Richards Construction Inc
About us
20 Employees. No Subs. Cost is determined by the job. No travel charges. License: #2705037245A. Additional contact name: Kay Richards. Additional email id: [email protected]. May contact through email.
Business highlights
Services we offer
ADDITIONS, ALL KINDS OF ELECTRICAL REPAIR & PLUMBING., BASEMENTS, CERAMIC TILE, KITCHEN & BATH REMODELING, PAINTING
Amenities
Emergency Services
Yes
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
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89% | ||
6% | ||
0% | ||
4% | ||
1% |
Richards obtained the tile we had selected and had it delivered. Work began November 6 with removal of the old marble tile floor and the underlayment which was insufficiently strong. The new underlayment, and then the new tile, was laid within the next couple of working days. The new underlayment caused the level of the floor to be about 1/2 inch higher than the old, so carpenters provided new custom-cut transition strips into three rooms plus at the top of the steps to the basement.
Electrical work included installing three outdoor light fixtures we provided (replacing existing ones so there was no new wiring), wiring and installation of an LED light fixture in the coat closet; and minor drywall repair as required.
It happened that as we planned this job, coincidentally we found a toilet in another part of the house needed to be replaced, so Richards Construction accommodated us by acquiring the fixture and installing it as a part of this otherwise unrelated contract.
Except for one very minor punchlist item of rounded shoe molding that had to be special ordered, all the work was completed over about 8 days, well within the two weeks specified in the contract.
Once again, we were very pleased with the results RCI achieved
We had used Richards Construction for at least two bathroom remodeling projects in the past; we called and told Larry generally what we wanted to do; he came to the house to review the site, made some suggestions/offered ideas, offered some advice on how we should prep for the job (e.g. emptying cupboards, etc) and sent us a draft contract within a few days. We signed a contract on August 30 and within two work days, a countertop subcontractor had come to take measurements for replacing four separate sections of countertop (one about 25 feet long).
We delayed work start until September 14 until some other major work by another contractor was being completed elsewhere in the house. On that day, a whole crew arrived - carpenter, electricians, job foreman - laid down protection for the floor, and began demolition/removal of old countertop, sinks, pantry door, and started some of the new electrical wiring. The start was timed to coincide with completion of cutting the new quartz countertop, which arrived and was installed, along with the new sinks/faucets, and reinstallation of the existing kitchen range, on the second day, so we were only without a functional kitchen for two days. New wiring, lights, and switches were essentially finished up on day 3. Great!
One of the key things about Richards Construction is flexibility - Larry has told me it's dealing with the unpredictable that he really enjoys in his work. And that was illustrated here. The job would, I suspect, easily have been finished up within two weeks - but the wall around the pantry door was discovered to contain a bearing member - the available space was less than we thought, so the new custom-made doors that had been preordered and predelivered had to go back to the manufacturer to be cut down; brought back to be hung; then sent out to the faux-painter who also encountered delays. These delays added four weeks to the final completion of the job. But we were still able to use the kitchen while all this was going on.
We introduced a problem ourselves when, while waiting for the doors, we happened on a new kitchen range we liked, bought it, and had the appliance company install it. Well, technically every 30-inch range should fit in a 30-inch space, but this one didn't quite. Again, flexibility - our old range hadn't been accurately leveled yet, so in doing that, RCI also tailored the new countertop for us so the new range fit..
Other points we like about Richards Construction; their crew all really know their stuff and are problem-solvers; many of them have more than one skill; and Larry himself will always deliver what he has promised. We have already completed another job with RCI (which I will review separately) and have plans to do yet another one sometime during 2016.
Excellent. They worked with us around a family health emergency that entailed rescheduling several visits.
Background: Our 1985 builder grade home in Lakeridge, VA is a 2 story, 3 bedroom, 3.5 bath, 2 car garage "cookie cutter" house on 0.25 acres. We've got one of the smallest houses in the neighborhood with no room to expand. We wanted to leverage the equity in our home to remodel the master bathroom. It was a very poor layout with wasted space, an unusable bathtub (you had to crawl into the foot of the tub and climb across to access the faucet. it was completely idiotic) and a tiny shower. the cabinets were pressboard and the flooring was still rolled linoleum. We had a toilet in a small room with the only window in the bathroom. Lighting was horrible. Finally, there was a bizarre design with a hole in the wall from the bedroom to bathroom with 2 wooden shelves that eliminated privacy and made it impossible to use the space in either room. We did have a walk in closet in the back of the bathroom that we kept intact.
Following the holidays, Richards Construction arrived to start demolition. they stripped the bathroom down to the studs and tore out the walls. remodeling included a new layout that maximized the available space. The team installed new plumbing, wiring, tile floors, a glass shower with double head, new cherry Bertch cabinets, custom design tiling around the shower and tub, a new jet powered whirlpool tub, new toilet, ceiling fans, recessed lighting, double mirrored medicine cabinets and soapstone countertop with new plumbing fixtures.
We experienced a couple issues during the construction project that Larry resolved quickly. When the whirlpool tub failed the leak test, Larry forced the supplier to replace it. While it delayed the project a couple weeks, we were happy that we wouldn't have any issues going forward.
the outcome is amazing! our master bathroom looks like a Hyatt hotel luxury suite now. We were very pleased with the outcome and confident that this has added value to our home. We highly recommend Richards Construction for your home remodeling project.
Project started with a visit from Larry and his designer for pictures and an assessment. The following week we traveled to the Richards showroom for a design consultation. We talked about the options and reviewed his recommendations. Since we already had hardwood floors installed in the living room, we wanted to match the flooring in the redesigned kitchen and family room. This proved to be the "long pole in the tent" and the major reason of the delays on our project. Larry's flooring supplier did their best to find the same flooring material, but had to contact the Canadian mill to have the material custom made and shipped. Larry worked on our behalf to "make it right" and kept us informed along the way.
Our kitchen project included demolition of the entire kitchen, removing the wall between the dining room and kitchen, rebuilding the duct work, installing ceiling flood lights, moving and upgrading the electrical switches, ordering and installing new Bertch cabinets, new granite countertops (we traveled to the Chantilly supplier to select the material), adding an island with a second deep sink and dishwasher, backsplash tiling, installing our new appliances and ceiling fans, under cabinet lighting, and then, the new hardwood floors. Since we opened up the back of the house and have one large room from the kitchen the family room, we have a large eat in kitchen now. Larry's team designed a custom made, counter height kitchen table that easily sits 6-8 people.
With a new kitchen in place, we decided to replace the entrance flooring with tile. The gray slate tile is a perfect complement to the lighter canadian maple hardwood. Additionally, we covered the fireplace brick with new stacked stone and a slate hearth. the new recessed lighting over the fireplace highlights the workmanship.
While the kitchen flooring was being custom made, we decided to replace all the carpeting up the stairs and in the 3 bedrooms with Brazilian cherry hardwood. the staircase took a while to complete, but the end result was worth the wait.
Larry's team of experts were courteous, friendly and conscious of the impact they were making on us during a 6 month remodeling project. We had to live in the basement and our bedrooms while the construction project overtook the main floor of our home. Dust accumulated on everything....we should have done a better job preparing for the mess. the construction team arrived daily at 8am and used a lock box to enter the home. They cleaned up and removed trash on a regular basis.
Our greatest frustration with the whole project was the delay caused by the custom flooring. In the end, the kitchen looks amazing and we are so pleased the with the outcome. I highly recommend Richards Construction for your home remodeling project too.
The down side is that the ground surrounding the window well keeps sinking lower than the well itself, which leaves a rather ugly trench around the well, about a foot deep. In addition, mud keeps piling up inside the window well, and mud seeps in through the window itself. (I don't know if I can blame the crew for that, really, or not, however. It may be simply that when you get that much rain, that will happen -- and to be fair, the walls and carpet stayed dry - it was just a layer of brown over the white paint where it seeped in from the window.)
There were many days when none of Richards' crew showed up. I constantly had to contact Larry to find out the status of the work. The business descriptions state "No Subs.", but many of the crew that worked on the project are subcontractors. I strongly believe this led to the significantly delays as a result of poor scheduling by Richards with the subcontractors.
On the gym mats installation, the guys left drywall dust everywhere and didn't clean up mess afterwards until 2 or 3 weeks later after I continuously contacted Larry and complained. Larry made it seem like that was normal and wanted to know what I wanted him to do about it. We even had a heated conversation about that after I took off work to meet Larry or his project manager to discuss the issue. Neither one showed up. One of Richards' employees even said that was unacceptable when I expressed my concerns the same day after he happen to show up to dropped off some materials. He wasn't aware of the problem, but completely understood why I was upset.
As a contractor, I often looked for Larry to provide ideas or suggestions for the project. However, it seemed Larry didn't have any ideas to offer and left it up to me to decide on what I wanted. Basically, whatever I chose, he said would look good. I expected much better from Richards in terms of advice and guidance on this project. As a customer, you always expect for all of your questions to be answered by the contractor. I frequently emailed Larry questions regarding the project as he said from the start that he was usually online and would respond to any of my requests. Well I have numerous emails with questions that went unanswered or I simply received short responses that forced me to resend the questions.
I received the final accounting (bill) today that includes NO consideration for the significant delays in completing the work or gym mat issue. Furthermore, I find it very odd that no one from Richards have come out to my house to follow-up to see if I'm happy with the finished project. Larry came out to my house once to discuss the initial project and have not seen him since. He didn't even take any time to call me when the project was completed. I simply don't understand how a contractor can do business this way and not communicate properly with their customers. That's very unprofessional and completely unacceptable in my opinion.
Lesson Learned: Richards will definitely not receive my business again. Good luck if you chose to use them!!
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