Robert Harju, Purcellville, Virginia

When Robert and Skeeter Harju of Purcellville, Virginia decided to add living space to their home, they immediately thought of their unfinished basement. “We used to have what we would call the worst basement in Loudoun County. Now, after Carpenter Beach Construction finished, I’d be willing to bet we have one of the best basements anywhere!” said Robert.

He went on, “At the beginning, it was difficult to decide who to work with. I knew I was going to need a builder who would really listen and understand what I was trying to do. I needed someone who would work with me and be open to making changes as we went along. You hear all sorts of horror stories about the really bad things that can happen with a contractor. We checked all the references but still it is a huge leap of faith to trust someone to do the work. We really feel lucky that we picked Carpenter Beach Construction.

We didn’t want an ordinary basement—we wanted a very unique, rustic look and needed to work with a contractor who would understand what we were trying to accomplish and make it happen. We truly found that kind of a building partner with Carpenter Beach Construction. They not only gave us what we wanted, they also showed us what could be possible with ideas within our budget that we hadn’t even thought of before. They were flexible, extremely hard working, and they got the job done beautifully—within our budget and within an impossible deadline.

We had a group of friends and family coming in for Thanksgiving and we needed to get the job finished because our plan was for the adult children of our friends to stay in the basement. We started with the architect on September 22 and the cleaning crew was in our new basement shining everything up eight weeks later. Every step of the building process was a pleasure. From Scott Carpenter who understood our vision and pulled together a plan to make it happen, to the carpenters who worked as a team on our project, to Charlie Beach who supervised the project, and the subcontractors who came in to do electric, plumbing, and painting—everyone was wonderful. I felt like the entire organization really cared about the job they were doing and were willing to go the extra mile to make sure it was exactly how we wanted it. And now the work speaks for itself—we definitely have a living space to be proud of.

When the job was underway, I would go downstairs every morning to talk to the carpenters to check in and see what was happening that day. Sometimes, I would ask if they could change something or tweak the plan—they were very receptive to my ideas and when I got home at night, the work would be done, exactly as we had discussed. Working with the team was like holding a magic wand. It was so easy—they just made amazing things happen.

Another example about the way Carpenter Beach works was the day the painters were set to arrive. When we left the house the morning the painters came in, there were two large holes in the ceiling and all of the painting needed to be done. Our furniture had just been delivered and we had placed pictures on the wall to see how everything would look. I got an excited call from Skeeter at 4:00 pm. She said, “You are not going to believe this---“I am thinking, “What happened?” She said, “I am in the basement and not only are the holes in the ceiling fixed perfectly but the walls are all painted, there is not a spec of paint anywhere on the floor or furniture, and the pictures are back on the walls just where we wanted them. I just got a call to say the cleaning crew will be here tomorrow to finish up. Our basement is ready for company.” We giggled like teenagers.

We would definitely recommend Carpenter Beach Construction to anyone wanting to design and build a new space in their home. They exceeded our wildest expectations. I had worked with contractors before and expected that we would have a long laundry list of things that still needed to be done after the job was finished. To my surprise, the only thing on my list was a flickering light. I called to tell Charlie Beach about it. The next day the electrician was there and fixed the problem. End of punch list. It was totally amazing.”

I just cannot believe what a great experience the entire building process turned out to be—everything was done with enthusiasm, professionalism, and concern for our happiness. We couldn’t be happier with the experience or the outcome. We plan on using Carpenter Beach Construction in the future for another project in our home. We like them so much, we have invited the entire team to our home for a party—they are good people and we are so happy to have hired them. I highly recommend them without reservation.”