RSS Remodeling LLC

Pragmatic, skilled, timely, reasonable.

If you are looking for quality work, excellent communication, and innovative/cost-effective solutions, Ralph Stanmore is your guy. I asked him to convert a garage with hanging old florescent lights, exposed beams, pipes and insulation, wavy walls, and creepy vibes...into a amazing bar/pool hall. Drywall repair and ceiling installation, new LED puck lighting, new window installed, custom hardwood bar top, Ralph completely transformed the space. He was on time everyday, communication was top notch, and he's just a very pleasant person to work with. I had a very strict timeline for the work to be completed within, and he finished the work on time, as promised. I will be working with him for any future home projects without a doubt.

Ralph at RSS came with 35 years carpentry skills and great problem solving abilities. His attention to detail and craftsmanship was exceptional. Our shed was a step-up from a traditional shed with French doors and a classic window and he executed perfectly, while closely following the architects plans. Lastly, his consistent communication made the project go smoothly and we would definitely rehire. Working with a pro who knows about every aspect of construction is the way to go.

Excellent experience. Throughout the project Ralph was professional,knowledgeable,efficient. He had creative ideas for carrying out the project and was easy to work with.His workmanship was meticulous. The work was completed in a timely manner.

I have used Ralph several times over the last 10 years and he never disappoints. He is easily able to take my vision and make it happen, even when my vision is kind of unreasonable. He work is perfect, he has great idea's to make things even better, he shows up when he says he will and he is delightful to have around. I have hired many contractors over my life, and Ralph is by far the best of the best.

Ralph was very reasonable with his bid and flexible with last minute asks. He communicated honestly without up selling us and took the time to answer unrelated questions about our home. He was comprehensive in his evaluation of the project and structural needs of our home, and even pointed out a couple of other problem ares that he fixed at a very reasonable price. Very trustworthy, genuine and down-to-earth guy.

Ralph was great! We really enjoyed working with him. Very professional, very thorough, great communication about when he'd be at our place, and overall a really good guy. He was able to start much earlier than expected and wasn't someone who wastes time. He also had some really cool ideas about adding built-ins that we went with and loved (and they didn't affect the price). We appreciate that, where applicable, he'd give us the option of doing something ourselves to bring the price down, and he was into using the Rebuilding Center for materials, which we like to do as well. He really transformed the two rooms and we appreciate all the hard work. I would highly recommend Ralph, and we would absolutely hire him again. A really talented straight shooter.

Ralph helped us with a quick project that we were intimidated doing on our own, installing a pocket door in a basement where it had to be custom-cut / resized. Would love to hire him again for large & small projects down the road!

Great! Ralph communicates well. Returned my call and set up an appointment to meet. He always gave a time frame as to when he would get back to us and did. His work is quality and he worked well around our 2 young kids, dog/cat, and house full of stuff. He made sure to do a price write up and to go over it with us, never charged more then what was discussed/written down and we feel his price was reasonable. Will be using he's services again when needed.

This review is for 3 contracts that we commissioned with Ralph Stanmore over 2016-17. Our house is over 100 years old and in need of some help, and so were we! Project 1 (Dec’16): Reframe and retrofit upstairs closet into washer/dryer space. The area was converted from a built-in cabinet near top of stairs. Ralph was able to build about a foot extra space in the back so washer/dryer could fit comfortably in space so there could be a closet door to close it. He was impressive with clean work area and attention to detail. With the extra space in the housing he built custom shelves to the side of washer/dryer for soap, dryer sheets, etc. Very professional, clean, and finished looking. He was able to salvage most of the old trim from around the built-in cabinets so it looks almost as if it’s always been there!! We ended up enjoying working with Ralph so much that we decided to continue on with a few other projects that we needed to get done. Project 2 (Jan’17): Replace crumbling plaster walls, patch, and texture. Reframe swing doorway and install sliders. Our home being 100 yrs old, had many areas of lath/plaster where the plaster was crumbling away from the lath and no longer intact. This scope encompassed 5 rooms and a stairway. He was able to blend the patch/repairs nearly flawlessly and re-textured the walls/repaired areas to match existing texture so that when painted, nearly unnoticeable where was repaired! He was instrumental in the project planning; taking our main ideas and helping define scope of work as we went along because of his many years of experience doing these types of projects in Portland homes. This included giving me tips on how to install more outlets in the bedrooms easily with minimal mess before he got to the patching portion. Ralph also reframed an upstairs door frame from a 3 feet wide swinging door to a 16 foot wide sliding doors. The finished product came out very nice! Project 3 (Feb’17) Bathroom Remodel Our last project so far with Ralph was updating our upstairs bathroom. He removed existing cast iron tub that had many defects and was leaking, removed floor, and also discovered some old tile-work that was contributing to the tub leaking. He was able to affordably modify our work order to include amazing new tile installation that just looks clean and makes the bathroom appear larger. New flooring install, wainscoting install, new bathtub install, building and installing a custom shelving unit at end of bathtub for storage; installed new fixtures such as new sink, toilet, and shower hardware. In addition, this bathroom did not have a fan, he was able to install fan properly so that small bathroom doesn’t get too steamy anymore!! It looks great and pinterest-worthy! Overall we really like Ralph’s work and we also really liked Ralph. He was very respectful, trustworthy, honest and upfront with all of our interactions. Highly Recommend!

Ralph designed and built a studio for me that I am quite pleased with. His meticulous carpentry resulted in a minimum of waste. Ralph's workmanship and personality is definitely A rated.

Ralph was very personable and positive about our project from the beginning. He was able to look at my plans and envision exactly what we wanted and came out several times before starting our project to make sure we were all on the same page. Ralph was also the only contractor who offered to try to save our original fir floors. None of the other people we met with would even consider it because it was too labor intensive. It's obvious that Ralph loves old houses and enjoys preserving as much of their charm and character as possible. Ralph was tremendously clean throughout our project and never once left a mess behind at the end of the day. He was also very patient with first time remodelers and answered all of our questions and provided advise without being condescending. Our new half bath is fantastic and the original floors make it look like it's been there for years. The quality of craftsmanship is excellent and included several custom items that show he obviously has many years of experience. I would recommend him without reservation to anyone looking for a fair and honest contractor.

Ralph met with us a few times before drafting a bid. He wanted to make sure he understood our wishes and that we were on the same page. The contract was thorough and easy to understand. When we discovered that our house didn't have plywood under the siding, Ralph encouraged us to make an informed decision about how to proceed. One of Ralph's most endearing qualities, and why we highly recommend him is because he allowed us to do some of the work ourselves (like staining and electrical and laying the floor), and he followed behind us doing his best to match his work to ours. He was patient with us, bringing a lot of expertise and suggestions to our project. He was also conscious of our budget.
Ralph made several custom items. The finished trim, transitions, and baseboards look really great.
Ralph kept a very clean work space, and was really responsive whenever we needed to get in touch. He even arranged to be at my house when our front door was delivered and we were out of the country. Expect competency and a price that reflects the high quality of his work. We were pleased to do business with a North Portland contractor, and will do so again when our schedules align.

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We were extremely happy with this project, start to finish.

They were prompt and very clear about expectations and timeline.  They priced things very competitively.  Extremely clean with tools and clean-up after the day (it was a multi-day job).  Did everything exactly like they spec'd out.  You can tell they've had many years of experience doing many different types of jobs in different scenarios.

I will *absolutely* be using RSS Remodeling again for large and small projects around my residential home.  I am SO glad I found them.

A++.

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Ralph did a great job.  The match of the sheetrock pieces to the existing wall was excellent. Ralph is professional, friendly, on time, reasonable,  stays within budget and knowledgeable. We will continue to hire him for remodel projects.

We've hired Ralph before and once again we were very satisfied.  He is easy to communicate with. We wanted to do the sheetrock and wanted him to do the shower install. In our experience, not all remodelers are able to share projects with the homeowner. Ralph is professional, efficient and knowledgeable. We had confidence in his skill from previous experiences with his work. Once the shower was installed,  it looked unfinished because of a gap between the shower and the wall, so Ralph suggested a trim that finished the job beautifully. Ralph and his assistant Vinnie work very well together and are friendly and great to work with.

Amazingly well. We were discouraged about the chances of saving this deck in any decent shape without spending much more than we had in our budget for this project.  This deck rebuild/redesign presented many serious problems. The deck had been installed several years ago and no supplier had the color of the original deck. We didn't have enough decking left from the original installment for an aesthetic design.  Ralph listened  and understood what we wished we could create and worked with us to come up with a design that was aesthetic, and importantly, within our limited budget!   Using a different color on the outer edge and on the steps, he was able to create a beautiful design and finished product we loved. Ralph is experienced and professional and a rare find in his ability to listen, work with the owner, and find a creative solution to get the job done you want. Ralph and Vinnie were friendly, efficient and a great find! Highly recommend.

Great.  Ralph worked with us and explained what he saw, what options were available, and was very professional.  He worked around our schedule (we have two young kids) and once he began work that could have disrupted us, he was very quick while still providing quality work.

We'd go back to him again for future work, whether repairs, decking, or any number of other projects!

Ralph is a fantastic contractor and I would recommend him to anyone who needs remodeling work.  He has great attention to detail and craftsmanship, and he always kept us informed as to what was going on and what our options were.
We first hired Ralph to finish our partially-finished attic.  It was a complicated job given the odd roof angles from gables, etc., and it also involved partially removing a wall.  Ralph met with us to go through his ideas for the space and gave us a quote.  It was quite reasonable so we decided to proceed.  As things went along, Ralph kept us informed and went through our options for us.  He came in on budget and the space looks fantastic.
A couple years later, we decided that we would take over the basement apartment in our house that we had previously rented out.  The only problem was it was not accessible from the inside - only through an exterior door.  We called Ralph again because we were happy with the work he had done before.  He came out and went through placement options for us.  He was able to show us that our original placement idea wouldn't work and showed us where we could put the staircase instead.  He suggested a spiral staircase to save space and cost.  Everything turned out great and on budget again.
Unfortunately, a few months after that project was finished, our basement flooded.  We had to completely gut it and start over.  I called Ralph immediately.  He had to reframe, put in new drywall, the whole deal in a 1000 sq. ft. basement.  Again, he did a fantastic job - it looks good as new.  He built an attractive box around our otherwise-unsightly new sump pump.  He also helped us find other contractors to shore up our foundation and build new kitchen cabinets.  We're really pleased with the result.
Ralph does great work and is extremely reasonably priced.  You should hire him for your next remodeling project.

My house had an addition that had been poorly implemented by a prior owner.  This created a place on the roof prone to leaks and some weird uneven visual lines that were not pleasing to the eye.  In addition to roofing the house, Ralph corrected these roof lines.  He tore off the existing roof, consulted with me about asphalt tile color, brought in the materials, and then went to work re-roofing the
house.  He helped me understand what the problem was--even inviting me onto the roof to see it for myself.  I found Ralph to be very friendly, honest and approachable.  All this happened in October too, when the winter rains were threatening.  All said, a very good experience.