Cajun Construction

Based on how the railing work was going I hired him to install two small free swinging gates in my yard. I paid him for the railing and then paid him for the gates ahead of time and this proved to be a mistake. I had tremendous difficulty getting him to return to do the gates and once he was finally starting the project he kept wanting to leave. Finally I noticed that the workmanship looked poor and on this day he told me that he had to leave the job for a bit. I told him that this was not okay and that he needed to stay and finish. He completed his work for the day and then left. When I went back to check I noticed that the gates were installed poorly and the concrete that he had poored for the posts had dried incorrectly and the posts were crooked. They were supposed to be free swinging gates and they do not work correctly and since have begun to fall apart. Due to the poor workmanship on the gates I went back to take a closer look at the railing work and noticed that where he placed the screws are rough and splintered.

My wife and I just moved to Knoxville about a year ago. We decided to move from an apt. to a house in May of 2010. We closed on a house June 8 of 2010. The house we found was built in 1973, there were some minor structural issues found and a local structural engineer recommended a specific procedure to beef-up the support of the house. The procedure consisted of adding support along the main girder as well as a load-bearing wall perpendicular to the main girder. The engineer recommended a general contractor, who recommended Cajun Construction to perform the work. This is where I met John McKamey from Cajun construction. John showed up very punctual on the 1st day of the job. He showed up fully equipped with an enclosed cargo trailer. The trailer held all the tools and consumables needed for all sorts of jobs. John came to the door and introduced himself to my wife and I, and explained step by step what he was going to do. Afterwards, he and a helper set up a covered (portable awning) work center in my yard, very professional, neat and clean. The structural stabilization job was complete within 2.5 days. 3 days was the initial plan. Each day set-up, tear-down, and cleanliness was exceptional. Workmanship was top notch. After witnessing John's work, we created a punch list of items that needed to be done. We agreed to pay John and his crew an hourly wage and materials. In the long run we saved a bunch of money and we were worry free because of the diligence and communication that John had laid out. John took my list and put together an action plan to detail out how he would approach to tackle the job. John had 1-2 people helping him throughout the projects that were completed at my home, pending on need. He would sit down with me at the end of each day explain what was done according to plan and laid out the plan for the next day. If he needed someone extra he explained to me why and exactly what they would be doing. When problems would arise, John was quick to communicate with us and let us know what was going on. For example, they were prepping the garage floor. I had a paint thinner for them to use. It was very time consuming and making a mess. John quickly recognized that this would take much longer than it needed to, he called me, explained a plan that would work if he could rent a floor sander. I agreed. He picked it up that day and finished prepping the entire floor within 1 full day of work. The remodeling of the screen porch was the biggest job due to the fact everything needed to be stripped out and the foundation of the porch had to be rebuilt. John and his team installed a new joist system, pine floor, screen system, paint outside and in, oil stain the floor, Minwaxed the floor, and hung a new screen door in a "not -so - square hole" that was previously put in by the original homeowners. He custom made some thresholds and everything turned out great. Overall, John was competitively priced, punctual, and communicated very clearly to my wife and I each step of the way. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we received more than our moneys worth. We received quotes from other contractors, some were cheaper most were not. The cheaper contractors seemed a little to weary for my wife and I. Above all, in the midst of all the work being done at the house by John, our baby girl was brought into this world a couple of weeks early on June 24th, 2010 (Due date July 8th). The morning my wife went in labor I had a landscape designer coming to the house, Terminex coming to the house, and a contractor to replace 15 windows in my house. John went out of his way to handle all of the appointments that I had. He left me a detailed note when I returned home from the hospital explaining what was needed and how things went. As my mind scrambled with my wife in labor, John even took the time to put in my car seat and help my wife and I pack the car to head to the hospital. Cajun Construction is a great company lead by an unbelievable human being. I will definitely be hiring John McKamey for any jobs that come up in the future.