Empire Home Remodeling

Perfectly! Finished a few days early despite finding water damage. They did a beautiful job.

Empire Home Remodeling performed all work exactly as contracted. There were no surprises. They never tried to inflate the project or my target budget. The subs that came to our house were on time, dependable, polite, professional, and trustworthy. In fact, for our most recent project, we were out of town and I felt confident to let the workers come and go as needed. If there were any areas that I thought did not work or were inadvertently missed, the workers came back promptly to address the situation without any haggling or added costs. Empire's work is guaranteed to please, and I have always been 100% satisfied. I used another contractor for a deck project once and later came to learn that they used fly-by-night electrical subcontractors to cut THEIR costs. Not my costs! I am still stuck with their shoddy work. Empire uses only the best subcontractors for its painting, plumbing, carpentry, and electrical work. If the client is not satisfied, either is Empire. I have read some reviews that mention cost and all I can say is that you get what you pay for. And your home is no place to cut corners. I have recommended Empire to several of my friends who got multiple bids for their projects and Empire was right in line with the bids from its competitors. I've also read a few reviews about availability and responsiveness to initial calls. Well, maybe you have to be a little patient but they will get back to you. After all, Empire is not a mega construction company. Two busy people cannot be everywhere at once. Personally, if a company is busy, it means to me that they are also successful. That works for me!

Professional, trustworthy and caring, Empire Home Remodeling is a superb contractor in every way. We entrusted our home to owner Burke Barker, interior designer Jeanne Barker and the Empire team for three projects over the course of several years. After an extensive kitchen and living room remodel in 2009, we worked with Empire again in 2010 and 2011 on a stunning master bath remodel and outdoor deck/storage addition. The value of our home has increased dramatically with Empire's fine craftsmanship and attention to every detail; but, more importantly, we love our home because of the beautiful improvements made with the help of Burke and Jeanne. If you have a home remodeling project on the horizon, we highly recommend you call Empire. You won't find better partners -- or nicer people -- to make your home everything you want it to be!

The entire team is very professional. Appointments were kept on time, the workers showed up like clockwork to do the remodel, and they kept the price to the agreed upon budget. Our kitchen has gone from a disaster to a dream. The decorator Jeanne is so very helpful and patient, she saw my vision for the kitchen upon our first meeting, and she improved upon my vision! Bill our day by day lead contractor does wonderful work, and explained everything he was doing as we were going along. I felt very comfortable that everything was going to be perfect, and Empire made sure it is! I heartily recommend Empire to anyone considering a remodel of any room in their home. We are going to use Empire to do our master bath next! If I could give out an A+ in all categories I would!

Empire gave us fantastic service and results. Working with Focus on Design to completely revision our bathroom, Empire transformed our cold dark bathroom into a place of warmth and light. They met deadlines and budget expectations precisely. They work with true artists for all the finish work. Really appreciate the thought and energy that went into this project. This is the third major project they have done for us and we are very pleased. I highly recommend them.

I was thrilled with the remodel! This team of designer/contractor - husband and wife - are a perfect match. They had such vision - and the end result was a gorgeous master bathroom with top quality design and workmanship. Their staff has been with them for decades - which speaks volumes in itself. From day 1 they were prompt, always kept the area organized and clean, and finished the job in a timely manner, well within budget. I now have a beautiful master bathroom with new free standing tub, gorgeous cabinets, lighting and fixtures - all blended to enhance the existing travertine finishes. Both Burke and Jeanne Barker were delightful to work with - the type of quality individuals who will be your friends way beyond the finish of construction. Top quality within my budget - and I loved the results.

The gentleman was very polite though I'm a little put off by their inability to schedule my appointment. I will update this review after the first of the year as to whether they followed through on their obligation.

It was not a true architectural rendering. They didn't provide me with anything that I could've done myself. Nice and polite tho.

Provider initially contacted me promptly and then responsiveness dropped of significantly. At one point I followed-up after two weeks of no response. Once an appointment to see the existing bathroom as scheduled, the person no-showed and called ~3 hours later to apologize. We rescheduled and were told to expect an estimate in 1 1/2 weeks. After ~two weeks we received the estimate and it was for for double what was initially discussed as potential cost and our budget.

Through AL message page: -Introduced myself April 16th, 2014 and asked for an appointment. -No hurry, can wait until vacations are over. -Supplier asked for a brief scope of work. -Sent overview of scope of work. -Supplier then replied "Unfortunately. We do not work on jobs when the clients supply their own materials. Good Lick to you." Message didn't make sense since the deal was about a design consult not an actual construction job. Anyway, please refund $99. Thanks, Sandra Winters

The salesman for Empire arrived with the designer for the company, presented a drawing on graph paper, and estimated their cost for doing the work.

The sales consultant and interior designer met with me in a timely manner. The sales guy took measurements and they both listened to my ideas and offered little insight. I got a call and email a week later as expected and was told ?type of project does not fit into the type of work we do, so unfortunately I won?t be able to give you a quote on your project?. So we didn?t use them and Angie?s List gave us a refund.

Larry was quick to call me after I emailed Empire to solicit a bid for our remodeling project. Our project involved plumbing, electrical work, and some minor remodeling in the kitchen and bathrooms. At the beginning of the phone call, Larry started asking specific questions about the home address and our budget. I was not comfortable sharing exactly what I had in mind before I saw his bid, so I gave him a range. He did not like that, which I found peculiar. After that, he asked one or two very high-level questions about the project, and immediately started implying that my budget is off and the project will not be doable with that budget (without even asking for the details of the work I needed to get done). However, knowing the details of what we had in mind, I knew for a fact that the work could easily be done withing our budget. In fact, I already had quotes from two other reputable contractors that exactly fit in that budget. In the end, he asked how many contractors I was asking to bid on this project. My answer was 5. As soon as I said that, Larry said he is not interested in our project, and mentioned that we probably cannot afford them (note that this is all without him asking for details of the project or seeing the house). Overall, I was really put off and insulted by Larry's attitude. Not returning my call would have been more respectful. I realize contractors may be busy these days, but disrespecting a customer is not the way to succeed in the long term. At the end, I asked Larry to delete all the information he collected about me. I will never call them back. They just lost a chance to bid on an easy project worth at least $65K.

We got 6 bids-theirs was one of the lowest. I had several personal friends refer them, so gave them a try. Jeannie, the designer was fun to work with and both her and husband/owner Burke made it their mission to make sure we were happy. I always felt confident they would make sure things were right. Each and every one of their subs were professional, prompt, took pride in their work and cleaned up after themselves each day. They were good at letting me know who would be here each day. The project took longer than we originally expected, but I know that is more common than not when there are subs to schedule, suppliers you are counting on delivering on time and other customer's jobs being done at the same time. Perhaps the quoted time should have been longer. The final price was $45 short of the maximum of the range quoted. I have also learned over the years (with any bid), that you should always expect the highest price and hope to be suprised if it comes in lower. Overall, we feel we did accomplish our goal of updating the look. We feel confident we will see the house value improve when it comes time to sell and we are able to enjoy the new room in the meanwhile.

We had reached out to several companies on Angie's List for estimates. We had met with 3 companies prior to Empire and had ok interaction with them all, but I did not have a confident feeling in them. The first initial meeting with Empire went great. They took full measurements, listened to what we were interested in and did not give us a quote then, but scheduled a follow up meeting. That is when we knew this was the company for us. They came with not just 1 but 3 different bids. First bid was higher than our budget, second bid was right at budget and the third was under budget. All were detailed with what was included and not. They allowed us to remove and add options we liked from each bid and did a formal 4th bid! We met again and reviewed a very detailed review of the bid with a full project plan by day of the activities during the remodel. From the moment we signed the bid to the day they came to complete the after work walkthrough we were so pleased with their service. Polite, professional and the work is perfect! They listened to all of our needs especially with the ventilating the house during demo. I have asthma and the slight amount of dust can make me very ill. We were up front with this and they accommodated everything for me. The house was spotless each day, ventilated and a summary of the day's work was always provided in writing. Not only did we use Empire for our kitchen, but we asked them to come out again and remodel our full deck and they just completed a full bathroom remodel for us 3 months ago! We have had rave reviews from our friends and family that have seen all 3 of our remodels from Empire. We even had a neighbor we have never met, come to our door on the weekend during our bathroom remodel to view our kitchen as he wanted to use them for his remodel. I would highly recommend Empire to anyone looking for a remodel to their home; they made our house beautiful! If we ever decide to remodel anything in our house again, there is no doubt in my mind we will choose Empire.

It went extremely well. The communication is excellent and their project manager could not have done a better job. Their bid process was very thorough and everything was itemized. On time, on budget. The quality of the work was great. And they were very willing to work with us on changes. We are very happy with the final results and will definitely use them again. Working with Jeanne - Focus on Design was a tremendous compliment to the construction services of Empire. I would highly recommend and will use them again for other projects. They will bring complete integrity to your project.

The preparation and work could not have gone more professionally. The owners of Empire and Focus on Design -Burke and Jeanne Barker - are wonderful, honest and very customer oriented people. It was no surprise to us then when Empire's lead on our job, Mike, was incredible to work with also. He was always concerned about the impact of the remodel on us and made sure we were kept well informed. The coordination of the subs went very smoothly and we are delighted with the result.

We are 1/2 through the remodel right now and so far so good! Very impressed! August 3 / 2011 - They finished 3 days ahead of schedule!!! Larry went out of his way to accommodate my family's needs - when he found out that I had a "free" place to stay for 4 days if we schedule the work on the hardwoods up a couple of days - he made it happen which saved me form having to stay in a hotel. He makes sure that I am happy and that any questions I have are answered right away. All of the subs who have worked on this project have been nothing but courteous, professional and have done outstanding work for me. Empire has gone above and beyond my expectations - making sure all materials were delivered on time, cleaning up after each work day... Empire has made my dream kitchen come true !!! Thank you from me and my family!

moisture ants were discovered having eaten into the siding of the house at one corner of the house near an external water faucet. The area was about 3x6 feet and extended around a corner. Thanks to the suggestion of the initial workman, I checked and found another area 12x3. After I agreed to the work only 2 days passed and the work was finished within 3 work days. Work was exceptional quality.

The owner and his wife are the principles of the company. They did a good job with the project. They have fabulous work ethic and integrity. The wife Gennie Barker puts it all together with her wonderful designs. They are always on time and efficient, and are willing to work within your budget.

The most impressive part of the project was that they completed it early, which is almost unheard of in this business. The subcontractors were reliable and trustworthy as well as efficient. The employees at Empire were responsive when any issues arose and friendly. They made a stressful situation as stress free as possible. I would highly recommend their work to anyone interested in a home build or remodel.

Many people talk about how awful a remodel is. Empire made it an enjoyable experience. They were excellent. We had ongoing meetings so staying involved and knew what was going on every step of the way. It was a major remodel six month and they made it easy. I have recommended them to many friend and will continue to do so. They are a quality company.

Absolutely the worst experience I had ever had with a remodeling project. The project was to expand a first floor half bath into a full bath with a walk-in shower, which involved knocking out an exterior wall and building a 6'X4' extension (to accommodate the shower). The framing of the extension was not squared which threw off the interior floor tile and the shower tiles. Their first attempt at tiling the shower was atrocious . . . it looked like a kindergarden project with edges of tile pieces jutting out at various angles. After demanding that they redo the shower from the studs out (they had also placed the water barrier for the shower incorrectly), they relented and finally did so. They also were finally able to find someone who could lay the floor tile so that it wasn't obvious that the extension was not squared. The whole project took 6 months, which was far longer than it should have taken, especially during the summer. And I agree with not using their "designer", who is the contractor's wife. I ended up picking my own wallpaper and having it installed. After the project was completed, the foreman told me that the guy who did the work on the framing had been fired for being drunk on the job. No wonder everything was poorly done. If it hadn't been for my vigilance in watching every stage of the process, I'm sure I would have had a disaster on my hands now (for example, they were going to place the plumbing for the shower on the exterior wall . . . who does that when there's a chance for freezing temperatures?).

Project was handled effectively from early estimates through the planning, scheduling, and the actual work. A rather tight schedule of 8 weeks for the construction was adhered to, and cost was exactly on target. Clean up every night was exceptional and dust was kept to a minimum. The completed work exceeded our expectations. We would recommend Empire Remodel to anyone considering a new kitchen.

It went very well overall. Don't use the designer (owner's wife).