Homemasters Portland SW

Ultimately it turned out ok. The level of service was uneven.  The person who initially came out was wonderful and very informative.  It took them a lot time to get here.  The estimate included cleaning my garage roof and gutters.   Initially they only cleaned the house gutters.  It took them a long time to come back to clean garage.  They left equipment here.  They sent a bill and I already paid before they sent the bill.  Follow through was slow.  They didn’t perform the service as contracted.  I had to spend time and effort following up.

I set up a meeting for an estimate, which was scheduled right away. I paid a 50% deposit that day and was assured that I would be contacted soon to schedule the cleaning. However, the company didn't call me for over a week. They did call me yesterday, saying there was a last-minute cancellation for today. The scheduler was unaware of the addition of the power washing of the house, but it was certainly on the contract that I signed. I had to prompt him with questions about what to do to prepare for the cleaning, like what needed to be moved and how far away, which he should have on a check-list when contacting people for their appointments. The cleaners arrived on time and set to work. I arrived back home about 1.5 hours after they had begun. I could see that progress had been made, although only one man was working; the other was checking his phone while up on my roof. Shortly thereafter, they took an extended break, and then I believe they worked until the roof was done before breaking for lunch. There was a LOT of debris - the roof had not been cleaned in a few years, and never power-washed - and it extended out in all directions by over 10 feet. The second worker used a blower and broom to clean up after the roof was done.  I could hear when they started power-washing the house, and it sounded very methodical. I was unconcerned until I heard water dripping in my living room and went to check it out. The front window sill was covered with water, which was still coming in, the curtains were wet, and there were puddles forming on the floor. I went to the door to let them know that water was coming in, and was met with a shrug. I shut the door, ran for towels, and the man went back to what he was doing. No more windows on that side of the house. With the towels in place, I realized I had better check the other windows, and sure enough, there was water on every sill upstairs and down, and if the curtains were down (as opposed to being pulled to the sides) they were damp at the sill level as if they had been sprayed. Thankfully, it wasn't as much water as in the living room, and I was grateful that the curtains were in place in my office, as my computer sits directly in front of the window. The power-washer guy managed to work water through my sliding glass door, the back door of the garage, under the front door and laundry room door, and even under the garage door. A little water I suppose may be expected, but I had had it by then, and it felt like he had simply been very careless. Maybe he was just being thorough. He blamed the water in the living room on two small cracks in the siding that are about 12 inches long, but it was much more water than that, and it doesn't explain how water came in through all the other windows too. In discussing this with the manager, who also blamed my windows before offering an apology or even commiserating and actually questioned whether they were really closed, I did admit that some of the windows were installed without the flanges and so maybe that contributed to the issue. But that doesn't explain the rest of the windows and doors, especially the sliding glass door. When the man was here for the estimate, he told me that I did not need to be home while the work was being done, but I am so glad I was, otherwise there would be a damage claim to be negotiated. To their credit, the workers did a very good job of cleaning up afterwards, and the house looks nice. The patio and driveway are spic-and-span. My organic vegetable garden now has some grit in it from the roof, and if I had known that debris would fall that far, I would have covered the beds. That could also be on the check list for the scheduler: cover anything you can't move within 15 feet of the house. I have mixed feelings writing this report, and I would be cautious in recommending this company without a big explanation. Overall, the finished work is very, very good. With more training, I am sure these cleaners could avoid driving water through windows and doors, and avoid responding to someone's urgent information with indifference. I felt that the service was somewhat over-priced to begin with, although they did knock off a couple hundred dollars from the estimate without blinking. I did check a few other companies on Angie's List for pricing and they were pretty much at the going rate. The work was done thoroughly, although I could have done without all the water inside, but there is no lasting damage that I can see (fingers crossed). The estimate was timely, but scheduling the work was not. Over all, as I said, the work quality was very good, with the exception of the now-redundant water issues. The responsiveness and professionalism was C- for the guy who shrugged (an A for the roof and an A for the overall appearance of the house, but a big F for the shrug), and B for the manager who called me back pretty darned quickly, but who also wasn't quick enough to apologize for what happened. To her credit, Rebecca - who answered the phone this afternoon when I called - immediately apologized, empathized and offered claims adjusting. Her reaction was very much appreciated, even though a claim will not be necessary. I hope. Rebecca receives an A overall.

Our large composite roof was a mess. Moss was everywhere and it was thick. Jose and Eli were thorough, courteous, and did an excellent clean up job. The roof looks great now. ***The hose for the cleaning equipment pulled a ceramic planted pot over and it broke and spilled. The crew cleaned it up, mended the pot with some duct tape and explained to me what happened. They were honest and upfront about it and the estimated replacement cost came out of the final invoice. The adjustment was more than fair. These guys are a class act.

Did a good job of stripping out old caulk and grout and replacing it with fresh.  Wished he would have filled a few low spots (which were nothing compared to the big issue, so easy to overlook) but overall very pleased with the result.

The bid process went very smoothly.  We told Doug that we wanted to replace the gutters and do some handyman work around the house before we painted.  Doug said his company painted too but that the guy who does this was too busy.  He was going to recommend another guy.  He said that guy would call us back within a week.  When we finally accepted the bid for the gutters and handyman work a week later, we reminded Doug that the painter guy had yet to call us.  He told us that he was going to get in touch with him right after he hung up the phone.  Needless to say, we never heard from the painter guy so we started interviewing other companies for the paint job.  We took a check for 1/2 the amount to Homemasters on a Friday.  They had time available to start the next Thursday.  Since my husband and I are both retired, we wanted to be home when they did the work so we made arrangements to be at home on Thursday.  We were totally surprised when both crews drove up around noon on Tuesday -- two days before the scheduled date.  Luckily we were home to communicate some of the details of the job that were not communicated from Doug to the crews.  Tony and his crew did the trim work around the garage door.  I must say I was impressed as he solved a problem with bowing boards that previous contractors refused to touch.  Great job Tony !!  We explained to the gutter crew the problem we had with water accumulating in the gutters because they were tipped to one side from the house settling.  The gutter guys did a great job leveling the gutters so they drained properly.  Tony's crew was also responsible for replacing two barge boards.  They took one barge to the shop so they could cut it to size and prime it before installing.  A week later they came and installed one barge board but not the other.  So, we called Doug to tell him the problem.  But after three messages and no return phone call, we drove to Homemasters and talked with Jerry.  Jerry was able to schedule Tony to come back to replace the second barge board the following week.  We appreciate Jerry's willingness to help speed up this process so the painters could begin their work.  Overall, the work Homemasters did was good with a few small bumps.  In any job, we anticipate there would be some problems but it gets really annoying when calls are never returned.

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It went well.

sorry.  husband has all details.

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