ECC Remodeling & Construction LLC

The quality of much of the work was excellent; I was thrilled with the cabinets, countertops, sink, installation of the gas line, and hood. However, the communication was non-existent, and they were months over schedule. They also did not do some of the work that he had told me initially he would do -- here are some of the areas that left me pulling out my hair: I was originally given a two month timeline for my job -- it was months over schedule. I never got a detailed schedule, or even a high level schedule -- a whole week would go by with no work on my house, and I had no idea if this was planned or if they were falling further behind schedule. I asked several times for a detailed schedule and never got one. I sent multiple emails asking questions like when will my appliances be installed? When will my washer and dryer be re-installed? I also called and left messages. No response -- none. I had to literally start yelling to get any response, so frustrating. They threw out my laundry room sink and garbage disposal, and then I was forced to buy new ones, plus a new faucet for the laundry room sink. Bruce gave me $200 credit, which did not come close to covering the cost. I was bullied into accepting subpar work on the door and window trim and the doors. The foreman, Wally, started out cordial, but turned surly as we got into the project. As an example, they removed part of the door trim in my living room so that they could match the stain, and put a large crack in the trim. When I told them I wanted the trim replaced, Wally got angry, got in my face, and refused. I had to call Bruce and tell him this was not acceptable. It also took them about two months to replace that trim. They were supposed to haul away all project related trash, but left my garage stuffed with cardboard, lumber, tile remnants -- you name it. It was weeks before I could fit my car in my garage. Bruce explained in detail how they would slide my new gas fireplace into the old wood burning opening. I sent him multiple emails asking when we could schedule this part of the job -- no response. When I finally got him on the phone, he told me that they were not doing the work, I would have to hire someone else. I was mad about this, but even madder that he had not told me weeks before so I could have gotten the work scheduled. I am, in general, happy with the work, but I give credit to the subcontractors. My background is in project management, and I can tell you that Bruce and his crew do not understand even rudimentary project management -- I am still astonished that he never put together a project schedule. Ultimately, it was the refusal to answer phone calls and emails, plus his dishonesty on what was included in the job, that made me so unhappy. I would never work with ECC again.

We interviewed, researched and did due diligence on 8 contractors. Ultimately, ECC was not the cheapest bid we got from the contractors we solicited quotes from, neither were they the most expensive. Bruce Pomazal, owner and project manager was very helpful in showing us where we could save money and why it was important. ECC came in around the same cost as other construction firms we contacted but it was because of Bruce's commitment to help us stay within our budget, his references from other work and how we "felt" about him and his company's abilities that we decided to go with ECC. Initially we worked with a designer (Kryston Design) that ECC has worked with in the past to come up with the layout and architecture of the remodel we wanted. This process took quite a bit of time but in the end, we felt, it was worth the time and effort. Being that this was a major remodel we anticipated it would take several months, in the end, it took 5 and a half months to complete. While the work could have been done a little bit sooner, most of the delays were due to unforeseen things like, an unexpected, improperly decommissioned septic tank in the backyard and inspection times by the city of Tigard. Communication about the ongoing project was good but could have been, at least initially, better. Once we had a meeting with Bruce to discuss some of our frustrations with the lack of communication, things improved. While ECC was the contractor for the work, ultimately, it was our responsibility to oversee the details involved in the work. In hindsight we would have "walked" the measurements we had specified in the plans and been more proactive in some of the oversight of the construction. An example being the canned lighting in the kitchen. The lighting was put in before the kitchen cabinetry and the measurements were off. The lighting had to be removed and repositioned. To ECC's credit, they were very proactive in making sure everything was corrected and to our liking. As with any big project, documentation is important. Most of our communications with ECC were in writing. This was important in understanding what expectations were and what needed to get done. Bruce, along with his onsite manager, Wally, met us at the house weekly to go over the progress of the construction and to document anything that needed to be addressed by ECC or by us, the homeowner. They were also very accommodating in any changes that we had along the way. However, when doing a project such as this it is important to remember, contractors "live" for change orders and they can get owners way off budget. While we had a few change orders, ultimately we were, with the assistance from Bruce and Wally, ever mindful of any changes to the original plans and kept them to a minimum. Contractors will do whatever you want done...for a price. We made a commitment, from the start, to put into the contract everything we could anticipate needing to be done so that we did not have to have too many change orders. Overall, we are quite pleased with the attentiveness that ECC gave to our project and we love the final product. Keeping with the aesthetics of the original design, we were quite pleased with the look and feel of the house on completion. Having heard the many horror stories of construction and contractors, we are quite happy that, in the end, we had few if any "issues" and have a well remodeled home. If we ever need any other construction done to our home ECC will be the first, and possibly only, contractor we call.

The crew was timely and communicated status of the project. Finished on time and on budget. Love the new look in our house!