WESTERN OREGON BUILDERS

These guys were great. I had LP siding and knew from the inspector that it might be a problem. Unfortunately, It turned out NOT to be a simple replace the siding job. I had a lot of damage. They addressed all dry rot, repaired framing and took steps to ensure I won't have this kind of problem in the future with new gutters. Very professional and they clearly knew what they were doing. I did refer my neighbors to them and would recommend them to anyone else.

They did an awesome job. Came out and measured everything and then provided a quote. I paid half down. The project took a almost a week which was fine considering one day they could not work because of a thunderstorm and the other days were hot. I had them replace the two skylights and there was a delay in getting one of them. Overall, I was very satisfied and the roof looks great. They made sure I was pleased with the work and then I paid them the balance. There were no overages.

Alex is a dream contractor. He's a joy to work with: clear, responsive and flexible, responsible. He makes deadlines and keeps them. He both gives you control and is in control. He involves you in choices where your input is needed or helpful. His workers are courteous, clean (low footprint, clean up after every day), consistent (in and out same time every day). Incidentally, his sister Beate is a designer, and designed our addition which was thoughtful, beautiful, sensible, and flowed with our existing house--something Alex emphasized. Watching the two of them communicate and form a common vision was cool, with excellent results.

PRICE: I did two competing bids; Alex's was on par. The initial bid was out of our budget; Alex worked with us, cut us some discounts and did line-item removal of some tasks to get within budget. I graded Alex a "A" here because he cut us breaks, and the excellent quality of the work, particularly for the cost.

We told Alex early that we were cost-conscious, and he respected that. At every decision point, he would tell how much option A vs. B vs. C would cost, the pros and cons of each, with reasoned advice. His communication is superb: he asks the right questions, tells you when he needs something done (e.g., electrician is coming __, you'll want you fixtures before then; we're finishing up drywall, you can start painting and flooring), and responds quickly to your questions and concerns.

We had a casual contract: basically, we both signed his bid sheet. We settled on a price, and that was that; he was going to deliver the job, complete. He took care of all permitting. Most specific contract terms were verbal. I made regular payments every several weeks when he would remind me.

Items and issues arose. Once, I screwed up some flooring which caused his crew more work, but he took care of it without complaint. The City required a costly, unanticipated, not-discussed partial seismic upgrade which should have increased the price, but Alex took it in stride and didn't charge us. I feel it helped to be flexible with Alex, trust his choices, not sweat details, give him room to work, and go with the flow. He told us what we would be responsible for (e.g., certain fixtures), and gave great advice on "my" areas (e.g., painting tips. He even painted primer on the entire area for free, out of kindness (and maybe feeling sorry for me)).

Every home project should be like this: clear vision, on time, on (under) budget, excellent work. A large remodel project is inherently stressful, but Alex is a reassuring presence. He projects confident, positive energy that shows in his work ethic, his control of his crew, and the final product. His results are superb and exhibit solid, high quality workmanship and fit and finish. Alex genuinely seems to love his work, shaping great spaces, improving quality of life, making people happy, creating harmony and beauty.

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All work was done on time and with quality (reporting almost two years later - no problems). Alex, the owner, is a pleasure to work with, very flexible and genuinely caring about full customer satisfaction. He is very creative had excellent suggestions that worked well for us.  We are enjoying the results of his work. Highly recommended.

They did what they said that they were going to do and they were clean. They did a great job of cleaning up everyday and they were upfront about what the price was for what we elected to do.

Alex and the people at Western Oregon Builders are the best. We met him at the Home Show in January and had a good rapport right away. He came out to the house, we talked about the project and he put together a proposal. His workmen are very good, very professional and very nice. They are a pleasure to be around and really know what they are doing. Most of his crew have been with him a long time. Alex thinks of details before we do. They cut our existing garage in half to make it a good storage room with outside exit., then built a new free-standing 2 car garage. They did some remodeling to the laundry room, too. The project involved moving the gas line and meter and putting electricity, drywall and paint in the new garage. They also repainted our entire house. They will be starting work on a new covered deck for us this week.

They started the work on January 17th and it went for a whole thirty days. I liked everything about them. They did an amazing job. They actually made some recommendations to save money. They took out some walls and made a room bigger. The kitchen became a kitchen and they also redid the family room floor. They knocked out a wall to open up the area into the dining room, stoned in our entryway added extra materials and did a hallway for us. All the way their work is exceptional. They gutted the kitchen and rebuilt all the cabinets. They do the cabinets in their own shop so it's something that's not bought out of store and shoved in. It's all custom designed which was really amazing because I couldn't get this anywhere else. He stoned the counters all the way under the cabinets which looks beautiful. There was a lot of stone work involved. I had a contractor do a bid several years earlier for about the same price and that was just for gutting the kitchen without doing half the work that they did. The owner of Western Oregon Builders is Alex. They just do a phenomenal job. We've heard other people saying it's going to take three to four months but they could do it in thirty days. It was lot of stone work and hardwood flooring. It's just a beautiful kitchen. The owner is one of those personalities where you feel you've been best friends with him. He's very caring and if he thinks something's wrong he will fix it for you. A couple of days later after the house was done we found pieces of flooring that just didn't enter the wood. They came in, fixed it in about thirty minutes and you couldn't even tell anything was wrong. He stands behind his work and if things don't look right to you he'll make them right the way you want them. He doesn't charge you for coming back. He's already working on some other cabinets in our house. We just happened to see him in a trade show and that's how we picked them up.

All of it is top quality and it all came in at about what it was quoted. I think they charged a fair price for the work that was done and the workmanship was excellent. They weren’t cheap but I think you get what you pay for. The professionalism was also very good. I was impressed all the way around.

We highly recommend WOB. Alex is very easy to work with and he understands quality and customer satisfaction. His crew did great work and they worked fast. The job site was always orderly. We stayed in the house during the remodel. They did as much work on the outside, poured foundation, erected walls and roofed before we had to finish evacuating the downstairs. Then they cut away the existing walls to open the new space, very efficient for us. The work progressed smoothly. We met with Alex at least weekly. He'd tell us what work was coming up and which decisions we needed to make in the next week or so. Alex led the work and he was here nearly every day. His team leader was on site all the time, a skilled craftsman, and he led a small crew. They were neat, polite and did really great work. We solicited our own kitchen cabinetmaker at the same time we selected WOB. We got 3 contractor bids and met at least once with the 3 contractors. Alex gave us confidence in his work and he was lowest bid too. WOB and the cabinetmaker coordinated with each other and worked as a team. The only thing that could have been better was the original cost estimate was low based on lower grade materials. For example, white composite wood trim is a lot less expensive than the hemlock I wanted, and fiberglass windows are more than double vinyl ones. My suggestion to the home owner is to do some shopping ahead of time and be clear on what materials you want. Then a more accurate estimate will come out. We're very happy with the final product. Our friends are impressed with our home's update. The extra square feet make the downstairs much more livable. The quality of the work makes it hard to tell we added on. I get a good feeling every time I'm in our updated kitchen and I admire the neat workmanship throughout.

Alex was meticulous in planning for future safety of the house as well as its appearance and future resale value. Into the job we discovered extensive dry rot from a deck in the back that had been incorrectly built touching the house, causing water damage. At each point Alex carefully showed me what was required and why and went farther than required to address it. Instead of just repairing the back wall, and doorway and carefully leveling the house, he detached the deck, and poured footings for the side of it that used to be supported by the house; making sure the problem would'nt happen again. While no one ever wants to spend money, I felt absolute confidence at each point about what was being done and why. I could also see the value added to the house as the work progressed. Alex also rebuilt the front porch, matching the character of the house and staining the floor of the porch and stairs (like hardwood floors) at our request. As described above, they repaired and painted the exterior and repoured the walkways. It truly is like a new house but with its victorian character intact. Before I even decided to use his company, Alex spent generous amounts of time with me, talking through my questions and suggesting options. Once work began, he was always available to explain the next step and answer questions. He has high standards and is a good problem solver, and his men do quality work. I highly recommend them.

The project was completed smoothly, on time, and within budget. Alex and his crew were always prompt, hard-working, and did a quality job. They were a delight to have around, and they took pride in their work. The work site was cleaned up daily. The attention to detail, as well as the great customer service were more than expected.

Alex and his crew are fabulous! This is probably the first time we have ever had such a good experience with a remodeling project. We asked for the project to be completed in three weeks to accommodate guests for our daughter's wedding. Alex met our timeframe and the work was completed, not only on time, but with expert quality craftmanship. All members of Alex's crew were a delight to have around. They are respectful, clean, always on-time, and hard working. There is a real sense of pride in their work. Alex was always on top of the project arranging for the next day's work detail needs. One of the reasons we chose Western Oregon Builders was Alex's ability, and flexibility, to give us solutions and cost options to tackle any problem that came up during design or construction.