Rawsko's Renovations

Jon can do it all. He's completely remodeled our bathroom, built a deck for us, and replaced an exterior door. He does all of the work himself, so you don't have to worry about a variety of people coming by. He's great a communicating and is clear about what he plans to do. Jon is always the first person I call when I have a project I need help with.

The project went flawlessly. Jon and team showed up promptly every day and performed excellent work. He finished ahead of schedule and the pricing was fair. The best part of the project was the clear and consistent communication. I would definitely hire him again.

Fantastic!! John is a super professional contractor, highly skilled and extensively experienced in every aspect of the contracting industry. He worked tirelessly to produce our dream bathroom and bedroom and at the same time assured us that he could meet our expectations!!! The finished product is amazingly beautiful and everyone that has seen it says it belongs on the front of a magazine. All of our future renovations will be done by John Wehr, owner/contractor of Rawskos Renovations.

John built a server closet and kitchen nook in our office. This involved adding a few walls, installing a door, installing shelving, and doing paint/trim work. He did excellent work, and worked around our schedules so as not to disturb us during working hours. We were incredibly happy with the result. I plan to use him again for projects at my house.

Both jobs went very well. We were lucky to have found Jon Wehr. Getting these 2 jobs done was high priority for us before considering other renovations. The first job was to remove an old broken garage door, frame in a wall with 5 windows, install insulation and drywall, float and texture. The second job was to reframe a walk-in closet by removing an interior corner and relocating the entry. This also required drywall installing , floating and texturing. Jon is a superb worker and takes real personal pride in what he does.

I wanted to convert my two-stall attached garage into a combination living space/utility room and Jon undertook the project. He did the following: * removed the garage door; in its place built a wall with openings for a triple window and a door; placed ZIP sheathing on the outside of that framing; in front of that wall built a cement ledge with a brick and mortar wall on top of it * installed Roxul insulation in the new wall and two of the existing walls * installed drywall on the three walls and several places in the ceiling where it was damaged or missing; taped the seams, applied compound, and sanded * built an uninsulated interior wall with a door opening * applied two coats of Behr paint to all the walls and the ceiling * installed three light/fan combos in the living area and a light in the utility room ceiling * installed Schluter Ditra on the living space floor followed by 17” x 17” porcelain tiles arranged in a diamond pattern and baseboard tiles around the living space perimeter * installed two steel exterior doors and one Larson exterior aluminum door along with their knobs and locks * replaced the attic door with an insulated one from Werner. Everything was done the way I wanted it done. The result was all that I had envisioned. I intend to call on Jon in the future to remodel the interior of my home and maintain its exterior (painting, roofing).

I hired an architect and an structural engineer (a city requirement for new construction in Austin) to design the structure and then began shopping the produced plans around. Acting as my own GC, I fully expected to have to hire different subcontractors for demolition, foundation, framing and cornice, painting, electrical, and roofing. I reached out to Jon Wehr, owner of Rawskos Renovations, and was pleasantly surprised that with the exception of electrical, he was willing to bid on the project as a whole with me as the GC. Rawskos prices are fair, about mid way between a large-scale commercial contractor and a guy you found on Craigslist or in the Home Depot parking lot. As with any construction project, you sort of expect a certain amount of flakiness from your subcontractors, miscommunications, no shows, inflated hours or extras charges, but not with Rawskos. The crew were professional and courteous, prompt, thorough, and gave plenty of advanced notice as to scheduling. In fact, we faced battles with the local power company, the city inspectors, and my own architect and engineer, all of which caused unforeseen delays. If not for the flexibility and willingness of the crew to quickly shift gears and do some unaffected part of the job while we waited for clearance, approvals, passed inspections, or missing structural validation reports, this job would have failed dramatically. Jon's estimate for completion was about two months for this project and it finished in just about three months. However, if you subtract out the two week delay caused by discrepancies with power company spotter's approved clearance, 5 days delay caused by the city incorrectly filing our application as a renovation instead of new construction, ten days it took to get a Foundation and Framing Validation report from my engineer that should have taken 30 minutes to write, not to mention a 2 week delay in materials caused by Hurricane Harvey, you can see that Rawskos stayed on task and kept busy, without ever having to put the job on hold or take time off (except during the three days of the actual hurricane). I also wanted to mention that the team constantly made recommendations that enhanced the final outcome or addressed design shortcomings throughout the project. As a beginner GC, I needed a little coaching and they were more than willing to accommodate to ensure they had the materials and design decisions they needed in advance, which kept the project rolling pretty much at full steam.

it was three days and that to me was very quick and professional.

Fantastic! QUALITY workmanship, always on time, kept me informed and was a pleasure to work with throughout the whole restoration of my kitchen. The work was done in a timely manner and I couldn't have been happier. I've already had Jonathan come out and give me a bid on doing some more work for me on my home.

Great, prompt, on time , quality work, friendly and reliable. Mult -talented , hired for whole job which was very nice he could do everything we needed done. Would recommend & hire again. Thanks Jon!

We've had a very favorable experience with each project. Exceptionally high quality workmanship and great can-do attitude.

As good as it gets. I have know Jon for five years and he has done great work for my sister on an a high end bathroom job. He has done work for me here in Austin and on my beachouse in Port Aransas. He has a great crew, is punctual and completes his work when promised.

I am very satisfied with the quality, cost and experience of working with Rawskos Renovations.

Very well. All jobs were done in a timely and efficient manner. The job site was always left clean after every day of work. Rawskos Renovations does QUALITY work not quantity. You can tell that John has a passion for what he does and takes pride in his work. He pays great attention to detail and does the job right the first time. Compared to other quotes I had Rawskos renovations prices were the best. Not only that he is licensed and insured with the Great State of Texas. Something that is a must in my book when it comes to hiring general contractors.

Jon Wehr performed as Contractor in the building of a two story, 3 bedroom, 2 ½ bath home as well as the renovation/remodel of our cottage adjacent to the new home. His work was performed in a meticulous and timely manner. Jon is extraordinarily detailed and exceeded our expectations. The remodel alone was a 5 month project. He and his crew were always on time and stayed until the daily projects were completed, often times resulting in a 10 hour day. He was respectful of our privacy as well as our property. The work site was always cleaned and organized at the end of the day. Jon's skill set is uniquely capable for all aspects needed for new construction, renovation, and remodeling. Jon created an exciting new home and a cottage with all the modern conveniences from start to finish. It's stunning, and we are very grateful to have had him in control of this large project. I recommend the perusal of his facebook page where you can see pictures of his successes and can see his extraodinary attention to detail. Beautiful work.

Jonathan “Jon” Wehr worked for me as a Contractor and served in the role of Project Supervisor in the restoration and renovation of both 112 & 113 Main St. Smithville, Texas.   The 113 project lasted five months and the 112 project last a month.  Jon performed his daily tasks professionally, admirably and at a fair cost.  During the project he elevated himself from Carpenter to Supervisor of the project.  He immediately became immersed in the restoration of the 113 project from day one; not only as a carpenter, but using his deep skill set he was / is able to perform a variety of construction functions and led the crews to meet the project objectives.   112 Main St. was a renovation and face lift to bring in a now successful Bakery.  113 is now a successful dance studio.

Some, but not all, of Jon’s skill sets are:

Carpentry:  Jon began his employment demonstrating his skills by duplicating exact an entire turn of the century window frame as an entry-level task (as there were many renew, refresh and salvage tasks to be accomplished).  Drawing upon Jon’s forte’ he constructed the front picture window encasements (both interior and exterior) when the existing windows were woefully constructed in a prior disjointed renovation.  These windows had one plate glass pane shoved up into the abutting wall for what ever reason and the encasements didn’t match.  Jon was able to recover the large plate glass picture window and built duplicate store front windows using available modern materials. He did all this while maintaining the integrity of the turn of the century look. Jon reattached the original bead board ceiling as needed. He demolished, repaired and reconstructed an interior office space which studs were so rotted it surprised me the wall stood.  He replaced these studs and beefed up the wall minimizing sheet rock loss and expense.  He repaired the floor and installed 2K sq ft of new pine flooring; leveling and strengthening as needed.  He built air conditioning platforms and “pony” walls above and around the bathrooms and office.  He skillfully removed the foot shy back windows and replaced them with the appropriate windows for the opening.  He reattached the original crown moulding and removed and repurposed hidden moulding allowing crown mould sameness at the ceiling.  He trussed and hung bead board ceiling and built a utility fur down.  He hung 3 very large new double doors and finished them off with period trim attached by stick and mason keepers.  Jon built awnings and also (using recovered turn of the century sliding door hardware) a sliding door from scratch, plus restored the large front awning at the front of the building.  Finishing trim was tight and right.  I observed a technique I had not seen before on a free standing wall and its crown molding when Jon wrapped the end upon itself as opposed to leaving a square butt cut.

Masonry: Repaired grout lines, repaired brick, edged old plaster with new mortar, sealed the brick with appropriate sealer, filled holes with new plaster, and supervised the floating of a 700 sq ft concrete floor with leveling compound.

Plumbing: When Jon was repairing a bathroom floor, he went the extra mile and checked the main drain line and found the 4 inch sewer line severed from the external main line (this had been caused by other workers whose actions would have caused major system failure requiring demolishing a new floor had the toilets been seated and operational).  Jon also was able to plumb the bathroom sinks, toilets, a vintage corner hand washing station, a commercial gas on demand hot water heater, all at or better standards than the plumber initially contracted to do the job.

Drywall:  Jon is very skilled in hanging sheetrock on interior walls and bathrooms.   Jon is able to tape and float the wall without overdoing the use of joint compound, thus preventing excess dust, and time preparing a wall for paint.  In 113 we did a smooth float and an orange peel. In 112 we did a stucco free style.

Paint:  Jon skill in painting has the building shining like a new penny!  He is skilled in prep, paint selection, spraying, and cut in; he is meticulous about a dust free environment in which to put product on surfaces to be finished.  He and his helper prepped, swept and mopped all surfaces prior to applying product.  He applied elastomeric to the masonry; both interior and exterior.

Jon is bright and personable, is highly self-motivated and well capable of achieving any goal he sets his mind to. Jon’s quick promotion to Project Supervisor is an example of that. His experience ensured the job was delivered at or below reasonable cost.  His attention to detail starts with perfection and ends there as well.  If there is a reasonable compromise to a situation Jon will give the options to the client clearly offering guidance.  He ensured the job was orderly, teams met project deadlines and the site was kept clean.  Other trade employees perceive Jon as a valuable resource and looked to him for innovative direction of this restoration.

Jon welcomes leadership opportunities and meets his deadlines on time.

America needs more employees like Jon. He is an asset to any individual or company that hires him.

If you would like additional information about Jon, you can telephone me at (830) 839-4332.

,Another person had begun my renovation and did not meet my standards.  Jon came in and cleaned up the mess and continued the process until I ended up with a nice bathroom.  He allowed me to do some of the work myself (painting walls and ceiling).  He kept me informed of any issues, cost of materials, time frames needed.  The  more he worked on my house, the more jobs I asked him to do.  I appreciated his attention to detail on the various things he did for me. He left the work areas clean each day.  I was very comfortable with him in the house as well as his helper, Matt. I especially like the way his contracts are written.  He outlines in detail the steps of the job and the payment schedule as each step is completed. He shared receipts with me as he bought supplies for each job.  There were no surprises financially.  My dog even liked him, and she is picky with her human friends.  I would not hesitate to use him again.  My next project is my early 80's kitchen and I plan to use Jon for this, too.