I first contacted my project manager, Simon, upon the advice of an architect colleague. At our first meeting it was clear that Simon had plenty of experience and a very positive demeanour, which put him at the top of my contractor shortlist. Ultimate Construction's competitive and reasonable price was an additional benefit and, combined with Simon's interview, secured the job for them.
The job went very well, with all of the guys being friendly and knowledgable. Simon kept a good, open line of communication throughout the job, checking in with me at the beginning of the day with any questions and giving me an update at the end of each day. Once the insulated slab was poured, the work proceeded at a fantastic clip - in two days the framing was done, and in one day the doors/windows were installed and the weather barrier was up. Siding/roofing came along shortly after.
Throughout the job Simon also made a number of great recommendations, which incurred minimal extra cost. I also asked him to lay down some pavers I had purchased as we were hosting a large gathering, and he and his assistant did it in an afternoon with no problem.
The only things that I would critique about my whole experience would be the management of the site, and some of the record keeping. Extra costs weren't dealt with on an ongoing basis, which I would have preferred as it would let us keep on top of costs. In terms of site management, there was damage to the pavers on our parking pad because nothing was put down where gravel was delivered, and the bucket of the site vehicle scraped everything up. Water runoff containing concrete was sent down our driveway which then dried and caked on, and despite a good effort from Simon to power wash it away, it was left behind and is quite unsightly. Recognizing these things Simon was very fair with adjusting other costs and, to his credit, he was able to get very good prices on work by subs that his crew couldn't do.
Overall, based on my experience I would not hesitate to recommend Ultimate Construction to anyone looking to undertake a small scale construction job!
- Approximate cost of services:
- $40,000.00
