Home Source Construction

This is a bit late. Matt, the owner of HSC, and Mark, his superintendent, are honest, professional, and have integrity. I'll say that at the outset. I hired HSC in May 2013, for a bathroom remodel and other interior and exterior work---refinishing and painting the walls, redoing the closets, refinishing floors, building bookshelves, installing lights. On the whole, I was pleased with the final result given the problems I experienced. My major complaint is this, and it's a serious one: their subcontractors aren't that good (I mean the quality of their work), and HSC didn't closely supervise their subcontractors' work. Instead, I repeatedly had to point out problems to Matt and Mark. Their subs made way too mistakes, either because they were in a hurry (very common, I've learned), didn't care (since they were there for a pay check only), or else didn't know what they were doing or were not properly trained. One example I just noticed. They installed a new front door and expensive entry hardware. Well, the strike for the deadbolt is a strike plate for a handleset latch (for Baldwin entry sets, the two are very different), and the strike plate for the handleset latch isn't the common size for a handleset latch. Confusing, I know. So now my handleset latch hits my wood casing when I close the door. I should have noticed this before but didn't. I have a full time job and am not a carpenter or general contractor. In the larger scheme of things, this isn't a huge deal. It is, though, when you're paying a general contractor precious dollars for his experience and also paying for new materials. It also becomes a problem when it happens repeatedly throughout a project. Like other things, I'll fix the strikes on my front door. My other suspicion is that HSC was spread too thin and should not have accepted the job. In any remodel, mistakes will happen. I accept that. Mistakes also sometimes just happen. We're human. I accept that too. But at some point the mistakes in my remodel became a pattern. They could have been avoided. Wish these guys the best in the future.

I cannot say enough things about this company and the people who work for/with them. Matt the GC is great, and Mark my supervisor is one of my favourite people. They and their crew went above and beyond to fulfill my every request: FSC certified wood, low VOC paint, reclaimed wood- everything in the house is non-toxic and/or reclaimed. They even sourced reclaimed beadboard which they then cut down to match the rest of the exterior beadboard. Truly these people are amazing. Willie the carpenter is very talented, and Willy (yep, different guy) who lays their tile is so patient, dealt with my 1920s replica patterned hex tile like a champ. I could go on for days. They came in far under budget compared to all the other quotes I got, and worked much faster. I had a nightmare of a time getting my permits from the City, so their quick work was what I needed. I already have them booked to do some more work. Great company, great crew.

When I read the reviews, I assumed they couldn't be that good. I started writing reviews about a year ago when I realised that I rely almost entirely on reviews for where I go and who I hire, so I thought I should only give some back. So. Really. They're great. Organised, professional, fun to be around, good conversation, open to suggestions. I am pretty demanding- I want them to reuse and recycle as much as possible, and only use fsc certified, local and nontoxic products. Most contractors have a way they've been doing it all their careers and... that's it. They have one way. It saves them time, and they trust it, which is perfectly fine, but I wanted more than that and I didn't want to feel guilty about it, and HSC are so understanding, and patient with my questions. When we did demo and found the old niche for the ironing board, I asked to keep it and drywall around it, the exterior siding that was under the old osb in the porch? keeping that too, the 1917 pane of mirror we uncovered in the bathroom? My superintendent is going out of his way to make sure nothing happens. Matt's the GC but my superintendent is Mark Gilbert, who's a truly lovely person (don't tell him I said that) and has been so calming to work with so far. I'm at a 10 day conference in Chicago right now so he's sending me text questions rather than calling, which is really helpful, and makes me feel like it's not totally out of control while I'm away.
It's not all done yet, and I'll post an update when it's all said and done, but so far, so great!

Great job. Easy and beautiful remodel. Can't go wrong with HSC.

It went great. I would not hesitate to call Matt again. We had a problem with the dishwasher again shortly before everything was done and he stopped by our house on his way out of town to fix it. I cannot say enough good things about Matt.

Matt Davenport with Home Source Construction completed our kitchen and living room remodel with fantastic quality. He excelled at managing this project with a very fine attention to detail. Matt’s quote was very accurate in regards to both timeline and cost, and both were better than any other contractor we interviewed. His competitors will tell you his ambitious timeframe is a fault and it sounds too good to be true. However, Matt proved himself and completed the project exactly as estimated in 4 business weeks. Everyone else quoted 6 to 12 weeks. Matt is able to achieve this by being personally involved during the entire process and by only focusing on one or two projects at a time. He gave key inputs to help with the tough decisions. Each idea he had helped us improve the overall quality and resale value of our home. Matt uses high quality workers and craftsmen. If something isn’t right, he works with his people & vendors to make it right. Two things that really set Matt apart from most contractors are his honesty and his drive to go above and beyond. He was quick to let us know as soon as something unexpected came up and gave us the options for how to handle them. He kept receipts for everything down to the last package of screws so we knew where every last penny we spent went. And he was able to add in a few small non-kitchen items that made life easier for us like replacing a bathroom sink and wiring our house for Ethernet. We receive nothing but compliments from guests with the work and overall we are very satisfied with the remodel and could not be happier with the result.

The work went great! I was really happy with them in all areas. I feel like I got lucky because they were recommended by someone who knows the business. The two main guys that run the company knew their stuff. The house looks really beautiful. The drywall I liked very smooth and modern looking, and they were able to get the texture just right. The house looks perfectly straight now. The paint job is great also. I am very happy with the 4 rooms that they did. They told me how long it would take. They warned me ahead of time that they would be at my house for one whole week straight. They would be here early in the morning until late in the day. They came the day that they said they would. They came for 7 days straight, and were finished on time. There was nobody taking long breaks. There were people working on the house the whole time they were here.

It went very, very well. There were no delays. They started according to my schedule and finished on time, with no issues whatsoever. The walls look great. Everything looks great. You can not tell there used to be a hideous wallpaper border in the middle of the walls. Any minor items I asked them to fix or change, were changed immediately. It was great to work with them!

Matt was referred by our previous handyman (who had relocated to Houston). I called Matt, and he came over within an hour to give an estimate. I wasn't sure if the estimate was reasonable or not, but for the results, I'd say it was worth it, plus I didn't really have the luxury to wait as a few more windy days would have knocked the whole thing over. Matt said he could have someone over the next morning to repair the fence. The guy who arrived the next morning, replaced the old post (mounting the new post in cement). He laid some soil over the cement so you couldn't see it. That afternoon, once I got back from work, Matt came to the house to make sure I was satisfied with the job. A nice surprise - I had asked Matt to give me an estimate on cleaning out the down spouts of our gutters ($75), and was planning to get them cleaned once our oaks were done shedding. However, while Matt's guy was waiting for the cement to dry, he cleaned the gutters out - free of charge, so now I don't need to clean the gutters anytime soon! I will definitely be calling him when I need a handyman.