R & J Construction Services

Was driving home on the 405 going north when a gentleman driving one of your Construction trucks try to road rage me and run me off the road mind you Im from California so I put him in his place real quick, Super sad to see you hire people that represent your company like that though
Dec 28th, 2023

Zero stars??? We decided to contact Aaron Bates because he advertised for a youth soccer club. Aaron was responsive and easy to work with in the beginning. He was one of the few contractors who would call back to discuss our new construction home. Once we paid him to begin, he went way over budget on our first line item of framing. Almost 20% over budget. And he lied about the cost per SQ foot. It went from $150/SQ foot promise -to- $215/SQ foot reality. Our bank only allowed 8% over for the whole project. He also made changes to the house plans without our consent. His promise did not come to reality. We decided to terminate and pay him in full (for what was completed) plus overages for terminating. He shook hands with my husband and accepted the full payment. I wish we had asked for a lien release, but we thought he was an upstanding guy. We thought we parted ways with common understanding, but one month later, we were hit with a lawsuit. He wanted his full commission $94k, as if he finished the house. We failed the framing inspection that he "completed" and it cost us $13k to finish his only task. After framing, he was fired, yet he still wanted $94k for his botched work. We had to hire a lawyer and Aaron's fellow Mormon attorney friend, made it clear that they have nothing to lose, except to keep pursuing us, since they no longer had work lined up. We eventually settled, but the process cost us another$20k. We are just a ship-yard worker and healthcare worker. We aren't rich, but he devastated us financially. We live in the same community and share many contacts. We now know that Aaron has a bad reputation for doing this kind of stuff. Many sub contractors were nervous to work with us, because they thought we were still affiliated with him. He owes dozens of people!!! We finished the house and are thankful to have fired him. I would never recommend R&J to anyone. I rescind all recommendations I had made earlier in the process as he proved to be a complete scam artist. He is not a man of his word and many sub contractors will refuse your project, because of his reputation. Stay away!!!
Dec 29th, 2021

A contractor came into a paint store in Silverdale and refused to wear a face covering- which are provided in store on 2/4/21 after the statewide mandate. This created a visible discomfort among the employees and customers. As a small business owner my self, this shows lack of respect and consideration to public safety regardless of hoax theories. Our community has come together to work through this difficult time and behavior like this shows poor business practices. One can only assume you practice unsafe/disrespectful work ethics on jobs as well-unless you are asked not to.
Apr 28th, 2020

I dont usually leave reviews on anything, but Aaron and his team at R&J Construction have absolutely earned it! After getting burned one way or another every time we hired a contractor before, we were super wary this time around, but Aaron very much earned our trust over time such that we recommend his company to all of our friends. A few highlights from our very major remodel and addition: (1) ORGANIZATION - He took our very rough outline of what we were looking for and was able to succinctly organize our wild thoughts into a line item budget along with a high degree of confidence in cost and timing for us. Of course, as we changed our minds multiple times and considered numerous upgrade ideas, he made it very clear the impact it would have on budget and timing. He and Sarah (his assistant) were always super responsive and kept track of our multiple trains of thought, whether we communicated them via email, phone, or text. (2) OWNING SUBS - Aarons subs were all high quality, but more importantly, he has great relationships with all of them such that he was able to keep them in line when things didnt go according to plan. This was a miracle in light of staffing and product shortages everywhere. He owned their work as if it was his own, and held them to higher standards than we would even think to. (3) EXCELLENT TEAM - Aaron cant be everywhere at once, but his team that we got to work with (mostly Mike and Shawn) were awesome. They were super respectful, did great work very efficiently, and also worked hard to keep the subs in line. I even overheard one of them tell a sub, Sorry, my boss has very high expectations. You need to rip that out and do it again. My young kids still ask when we can have them out again to build stuff that they would find more interesting! (4) INCREDIBLE FINISHED PRODUCT - When we started talking to Aaron, I tried to tell him that we didnt want an upgrade, but rather just an update to our 20+ year old finishings. Over time I learned that I apparently lied because what we ended up with is something I never imagined we would be able to afford. Our neighbors and friends are amazed when they walk in and see the difference. (5) FAIR AND TRUSTWORTHY - Branding is clearly important to Aaron as he went to great lengths to make sure we were happy with the cost and the product. When things didnt go according to plan, which they always will in a project of our scope, he was always 100% transparent and suggested workarounds to minimize the impact. Over time, we trusted him and his team more and more, and I cant emphasize enough how important that is. There are a myriad of ways a contractor or sub can cut corners and overcharge without anyone being any the wiser, so having someone like Aaron as our advocate made all the difference and put our minds at ease. I feel like we got what we paid for and more, done right by true experts. 100% would recommend him to friends and family, and we are already planning to have his team out again for our next project!
Jun 18th, 2021