We hired a contractor for a complete house renovation top to bottom. 1.5 years later we found our house in shambles, no one showing up for work, our contractor overpaid and suddenly asking for over a hundred thousand dollars of additional money upfront to complete, we were basically hostages on our own property. We then hired Jay Charendoff of House Calls at this critical point in the project. He agreed to take us on and prepared an initial architect’s assessment, and comprehensive documentation on the initial state of the house. He discovered multiple foundation and construction deficiencies. He facilitated legal counsel to end our contract and found us a reputable contractor that was willing to step in and remediate and complete our project.
Jay organized the remediation together with our contractor and was the liaison and communicator between our new contractor and us for the initial phases of the remediation. His construction knowledge and building code understanding reassured us that we were not getting into another problem. Our trust was solely on Jay to deliver and you can imagine it was at first a leap of faith out of desperation but very quickly (after our first meetings I think) we realized there was a way out and Jay would get us there. Jay also quickly organized a system for recording issues and took video and digital photographs to create a legal documentation trail that we are presently relying on to try to recoup our losses. He also found us a great kitchen supplier and was able to facilitate our release from the kitchen we initially had booked as they were connected with the first contractor and were also trying to deceive us.
Jay’s fees were clearly laid out. The scope was fairly widespread as we were in remediation and we did not know what was going to come our way. We have found that Jay’s role has evolved throughout the project. From triage engineering consultant to finishing /build consultant to legal communications consultant. We are pretty dependent on Jay and his commitment to helping us to completion.
Jay has a very good understanding of building construction, building codes and proper design. He has a keen eye for small details and this was significant and valuable to us in our situation. He knows a lot of suppliers in the home / commercial construction business and his previous experience in (worldwide) consulting has given us a wide network of resources to choose from.
Our new House Calls referred contractor has an above code standard and delivered a contract and good clear pricing, first on a time and materials basis and then for finishing we broke each section into a separate contract and they kept to it . Jay has a systematic approach to listing and controlling financials that you can easily incorporate and rely on.
We would recommend Jay Charendoff and House Calls in a heartbeat. We would not renovate or build another home without hiring Jay as our project consultant at the onset to avoid the losses we have incurred in this project. For busy people, it is not so much a luxury as a best practice to save money and peace of mind. Our home is complete now 9 months later and Jay has a standing invitation for lunch for life. :)
