I know, this is long overdue. Many people have asked for the followup, so here it is!

In the first part (click here to read it) I explained my almost OCD like compulsion to find the best company to replace the aging siding on our home. If you read part 1, we commissioned a local company, Payless Siding, to do the work. Here’s how it came out:

Kevin Spriggs is the owner, and he runs a large crew compared to most companies. While most companies will have 3-5 people on site, at one time there were 10 guys working on our house. Kevin was not on site the entire time, but did make an appearance 3-4 times during the work. The crew was good, but none of them spoke English fluently. That is to be expected, but posed a problem a couple of times.

First of all, the work: They were done quickly, and they didn’t cut corners. They were done with the bulk of the work in 4 days. Although I don’t have a lot to compare with, I think they did as good a job as any other company in Houston could do. But factor in the pricing we got from other companies, and I think Payless does the best work in the city.

The crew cleaned up after each day’s work, and left the area extremely clean overall. There was a little paint overspray on the bushes and grass, but it is growing out nicely, and in another 2 weeks it will be gone altogether.

There were a couple of spots that the roof flashing was pulled away from the house (about 1/4 inch), but we called Kevin and they came out to fix it in a timely manner.

One guy, while working on the side of the house, stepped down through the garage ceiling. He was OK, and they patched the sheetrock very nicely. Now I just have to make the rest of the garage look as nice!

The only major caveat I have to give is one that you will run into with any crew that does not speak English: Don’t answer questions from the crew, always direct them to the owner/foreman. On the first day of the job, one of the crew members asked me in very broken English what to do with our gutters and downspouts. I really didn’t understand what he was asking, and he reiterated by asking if they should take them down. I told him to definitely take them down, since how would they remove the fascias, etc without removing the gutters? He took that to mean remove and throw them away. This was key, in that they were planning on reusing the gutters and painting them. Once the job was done, we worked out the misconception with Kevin and they installed nice new gutters for a very nominal fee.

The other “language barrier” issue came when we decided (halfway through the job) that we wanted new vents on both ends of the home. We originally told them to remove them altogether, but we then realized that there were no ridge vents on that portion of the roof. We should have called Kevin, but instead spoke with the crew. We bought the materials, but not talking to Kevin caused some confusion about increased labor, etc. It was all worked out simply, but that reinforced my conviction to always talk with the owner.

Overall, the work was done quickly, expertly, and we are very pleased with Kevin Spriggs and our “new” home. We have recommended Kevin to many people who have asked about the incredible transformation of our house. In particular, one friend of ours had them install Hardi, new vinyl windows, and a new garage door. She is very happy with his work as well.

Click here (or the thumbnail below) to check out the before and after pictures.

We took Emily and Matthew to get some pictures taken, and here are the results. Click on either thumbnail to get to the full album of pictures.