Best Businesses in Phoenix, AZ

We hired Homework/Tri-Star (same owner/company) to remodel our kitchen. A simple project - basically a matter of installing new cabinets, fixtures & appliances in a simple galley kitchen. They highlight their experience with midcentury homes like ours.  There weren't any unwelcome surprises in the walls - no weird plumbing or electrical problems, everything as anticipated. It should have been straightforward.

And yet, every part of working with this company was difficult.  Main issues:
 
DESIGNER:  They require a fee up front for a design, rather than doing traditional bids. The designer was a nice person, but not detail-oriented from the beginning - designing a kitchen island, for instance, and not noticing there was no way to get power to it (until we pointed it out).  She was friendly but did not seem overly excited about or invested in our project.  We should have walked away at this point, even after paying.  

She re-did the design, and we went forward with building.  On our scheduled completion date, as the appliances were delivered....and she had failed to measure correctly for the refrigerator, a true rookie error (and something that ANY correctly used design software will detect!).  The fridge didn't open anywhere close to 90 degrees.  Worse yet, NO normal-size fridge would fit between the cabinets.  We had to choose between ripping out and re-doing the new cabinets, or putting a smaller, specialty fridge in an awkward spot.

I had even asked her whether she was certain the fridge would fit - I should've carefully measured it myself, but THAT'S WHY I HIRED A DESIGNER.  Managing details is the heart of a designer's job, right? Homework agreed to re-do ("within reason") the cabinets if needed, but she did not refund any part of her $1,000 fee.   It would have been better, and free, to use software at Ikea or Home Depot.  Lesson learned.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT:  right before our start date, they changed our project manager without explanation.  The guy was nice but didn't know even the basics - in what order to schedule tasks, when appliances get installed, how cabinetry is hung, which contractor does what, etc.  We had problem after problem after problem.  Though Homework management downplayed our  concerns, and they tried hard to coach and supervise him, he was fired partway through our project.  A mess ensued as a new PM tried to take over.

SUBCONTRACTORS:.  The countertop guy was great, but most of the others were very unprofessional.  One of the subs took 30 minutes of my time to complain about how poorly he was treated and paid by Homework. None of them were adequately supervised by the PM - by the end, we took turns staying home to watch them....if I wanted to babysit subs, I wouldn't be paying a general contractor!

The electrician had to be called back three times to repair shoddy work; by the end I had to ask Homework not to let him back in our home.  At one point he covered up a jagged hole in the drywall and an *open* junction box with live wires....by hanging our phone over it.  The plumbing under the sink started leaking before the project was even done.  The tile guy never got around to sealing any of the grout.  I had to point out each of these problems to the PM, days or weeks afterward.  He clearly hadn't checked the work.  

OVERALL:  I will say for Homework that they aren't shady - I wasn't worried they'd skip town with my money.  They came back every time I found another problem.  They returned my calls.  The kitchen is nice, though I now worry that the subs took some hidden shortcut that could cause a disaster later on.

But for $50K I expect more than "not shady." The project ended up taking 3x longer than planned. We paid the full contracted price; they offered no compensation for the long string of errors that cost us a lot of lost work time and money.  They didn't even have to cover the cost of re-doing cabinets, because we decided to just get the smaller fridge - by then, I couldn't stand the thought of continuing to deal with them.  

Their only small concessions, which I had to argue for, were 1) cancelling a change order to install an outlet that was overlooked and 2) buying a $60 trim kit for the range, which PM#1 mistakenly told me was included.  That's it.  

You will see on Angie's List and Yelp that the vast majority of my reviews are positive.  I take it seriously, saying something in a public forum that could affect someone's livelihood.  I purposely waited four months after our completion date to post this, so I wouldn't do anything in anger.  

A couple of the employees, and some of the subs, were great people who seemed knowledgeable and experienced.  But somehow together, they add up to less than the sum of the parts  We've done a kitchen remodel before with another company - we experienced 1/10 the hassle, and the same cost, for a much more complicated project.  Believe me, Homework earned this negative review.

We had our kitchen remodel done except cabinets, they where in great shape for being 18 years old, so trying to match everything to move smoothly was fun, but not easy. Our granite counter tops Granite-Desert Canyon was amazing chose although it got lots of comments about how much movement was in it. The prep that Tim did was stellar, and finish work looks great. The cut of the granite pattern was so carefully thought out. Tec Top installed the counter top in the kitchen, both bathrooms. WOW just watching them was fun, they are professional, careful and made sure we where happy.

Tim it was such pleasure working with you and your team. Cannot thank you enough helping make this remodel actually enjoyable, and just a BEAUTIFUL KITCHEN, MASTERBATH AND POWDER ROOM!!!

Jesus was great! Work was done on time and for the agreed amount. Couldn't ask for better. He even stuck it out through a bit of nonsense with the neighbor about the block wall/fence location. Would highly recommend!

Brad has done 2 projects for us, he built a Casita on our residential property.  We had been working with another contractor that had drug their feet and Brad and his team came in and got the job done quickly, during the beginning of the COVID issue.  He really came through for us.
The second was a commercial project, he remodeled our office, at our business in Chandler.  We had a quick deadline to get it done and they did an amazing job, excellent price and it was done on time.  
Highly recommend Brad and his team!

Glenn, Tina and company did an awesome job on my patio roof.  It was better than the original and they repaired parts that I didn't expect. Super professional, on time as scheduled and no worries or problems. I definitely will use them again!

Jean has done several project for us including poo repair, pavers installation, faux grass installation, and concrete repair. Jean does excellent work. He listens to the needs that you have and then offers a variety of solutions to meet those needs. His prices are competitive and the quality is very high. I highly recommend home for all home improvement needs.

We had Roadrunner Custom Remodeling remodel our two outdated bathrooms. We are very, very happy with the work that was done and with the cost. Patrick and his employees were always very conscientious, professional and polite. Everyone went out of their way to do a good job. Our two bathrooms look so much better than we had anticipated. We're so pleased that we are planning on having them update our kitchen as well.

I have been using Next Level for Years and I have several rental  houses as well as my own residential home that I have had them do every type of job imaginable. He has done drywall, tile, yard clean ups, painting, plumbing, water heater installation and the list goes on. I have never had a bad experience and even when I have to have something done a second time I have never gotten anything but exemplary service. I even refer NLR to my friends and family.

Having to re paint the house because it was not done right the first time.. Paint was just spayed over existing  paint with no scraping at all. Before you use this company just know what needs to be done in advance

Had an appointment set with Rocky Dunn. He did not show up or bother to call. He did not answer phone or return our call when we tried to follow up. I had taken time off work for this appointment.

BEWARE: I hired David with "Mohave Leveling" to level an addition on my mobile home and add additional supports underneath. He requested a deposit of 20% for materials which is always a risk but I proceeded and sent the deposit. Once he received  the deposit He immediately disappeared, would not respond to countless calls and texts. At the time of this review he has still not responded or made it right, if he does I will edit this review

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