Valley Home Builders, Inc. is a full-service residential remodeling firm offering design/build services to its clients. If you're living with a bad floor plan, outdated rooms, or you simply need more space, let our seasoned pros take your project from imagination to reality. We offer free estimates in your home or over the phone and will work weekends and evenings to accommodate your schedule. Our staff includes Architects, Designers, project developers, project managers and a construction st..
"<strong>Pros</strong>
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<em>General Quality of Work</em>
<br /> During construction it was obvious that VHB takes pride in the work they do. I noticed the plywood subfloor was tongue and groove, glued and screwed to the floor joists to minimize squeaks. I am not sure what the code requirements are, but I was really pleased with how this was done.The bathroom tile work was well done. The tile guys worked late on multiple days to get this job done in a timely manner. My wife and I were really pleased with the results.Very willing to resolve issues even after they received payment for a milestone.There are many examples where they added extras without us asking them to.
<br /> These examples include:
<br /> - Adding extra attic vents
<br /> - Making the roofer come back to open up cutouts in roof for vents (I didn?t notice or ask them to do this)
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<em>Freebees</em>
<br /> These are items that for various reasons, they openly took responsibility for and provided at no additional cost:
<br /> - Interior insulation
<br /> - Extra Attic ventilation
<br /> - Extra Attic Access
<br /> - Crown Molding
<br /> - Extra Schluter trim for tile in bathroom
<br /> - Refinishing of hardwood floor
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<strong>Cons</strong>
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<em>Contract for Design</em>
<br /> The contract that we signed stated that the $2700 we paid for the design would be applied to the total cost of our addition. When we settled on a price for the addition we asked if the $2700 would be deducted as stated on the contract and they said ?no?, it was already deducted for the final price. We told them that we thought this was kind of misleading and they gave us a $1000 credit.They told us they could not relocate existing sprinkler systems or pavers that were to be impacted by the addition. They said we would have to get outside contractors to handle this on our own. All other home remodeling companies we interviewed said they would be happy to relocate pavers and sprinkler systems for us. We are not sure why VHB had such a ?unique? response.
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<em>Windows</em>
<br /> We originally requested double hung windows for the project to match the windows with the rest of the house. When the windows came they were casement style. When I asked why this was done, they said it was needed to have enough window area to meet fire code. When they drew up the original plans they didn?t account for this and make the window opening wide enough for double hung. Because extra time and reengineering would be required to widen the window opening, they chose to increase the height. As a result our windows are almost as high as a door.
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<em>Communication</em>
<br /> Between themselves - issues communicating between Designer and PM. Shower niches not located where the designer told us they could be. This was because we were going to locate the niches on a structural shear wall.
<br /> Directly with them - Kept confusing our project with another, similar project.
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<em>Use of Personal Items</em>
<br /> VHB touts their Angies List awards and exceptional service as compared to other contractors. Because of this, I was a little surprised to see the framers and subcontractors using our personal items. Some of the personal items they used include:
<br /> - Hose coil used and damaged. Never replaced.
<br /> - Hose reel used in place of the hose coil that was damaged above.
<br /> - I had a 5 gallon bucket in the garage used to store automotive grease guns. The grease guns were placed on the garage floor so they could use our bucket. As a result I walked into garage one day to find a large grease stain on the floor where the guns were laid (They offered to clean the grease stain).
<br /> - Another 5 gallon bucket was taken from the garage to perform tile work. It was never returned.
<br /> - A push broom was taken from garage and used on job site.
<br /> - Patio Swing - We have a patio swing that I noticed was getting dusty from all the construction so we covered it in plastic. A few days later we noticed the plastic was pulled off. I guess the framers liked using the porch swing for their lunch break? In any case it got pretty dusty and just another item we had to clean.
<br /> All of the items in question were used to perform the job. Almost every item was worth $20 or less. Nothing was deliberately stolen or maliciously damaged. With that said, it would have been nice to get a phone call, email, or text basically stating something like ?hey, just wanted to let you know that we needed to use this or that out of the garage?.
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<em>Determination of Grade</em>
<br /> Started with an A+ and adjusted their grade based on the following:
<br /> - Windows, subtract 1, A
<br /> - Use of personal items, subtract 1, A
<br /> - Design contract issues, subtract 1, B+
<br /> - Communication, subtract 1, B
<br /> - Freebees, add 1, B+
<br /> Overall Grade B+, truncated to B for Angies list
Vincent G. on October 2015