Sturdevant Construction

Corey B.

I would never recommend working with Sturdevant Construction due to lack of integrity, poor professionalism, and inefficient management. The high level issues are outlined below, in addition to a summary of the issues experienced.

Issues Overview:
Project was delayed one month
Staff as promised was not delivered
Requirements for construction were not delivered on time: permit, dumpster, port-a-john
Unnecessary upsell which was couched as a requirement in order to get the permit approved
Unprofessional and hostile communication, to include lack of communication unless money was required

Issue Summary:
We contacted and hired Sturdevant Construction for an extensive home remodel, which included two bathrooms, master suite, and wall removal. The sales process was impressive, and this is the ONLY positive experience we had with Sturdevant. The owner, Naham, had a vision for the remodel and it aligned with our desired state. Once the contract was signed we did not hear from Sturdevant unless they wanted money.

During the contract signing, we were expressly told the job would start December 2, 2018. We were also told that the job would be performed by Sturdevant employees, not subcontractors. Both of these were false. The job did not officially start until January 2, 2019 and was subbed out. That being said, the subcontractor did an amazing job however we did not appreciate the untruths that were delivered during contract signing.

Not only did the job start a month late, but the dumpster - which is required for demolition - did not arrive until a week later. And the port-a-john did not arrive until January 17th; two weeks after the job actually started. These tasks were the responsibility of Sturdevant and were clearly not executed effectively.

In addition to the delayed start, Sturdevant called on 12/19/18 to tell us we were required to add a deck onto our remodel in order to pass permitting (a triple sliding door was being installed in the bedroom). At no point was it mentioned that a railing would be sufficient to pass inspection, and a $17k change order was submitted as we were led to believe there was no other option. Even when we challenged the requirement. However, after reviewing the permit - once it was received after the holidays - we reviewed the permit and called the permitting office to discuss the decking requirement. The permitting office, and permit officer, informed us that a railing would be sufficient and a deck was not required.

When we contacted Sturdevant about the conversation with the permitting office, the office manager, Crystal Proper, was rude and accused of ""going behind her back"" instead of calling Sturdevant. When pointedly asked about the requirement of the deck again, Crystal was very unprofessional, turning the conversation into a personal attack rather then a business transaction, and rushed off the phone without an answer. It took a week of ongoing emails and calls to Crystal to receive any communication back from Sturdevant.

The follow-on communication regarding the requirement of the deck was from Naham, who aggressively tried to pressure us into keeping the deck. It was explained to Naham that the initial discussion led us to believe the deck was required, which was why we signed, and once we found out it was no longer required we wanted it removed. In addition to that, as a Federal employee, half of our household was on furlough and the additional expense was not welcome. Naham continued to try to sell the deck, however backed off when we held firm. We were then charged 15% to descope in spite of need for the upsell being unnecessary. At that time we decided not to pursue more aggressive action as we wanted the remodel to be completed.

At no point through the remaining project did Sturdevant reach out to check on progress, unless it was time for a payment. Upon the conclusion of the project a brief conversation with Crystal was laced with passive aggressive tones in an effort to smooth over any ill will. Sturdevant wanted to send their project lead to take final photos and inspect our home; when he had NO involvement in any of the project execution. When we informed Crystal this was not necessary, she immediately became defensive and argumentative; to the point where I felt uncomfortable continuing any dialog.

Clearly the Sturdevant team has no vested interest in their customer's satisfaction, and feels that purposeful omission of information, false promises and complete lack of communication are the modus operandi. I would never recommend their services due to these aforementioned factors.

James G.

Company agreed in September to pay for the damaged stove though the check did not appear until December. I bumped them up a notch for doing that, though there's still a lot of work to do restoring their reputation.

Shawn S.

A few years back, I saw them at county Fair and then tried them to do our roof all over. All seemed ok in the beginning. They hired various folks. When removing shingles, nails all over and found for years to come in lawn or blow off. They were supposed to remove rotten plywood from roof due to water damage. Then retiled roof. New dormers. New windows. New vent ridge line. When done. The bad work showed. They seemed to go through workers and supervisors. So here you go ... when looking up at roof ridge line vent, you might expect daylight when in attic. Well. No. They did not cut the plywood for the air to flow. Prompting fixed it. Also while in attic, the wood rotted blacken plywood was still visible. So the tried a fast one? Even though it was rotted enough to fall through. They had to rip tiles off again to removed whole sheets of plywood and redo. Yes. Frustrating. Now years later they still have not fixed one of the defective windows. They did one. But the next year, I got the run around. Not sure how they are now? They can't even get me a person to look at my window. Do not Trust them.

Amber M.

Sturdevant recently built my new home in Smithfield. I love the finished product, and it was a great experience.
The design process is hands down the best process out there. You get to sit back and drive the vision of the project until your desired product and the budget find their sweet spot.
I love my home, we did have an issue with insulation being defective, but they were out right away after I called to address the issue. Building isn't a perfect, seamless process, and I really appreciate how everything was handled. All concerns were taken care of swiftly.
The finished product is beyond perfect. Would do business with again. They handled everything very well, great attention to detail.

Vaughn D.

Our project started in January 2017. It's now the middle of August! Project is still incomplete. Multiple communication issues and delays. No proper management of the project. We're pretty disappointed in Sturdevant. Definitely not recommending to anyone.

Sue S.

Contract signed in March, 2016 for a bathroom renovation consisting of taking out a fiberglass shower insert and wall between shower and soaking tub, tile shower and install glass enclosure and had a start date of the week of April 25, 2016. I had to contact twice the prior week looking for a start date and was told that they were waiting for permit. Was finally scheduled and the job commenced. Tile was installed and the wall tile and bullnose colors were mismatched. Several issues came up throughout the process and calls and emails were made in an attempt to get someone that actually worked for Sturdevant to come out so that they could see the problems I was encountering. No one ever followed up. June 3 glass was installed and job was completed. They were then ready to contact me for payment. I was given a discount for my troubles to pay that day. Within 24 hours the glass door was overlapping the side panel and could not be opened. Sub contractor returned to make adjustments but ultimately ordered new glass panel because it was warped. After a few weeks texts and calls to subcontractor went unanswered until message received on other end said phone had been shut off. July 5 called Sturdevant to let them know. They said he was in the hospital but did not know that his phone was shut off and that someone would be in touch. No one had called by the next day so I called another contractor to come and finish the job. He questioned if a permit was pulled for the job. We, of course, assumed so since that was the hold up at the beginning on setting a date. After investigating, discovered no permit had been pulled. I sent an email requesting my money back since the entire shower would now have to be pulled out so that inspections could be done before another contractor would do work. So, yes finally owner contacted me, still three days later to try to correct things. I would never let these people in my house again and took the loss!

Keith M.

Great job selling the job but spirals downhill after signing the contract. Poor project management and planning. Very dishonest and no oversight from management on the job. Sub contractors perform the work and have no idea what is in the contract. You will pay top dollar for subpar work. Three weeks after job was complete siding was falling off of the house in 5 different areas for no reason. Company claims to provide a 1 year warranty on all work but will not respond to complaints. Most horrible experience I have had with a contractor.

Kathryne L.

At first we thought we had made a great choice, that lasted about 2 weeks onto a 2.5 month job. They said they would be finished before our daughters wedding, which was the reason we chose them. 1.5 months in we had to have the project manager fired. He was NOT skilled to perform job. They mismeasured for cabinets, delayed oroject. In correct cabinets arrived, delayed job. Kitchen floor refinishing took 3, yes 3 different companies to get it correct. The entire project was a nightmare with Sturdevant. Poor communication within th e company and with us. In the end the 2.5 month project took 9 months. Now they won't honor their warranty on the project. RUN FROM THEM AS FAST AS YOU CAN!!!!!

Kim B.

We had the desire to somehow repurpose the space and increase storage in our kitchen/dining room. We had an idea, but Naham came up with plans that blew our minds. We removed a wall and opened up our kitchen/dining area into our living room. Sturdevant also remodeled a small, unused, screen and glass porch into a beautiful space we are already enjoying, even in the 90+ degree weather. They made a window seat design that I drew up myself come to life in a downstairs room.

Were there snags along the way? Yes. Changes? Delays? Yes, but to expect none in a project of this size would have been unrealistic. Project manager, JR, was the bomb and did a fantastic job managing our remodel (he's also the one who made my window seat a reality!). Everyone we dealt with was just terrific. Best of all? There is not one single thing we aren't absolutely thrilled with! Thank you, Sturdevant Construction, for our incredible, over the top ""new"" home!

Joseph L.

It was a three week project which was drawn out to over eight due to lack of attention to detail. The company was dishonest and tried cutting corners. Some examples were when they did the drawings to get permitted through the city they did not use the correct drawings for my house. The sad part is I was the one that noticed it when they left them on my counter, it said they were suppose to add support in crawl space. Not sure how the builder didn't notice that in the plans or just choice to skip over and not handle it the correct way. The builder also lied about the scope of work to the home inspector about electrical work not having to be inspected. Which at that point called the Ceo of the company and he wasn't sure if permits were needed told me he would call me back never did! So I called the county to inform them that the builder was not ethical. Not sure why they wanted to cut corners there. Same thing happened with the plumbing for the sink it was hooked up backwards and the pipes had to be switched out before it would pass inspection. There standard of work is not the highest. I felt they care more about quantity then quality. Also there customer service is horrible besides making the sale or collecting money. Emails and calls would go not answered for weeks at a time. Workers urinated on the side of my house after I paid for the porta potty. The Ceo tried blaming me that there plans were not done correctly through the city. Then he wanted to fight me. I will give it to the owner he made the work acceptable but it was an extremely horrible experience.