Casa Remodeling

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A leak from our bathtub drain prompted us to finally bite the bullet and remodel our bedroom. It's a "2nd master", located on the 2nd floor, so the ceiling in the 1st floor (over the entryway as it happens) had stained when the drain leaked. We use the "primary master" (on the 1st floor) as a guest room, as it provides come privacy from the rest of the house and is like an efficiency minus the kitchen. The tub had been getting used for baths more often, and we wanted to get a deeper one, so the tub was replaced. We had to switch from cast iron to fiberglass to get the depth, but we went from 9" to 15" actual depth, and my wife is very happy and warm now. All the builders were busy, and we only were answered by Casa. John Leach is the owner and GM, and he got back to me promptly and set up an appointment to look over what we wanted, discuss it with me, and provide an estimate. He also discussed where to shop for the various fixtures and parts I wanted. 
The estimate came back higher than I thought it would (hence my 'fair' for the price), but I had no comparator since he was the only remodeler that I picked off of AL (out of 3) that responded. Since they also were quite busy, it took a couple months to start (we first talked at the beginning of September, and the actual start was in the first week of December). The job itself was managed by Eric, who did some of the work himself and had a one- or two-man crew do the rest. The demolition was done pretty quickly, and the project seemed to go in fits and starts, partly because it ran through the holidays, and partly because some of the fixtures took a while to get there. We used larger ceramic tile for the shower surround, and they did a nice job putting in a niche at chest height to hold soaps and toiletries. The shower walls were completely removed (they had been the green sheetrock) and replaced with Hardie backer and sealed the joints, so even if the tile leaks, the walls are impervious. We had another foot-square ceramic tile installed in the toilet/shower room, the area in front of the sink, and the closet, as they all run in a line at one end of the bedroom. Since it was a plywood underfloor (2nd storey), they first laid down the orange matting to help with floor movement. The main bedroom had a high-quality laminate, and they underlaid a padding the eliminated squeaks. The ceiling was popcorn (argh!!) and they removed it and put up a slap-down texture that looks great. All surfaces were re-painted. The plumbing was re-done where needed to replace old, leaky shutoff valves or install new ones for the bath lines. We were told to do a close inspection before the job was done and the minor flaws we found were all fixed to our satisfaction.
The entire project was done the second week of January. Getting the vanity took an extra week due to a backorder problem. All-in-all, we are happy with the finished project. We had a minor problem in mid-March with an AC drainage line to the sink drainpipe leaking. I emailed Eric (on a Friday), and he had someone there to fix it the next morning. They value their customers.

I can’t say enough good things about Casa! My wife and I cross referenced Yelp/Angie’s List/NARI (austinnari.org) and came up with a list of 5 companies that looked the best. We interviewed each one before settling on Casa. The project manager, Eric Stordal, was very knowledgeable and honest. He had a bunch of great suggestions in that first meeting so we knew we wanted to work with them.
The contracts were drawn up and the work started about a month later. Max and Steve were assigned to the project and they
were both were outstanding. They were very meticulous in their work and really clean. We thought this remodel would be a nightmare of trash everywhere but it was the complete opposite. They also explained every phase of the project to us in great detail and offered suggestions along the way. We became friends with them all and had absolutely no problem leaving them alone in the house all day. They’d simply lock up and text when they were leaving.
The work is so seamless that you can't tell it was ever a garage. The process was so smooth that we’re already thinking about our next project. Stop looking and give these guys a call!

They are phenomenal and did a fantastic job. We've used him twice and trust him enough to give him a key to our home.

They were excellent. We were really happy with their work. We had gotten a quote from Home Depot to install the doors originally and Casa Remodeling was approximately $200 cheaper.

This was an excellent experience. The end products are gorgeous, and the process of working with John (company owner and our sales lead) and Eric (project lead) was very enjoyable from start to finish.

One of the things we appreciated most about working with Case was their proactive communication. From the moment we started talking about working together, John talked us through the various options in front of us, including material choices, cost implications, permitting, potential pitfalls and lessons learned, and what to listen and look for as we chose our materials, fixtures, etc.

There are always a few and quot;surprisesand quot; to discover when you decide to remodel your home -- that was doubly true in our case, since our 1940's era home had undergone a number of prior and quot;do-it-yourselfand quot; remodels. Crazy stuff was behind the old walls, floors, and fixtures. Each time they discovered a new and quot;surprise,and quot; the Eric and John would let us know what they found, go over the options and costs for resolving it, and fix it as discussed.

Even with all of the and quot;surprises,and quot; it's important to note two things: 1) our pre-work estimate was remarkably close to the final bill (within a couple hundred $), demonstrating that John knew what he was doing in estimating the and quot;contingencyand quot; line on a house of our vintage and 2) the city inspectors, who could have had a heyday if some of the and quot;issuesand quot; weren't resolved correctly, readily passed off on each stage of the work.

Eric, the project lead, was quick, reliable, and did great work. And -- on a personal note, he went above and beyond our expectations in relation to our two aging dogs: our concern going in was whether he would tolerate them and how he would deal with them when they got in his way; he not only tolerated them but was very caring toward them, talking gently to them and making sure they went out to relieve themselves throughout the day as he went about his work.

In the end, both bathrooms turned out more beautifully than we even imagined they would -- they're the nicest rooms in our home! When we do our next remodel project (the kitchen), we look forward to using Case again.

Demolition was done in timely manner with minimal disruption to household. Removal of debris performed promptly. Rebuilding of new roofing and cutting into existing roof line made for seamless transition from existing roof to new porch roofing. Project manager / owner was quick to discuss changes as needed throughout process.

In my discussions with the subs it became very clear the company was ready to belly up and did do that in November. The original franchise holder Ed Dudley was replaced by a new franchiser as I was finishing up with all the loose ends Ed's gang of subs did not complete. I did the final tiling, paint, and trim work AND clean up myself (and there was a lot of cleanup to do). Of course no one called to say, gee whez, we've changed management but don't worry, we'll live up to our contract. Nope, I learned about it from one of their management staff who had left the company because they had not been paid. The new franchiser advised my wife he was not responsible for our issues because of the terms of his contract buying out the former franchise holder but indicated he would ask the former owner to call us. Ed Dudley never called and we opted to not waste time on further pursuit simply because we had no faith in his ability to complete the job as specified. And what about the corporate headquarters, the one the sells the franchises and promises on its website high quality and integrity of service from all its franchise operations across the country?...you guessed it... zip. The corporate website looks impressive but it ends there. Interesting to note that Case Handyman Corporate website claims to be the "only remodeling organization with a seat on the board of the Better Business Bureau". Doesn't say much for the BBB crowd but then I am speaking only from my bad experience and I am a tad biased and cynical. One positive comment post fiasco: I eventually reconnected with the "new" franchise holder; he called me because of my comments on Angies List (the list does work). We had a robust discussion on my experience and he generously offered to do what he could to make things right and regain my good will. While I appreciated his good intention there was not anything I needed, my project was completed but this simple act of good will earned my appreciation and respect. He did assure me what work was done by the former owner still falls under the contracted warranty period for Case Handyman and he will honor it if we ever need warranty work. I appreciated that too. Would I recommend Case now? From my experience no, but that is based on the prior owner. I do believe the new owner is the type that will do his customers right, as demonstrated by his good faith efforts with me, plus he values good ratings in Angies List, and if what he told me is indeed true, has prior Fortune 500 business experience and the financial depth (what the prior owner apparently lacked) to efficiently and effectively manage the business.

My dealings with Case Remodeling and Ed Dudley were a nightmare which began after the first week. Before hiring him I checked with the BBB and previous clients who gave glowing reports. After I hired him his workers showed up the first week and then nothing. After almost a week of no work or workman I called the office. Where before the office manager always answered or at least returned my calls there was no response. I finally got ahold of Ed on his cell phone. He came over and promised the work would be done and that all his crew had found better paying jobs so quit. I found out later from several of his previous employees that this was not true---they quit because he could not pay them. Apparently he underbid his previous jobs and now he had run out of money and needed cash. He very quickly hired a group to do my bathroom tile, painting, and replacement of my door jam. It was obvious after several days that he had just hired anyone to finish my job. The tile man cut all the tile in my bathroom while he ran my new exhaust fan. I complained to Ed and he said "oh he is just lazy". I went off to work the next day only to return to the fact that the man had again spent the entire day cutting tile in the bathroom and my condo was covered in tile dust and the exhaust fan (brand new) motor had burned out. The final straw came when they put in a new door jam which did not match a single one in my house and cut it different lengths on both sides. I complained again to Ed who did not seem to mind that the door jam was not a match and started talking about glueing pieces of wood to the bottom to reach the tile. That was the last straw and kicked everyone out including Ed Dudley and had my locks changed. I hired several people to come in and finish the job. Ed Dudley came over and presented me with a final bill which was outrageous and confirmed my belief that he had no idea what these workmen were doing in my house. Luckily the new hires made a list of all that was not finished, done incorrectly, and had to be redone. Ed consented to my final payment which really only covered the granite countertop piece. I filed a complaint with the BBB and they were no help at all because I was not suing him. That is when I joined Angie's List and will never depend on the BBB again. Fast forward to Oct.'09---I finally hired a grout and tile company who had to come in and regrout and grout the tile in my master bathroom. The grout on the tile floor was crumbling and was replaced but I was told that the tile floor was never put down properly and would eventually have to be replaced. I also had the tile sealed. The tile now looks like new where before it was lumpy, not sealed, and crumbling. Great Grout did a very nice job and were shocked at the shoddy work done by Case Remodeling. I had to spend $800.00 to fix the fixit job. I must add that when the plastic covering that was supposed to protect my carpet during the work was removed finally the carpet was filthy underneath. Of course the plastic had been there 3 mos. instead of the 3 weeks promised for the job. I hired a carpet cleaner who told me that having the sticky plastic down just encouraged all the dirt and tile dust to stick whereas where the plastic was not my carpet was fine. The carpet cleaner did the best he could going over the darkest spots several times but it will never look that clean again. You might ask why I have taken so long to write this but it was such a nightmare that at the time I couldn't deal with writing it all out for Angie's List. Now that I am having to pour out more money to fix the shoddy work of Ed Dudley and Case Remodeling I felt it was time. He is still in business and the public should be warned.

Case Handyman comes out to gives you and estimate and does it all on their laptop computer so there is no waiting for it in the mail. They are an awesome company and were very helpful. They do a wonderful job. I would use Case Handyman again in the future.

My wife would only use this company and no one else at all. They do everything from little things to big jobs. All the work they did has held up remarkably. They were very helpful by removing the old flooring. I was very happy with them. I would definitely rehire them.