Our home was impacted by hurricane Harvey in the form of a 60 year old pine tree that blew over and smashed our garage (including the mini van inside) and clipped the roof of the house above the kitchen. Water rained in while we struggled to catch the water in a collections of plastic bins to limit the damage. In the aftermath some friends recommended Don Long and DSL construction after working with them during the tax day flood the year before.
Don engaged early with our adjustor making sure that the insurance estimate reflected everything that would be required to make the repairs. Now that the work is complete, I can really appreciate the value that Don provided during that first couple of months. DSL was able to bring in contractors with a variety of expertise to tackle various aspects of the repairs including construction, electrical, plumbing, cabinet-making, and plumbing. The only hiccup was when the first crew showed up to do the exterior painting. They weren't doing what they were supposed to be doing. When we told Don about it, he fired them and brought in another contractor that did a much better job.
When we were trying to decide between various options for replacing the kitchen cabinets, Don provided us with an opportunity to visit another job site and see examples of his cabinet maker's work. That really helped us decide to use Don's guy, and we're really glad we did. We very happy to be able to make the changes we wanted as the new cabinets were designed. The cost on the cabinets was lower than going the Lowe's or Home Depot route.
We tracked progress in a spreadsheet as work was completed. We only paid in increments as insurance funds were released and as the work was completed. Don never asked us to pay for anything before the work was completed. The total cost of all repairs was more than $160,000 and Don provided all of the documentation required for the insurance company to release funds at each stage. He also helped us go back to the insurance company to get a supplement to cover new granite when the old granite broke during removal.
Overall, my wife and I feel that Don and DSL Construction really did great work on this project. At the end, they helped us save money in a lot of areas so that we could use that money to cover other areas where we wanted to make changes. He really did a great job coming in under the insurance estimates in a lot of areas while still ensuring that the rebuild was as good or better than what we had before.
The new garage is more structurally sound than the original. The kitchen is completely modernized and includes a lot of improvements that we had been looking to make since moving into the house a few years before.
DSL Construction really did great work for us. With very view exceptions, the contractors that worked on our project did outstanding work, and when they didn't, Don made sure that it got corrected. Don earned his fees as the general contractor and made sure that it was entirely covered by the insurance estimates.
My wife and I would recommend Don to anyone with any size of a repair project. With all the horror stories that you hear about problems with contractors after a storm, we are thankful to have been able to work with such a professional group of people as DSL Construction.