Gates Custom Homes

I engaged AJ Gates to build a Master Suite, plus Powder Room addition for my newly purchased residence. The project was completed nearly 2-years ago and I am still very happy with the quality of construction, the “fit and finish” of the final result and my relationship with AJ, his contractors and associates. During construction, AJ was “hands-on,” continuously on-site and always available to discuss progress. I found him to be as concerned about the quality of the work being performed as I was and he made me feel like my complete satisfaction was his goal. I have absolutely no regrets about the way this project turned out and, should the need arise, I would not hesitate to engage his services again. I recommend him without reservation.

We hired Gates Custom Homes for a renovation project involving a guest bathroom, kitchen, utility room, fireplace and tile flooring in all but the bedrooms. The results are phenomal. We found Gates to be very professional and responsive to our needs. The work performed by the sub-contractors was superb. Any minor corrections we requested was completed to our satisfaction.

My wife and I hired Gates Customs Homes, LLC and [redacted] in December 2013 for a whole house renovation and addition to a vintage ranch house. Gates had a glowing recommendation on [redacted], and the Gates Custom Home web site made lots of promises about the quality of their work, customer satisfaction, no surprises, etc. None of that proved to be true in our case. Some of the subcontractors were very good, but other subcontractor work on our job was sloppy, unprofessional and simply not reasonable or workmanlike. When we pointed these defects out to Mr. Gates, who rarely noticed them on his own, he typically was combative, told us that the work was “quality,” or that we just did not understand construction or this market. Both my wife and I had built custom homes and been involved with extensive remodeling projects prior to working with Gates. We knew the difference between good work and bad. We hired independent experts to review the work. The outside consultants confirmed that work needed to be redone or that it was mediocre in quality.
So much rework was required that the project fell far behind schedule. Gates’ lack of supervision and poor coordination between subcontractors caused numerous problems, sleepless nights, much friction and delay. Although we paid Gates over $400,000, [redacted] had the audacity to tell me that he had not charged us enough to give us a decent paint job. Gates bookkeeping was so poor they frequently tried to charge us for work done for other customers, and once they stopped work saying they were out of money. They were not out of money, but rather had charged us $8000, plus a 15% contractor’s fee, twice for the same work. Although Gates said his books were open to us, they were a mess and it took hours to sort out the discrepancies and errors.
Mr. Gates never took notes during meetings with us. It seemed that the subcontractors were often simply turned loose to figure things out on their own. One subcontractors even asked us who was supervising this job? Gates also required us to hire an interior decorator, [redacted], Area Interior Design, who was charged with handling details which we felt should have been handled by the general contractor. We had to pay her $6200 in design fees but like Gates, her oversight was poor and her mistakes cost us more than her fee in rework and delays. Neither general contractor or required interior designer seemed to be supervising the work. We also found that Gates did not build to plan and did not tell us. We feel we were charged for the wasted time and material that resulted from Gates’ poor communication with his subcontractors. The quality of the product was poor and many areas needed rework. Gates didn’t ask for the rework. We asked for rework after determination that the work wasn’t quality and was substandard. Gates stood by his work by asking his subcontractors to rework many parts of the job. The subcontractors were being asked to fix mistakes that should have been caught by the interior designer and the general contractor. Some of [redacted]’s communications, especially to my wife, was rude, unprofessional and offensive. In April of 2015, after fifteen months working on a job he promised to have finished in six months, Gates simply quit and advised us to finish the job ourselves. We fixed the problems with outside contractors and many rounds of rework. Based on our experience we recommend you use a different contractor.

We have used Gates Custom Homes for 2 additions and are about to start on a third. We have only experienced, honesty, transparency and attention to detail. Both times we were right on target with budget and time. All work was up to par and if there was ever a problem it was fixed. The company stands by its work and makes sure all trades do the job correctly and in a timely manner. I would highly recommend this company to anyone looking to remodel or add on to their home.

We recently hired Gates Custom Homes for our remodel in [redacted]. We are extremely happy with the results. They are very professional, knowledgeable, and it was a pleasure working with them. They have long standing relationships with an excellent group of subcontractors.

When planning our remodel, they were realistic, honest, and upfront about all costs. We approved each budget item before any work was performed.

This was our first remodel and we were fortunate to have Gates as our contractor. We will use this team when we decide to proceed with the next phase on our home. We highly recommend Gates Custom Homes.

Gates Custom Homes remodeled our home and we are completely satisfied with the job done. The remodel was completed on time and on budget. We had no surprises, although there were several changes that needed to be made due to the age and condition of the house. Mr Gates was forthright in his assessment regarding both time and costs for the additional work. His meticulous attention to detail was reassuring. Several times during the remodel, Mr Gates had his "subs" redo what was determined not to meet both his and our standards. It was a pleasure working with Mr Gates and would highly recommend him to others.