Upon retirement from DuPont in 1998, we decided to upgrade our home ...
• Replace the small enclosed back porch with a 600 sq. ft. Sun Room for all weather use
• Install a 200 sq. ft. open porch and hot tub
• Replace cabinets, plumbing, appliances, lighting, and flooring in the kitchen
• Replace plumbing, sinks, base cabinets, and selected shower tile in 3-1/2 baths
• Replace all windows in house with Andersen casement units
Being a left brain engineer, I did the architectural design and build specifications, and deferred all serious material and product selections to my wife. My mother did not raise a dummy. The three bids solicited from local contractors recommended by neighbors were satisfactory and reasonably close in cost. Walter Graham's was the middle one. I was initially inclined to accept the low bid, but my wife favored Walter, primarily on intuition. She was right. Walter is absolutely honest, does not take shortcuts that might be detrimental, and freely offers advice when he thinks better or more pleasing ways of doing things are possible. He completes the work to the customer's satisfaction and sticks to the cost basis. We had no cost or quality "surprises" and it was a pleasure to have the work done without haggling over every change that came up of necessity or choice during the work. I'm sure he made a reasonable profit, and we were completely satisfied. His word is his bond.
For example, Walter pointed out that county codes would require that we modify one corner of the Sun Room for property line clearance. While this complicated the construction, he didn't haggle for cost increases for this and other minor changes during construction, many of which were his suggestions. Another example ... the code required a roof slope that would restrict a ceiling height for the outer wall of 7 ft. I really wanted it 8 ft. Walter suggested a higher quality and more expensive membrane material to assure no deterioration and subsequent leakage problems, again without a cost increase. Another example shows Walter's sense of good and appealing design. We had a drop down section on part of the original wall which was to be boxed in. Walter thought it wouldn't look good having this be a partial construction, and suggested we box it in the entire length of the wall. Again, he was right. The final result is much more pleasing to the eye.
Someone once said "an elephant is a mouse designed by DuPont engineers". I'm guilty. When we discussed the spacing and location for footers and support posts, Walter suggested some reductions in number with a little different spacing. Again, he was right. The Sun Room is the only floor in our house that does not squeak even though they all were "glued and screwed".
In summary, he does great work at fair prices, but more importantly, he is honest and trustworthy. We've had him do several jobs for us since 1998 and recommend him whole heartedly. We'd be happy to discuss our experience and show you his work.