J & F Specialties Inc

HIRE THEM - THEY ARE THE BEST!!! John and his team did our kitchen and our addition in 2015 and 2016 and I can't say enough wonderful things about them. They were done the day they said they would be and to the dollar they quoted me. They are also the nicest group of people to work with and became temporary family members while they were in our house. I would trust them with anything. And five years later, the work has stood the test of time. Quality people and quality work. You can't go wrong with them!

John Boynton and his team and subcontractors perform excellent work. They collaborate well with homeowners so that they take in requests and provide suggestions to come up with solutions that are artful and durable. They provide timely communication and have come back to fix small things that we had overlooked originally. Our new HVAC system has been noted by several other professionals who have visited our house as a “Masterpiece.” Our kitchen and our master bath are also strikingly well done and receive many compliments. Our renovation nearly doubled the size of our house, including digging out to build onto the basement. The whole process took about a year. During that time, John and his team were consistently considerate and dedicated to helping us.

It took a little longer than I expected but the work is first class.

We hired the crew from J&F Specialties to help design and then build a custom two-story wooden playhouse/swingset in our backyard. Although we had a basic idea for the design, John did a fantastic job addressing the technical aspects of the design while ensuring a child-friendly space. He thought of everything - recommending specific products to ensure structural stability, durability and safety. John and the crew went above and beyond to create a beautiful architectural focal point that doubles as a child's dream play house! Given the attention to detail for every aspect from design to completion we would highly recommend their team for your contracting needs!

unknown

After 20+ years, it was time to update and remodel our kitchen. Over the course of many months and after talking with a dozen remodeling companies, we decided to use Kitchen Solvers of Springfield. The owner, John Boynton, was referred to us from a friend who had used his company for remodeling work. John has been in the remodeling business for many years. We scheduled an appointment with John to discuss our plans. From the start we were impressed with John, his knowledge, and ideas.? The proposed project was to be a complete remodel of the kitchen, adjacent powder room, and additional work in the laundry room. Although we had created a plan for what we wanted to accomplish, John was very helpful in ?tweaking? our design and in referring us to preferred sources for countertops, flooring, tiles, etc. John even let us borrow sample cabinet doors so that we could decide what would complement the decor in our home. After a couple of meetings to finalize the plan, we signed a contract. John diligently worked with us to finalize the cost estimate to keep it within our budget. On the planned start date, the Kitchen Solvers Team arrived on time and John arrived shortly after to review everything that needed to be done. The first thing the workers did was seal off the kitchen from the other rooms to prevent dust and debris from getting outside the work area. Demolition can be messy but the workmen carefully removed the old kitchen piece by piece with minimal disruption and noise. The project was not without its challenges due to the way the original kitchen had been built. However, John and his team solved all the problems they encountered and did a perfect job of installing the new cabinets, countertops, appliances, light fixtures, backsplash tile, etc.? The cabinets are not only very well made but are also an excellent value. We now have a beautiful kitchen, powder room and laundry room--all done with excellent workmanship. What really stands out with this company is how easy it was to work with everyone. John was always responsive and available via phone and email. He regularly came to our home to check on the work and answer any of our questions (and there were many.)? The workmen were very polite, considerate of our home, and cleaned up the work area every day.? John gets most of his work from referrals and we are happy to continue that tradition by referring his company to others who are in need of his services.

After 20+ years, it was time to update and remodel our kitchen. Over the course of many months and after talking with a dozen re-modeling companies, we decided to use J & F Specialties, Inc. The owner, John Boynton, was referred to us from a friend who had used his company for re-modeling work. John has been in the re-modeling business for many years.

We scheduled an appointment with John to discuss our plans. From the start we were impressed with John, his knowledge, and ideas.  The proposed project was to be a complete remodel of the kitchen, adjacent powder room, and additional work in the laundry room. Although we had created a plan for what we wanted to accomplish, John was very helpful in ?tweaking? our design and in referring us to preferred sources for countertops, flooring, tiles, etc. John even let us borrow sample cabinet doors so that we could decide what would complement the decor in our home. After a couple of meetings to finalize the plan, we signed a contract. John diligently worked with us to finalize the cost estimate to keep it within our budget.

On the planned start date, the J & F Specialties Team arrived on time and John arrived shortly after to review everything that needed to be done. The first thing the workers did was seal off the kitchen from the other rooms to prevent dust and debris from getting outside the work area. Demolition can be messy but the workmen carefully removed the old kitchen piece by piece with minimal disruption and noise. The project was not without its challenges due to the way the original kitchen had been built. However, John and his team solved all the problems they encountered and did a perfect job of installing the new cabinets, countertops, appliances, light fixtures, backsplash tile, etc.  The cabinets are not only very well made but are also an excellent value. We now have a beautiful kitchen, powder room and laundry room--all done with excellent workmanship.

What really stands out with this company is how easy it was to work with everyone. John was always responsive and available via phone and email. He regularly came to our home to check on the work and answer any of our questions (and there were many.)  The workmen were very polite, considerate of our home, and cleaned up the work area every day.  John gets most of his work from referrals and we are happy to continue that tradition by referring his company to others who are in need of his services.

unknown

Gutting and redoing the circa 1987 basement bathroom had long been on my mind. Replace the tub enclosure with a hotel-quality shower complete with cool tile and glass doors, new tile floors, new exhaust fan, new toilet, new vanity and sink, some new plumbing, new medicine cabinet, new paint job. Who wouldn't have some trepidation? So I took my time and researched and interviewed lots of local contractors, over the course of many, many months. I solicited and received written bids, the vast majority of which were opaque gibberish devoid of any meaningful numbers but a bottom-line price that appeared out of nowhere, sketchy arithmetical snake oil with scant (if any) justification or support. I kicked scads of tires before selecting J & F Specialties, Inc. It was a great decision. John Boynton and his team at J & F Specialties exceeded all my expectations. For the duration of the three-week project all of them were all courteous, professional, punctual, thorough, respectful of my home and property, accessible, and did all promised as and when promised. Some of them were even funny, and none were less than pleasant. I'm not easily impressed, and I'm nothing but impressed with J & F Specialties, from the high quality of their excellent work to the high quality of their excellent personnel. Boynton told me when we met that he wants to be my guy not for just this project, but for all my bath and kitchen projects. After the job he and his team did on my basement bath, John's my guy. He earned it.

John Boynton, the Owner, was the one who surveyed the work to be done and was involved throughout the process. His team coordinated the 5 different jobs. The teams came to perform all the work, cleaned up after each day of work and completed everything on time. The teams adjusted to my timelines,they were very flexible and professional. This J&F team gets an A+.

We got estimates from 3 different companies before we contracted J & F Specialties to remodel our 2 1/2 bathrooms; the originals built with the house in 1967. Our initial consultation with John was by far the most informative and his entire approach the most sincere of the three contractors we interviewed. When we received all of the estimates to fully remodel our bathrooms, which included the complete demolition and rebuild of each bathroom, as well as the extension if the ½ bath to a full, J & F?s was the lowest of the group. We decided to hire J & F, not just because of their estimate, however, but because John seemed like someone with whom we would be able work. Having heard multiple horror stories from friends and colleagues about very bad experiences with their contractors, feeling like we would be able to communicate with the company we hired was critical.
From the start of the project until the end, which took a total of 9 weeks, J & F handled the entire project professionally and efficiently. The workers who did the day-to-day work were very personable, professional, and responsible, making certain to clean up prior to leaving each day. John and those who were closely monitoring the project, Mark and Paul, were easy to work with and responsive to feedback and questions. They also were able to offer innovative suggestions regarding bathroom design. In the end, the project was completed on budget and within the estimated length of time John had predicted. We will definitely use J & F again for future projects and enthusiastically recommend them to anyone in need of a company to perform home remodeling.   

John Boynton and his foreman Mark were great to work with. They were professional, punctual and offered excellent suggestions while staying within my budget constraints. I'd orginally thought of refacing my existing cabinets, but John was able to supply new ones for a similar cost. He also demolished a tiny pantry and included cabinetry that expanded the storage greatly in the same area. His crew worked efficiently and they really know what they're doing. They kept the area clean as they went along.They were creative, too. My neighborhood lost power one of the days they were there and they improvised as best they could. Greatly appreciated! They finished the project on time and were responsive when I requested some tweaks after the fact. I am greatly enjoying the "new" kitchen and will call them when I'm ready for my next project.

unknown

It was a very expensive, about 3 month project. I have a personal relationship with the owner of the company. He is John Boyington, he was a customer of mine, at my auto repair shop, so we have had a relationship for years. We started talking about the project earlier in the year, and we did a lot of design and planning in January and February, so that by the time April hit, we were ready to go. It is a good company, they are detail oriented, they had everything not only on paper, but also on the plans. We spoke about everything on the project from start to finish. Changes were not an issue. The work site was cleaned and tidied everyday after the work was done, and we lived in the house while the work was being done. It was a very positive experience. They are probably not the cheapest, but not the most expensive either.

When we decided it was finally time to remodel our kitchen, we researched several companies and had them come to our home for estimates. We chose J and F Specialties in large part because we liked John, the owner, so much. He is professional, friendly and extremely knowledgeable on all things having to do with remodeling. In our case it was our kitchen, but he also gave us great ideas on other areas of our home.  He has an eye for detail and design and was able to help us visualize and plan our new kitchen. (He was also a great moderator when my husband and I had disagreements over the multitude of details that come with remodeling!). I can't stress enough how much he helped navigate us through this huge event. 
We couldn't be happier with our experience or our results.  John's entire team is just as professional as he is. They were always punctual, friendly, and took great care to make sure the work was done to perfection.  They came to our home every day on time, worked hard, were professional yet very personable. They cleaned spotlessly every day before leaving. John came by frequently to check on things and was always just a phone call away. 
When we noticed a couple of marks that were on the cabinets (from the manufacturer), John had them replaced immediately.
We expect a lot from people/companies we hire to do work for us.  John exceeded every expectation and we will be using his company again when we finish our basement. His prices were fair and he is as honest as they come. He was always very responsive.
You can stop researching now. J and F specialties works magic.  Everyone who comes into our home raves about our kitchen (and not just because they want to make us feel good!). It is a dream kitchen and I can't believe it's mine. 
Not only is John an exceptional general contractor, he also had great ideas for the design.  He is a true professional and we are so fortunate to have met him.

His men were very professional and thorough. Did a great job! Would hire this company again!

With the extensive amount of work that John and his site manager, Mark, did, I can't list every detail of the experience, but overall, I'll say that from beginning to end, from initial consultation and design to the final inspection, the entire experience could not have been better.  John and Mark were (and continue to be) responsive and professional throughout the project and the workmanship was first-rate.
From the very beginning John was very upfront with cost estimations and worked very hard with me to stay within my budget while achieving the goals I had in mind.  In short, he was able to interpret my vision of what I wished done and create a plan that met my financial constraints.  As I was shopping for contractors, there were others that gave me lower estimates, but I did not feel as comfortable with them and, in hindsight, I think I might have ended up paying more for their services because of additions or alterations for which they would have charged extra.  John made it a point to keep these at a minimum to limit my exposure to cost increases mid-project. Once the contract was signed, the project took several months to complete, partly due I think to the severe winter weather, and partly due to my lack of adherence to a timeline.  Had I been more involved in the day-to-day workings, I believe that it could have been completed earlier than it was.  This was not a significant issue for me, but something to note. Again, overall, the experience could not have been more positive.  John will continue to be my go-to contractor for even minor repairs because he has earned my trust with his professionalism.

We first started working with John and Mark and the rest of J&F Specialties' crew about a year ago.  I approached them with a set of Visio style floorplans that I had brainstormed with an architect friend of mine and discussed what type of massive renovation we were considering doing to our house.  My wife and I wanted to take advantage of our backyard and expand the house backwards.  We would have to give up our paver stone patio, but in return we would get a larger renovated kitchen with a breakfast area, a nice master bathroom with double vanity, walk-in shower with bench and multiple shower heads, a one person soaking tub, and a compact washer/dryer, a walk-in master closet, an open floor plan for our upstairs kitchen, dining room, living room area, a sliding glass door to the backyard, a new composite material deck, completely renovate both existing bathrooms, new vinyl siding for both the addition and our existing house, completely upgrade our infrastructure by replacing our electrical panel, hot water heater, gas furnace, and compressor, as well as add a new dedicated 28'x16' media room with walkout doors to the carport area. I had several discussions with John in person, on the phone, and through email until we decided what would be a proper scope and he provided me a detailed estimate so we could pick and choose what would be in and what would be out.  I had also had similar discussion with other contractors, but John was by far the quickest to respond with details and quote information.  As I started calling his references, instead of the standard "I liked this, this could have been better" that I got when calling references for other contractors, I had several people want to talk for 15 minutes or more about how much they loved the work that John and his crew did.  One lady emailed me pages of information and photos about their renovation.  Another who had moved away mentioned she was trying to get John to fly out and do another renovation out of state.  All of them mentioned his professionalism, courtesy, and attention to detail.
As we got started, John and I met with his architect to start the formal drawing of plans for submission to the county.  We had a couple of back and forths until we came up with a design that we were all happy with.  We then submitted it to the county.  This is where we had our first bump, and nothing to do with John.  The county took 3 months to approve our initial building permit.  Apparently they "lost" our permit application.  What actually happened after the county stonewalled us for awhile, John and his architect went over to the office and helped them find our application.  Turns out the county had put half of our application in one pile, half in another pile. We finally broken ground on excavating our backyard in September of 2013.  Within a couple of weeks, they had dug out a 30'x16' trench, and started pouring concrete for the foundation.  Shortly after that they begun framing and initial roofing.  One note is that in October when we were scheduled to have torrential rains on a Sunday evening all day into Monday, John sent his crew over to cover the work in progress with tarps to prevent water damage.  Not many contractors would work on a Sunday to be proactive about avoiding a problem.  By the end of December, we had all the exterior of our addition done and work could begin work on the interior.  We ended up spending the Christmas holidays out of town with my parents, which enabled John and his HVAC crew to turn off the heat and work on expanding the duct work into the new space.  They replaced the furnace, compressor, and hot water heater with newer, larger units that were more energy efficient. As they were working on the addition, John put me in contact with some recommended suppliers for countertops, cabinets, tile, and flooring.  I had already picked out what appliances and fixtures I wanted, but I had vague ideas on the rest.  For countertops, we ended up going with A & S Granite in Alexandria.  Here we were able to pick the slabs we wanted for the various rooms.  We went with a quartz countertop for the kitchen, granite for two of the bathrooms, and marble for the master bathroom.  For cabinets, we chose from the various catalogs of standard/custom cabinets that John provided us.  For tile, we visited Mosaic Tile in Lorton, VA where they worked with us on various colors and types of tiles based on the budget per square foot that John recommended.  And for flooring, we visited Indiana Flooring in the Springfield/Lorton area. Once we had made all our material selections, they then began work on renovating our downstairs guest bathroom so we would still have access to the upstairs bathroom.  Once they finished with that, they switched and began working on the upstairs bathrooms.  About the same time, they started gutting our existing kitchen, leaving our old refrigerator, stove, and sink for as long as possible.  Eventually we had to lose the sink for them to do wiring and cabinet installation.  By the middle of April, we were done with most of the renovation and had entered the phase where they would be finishing trim, doing touch-up painting, etc.  We moved out to my parents' house again for a couple of days at this point when they were sanding and restaining the old and new wood floors upstairs.  At this point, the only things we have left to finish our final touch-ups and a back-ordered set of bathroom cabinets and exterior railing for a retaining wall.  We anticipate finishing in mid-May. Another bump in the process was the type of financing we did.  We used an FHA 203K renovate and refinance loan which allowed us to use our income and credit history to qualify for a larger loan than the equity in our house.  With this came a series of government inspections and additional paperwork hurdles for John and his crew to deal with.  John was always prompt in helping me fill out information in whatever format they needed and to help me keep that paper train rolling.  I'm sure this wasn't the preferable type of financial arrangement for John, but he made it work which enabled us to get as much done as we did. As far as pricing was concerned, John's quotes were fairly accurate.  Most of the deltas came from things I decided to add after the fact, like additional pendant lighting in the kitchen, refinishing the whole upstairs floor while everything was out of it and the like.  When it comes to time estimates, we ended up going a little over from our projected finish.  We anticipated being done in the January/February time frame, but the 3 month delay at the county office pushed our start of construction back from June to September.  Setting the permit delay aside, I'd say we will finish about a month later than expected, but given the number of weather issues the DC metro area had this winter, shipping delays by manufacturers, and change orders requested by me after the initial scope was signed off on, that was very understandable. John's crew was always considerate and polite.  They arrived to work a little after 8 each day, and the days when they needed to work early, John or his on site manager Mark would notify us the day before.  I never had any concern for the well-being of myself, my wife, two young daughters, or any of our personal property.  They would usually leave between 4 and 5 each day and they always went out of their way to try to make the house as livable as it could once we got home from work/school on a daily basis. 
I'm a bit of an over-communicator and micro-manager, but I never had any issues with John or his crew.  If I called, he answered the phone.  If I emailed or texted them, they got back to me within a couple of hours.  I always felt like they wanted to make sure we were happy, not just that they would get the work done an

J & F Specialties was the second contractor we hired to do this work.  We fired the first contractor for poor work and continued delays, so we were hesitant to work with another contractor but we had no choice unless we wanted to live with a half finished basement. John and his crew immediately put us at ease when during the first scheduled week of work, they showed up and completed the demo work in a fraction of the time during the previous contractor's demo.  From there, the work went as scheduled and we never second guessed our decision to go with John. 

John, Mark and the rest of the crew have great workmanship and if something wasn't up to their or our standards, without questions or excuses, the work was redone until it met everyone's standards.  We had some of the materials from the previous contractors, some of which wasn't the right size (i.e. cabinets), but John was great and tried to use most of these materials to help save us money.  They had fantastic ideas for the stonework for the fireplace, tiling in the bathroom, the laundry room cabinetry, and setting up the wine bar. 

We are very happy that the finishings look great,  but we also know what is underneath is of high quality too.  We had every room demoed to the studs and discovered electrical, plumbing, and insulation issues not up to code.  John remedied all of these things and we are now assured that everything is safe in our basement.      

John and his crew always kept us up to date on the progress and what they anticipated completing on a weekly basis.  They were flexible when we added extra items along the way. We did experience a delay about mid-way through the project, but we don't consider this a negative against them because they quickly addressed the issues after we voiced our concerns.  John on several occasions apologized for the delay (which was caused by things both in and out of his control), but it showed us how much integrity he has operating his business.  When you are willing to admit an error and fix it, this speaks a lot to us. 

John definitely restored our trust in contractors and we are very happy to have a wonderful basement, bathroom, and wine bar area. We would highly recommend John and his crew to anyone. 

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I would use them again and again...

Added small kitchen to basement

Very well.

Best contractor I've ever worked with! Our kitchen was horrible but we put off getting it done until the cabinets were actually falling off the wall. John came in and gave us a detailed fair quote on all the work we wanted done-- moving the door to the garage, moving the sink, refinishing floors, adding a water line for the fridge, plus all the cabinets, tile work, and quartz countertops. It was our biggest remodel to date, but John walked us through it very patiently. The cabinets he ordered are great quality. The crew took the time to explain choices to us at each step (knob position, crown molding details, vent cover, etc) so everything was done right the first time. It's been 9 months now and we've had no problems, and I love everything. I'd rather pay a little more and have the job done right and look classy than deal with someone nickel and dime-ing me after the contract is signed. John's planning skills are top-notch so there were no unexpected bills at the end. Being thrifty, that was probably my favorite part in addition to the quality work.

It was done fast and very professionally.