Jason Allen Contracting

We are not the type of people who leave negative reviews, and this isn't meant to be negative. Hopefully it'll be helpful to Jason's work with future clients. Jason is highly skilled and does great work at a fair price. However, our experience working with him was often confounding and, at it's worst, totally exasperating. Jason appears to be allergic to committing to being anywhere at a given day or time. We spent all of last summer attempting to track him down, e mailing, calling to keep our project on track. We initially contacted Jason in late June, and the project was not completed until October. Even at that one item was left uncompleted, as we had to preserve our sanity and  move on.
Jason subbed out parts of the scope that were initially his without informing us, and failed to communicate with us or the painting contractor regarding his schedule. In the end, I wound up having to schedule the painting crew directly b/c Jason was frequently AWOL or would not commit to any particular day. This made it challenging to stage the work, and generally stressful. If you are comfortable with that sort of behavior, you will get a job well done at a solid price. When we hired him as a general contractor, he lead us to believe he would be more responsive, would handle all scheduling and staging of the project and would be onsite to check on the work. One small twist is that I have a relative who lives in an adjacent lot to his home address, so we were aware of when he was not being forthright about his  schedule being tight as we knew he was at his own house! Most people think of a schedule as being a series of commitments to be in a place at a given day and time. We will never know what exactly that word means for Jason. Months later he contacted us not to see how the house was doing, but to shake us down for partial payment on a task he never completed despite us giving him months to do so. We again asked him to come back and finish his work, he again pulled the routine of saying "yes," then not responding to multiple e mails asking when he would like to come by. Not sure what else to say, he is not a bad person, the work that was completed was solid and professional. You will get quality work at a good price, but you may not get the time of day or an honest response when you try to figure out when (or if) he intends to show up.  

Jason Allen Carpentry was recommended by our architect to remodel our awful 1970s-remodeled upstairs bathroom in our 1913 home.  Jason stayed within his quote and finished within the 2-month promised finish date.  He is both an artisan and runs his business with a focus that many contractors don't have.  After his final payment, he came back immediately for a short punch list of items we felt needed tweaking.  He brought in excellent trades persons.  The whole job was pleasant and on time. We?d recommend him with an A+ rating and will use him again.
Jason didn't "roll his eyes" at the various details I wanted, like a door to a "hidden room" and the pebble shower floor spilling out into the bath area's large hex tile flooring.  Lots of custom details went smoothly and with good humor.  We love our new bathroom so much, that we had a champagne and cheesecake open house for the trades, their families and friends and neighbors.

Jason had an opening in his schedule the next day. On the phone he asked perceptive questions and quickly understood our priorities: first, make room for the new fridge; second, retain as much storage space as possible; third, make it look as nice as reasonable -- but if it turns out less than perfect (and it was far from perfect to begin with), that will be a good incentive for us to think about the long-overdue full kitchen remodel we really need one of these years.
Jason showed up as scheduled, with a very well-equipped truck and trailer. He discussed options and details and we agreed on a plan. He was quite familiar with the 1950s construction techniques and materials used in our kitchen. He proceeded to efficiently pull out the old cabinets, keeping them as intact as possible. He then came up with ways to modify everything to fit the new dimensions -- to the extent of disassembling four drawers, trimming their pieces to new sizes, and reassembling.
After a day and a half, everything turned out great -- much better than we had expected when we'd originally been thinking about getting someone to do this job.
At the end, Jason started to give us advice about how to sand, caulk and spackle before painting, but we asked him to come back the next day to take care of all that prep for us. He spent a couple of hours doing so, and did a very nice job.
Jason was always professional, smart, calm, knowledgeable, friendly, and happy to discuss options and reasons.

Jason and his partner on time, professional and did excellent work.
His bid was spot on.
I would highly recommend him.

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The work was really good. He's a craftsman so he knows a lot about older homes. He can match our actually details on my house which I really like about him. He got the work done a little bit late but nothing that I end to pay. The communication was not that great because he works alone. We wish that he has a project person that we could talk to.

The built-in drawers came out great and we use them every day and they blend in as if the original design of the house. I also appreciated the added value of working with us to and quot;designand quot; the right solution as this space had exposed insulation that needed covering. Jason helped us chosse the right material etc. This job was done on time and budget and fully met our expectations. The only reason I didn't give an A is concern with repsonsiveness on future bids. Howerver price and quality are A's.

He is very busy, but he does great work. The only draw back is his responsiveness in attempts to make the appointment.

Many years ago my cabinets in my just acquired home where falling off the kitchen wall. Jason came and secured them back to their proper place at my budget price. Because of his professionalism, I decided to use him on a much bigger project.
In late September, I decided to have my dream of an backyard deck , patio and exit from my bedroom. We went over the plans to my satisfaction and in late December the project was started. It was completed in late January and looks marvelous. Thank you Jason.

Called Jason. Sent him pictures of the project. He came prepared, figured out a simple solution, and then did the work. Turned out great.

From our initial phone call, working with Jason Allen was a pleasure. He returns calls promptly (even while on vacation), shows up exactly when he says he will, and is extremely professional in every aspect of his business. We took several bids on the job and Jason provided us with an estimate on the same day, with a detailed invoice to show exactly how we would be spending our money. His estimate was not the cheapest we received, but we got a strong impression from the submitted estimate that he had taken the time to calculate exact time and materials costs, and that we we wouldn't be nickel-and-dimed with a lot of and quot;surprisesand quot; during the course of the job. In addition, he took the time during our initial meeting to really listen to what we wanted and made some suggestions that demonstrated his strong experience with period remodeling. Between the fair and accurate estimate and the demonstrated passion for older homes, we knew Jason was the best choice for the job.

And indeed he was. He works with a talented group of sub-contracters, most all of whom we met before they began work in our home. Jason's skills as a GC really came through as he coordinated every step of the work and set a schedule which, for the most part, was followed. Deadlines were met by everyone involved in the project. Jason told us that and quot;if it's not perfect, don't accept the workand quot; from any of the contractors, and he really held them to his own standards of perfection - which, to our surprise, are much higher than our own. The tile work on the tub surround is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G., really exceptional, and we couldn't be happier with the quality and workmanship from tiler Sean Ward and his assistant. Ben, the plumber, fit us into his incredibly busy schedule and made all the repairs and installations with an absolute minimum of disruption. I think the water was off a total of 3 hours, tops. Jason himself installed the exhaust fan and also converted a free-standing antique vanity into a built-in with such precise craftsmanship that you would never know it hadn't been originally installed that way. His carpentry and woodworking skills are excellent, and he made sure everything in the final presentation was finished and perfect. All the professionals working on this project were very respectful of our home, making sure to lay down protection for our floors and cleaning up all dust and debris at the end of every work day.

The only hiccup in the whole project was with the painting crew, who removed old wallpaper, repaired the drywall and
repainted. The painting work was the most expensive part of the job and the crew had to be recalled a couple times to do touch-up work, since the initial job didn't meet Jason's high standards. Again, Jason's standards were higher than our own.

Overall, I've never had such a positive experience with a contractor. Jason's commitment to excellence is much higher than his commitment to his bottom line, and he stuck to his original estimate, even though he spent a lot of time and energy going above and beyond to make everything exactly as we wanted it and better. Other contractors would have charged for every last nail and screw, but Jason's focus was on our satisfaction. We are happy to say we are 100% satisfied and would absolutely recommend Jason and his team for any remodeling job. Your expectations will be exceeded.

I would recommend them to anyone, and I would use them again.

Jason kept the first appointment to examine the job of adding a 2nd handrail to the basement. He gave us a thorough estimate and we hired him to do the work. He was punctual to the 2nd appointment and brought with him all the materials needed. Within a few hours we had a stained gorgoeous handrail. Clean up was thorough and he left us happy custmomers.

Our experience was a positive one. Everybody who was on his crew including himself, they were always pretty available. They were friendly and professional. I think Jason has a good sense of ideas when we need them. He would suggest things that were actually better than what we were considering ourselves. He came up with some good ideas.

Jason is a craftsman, so expect quality work at relatively slow pace. When he demo'ed the existing deck, we discovered the footings were not adequate -- the previous deck had laid 2x6 on their edges, so they required fewer footings. (We were laying planks of tigerwood, flat side up). Also, we discovered that the pieces of wood that anchored the deck to the house were rotted through. So his team had to pry those off and re-install them.

As a result of all this, we had to renegotiate the scope of work, and Jason was reasonable about it: the cost listed above is the final cost. The deck is absolutely stunning; we get compliments about it all the time. The railings are beveled at the top, so that rain doesn't pool (and it looks beautiful), and the tigerwood has held up beautifully without a finish.

In the future, I would probably be more thorough about figuring out what additional costs there might be -- we had a casual, and quot;it might be a little more if we find out the footings aren't adequateand quot; but I probably would have scoped it out more in advance to understand the maximum.

Jason has an eye for detail and understood what I was after. He is very pleasant and personable and I felt very comfortable leaving him unattended at my home. I am very happy with the outcome. This came through in the bidding process and was the reason for selecting him - though I almost went with someone else due some lack of responsiveness on questions i was asking to clarify the bid. I was worried about potential flakiness on the job as a result of this. However it wasn't a problem once the job started. He seemed to start slow and it took a little longer to complete the job than originally expected. This did not bother me as it was a fixed bid though this may have caused some rushing towards the end. It also meant for some late evening working (until 9:30pm one night) which is not what I was expecting - it caused more upheaval in our days as a result. Jason does seem to prefer starting a little later and working later than my normal experience with contractors. The lack of responsiveness has resurfaced on a quote I asked for on additional small jobs.

Very smoothly; just as one would hope and expect.

We hired them because of their good reviews and were very professional during the estimate. When the job was done, they did a good job, but their pricing was a little high.

Very good. See above.

Overall it went well. Jason was prompt with a bid and was very thorough in outlining the work he would do. On the start day apparently his helper called in sick, which put Jason several hours behind arriving on site. I was a bit suprised that he went to purchase the wood trim on the day of the job instead of before hand. On day two he was again several hours later than he projected and worked until much later than anticipated. Project was supposed to take one day and took 2 full days working into the dark on day two. The job was done well and I enjoyed working with Jason. I feel he's very knowledgeable and friendly and knows what he's doing. I had some issues with puncuality on the acutal job and though I understand that sometimes things don't always go as planned with contstruction, I would have prefered a more realisitic timeline upfront. Quality: was good. All corners of the molding were tight. The primer coat seemed a bit slapped on, but I painted over it right away. In all, I was satisfied with the job. Price was what he quoted but it took much longer to complete due to problems with his staff and his scheduling.

Fantastic. I have worked with several contractors and Jason is in a class of his own. He is very willing to let the homeowner work side by side with him if that's what they want. Because I wanted to do as much work as possible by myelf, I was able to use Jason as a consultant on some things but have him do the portions of the job above my skill level, which he did on a time and materials basis. For the things that he did (plywood sheathing and door/window instalation), he was very fast and the final cost was much less than I expected. He and his crew were very careful to do quality work. He's a great problem-solver, very cool under pressure, and has fantastic interpersonal skills. I could not recommend him more highly.

What went well: • Jason responded to my request for a bid immediately, showed up on time, sent a detailed estimate, and expressed more than once that he was excited to do our project. • Understanding that his bid was not the lowest, Jason took considerable time to walk us through the details and to educate us about his reasons for recommending certain details and materials. He also worked with us to make adjustments that helped bring the project back within our price range. • Jason maintained great communication throughout the project, giving us frequent updates and calling whenever there was a question or concern. He kept us apprised of any potential concerns so they didn’t become unpleasant surprises. And he was always very responsive by phone, email, and even text message. • Although I acted as the main client contact, Jason also made sure that my husband was included in all important decisions throughout the project and listened carefully to both of our expectations. He even came over on weeknights on several occasions so that he could meet with both of us in person, and was always respectful and professional while listening to our questions and concerns. • The crew (Jason, Dave, and Hector) was there almost every day, sometimes working 12-hour days to complete major tasks and take advantage of good weather. Even during torrential rains, they still showed up, hanging large tarps to keep the workspace dry. • Since he was not working directly with any painters at the time and we wanted to get our house painted as quickly as possible, Jason was happy to get bids from three different painters for us at no extra charge. He also connected us with a great landscape designer. • The best part of working with Jason was his fun personality and infectious enthusiasm. He loves what he does, and it shows. Room for Improvement: • Although Jason did an excellent job asking about our expectations and preferences, he didn’t always write them down and sometimes relied on memory. In one case, this led to the purchase of the wrong type of siding for the front of the house (it was one of the options we had considered, but not the one that we had agreed on.) • Some of our punch list items might not have ever been addressed if we had not sent photos to illustrate our concerns. For example, when we described in writing some very uneven gaps between the new pedestals and flooring, Jason initially pushed back – without actually coming to the house to see the issue in person. Not until we sent a photo did he agree that it needed attention. • We were a bit disappointed by the quality of the finish work, which did not leave the surfaces as “paint-ready” as we expected. While it’s not unreasonable to expect a painter to fill a few nail holes and caulk a few gaps, there were actually some fairly significant gouges and chips in the new railings and columns that went beyond typical prep work. Unfortunately we went along with Jason’s assertion that the remaining touch-ups were a “pro painter’s job”, and by the time painting began, it was too late to ask his crew to come back. Lesson learned – get every detail in writing! Overall, besides the few issues mentioned above, the project went extremely well and the end result looks fantastic. I would absolutely work with Jason and team again and would recommend them to others. My only suggestion—as with ANY contractor—is to get everything in writing before the work begins, including all expectations around finish work. As long as that’s covered, you can expect a great experience from beginning to end.

I don't have enough wonderful adjectives to describe our experience with Jason, except to say that we won't let anyone else except Jason do carpentry on our house now that we've worked with him. We have an old 1930s house, which means that nothing is perfect, level or easy. Jason came in and immediately loved the house and saw both the vision of what we wanted to do and also respected the age and look of the home. Everything was designed with what would meet our needs and fit the look of the house, and then, of course, when the house threw him curveballs (the floors aren't level, the windows were poorly done originally and needed some additional work, etc), he took it all in stride, figured out how to adjust to it, and created a perfect end-result. His expertise is in taking a non-standard situation (e.g. old house) and producing a beautiful finished product that is both functional and exquisitely crafted. In the photos I've added are of one of the pieces of the project- where he reframed a door. It's hard to see, but the sides of the door are actually bowed inward and the door is nonstandard size. They fixed the framing, adjusted for the non-standard doorway (very long and deep) and put in a beautiful new glass door. They took what was something we thought could not be fixed and made it into a beautiful doorway!