Deer Haven Construction, Inc

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The workers had to return twice because doors didn't fit properly.

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Victor and his crew are wonderful.  This was a big project and lasted about four months.  They all tried to make the experience as pleasant as possible.  If there was ever anything that was not to our liking, they changed it.  Victor wants to make sure his customers are happy, and I am.  This was the second time I used Deer Haven, and I would use them again (except my husband might leave if I do any more work in the house).  We recommend them highly.

Design and plan approval happened within one week.  Porch was added on quickly, bump outs and roof added on later. Gutters right after that. It all went well and was accomplished in approx. two months.  Victor was accomodating and helpful with all the estimated costs we asked for.  The workers were friendly and I found no alcohol or drug behavior;  they were in and out of my house with no problems.

I recently contracted with Deer Haven to do a variety of jobs on a house I am renovating.  This included demolition, floor repair, wall repair, installing cabinets, and a host of small miscellaneous items recommended by the home inspector retained during the loan process.
I am very satisfied with Deer Haven, Victor and his crew.  They were on time, courteous, worked hard and accomplished all their work, as expected, and at a reasonable cost.  The precision when installing the cabinets was exacting and facilitated a perfect installation of the countertops (by others) and appliances.
I would highly recommend Victor Wright and Deer Haven Construction.

This was a big job with many aspects. There were too many things that were wrong with their work to list here. Some was acceptable but there was a lot that was not. A customer shouldn't have to hound a contractor to do something right. Many aspects were done sloppily. The "finished" product didn't look good or many things they said they fixed didn't work well. One day, they broke my gate lock, rather than calling me to let them in, and then did a shoddy job reinstalling it. The drywall in the kitchen and closet was sloppy. The toilet wasn't straight and I actually had to mention it to the contractor who said he had noticed that and then fixed it.  A customer shouldn't have to even point out something that is so obviously wrong. My guess is that he was hoping I wouldn't notice. One of the major parts of this job was getting all the doors so that they shut properly without having to be slammed shut. I had to ask the contractor twice on one of the doors. Finally on the third time, he fixed it. In the end, 2 of the doors didn't close right and the cabinet doors in the bedroom didn't close right.  When I ran the water in the sink for which they were supposed to run new lines, it leaked profusely. It made me feel bad to have to repeatedly point out work that wasn't done right. Finally, the contractor quit in the middle of the job. We settled on the work they did and it was no bargain. That was in July. Bit by bit I got the job finished that I had hired them to do and in February tenants moved in. They told me that the garage door wouldn't shut and were forced to leave it unlocked. I called up Deerhaven to fix it because they were supposed to, they came out to fix it but the tenant told me later that they had to finish the work because the knob came off. Final straw. I'm going to Angies List about this company. Lousy experience, unprofessional, sloppy. Do not recommend.

Work was fine, accomplished on time.

This was an important part of our kitchen refresh.  Our home is in an older neighbor hood and we've tried to remain true to a classic style and not spend a fortune as well.  Victor's suggestions on tile configuration were right on and I love the border.  He was able to remove and replace the old sink with no trouble, which incidentally looks so much better now.  The counter is one of the new multi-surface laminates with no seam as we requested.  Kitchen work was done with as little dust and mess as could be possible.  We are very happy and have several more jobs for him in the future.

The plans were approved by the city the same day my financing came through, and I was assured that we would be done by Thanksgiving.  I discovered that a project like this is as much work for the customer as it is for the builder - cabinets and bookshelves need to be emptied so furniture can be moved to make way for the workers, and the actual work - wall removal, carpet removal, etc.  And because I have a dog and two cats, I sometimes had to be home for certain stages of the work.  Victor was good about advising me of the upcoming schedule, so that I could plan my days, and the pre-work needed on my part.  Sometimes he had to work around my schedule, and he was very gracious about that.  Bottom line - the project was completed 2 days before Thanksgiving, and the crews even helped move my furniture back into place.  
A couple of times, things specified in the plans didn't work as well as expected.  Victor was great at seeing this as it came up, and making adjustments that worked better than the original idea. The sub-contractors also sometimes saw things that they thought might be better if done a little differently, and discussed their suggestions with me, so I could decide what I wanted (things like placement of lights, outlets, etc)   The workers cleaned up after themselves, both inside and out, and everybody was polite and considerate, not only of me but of my pets. 
I love my new space, and all of my visitors do, too.  My family decided that I should host Christmas as well as Thanksgiving.  The new space is light and airy, and the floor is lovely.  I almost hate to put area rugs on it, but will, to protect it from furniture scuffs, and to make my blind dog more secure.

Victor was a pleasure to work with.  He helped make our addition process easier.  He answered questions and gave his advice in a very helpful manner.   We wanted to perform some of the work ourselves and  he was willing to work with us on those areas.  He bid certain phases and we negotiated what we wanted him to do.  He communicated with us on the progress and projected timelines very effectively and if was a pleasure to deal with him.  We would recommend him to others.

The job proved bigger than anticipated, and they  covered up the moldy hole with billowing plastic which allowed  mold spores and odor to fill bedroom.At my request they reluctantly put a temporary  sheet rock cover over it held with duct tape that kept peling off,  until a planned roofing  job could be done.They also had been asked to repair an outside windowsill that had some rot,this involved breaking through the interior wall.the employee  who did the plastering job inside had no idea of how to do it, and left rough patches and bumps and mess all over floor.The "boss" had to redo it. They also were contracted to fill in a fireplace wall as the chimney was no longer  functional. they did an o.k.  job on that, but had to be called back several times to  finish the job.The job took weeks, and was basically unsatisfactory. When I called them several   months later to put in a handrail for safety after a fall that broke my shoulder they did not return my calls. I only called them because I was in crisis and din't have the energy to research another company.I don;t know why I did call them again,although Victor, the owner, was very amiable, his worker, Dave, didn't have a clue. Altogether the work was shoddy, filled with aggravation and  many calls to complete it.to get it competed, and not of good quality  when done.

After getting 3 bids for this job, I chose Victor (the most expensive bid) based on his high Angie'sLIst ratings. He was polite and seemed to know what he was talking about, and had some good design ideas. The contract we signed stated that I would allow the crew to use the restroom in my home instead of paying for a Port-a-Potty to sit in my driveway. The first two days, two crew members showed up, worked hard, and were courteous about using the restroom. On the third day, two more crew members showed up. Someone (I didn't see who) entered early in the morning to use the restroom. No problem, except that when I went to brush my teeth, a syringe fell on top of me from the top of the medicine cabinet. The syringe had an old faded label reading "insulin" on it, but was filled with a black liquid. Thankfully, the tip was capped, but this was obviously heroin, and had clearly been hidden on top of the medicine cabinet by one of the crew members. I called Victor immediately, and he was distressed and angered, but didn't know what to do. I thought he understood my outrage at having one of his crew members violate my home in this way. I stated that while I was extremely upset, I did not want to send the whole crew home because at this point the front of my house looked like a mine had gone off, and I knew it could be weeks before getting someone else to come finish. So Victor suggested leaving the needle in place, and checking after the crew members used the restroom in order to figure out whose it was. I took this suggestion, but at the end of the day the syringe was still in place. I spent the night terrified that whichever of Victor's employees had left the needle might try to get it back overnight. The next morning, I called the non-emergency police line, and in the hour or so it took for the police to show up, one of the crew removed the syringe. I should note that I called Victor immediately after the police, and rather than come confront his crew while the police were here, he stayed on the other side of town. The police came, searched the crew members, and came up empty. The guy in question had dumped the syringe before the police arrived. Since he didn't have anything on him, the police were unable to arrest him, and in Victor's absence, I had to fire this person on my own. I would also like to add that at this time I was pregnant and had my sixteen-year-old sister staying with me. Both of us were put at risk for exposure to any number of blood-borne diseases that may have been on the used needle Victor's employee left in my bathroom. After the crew member left, Victor showed up and assured me he would pay for a portable toilet and drug tests for the employees. By then, of course, drug tests were rather a moot point, as I don't care what people do in their spare time, as long as they keep their used syringes out of my house. And really, the portable toilet was the least Victor should have done. The crew finished the job, and it looks nice. When Victor asked for the final payment, I requested that he make some type of good-faith concession to me given what I went through as a result of his employment practices. Victor stated that he thought the portable toilet and drug tests (for the remaining employees) were enough. I disagreed, and asked that he still consider the hassle and trauma I went through. Several weeks later, after his crew finished staining the fence, I received a bill for $250 for the staining. When I called to request that this be waived in light of what I now call "the Heroin Incident", Victor said he couldn't do that, that the extra stones they laid free of charge when building the retaining wall (before the Heroin Incident,) should make up for my trouble. However, he had already told me the extra stones would be laid for free, since I was not consulted when he decided to extend the wall a few feet. Overall, between trying to sleep while terrified some junky might try to break back into my bathroom, and having the police interrogate Victor's employees on my front lawn, this was a horrible experience. I deeply wish I had gone with a less expensive contractor whose employees would likely not have left any hard drugs in my house. And beyond that, I cannot for the life of me understand why Victor thinks I should still be paying full price for the job. The fence and retaining wall look great, but I am seriously afraid of allowing other contractors/crews into my home after my experience with Victor and Deer Haven. 
Update: There has been no interruption in my phone service; the contractor simply did not contact me. Also, I paid the bill in full after submitting my report. I offered this contractor multiple opportunities to "make it right" with me after the incident: twice I mentioned that I felt a concession on his part would have been fair, given what we went through. He disagreed, so I feel an honest review for my fellow consumers is the fair thing for me to do. I also very much resent the implication that I, my husband, or kid sister used and left heroin in my bathroom based on this one employee seeming like such a "great help". Yes, the finished project looks good. But business practices matter, and unfortunately in this situation the contractor fell short by a long shot, despite multiple attempts on my part to be fair, continue working with the company, and allow the contractor the chance to resolve this.

They exceeded my expectations for the job.  I thought that they had excellent leadership and worked very hard to get the work done in a timely manner.  There was some delay due to weather but did a great job in getting everything done.

He's a nice guy, he goes above and beyond. I didn't like the way the walls looked so he redid them. He didn't act like I was a nuicance, he didn't even flinch when I asked him to.

Excellent!  It was so nice to have a professional, honest person working for us who we could depend on. Quality was excellent!  Victor was worth his weight in gold. Would not hesitate for a moment to recommend him, or use him again.

Overall, working with Victor from Deer Haven was wonderful.   The demo of the old windows was a bit sloppy in that a lot of broken glass was left in the yard, but Victor had his team clean it as best as possible.   The construction, including the inevitable surprises that happen, was all top notch, handled very professionally, the communication was excellent, and the pricing reasonable and fair on both the project and change orders that resulted from problems discovered in demo.  Overall, we are very, very pleased with Victor and Deer Haven and will be using him again in the future.

The work was executed and initially appeared to be satisfactory. One year later, the rental property was sold. Prior to this sale, a thorough inspection of the house was performed by a licensed home inspector. He found that the bathroom exhaust fans installed one year prior by this company had not been connected to roof vents communicating with the outside, but instead had simply been vented into the attic. The inspection also revealed that the corner of the house nearest these bathroom fans had suffered significant decay in the roofing substrate in that part of the house. The inspector expressed the opinion that the failure to connect the bathroom fans to roof vents and the consequent exhausting of moist bathroom air into the attic had caused the damage. The entire roof was replaced before the sale of the property, with the necessary repairs to the roofing substrate increased the cost of the roof replacement by approximately $1000. The roofing contractor concurred with the inspector's assessment, agreeing that the improper installation of the bathroom fans was the cause of the moisture damage in the attic. Upon being contacted regarding this incident, the contractor refused to consider any redress or amicable settlement, and at this time a claim in small claims court is being developed.

Excellent. The cabinets turned out beautifully and closely match the existing lower cabinets. We didn't like the first range hood that we bought and he had no problem changing them out. Very nice fellow.

The job was expected to take two weeks, but it lasted three weeks. Victor is very personable and he has an excellent, friendly crew. They were prompt each morning, and they cleaned up after themselves in the evening. When I had trouble choosing wall colors, Victor was able to refer me to a decorator who assisted me. He also referred me to an electrician (Roger King) who was also personable, knowledgeable, and efficient. Removing popcorn from ceilings is never an enjoyable experience, but Victor and his crew made it as comfortable as possible. They did a great job. My home looks beautiful.

As we were moving in from out of town, initial work was coordinated via phone. When we arrived, interior of the new home was completely masked off in preparation for painting. Victor made several suggestions regarding the high ceilings, reflected light surfaces and pointers to keep in mind from his recent experience of being in the home for the past few days (seeing how the light changed during the day) and we headed to a recommended paint store and selected our color choice. The next day, Victor purchased all needed paint and a crew of three began work in earnest. Three days later they wrapped up the work, left no waste behind to clean up and the work was beautiful. Additional work in the next few weeks included pressure-washing the sidewalk/driveways, and remodeling the office doors and adding a new skylight. Next week it will be exterior paint and he is due any minute to begin pressure-washing the house exterior. Very friendly, outgoing, personable, reasonably on time (other jobs in the works - no wonder with his skill and ability to line up solid crew members too), and excellent workmanship. He's a native Eugenean too!