Unsolicited Testimonial:
In my profession (I am an attorney specializing in representing architects and building designers), I
tend to hear many “horror stories” of incompetent, negligent, lazy, or just plain crooked contractors in the
custom home building business. From my experience to date with Kevin Cutsinger, let me say this: he is
not one of those. Indeed, if more builders had his skills, integrity, and attention to detail, many attorneys
would be needing to find another area of practice.
I was originally referred to Kevin by my architect and long-term client, Sabas Flores, who had used
Kevin as his general contractor in remodeling his personal residence. Besides being a noted and awardwinning
architect, Sabas has also worked for and owned home building companies, and so his choice and
recommendation of Kevin as a contractor was not to be taken lightly. During the bid process, Kevin was
extremely responsive and helpful, and we were able to negotiate a fair contract that was significantly less
than what I was quoted by some of the high-end builders in the area.
And the building process? The facts speak for themselves. Our contract called for a 330 day
completion date, plus a 30 day grace period (This was in line with what other builders had projected for
this project; indeed, a comparable house constructed nearby at the same general time took over 400 days
to complete.) My house, including initial landscaping, was completed in less than 275 days. In short, the
job was completed well ahead of schedule, and in line with the budgets we had agreed to.
Nor was quality shortchanged. My house has many unusual custom features and materials that
required a high degree of skill from craftsmen such as stonemasons, tile masons, cabinetmakers, trim
carpenters, and many others, as well as coordinating the timely arrival of specialty materials from, quite
literally, the other side of the world. Kevin not only used such high quality tradesmen, but he and his job
superintendent “rode herd” on them on a constant basis, and were not shy about requiring significant
sections of the project to be redone (often at significant unreimbursed cost to the contractor) if the work did
not meet his high standards. As a result of his diligence, the “punch list” of items to be fixed at the end of
the job was significantly shorter than typical – and indeed the building inspectors were consistently
impressed by the “clean” nature of the final product.
But what most impressed me during the construction process was the professional behavior and
attitude of Kevin and his personnel. The job site was kept clean, safe, and secure. Progress reports and
draw requests were handled promptly and in a businesslike fashion, as were change orders. The
schedules of subcontractors, tradesmen, and suppliers were well coordinated so that the work proceeded
at an efficient pace. In the (fortunately) rare situations where I had an issue with how something had been
done, my concerns were addressed promptly and typically to my perfect satisfaction. Indeed, in many
cases, Kevin and his people went well beyond the minimums required by the plans and specifications out
of what I can only describe as an old-fashioned ethic of doing a job well and to the best of one’s ability.
Building a custom house is a challenging experience, both for the customer and for the builder. If
you are willing to commit the time required for the design, materials selection, and construction monitoring
processes, then I believe that you will be very pleased with the result that Kevin and his people can deliver.
— Louis B.
Austin, Texas
March 5, 2009 |
