“We have worked with Lackey Construction on two major renovations. The first was adding a master bedroom and bath to the third floor of our house. It required new plumbing, electric, windows, vaulting the ceiling, staircases, etc. On a complex project, Brad was detail-oriented, organized, with high standards that met our own. He and his team kept clear communication clear throughout. Brad can answer any question, solve problems, and gets it right. He also has great relationships with his subcontractors, respecting them, and in return gets excellent work and scheduling from them.
Seven years later, when we decided to do a major remodel on our kitchen, we only wanted to work with one contractor: Lackey Construction. We didn’t interview anyone else. We knew that we would be lucky to work with Brad and jumped at the opportunity. I think that it is the strongest recommendation I can give: we worked with Brad TWICE on projects that were significant in scope. We still have a warm relationship and our family absolutely loves the spaces we live in.”
“In my 25 years of working as an interior designer, Lackey Construction is hands down my favorite contractor. Brad is incredibly thorough, an absolute perfectionist and a pleasure to work with. His job sites are spotless, his (excellent!) employees and subcontractors like and respect him, he is thorough in his requests for information, and the results of his projects are beautiful and exactly what we would wish. I can’t say enough good about Brad and would be happy to serve as a reference if needed. I’m already looking forward to our next project together.”
“On every project I worked on while Lackey Construction was based in Portland, when the question came up... “Who is going to build this?” Our thought always was, “Maybe we can get Brad?”
Always well organized, always with an impeccably clean job site, great questions, and highly skilled subcontractors, Lackey Construction was a joy to work with, and I look forward to the chance to do it again.”
“Lackey Construction completed a full remodel of our home over a one-year span. This was the second complete remodel of a home that we had gone through and this experience with Brad and his team stands out. I professionally work in a visual medium and as a result, attention to the details is something very important to me. Brad’s understanding of this and drive to make everything the best it can be rivals my own attention to detail. And this high quality doesn’t just extend to the craftsmanship it carries through on every step of the process. A small example of this (but speaks volumes) is how the work site is kept incredibly clean. Every day. There is a respect for the work that really comes through.
We had a great experience working with Brad and his team. I can’t think of anything we would have changed. If you care about the end result of your project, I can’t recommend Lackey Construction enough.”
“After interviewing some very qualified contractors, we were thrilled to select Lackey Construction. They stood out above the rest for three reasons: efficiency, great communication, and they "got" us and our design ideas. We are happy to say that all these elements continued throughout the construction process. Any questions we had along the way were immediately answered. Brad was genuinely concerned about our satisfaction.
We even had some unexpected work that needed to be done prior to construction, and Brad made sure that the job was still completed on time and on budget. Working with Brad was a pleasure and we plan to use Lackey Construction again in the future.”
“We have worked with Brad and Lackey Construction on four different projects now. Two quite large and the other fairly small. When we hired him, people I know that have worked with him said that we had hired the right guy. And we did. The largest project was renovating our kitchen and living room, knocking out a dining room in a space where there was none, and completely overhauling a garage into a detached accessory dwelling; which we now use as a guest house. That was a daunting task from the beginning. We finished the guest house first so that we could move into it while the main house was under construction. The urgency wasn't lost on Brad and we got moved into a very comfortable space just in time. The main house required new wiring, plumbing, flooring, new walls-the works. We now have a house that has a much warmer, inviting atmosphere and the workmanship that went into it is a very big reason why. The other large project was the renovation of our basement into a family room. The room is nearly soundproof and lets the family get its ya-ya's out without disturbing one another. We are very happy with the finished product on all our projects with Lackey Construction and will call on Brad in the future, I'm certain.”
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the work Brad and his crew did on our kitchen remodel. His crew and his sub-contractors did a great job of installing a very square modernist kitchen into a very crooked 1911 house — it looks like it belongs here. And regarding the mundane but so important things — communication, meeting the agreed upon schedule and keeping the job-site clean, Brad and his crew are without peer. First class all the way.”
“The care that Brad and Jocelyn took up front with planning made our remodel go smoothly. They do an excellent job of communicating and setting expectations. The job was finished on time and was well executed. They are detail oriented – no corners were cut!”
“Brad and his team of employees and sub-contractors completed a bathroom remodeling project at our home during the spring of 2012. The work was completed on schedule, within cost estimates including approved modifications.
All work was extremely well done and the resulting bathroom has been a joy to use. Many parts of the project were beyond expectations.
Of special note is Brad's insistence that the job site remain clean at all times. We were able to use adjacent rooms throughout the project without problem.”
“Lackey Construction is top-notch. They did a beautiful job of building out our basement. For the duration of our project they were responsive, detail-oriented, communicative, and flexible. There was never any lag time and the job never sat empty or idle. Subcontractors were there when we were told they’d be there.
As the project progressed, we had a couple of 11th hour design changes that Brad took in stride. Brad doesn’t cut corners and will insist on getting the details right even if it means taking the extra time to ensure that the result is of the highest quality.
Brad and Jocelyn showed concern for the quality of work at every step of the project. They are both very sincere, direct, and honest. Communicating with them is not just easy, but fun, because their enthusiasm for the job is so evident. Lackey Construction keeps an organized, trash-free worksite, leaving the impacted areas vacuum clean at the end of every day.
We enthusiastically recommend them.”
“We are very pleased with our new vintage style kitchen. The project was completed on time, the work site was always clean, and the final cost was in budget.”
“Lackey Construction remodeled our bathroom and kitchen and we are delighted with the results. Brad is extremely professional, easy to work with, pays close attention to details, is number one when it comes to communication, and stays on a very tight time schedule and does not deviate from the agreed upon budget. There are no surprises.
Brad took us through the project step by step before work began. He uses licensed subcontractors and his own crew of carpenters are fantastic. He introduced us to each team of subcontractors and we walked through the site exchanging ideas and getting their professional input. When this was done for each phase of the project Brad provided us with a budget and timeline. He never deviated from either.
Brad was at our house with his subcontractors at the beginning of each phase of work and closely followed their progress with regular (and frequent) site inspections. Brad conducted a thorough inspection before each subcontractor finished their work and made sure that every detail was perfect. We never felt alone or uncertain about what was happening during the 4 months of remodeling our house.
One final note. All the people Brad brought to our house were very professional, respectful, and willing to take time to answer our questions. It was a pleasure to have them in our home.
We highly recommend Lackey Construction as the best choice of a general contractor.”
“We feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Lackey Construction though the process of doing a major renovation and modernization of not only the aesthetics, but also all of the major mechanical systems, of our mid-century modern home.
We met Brad through recommendations of both a material supplier and also the interior designer who we ultimately worked with on the project and through the year and a half period of construction it became readily apparent why he, as a person, as well as his quality of work as a contractor, is highly regarded. While many contractors may do great work, Brad was a team member - he was our ally through the very stressful process of doing the extensive work that we did. He was honest, timely, a great communicator, thorough and I would say consistently had a higher expectation than even we did about the work being done. If something wasn’t right, he kept working on it until it was.
He did a fantastic job of keeping the work going - there were no periods where nothing was happening - which I believe is frequently the case and it seemed the next steps were always lined up and ready to go as soon as possible. The end result was well beyond our expectation and not only have we continued to hire Brad for additional needs, but we have recommended him on several other projects through friends and colleagues and will continue to do so.”
“Brad was the general contractor and lead finish carpenter on a studs-out renovation of a 1954 one-level ranch we bought in 2007.
I want to commend his workmanship, ethics, and business practices:
+ Ethics:
Brad is one of the most stand-up people I have ever worked with. His word is good as gold. He keeps to his bids and keeps to the timelines he puts on his bids. If the job’s not right, in your eyes or in his, he’ll make it right.
(Anecdote: he visited our house the summer after he finished work on it and decided the deck finish wasn’t “right” so he had one of his guys come out and sand and refinish it to Brad’s standards. We hadn’t noticed anything odd about it, but he felt the material he used wasn’t good enough I guess.)
+ Business practices:
We’ve referred Brad to several friends and clients over time and they uniformly report:
(1) Brad’s bid was not the lowest bid.
(2) Brad’s bid was accurate. There were no unexpected charges, price changes, or “oops-I-forgot-to-tell- you” wild card charges. If you’ve worked with a contractor before you know how important -- and exceptional -- this practice is, in an industry which apparently allows cost overruns to be an acceptable part of the landscape.
(3) They loved how consistently accountable he was to them. His booking keeping practices are impeccable and he sends out regular detailed accounting summaries to his clients all through the job. (4) Oh, and he cleans up spotlessly every day at the end of work, down to the dust. Jeanne really liked that.”
“We recommend Lackey Construction to anyone who needs the absolute best craftsmanship, professionalism and integrity when it comes to their home remodel. Brad was not only accurate in his estimates, but was upfront about change orders, and was there every step of the way to make that our remodel and new bathroom build, was done to perfection. The work was superb.
There is no doubt that when anyone asks us for a construction recommendation, Lackey Construction will be the first name that comes to mind!”
“We loved working with Lackey Construction. Brad was extremely professional and passionate about our project; he consistently managed the project’s schedule, budget, and subcontractors with our interests in mind, and was amazingly patient with our super-high expectations of workmanship and attention to detail (Megan and I are both designers). Throughout the year-long project, the work site was meticulously cleaned and organized at the end of each day, the communications were prompt, and schedule/cost adjustments updated consistently on a Gantt chart and spreadsheet. We are looking forward to continuing onto the next phase with Lackey Construction.”
“Any time you remodel a 90-year-old building, there will be unexpected surprises. Contractors deal with surprises by issuing change orders (COs), and COs entail unexpected costs. That is the nature of the beast, and so I approached our remodel last year with trepidation.
The difference between a good contractor and a bad contractor is how COs are handled. Good contractors charge just for the cost of the extra work. Bad contractors will use COs to extract extra money from their clients, figuring they have them over a barrel. You will often hear business owners say they're being "change-ordered to death" during a construction project.
During our remodel, we encountered a few surprises (of course). But Lackey Construction kept the COs to a minimum. All the expenses were logical, and sensibly priced. I believe the COs were priced strictly on a time & material basis, as they should be, and so we were happy to pay them.
As for the construction work that Lackey did, it was top-notch. Brad kept the project on a tight schedule, and we were happy to not have our business closed any longer than necessary.
People thought it was odd that we would remodel during a downturn, but the remodel has been a great success, and has paid for itself in less than 18 months.
We hope to expand in the not-to-distant future, and when we do, Lackey Construction will be our first choice for general contractor. Brad and Jocelyn are a pleasure to work with.”