Slaten Construction Inc Reviews
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By Jay M.September 22, 2020Foyer, Powder Room & Kitchen Floor$5,000
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By David W.September 8, 2020Kitchen and bathroom$32,000
The Slaten team was amazing to work with. We recommend them to everyone in interested in any remodel work. From design to completion these guys were great to work with, they even made a few suggestions that saved us money! Who does that!? Thanks again you guys.
Response from Slaten Construction Inc September 25, 2020Mr. Wood, We thank you so much for the kind words. We are the lucky ones, you were great to work with. Thank you so much for your partnership Sir, we are grateful to welcome you to the Slaten family!! John Slaten -
By Nathan R.July 13, 2020Bathroom Remodel$16,000Read more
We began work with McDowell Remodeling in late 2019 before they were purchased by Slaten. We started with remodeling a bathroom and some flooring, with thoughts of doing a full house remodel on a 1930s home.
While our initial experience with McDowell was wonderful, things turned south very quickly when Slaten took over. Our former McDowell project manager left the company, and the new project manager was a classic "bull in the china shop" who refused to listen to any of our thoughts and took shortcuts whenever he could, didn't review the handoff documentation we provided and went over, made incorrect assumptions about our design preferences and trim selection, routinely had to be reminded to follow up on anything, and was 15-30 minutes late to any scheduled call.
We were doing this project remotely before we moved back to the Chicagoland area, so we were shocked when we received a call from this new project manager asking us if they should keep or discard our kitchen cabinets and appliances...they had demo'ed our kitchen and rendered it unlivable without asking us, or without any contractual or verbal agreement! This is a classic bait-and-switch, where the contractor likely did not believe that they could win the remainder of our business through honest means, so they demo'ed our kitchen in hopes that we would be stuck with them to fix it back up.
We have several other negative stories about our experience with Slaten, but in short, we heavily advise against family from doing business with Slaten.
Response from Slaten Construction Inc July 28, 2020Mr. Richards, While we appreciate you taking the time to leave a review for us, we do feel it necessary to fill in some missing information that, we believe is pertinent to this review. 1) The entire time you worked with McDowell it was owned by Slaten Construction. 2) Your first Project Manager, who we know was a family friend to you, left the company of his own volition. We understand that you may have been disheartened to learn that you would no longer be dealing with someone whom you were familiar with. 3) Your second project manager, who you fondly refer to as a “bull in a china shop”, did move to increase productivity after you expressed concern over the timeline of your project. We are happy to provide all records of the emails, phone calls, and video conference calls that show how seriously your project was being taken including, all the notes taken on your thoughts and input on your project. 4) We're sorry that the removal of your kitchen cabinets felt duplicitous but, we are happy to provide you with the emails you sent telling us which cabinets you wanted removed and, that you wanted them stored in the garage as you were considering putting them in your barn. Your wife was also kind enough to send a picture of the kitchen with the cabinets to be saved, circled in red. 5) We are also happy to provide all the email correspondence from both you and your wife which include all the new kitchen fixtures/cabinets/hardware you picked out including, all your new appliances which you purchased with our company discount but paid directly to the supplier. While unorthodox, we were happy to oblige. We didn’t want to lose your business but, when I, the owner of Slaten/McDowell, called you directly to address your concerns, it was clear you wanted to move on, despite the option of choosing a different Project Manager. It's important that a homeowner and a PM have a positive relationship so, as homeowners ourselves, we respected your choice and therefor, agreed to release you from your contract with a "hefty bill" for the materials you chose, were ordered for your project, and were delivered to your home. Again, we apologize that you were anything other than satisfied but, please know, we do hope your remodel goes well moving forward and we are here should you have any questions.
I hired Slaten Construction to replace the flooring in my foyer, powder room and kitchen. This was an unforeseen project that arose in the middle of a partial remodel. We were challenged with a restrictive budget and time constraints to address the new problem. The team from Slaten Construction provided wonderful guidance on how best to manage the project, select material and installed within record time. When faced with an unexpected change in the middle of a project it can be quite stressful, and it was comforting to work with a team that is knowledgeable, experienced and frankly real in setting the proper expectations. The bonus, they under promised and over delivered on the project plan we agreed to – how often can you claim that when working with a contractor? It’s clear that John Slaten is hiring a team around him that operates with integrity, is focused on quality, has a “can do” attitude while delivering a competitive price. These guys are going to do great things, I give them my highest recommendation and will hire them for future projects.