Alice had this to say...
It is without hesitation that I recommend JEP Contracting and Patrick Perkins as an excellent design build contractor. With rough sketches drawn on graph paper in hand, I reached out to Patrick in the fall of 2022 to interpret them to design and build the art and pottery studio of my dreams. Throughout the next winter he turned those rough sketches into thoughtfully engineered, feasible blueprints with which he successfully arranged and represented our project at the Zoning Board meeting in mid-January. By the end of February, with the Zoning Board approval and appeal period past us, Patrick dove in to finalizing the design. He kept me in the loop, reaching out about everything from roof lines to waste disposal, as each element of the project was considered. Patrick deftly handled everything involved in the application for a building permit and with it approved by the end of April we were ready to go.
The new design is basically a fancy two car garage – except there is an art studio on one side and a garage on the other. We also included a concrete sidewalk beside the structure and a concrete apron in front of the building. As such, the project included many phases of construction from the demolition of the old cinder block garage, excavation of the rocky ground beneath it, and tree work before concrete footings could be poured and the framing begun. Different than a garage, work encompassed in the new studio included installing a heat pump, hot running water, specialized trap for clay, bathroom, recessed lighting, custom windows, and an electric overhead door on the garage side. Patrick executed the design work for each of these components with excellent communication and flexibility, taking care to discuss pricing and timeline for the many options.
Once we had arrived at most of the decisions, work was underway in late spring and continued through the summer and early fall. For shared scheduling purposes, Patrick developed an online BuildBook construction planner for the project, through which I could track progress and know what to expect at each phase of construction. The online planner includes a chat feature where I could add questions and concerns, which were promptly responded to by Patrick or his able assistant, Ryan. Respectful communication is clearly an ideal for JEP Contacting as is evidenced in the log of entries in the online planner.
With all these components of our project there were many different sub-contractors in and out of the yard. Thanks to the online planner, we knew who to expect and when. This was especially helpful when crews worked on the weekend so we could plan driveway use around them. All the sub-contractors were respectful, polite, and friendly. We grew accustomed to their knocks on the back door if they had to go inside the house to check the hook-ups or other considerations. Most of all, each group consistently worked hard. Because it was summer, a few of them brought their teenagers to work since they weren’t in school. While the teens worked hard in the menial yet necessary tasks they were assigned, it was clear in their fathers’ watchful eyes that they took pride in sharing their expertise and in fostering a positive work ethic in their kids. I know this isn’t the kind of thing one typically reads in construction reviews, but it speaks to the ethos of traditional values created by Patrick in all aspects of managing his company.
Finally, when I received the Certificate of Completion in mid-October 2023, I couldn’t have been more pleased in the final product. The art and pottery studio of my dreams is right outside my door thanks to the design and build talents of Patrick Perkins and JEP Contracting!
