What people say once the dust is gone

They told us in week one that the chimney chase was going to be a problem and what it would cost. When it turned out exactly like they said, we stopped worrying about the rest of it. Nine weeks, two change orders, both explained before the work happened.

The first thing Marcus said was that we needed to fix the water before we spent anything on walls. Nobody else who bid it even mentioned the grading. Two years on, the basement is bone dry.

Our house is 120 years old and nothing in it is square. They measured everything twice and the tile still landed exactly where the drawing said it would.

The first design did not fit the setbacks and they told us straight away instead of letting us fall in love with it. Eight months, on budget, and the roof line looks original from the street.

They numbered every piece of trim they took off and put it back exactly where it came from. I did not think anyone still did that.

They found rot we did not know about, showed us photographs, priced it the same day and kept going. Seven weeks start to finish and we ate out there all September.

We wanted to match 1918 heart pine in three rooms. They made a test panel, showed it to us in daylight, adjusted the stain and only then ran the floor.

The jetted tub nobody used is gone and we have a shower two people can stand in. Four and a half weeks, and the site was swept every single evening.

Excellent plaster repair and the sprayed doors look factory made. It ran three days long because of a color change we asked for late, which was on us.

The temporary kitchen they set up in the dining room kept us sane. Sink, fridge, counter and a working outlet from day two.

Ten months is a long time to have people in your house. Jonah ran the site so well that our neighbors asked us who we used.

Elena caught that two boxes of tile were a different dye lot on the delivery day. We never would have noticed until it was on the wall.

They pulled the permit, scheduled the footing inspection and the framing inspection, and sent me the signed cards. The old deck had neither.

Historic review took seven weeks, exactly what they told us it would take at the first meeting. No drama, just a realistic schedule.

Very good work and a legal egress window that passed first time. The only snag was a two week wait on the bar counter, which they flagged early.

They talked us out of replacing floors we thought were finished. Sanded and refinished instead, half the cost, and they look new.