Lastly, the least professional thing I encountered was when he showed up at my house on Friday morning at 8:30 AM (uninvited!) with 15 minutes notice and demanded payment for an invoice that was only a week old and was being disputed. I think that will probably be the one and only job that hire him for. Like I said, his work was good, but was overshadowed by the other events of the project.

They have done a lot of work for me. He is excellent at carpentry work and at being a general contractor. My daughter and my neighbor have also used them. He is always the first or second contact when something breaks down in my house. He is completely trustworthy and has fair prices. He gives me an estimate on the jobs. The stone was supposed to be delivered on Thursday which was the same day the excavator came. The stone company called and said they didn't have me down until Monday. Jim Shannon rented a truck and made about 4 or 5 35-mile round trips to get me all the stone and gravel. He went above and beyond. Otherwise I would have had to pay for the excavator to show up twice. He has always had good prices. He is very prompt. His prices are fair and he always gives me a breakdown on the materials. When the building inspectors came through on the addition they said that it was superior construction and they were impressed.

The job started as promised (weather permitting) and completed in 6 months as promised. We had to move our "bedroom" to the family room for the construction and the work done did not interfere with the parts of the home not being worked on. Construction mess was kept to a minimum and cleaned up each day. Any subcontractors used (plumbing, electrical) were closely supervised, we were kept informed daily of progress and what to expect in the upcoming days. The whole project turned out beautifully, from the glamour bath (with heated floor and clawfoot tub, the wife loves) to the oversized bedroom with tray ceiling and track lighting. From the exterior, it does NOT look like an addition, it looks like original construction. I'm not sure how to describe the wonderful detail, so I am including pictures.