I called 3 general contractors for estimates to finish off 2 rooms in our basement. The smaller room measured about 12 by 13 and the larger room was about 18 by 19. The smaller room was to be my wifes craft room and the larger room was to be a media room. Of the 3 general contractors, I got the best vibe from Jim Kannar of HD Elements. He was friendly, patient and listened to what my needs/ideas for the rooms were. Thats not to say the other two contractors werent nice and polite; they were. I just felt right going with Jim and, after Jim told me a little about how he and his crew operated, I felt pretty confident that he and his crew would do a great job.

eArmando, the project manager assigned to my job, was a pleasure to work with. He and his crew were courteous, punctual and cleaned up after every day of work. Their crew consisted of about 3 to 4 guys. They arrived in the mornings around 8 or 9 am and finished their day around 4 or 5 pm. For the media room, I requested that the walls be acoustically insulated. I suggested using Roxul insulation and Jim agreed and said that often used that material for media rooms. On top of that, Jim suggested doubling up on the ceiling drywall to further damp noise from upstairs roomwow! The other two contractors actually steered me away from using the Roxul insulation and suggested using regular insulation (from that, I sort of knew that they werent listening to what I wanted and I mentally scratched them off my short list of contractors).

When the crew installed the drywall, they used an over abundance (this is a good thing) of drywall screws as opposed to just using nails. This ensures the walls stay true (no sagging or bowing) for many years. I was thoroughly impressed with this technique. Also, the painters were very thorough with their work. They spackled, sanded, paintedthen spackled and sanded and painted again to make sure the walls were perfectly smooth and evenly painted. These were just some aspects that probably separates Jim and HD Elements from other general contractors out there.

Jim visited the house to inspect the work every few days over the 4-5 week period to make sure all was going well.

After all was done and I paid my last installment check, I inquired with Jim about another room in the basement that we were considering having finished. To my surprise, Jim recommended that I NOT have it finished and to keep it as a storage roomwow! How many contractors would turn down a project to the benefit of the homeowner?

Id hire Jim and his crew again in a heart beat. His crew, namely Armando and his crew, are a hard working bunch and I appreciate their hard work and attention to detail.

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Basement Finishing | Bath Remodeling | Kitchen Remodeling

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June 30, 2015 at 5:45 am by Mr HomeBuilder
Category: Kitchen Remodeling