We met John, the owner of Oborne contracting, in February 2017. We had spent the previous summer interviewing various contractors, and after becoming disenfranchised about it all, took a 6 month break before we met John.
From our first meeting, we knew that Oborne was a good fit for us. We were looking to do a main floor total gut renovation, so we knew the contractor we chose would be in our lives for a substantial period of time. John was upfront about the fact that he was interviewing us as much as we were interviewing him, what our respective roles and responsibilities and next steps would be, and that he didn't want us to waste our time if we didn't think the relationship would work.
Soon there after, we were also introduced to Georgia, who's design expertise and non-pushy approach was exactly what we were after. What we really appreciated was her desire to get to know "us" to assist her in designing features and picking fixtures and finishes that would suit our lifestyle.
We were brave enough to live at our house during our 6 month renovation, which we expected to be horrendous balancing two young kids, two jobs, a dog, and contractors constantly in our space. Our site supervisor Kevin Myers and his team, including Kiak and Sonny, as well as their recommended subtrades went above and beyond in every regard - they were friendly, professional, courteous, dependable, patient, and the cleanest contractors we have ever seen. Kevin really became like part of our family, the kids knew Kevin would be here when they woke up and were disappointed if he wasn't here when they came home from school.
One morning, Sonny pulled Ben aside and wanted to show him (discretely) in the backyard that a baby raccoon had died - he was worried that the kids would come out back so he moved it off to the side, shielded it with some boxes, and called 311. Clearly not his job but one of the many many examples of how Oborne went above and beyond.
Reflecting on our entire renovation, we are hard pressed to say that there is anything we would change. When others ask about our renovation "experience" they are always surprised to hear how relatively smooth and painless it was. While there were definitely some set backs and bumps along the road, there was never a moment where we felt as though John, Georgia or Kevin didn't have our best interests at heart.
We've already asked John to come back and quote us to renovate our upstairs bathroom.
Thanks for making our first renovation experience one for the memory book!
The Prokopys
Ben, Melissa, Ruby and Clark
