I recently purchased a tiny 1950’s home with an expectation to replace the outdated kitchen and only bathroom, and to move the laundry area from the garage to inside the house.
When it came time to choose someone to do the renovation, I realized that my “tiny spaces makeover” presented some specific issues for a prospective contractor to address. First, with no useable bathroom or kitchen I would have to live somewhere else during the renovation. Therefore I needed to count on an accurate project timeline to help secure other living arrangements. In addition, living away from the house would pose questions of security and worker access, plus I wouldn’t be around to see the contractor on his daily visits or talk with the workers. I needed to hear specifics of security as well as how regular updates and questions or concerns would be communicated. Second, since my house is on a slab, I knew that to upgrade the bath and kitchen plumbing, some of which is imbedded in concrete, plus add supply lines for an indoor washing machine, could be very costly. Yet, if possible, I also wanted to add a small screened-in porch off the kitchen. Could anyone do all that without going over my budget ceiling? Finally, I was very interested to hear how my recent investment in brand new wood floors, all of which surrounded the renovation areas, would be protected from construction traffic and debris. I planned to choose a contractor based in part on how that person planned to address these issues.
I vetted several contractors and finally chose Bob and Susan Dyas of Epic Group Ohio. They gave me a reasonable project time line and ultimately finished two weeks early. Bob came up with an acceptable plan to provide secured access for all workers, and never once was there a problem with his system. As he promised initially, Bob faithfully emailed me a weekly schedule of work to be done and updated it as needed. Every time I asked him to meet to answer questions or concerns he did so when it was convenient for me. He and Susan handled most communications through texts or emails and were always very timely and prompt in their responses. Before they ever gave me a budget or I paid them any money, Bob had their plumber, electrician and architect visit my home for cost estimates and Susan met me at their recommended suppliers so she could get an accurate picture of product allowances. Their proposed budget included everything I wanted at a price I could accept, even including the porch, and in the end changed only slightly because of minor add-ons I’d made. And, to speak to my final concern, when asked at the end of our initial meeting what would be the most challenging piece of my project, Bob sat back, pondered a moment, then answered: “How I can best protect your new floors.” No other contractor I interviewed had mentioned it. I knew then that he and Susan were good listeners who would care about the work they did in my home.
How true my first impressions proved to be! Besides addressing all the issues I previously described, I can say with confidence that Bob and Susan are consummate professionals well suited to their separate roles. Each brought along skilled workers or knowledgeable vendors to work with them, all of whom were friendly and willing to put in extra efforts to meet my requests. I agree with all the compliments paid them by other reviewers here and would emphasize two: one, Bob is a stickler for detail. So am I but he usually was working on the correction before I could even point it out. This is the kind of oversee you want on your project. Second, they are both just really nice people. And it shows in all their dealings with their clients, crew, and suppliers. As one person remarked, “They are a joy to work with.” I couldn’t agree more. I love everything they did to transform my home. I highly recommend them and would encourage anyone to use their services.
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