Ravensworth Custom Home Improvements LLC
About us
We are a family owned, award winning business offering a no tech-speak, stress free process. No fancy business jargon, no high-pressure selling...in fact, no selling at all. We advise based on 40 years of business, family and home ownership experience; then, you decide what's best for your situation. It's how we'd want to be treated.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Windows, basement & kitchen renovation & remodeling, bath, doors, erosion & drainage solutions; basic design solutions and renderings, gazebos, gutters, hardscape & outdoor kitchens, new construction, roofing; decks & porches, siding, stone scapes
Amenities
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
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76% | ||
5% | ||
0% | ||
0% | ||
19% |
"Working with the Members made for one of our favorite projects. We're so grateful, not only to have met them, but that we were able to help them with so many different projects. It was truly a great experience. The Members' home was distinctive, functional and beautiful when the many projects were complete. We very much appreciate the kind and generous comments and wish the Members the very best."
I had a slow leak under my kitchen sink for many years and numerous plumbers could never detect the cause. Over time things under my sink became rusted. The supervisor found the culprit behind the wall. It was a time consuming job, getting to this pipe and repairing it, but he made it look effortless. There was no additional cost in the contract. It would have been a monumental job if the cabinets had been installed without finding this miniscule leak.
I chose to keep the existing tile floor in my kitchen and because the cabinets were a different size, the supervisor was able to construct toe kicks that are architecturally lovely.
I have severe allergies and bronchial problems. One of the criteria was they had to clean up daily as I couldn?t be exposed to any dust. Glenn assured me that would not be a problem, although I was told by all my friends, there will be dust and there will be fine dust. Every day, my home was left spotless and dust free.
Contract: They provided me with a good contract with start and end completion dates and details of each phase. It was completed ahead of schedule and my small punch list resolved immediately.
Workmanship: The quality of their work is top-notch. They never skimped on materials or workmanship.
Honesty: I wasn?t home much of the time the construction was taking place. The workmen were trustworthy and I never hesitated to leave valuables unprotected. They were quiet, polite and respectful. Although I always left sodas and water in the refrigerator for them, I would have to encourage them to help themselves.
Professionalism and communication: Ravensworth impressed me from my initial meeting. Glenn is a ?can do? person and there isn?t an obstacle that gets in his way. He was easily reachable and regularly checked in on the job. The supervisor was also a huge asset to the easy flow of the work. As issue would arise, he would easily find a good solution.
Punctual: I was given a schedule and they didn?t waver from it, with the exception of materials did not arrive one time. The workmen were at my doorstep early in the morning and put in a full day.
Cut costs: a small cupboard in my kitchen I wanted to be reconfigured. They had many interesting suggestions but in the end, they recommended I keep the existing closet as it worked for me. They spiffed it up and it is perfect.
Summary: Ravenworth deserves a 5-Star-plus rating. They achieved exactly what I wanted and much more. Glenn/Craig Ravensworth hire accomplished sub-contractors who are self-motivated and also know how to get a job done efficiently.
I now have a stunningly open kitchen, beautiful soft lighting under the cabinets and over the breakfast bar with natural light coming in with the removal of half wall. I wouldn?t change a thing and I?d do it all over the very same.
"We greatly appreciate the member's kind comments. She was a complete joy to work with and for. Her kitchen really did come out just great. We agree with her that it's a nice addition to her home. We couldn't have asked for a more pleasant customer with whom to work. Running into the unexpected on day one of demolition is not an unusual thing but it's always fun, of course, when it DOESN'T happen. Nonetheless, all's well that ends well. The member was tuned in as we discussed options so it wasn't tough coming up with a good solution for her. We're grateful for every opportunity to serve our clients but this particular client was a real joy to get to know."
Ravensworth has refused to take responsibility for not delivering on the approach they sold us on. Ravensworth preaches customer service, but they don't hold themselves accountable when they don't deliver. They will say (as they seem to do repeatedly on Angie's List and other websites), that there are two sides to every story. They will allege that we've left out important details. We are happy to share our long email chains with anyone thinking about doing business with Ravensworth, and you can judge for yourself.
Ravensworth claims (disingenuously, we believe) that they have no idea why we decided to stop working with them, so let us be clear here. They sold us on an approach and a sub, both of which they could not produce. Their new approach would have depended on more direct supervision on their part of subs that they told us previously were not ideal to do the work. Through the time and materials work, they demonstrated to us that they were not capable of adequate oversight and quality control. Nearly five months had passed since we contracted the work, and Ravensworth was unable to even break ground (we'll give them a month's worth of slack because of a time when we were clear that we didn't want them to start work). We called mercy on the project. It was not going to happen as we envisioned. They agreed, but fourth months on we're still sorting things out.
As the previous reviewer stated, just read the reviews here, and read the lengthy defensive comments from Ravensworth. Yes, it's sad when interactions devolve to this level, so do yourself a favor and think if you want to roll the dice and maybe have a decent experience, or blow time and money on the type of experience that we and numerous other reviewers went through.
Owner, Glenn, after contract was signed and deposit made disappeared and was only contactable over email.
He immediately subcontracted the work to 3 people who did not speak English and I could not communicate well with.
During the 3 weeks his crew was working (5 full days total over 3 weeks) he was only seen on site once and his home office is less than 5 minute walk from the work site.
Day 1: His crew show up late morning without tools, go through my shed and use my tools to work. "Oh sorry they forgot tools, and were too embarrassed to ask so just used them. . . and their wheelbarrow got a flat so they used yours." Their wheelbarrow was older than mine but did not have a flat. . . he made up lots of excuses and when you are standing on the work site and he doesn't ever check up on things, it is easy to see through all the lies.
After second week's bill had very high expenses labeled "misc." with no dates. I paid promptly (yes I am a sucker) but asked to see receipts. I had to tell him to stop work after 3rd week because of the slow progress and higher than expected expense. Crew also performed work explicitly written in contract not to do. I had already contracted a company to replace the roof told them not to do anything to cover it explicitly in contract, but they replaced part of it anyways. They used felt paper on a low pitch roof and felt paper doesn't even meet minimum code, so it had to all be ripped down. ( I was still charged for the time and expense . . what? "It would be unprofessional of us not to fix the roof even if you told us not to" what?) The crew was supposed to be 3 man crew but 1 or 2 were almost always missing, and only 1 day in 3 weeks did they stay at the home for a full 8 hours.
Two and a half months after they stopped working and after I asked to see supporting receipts I finally hear back from Glenn with a final bill and a bunch of receipts. It turns out that the 2nd week bill, based on receipts, I was over charged over $2,000. The receipts also had tool purchases and tool rentals which I was not supposed to be charged. I expected them to have a shovel and circular saw as a construction company. The kicker is that one of the biggest receipts was in the group copied twice to look different. I guess he did not think I would look at more than the totals on them? He also tried to charge extra for days his crew did not work and when confronted he said that he couldn't put them on another job so I owed him the money. He said it was an honest mistake but then he would not modify the bill
I added up what I did owe contractually and with my deposit and over payment on previous bills it turned out that he owes me just under $1000. Now he has gone silent again, and won't meet with me to discuss or change the bill or give me my money owed.
I have yet to see any of my money back. Do business with this company at your own peril, or if you enjoy flushing money down the toilet.
I was over charged, and had to hire people to fix all the mistakes. Read all the reviews on Angies list. I should have before doing business with them.
Lots of excuses. No effort.
Ravensworth provides quality work all the way through the project. I highly recommend there services.
"We appreciate the fair and objective response from this Angie's List member. It is not unreasonable given the events with which we were dealing at the time and our subsequent lack of ability to provide the level of service for which we were known beforehand. We very well may have been mistaken but thought that this member was not ready for drawings at the time that we talked and, for the time being, was in need of an order of magnitude about the general type of work discussed. Again, we may have been mistaken. We would still be willing to provide drawings should this member desire them. Again, we appreciate this member's contribution to the Angie's List knowledge base. We, as a company, look forward to returning to a level of excellence for any prospective clients."
"Let me point out again, the member did not pay our company $59. He paid this to Angie's List. They are happy to refund him the $59. We cannot refund him the money, we were not paid the $59. The member called our company a number of times. I called him back repeatedly. We attempted to set an appt with this member but it never seemed to work out. We do not believe we are deserving of an F rating for this. Certainly not an A but not an F either. We trust the Angie's List member recognizes that he only need ask Angie's List for a refund. We are aware that the member received other estimates from other contractors and hope that one of those projects worked out well. Thank you for this opportunity to respond. Merry Christmas to all."
"Customer; Thanks so much for the acknowledgment. You are one of the Angie's List customers who we were able to help with plans and we are, of course, so happy that you were pleased with what we offered. We are grateful for your kind words, they are, as the ancient author said, like water to the dry soul. Thanks again!"
"Well, after the last year we've had, I can't tell you how much I'd love for this report to be ours. But we are honest so I have to say this is not our report. And it's only fair that whatever company provided this great service for the Angie's List member get the credit for it. It will take us a while to regain your trust. But we will. Happy Veteran's Day to all."
"Member's are great customers! They are friendly and were easy to work with. We very much appreciate this report and will always do our best to provide the best value and service for the Member's and every Angie's List customer that we are able to help."
"We appreciate the member's response and can certainly understand his frustration. Our performance has been sub par for us and we deeply regret that we undertook the Angie's List Big Deal when we did. But that is only because of the unforeseeable events which occurred for us personally. We did not want to broadcast the news but the reality is that our father (my brother and I are partners in the company) became very ill around this time drawing quite close to death repeatedly. He passed away about 3 weeks ago now. Being a very small company and never dreaming we were going to get over 50 responses -- thank you Angie's List customers! -- we were overwhelmed. We provide highly customized work and draw each of the plans ourselves. But the sheer number of responses coupled with our Dad's prolonged decline in health (which pulls one away from one's work over and over each time new is received of deteriorating conditions and then rush to be there in the event he passes) and eventual passing simply proved to be the perfect storm for us. All of that said, we have completed meetings with about 1/2 of the Angie's List customers and have spoken with others who have very kindly understood our situation and have been willing for us to reach out to them as we were able. We are doing just that and as rapidly as we can. We asked the members to respond with any pictures of their yard and simple descriptions of what they would like to accomplish. Most of been very helpful by responding, a few have not. Having said all of that, we have records of emails sent to the member twice in Feb, twice in March and again twice in April with no records of any response. I have no way of attesting to whether or not the member has called (I assume he has but cannot confirm or deny this). As to the member's use of the Angie's List Big Deal coupon, we are more than happy, under the circumstances, to extend the offer for any reasonable length of time. Again, we do apologize to the member and to all of the other members who purchased this Big Deal. It is our intent to follow up with everyone who may still have interest in speaking with us. The situation is behind us now for the most part but, as one might imagine, a considerable toll has been taken on our productivity and schedule. We are recovering and endeavoring to meet our commitments as efficiently and quickly as we are able. We do appreciate the compassion, sympathy and many kind well wishes from so many Angie's List members."
"This home was quite unique with interesting design implementations both inside and out. It was a real pleasure to add our custom exterior color windows to the already attractive interior."
"The Members were awesome to work with. Delightful people. It's only fitting that they have a lovely home to enjoy. They deserve it. We were quite pleased to assist them in making their master suite a more comfortable sanctuary in which to spend time."
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