Brown’s Custom Contracting, LLC

I reached out to Brown’s Custom Contracting for a project at my parents home. The back door was in pretty bad shape and I wanted to get it replaced before the winter set in. Jim was very responsive and came out to do an estimate right away (the week of Thanksgiving if I recall correctly). Jim was very personable and honest. After the assessment of the back door he sent me the estimate shortly thereafter. It took a little time as the door was a custom order, but once it came in, Jim’s team was able to get the entire job done in on the day we decided just a few hours. My parents are incredibly happy with the outcome and have mentioned to me on several occasions that the room where the door is feels noticeably warmer. I plan on doing more updates to my parents home in the future and I will not hesitate to reach out to Brown’s Custom Contracting when the time comes!

We hired Jim Brown and his team for some remodeling to our kitchen after moving into a new home. This was our first experience working with a contractor and Jim made it a terrific one. Not only did they finish on time and under budget, but they were true professionals. He was easy to reach by phone when we had questions and solved every issue that came up. His team was very thorough and kept us informed along the way. We are immensely happy with the outcome and would definitely call Jim again for the next project.

My Review:
Brown’s Custom Contracting has been great to work with. I remember while in the market for a new home from the moment I saw one of the homes for sale that you performed work in (during my search), I knew I had to have this company perform works in my home once I had the budget which I thought would come much later. What I did not know is that someday unknowingly a twist of faith was going to bring you to my door thanks in no good fortune to my copper pipes freezing and exploding over this last winter and cracking radiators throughout the home at the time of purchase. I wish it would have been under friendlier circumstances but like a true professional, you came, you saw, you prepared and repaired my home and practically performed the impossible.
Brown’s Custom was on top of things and did fantastic work in a timely manner. I’d recommend them to anyone! I mean not many contractors are qualified to perform over a quarter of a million dollars’ worth of work both on time and on budget.
I originally expected that the initial contractor that I hired would be able and do the job right but as things took a turn for the worst with that insurance assigned contractor; I quickly learned that all contracting companies are not created equal. We were however in the 11^th hour and I feel very fortunate to have retained your company, your team and all that they did to fix, rebuild, replace, chip, paint, hang, wash, install and repair and clean their way through this house to make it a home again. I cannot express with words my gratitude to Brown’s Custom for such a fine job. Thanks Jim!
You all should be reclassified as a Damages Restoration company with the entire fine tuning you performed on my home. I sometimes find it hard to believe that this was once a full gutted empty shell with no running water or walls to come home to thanks to the significant water damage before is what I get to live in today. It’s like a museum as in all of the shiny finishes, I’m almost afraid to do anything here because I don’t want to mess up your fine craftsmanship.
Words cannot express my family’s gratitude to your firm.

We recently hired Jim to repaint our condo, install some lights and perform other electrical tasks, make some minor repairs to existing doors and put together a large bookcase. We really enjoyed working with Jim because he was: proactive and professional in communicating with us, timely in performing his work and reasonable with his pricing. He stuck to the budget and timeline. In addition, he made sure we were satisfied with the quality of the work before accepting final payment. We would hire him again in the future and recommend him to friends.

So I found Jim on Unilocal,and I have never created an account until now. This guy is wonderful, guys are great. After he would finish me and my father would just walk around looking at the work that was done and admiring details. He deals with high quality materials exclusively (ceramic tile, hardwood floor, granite counters, and solid wood cabinets), because he is giving you some of the best work you can get. As far as price goes I think he is very fair for what you get, and when the job is done, it’s correct.
Finally one of the best things I enjoyed was I never had to micromanage or answer a million questions, Jim asked me a series of questions at the start, what I wanted to accomplish, what would bother me, etc. I made sure he was paid on time and our relationship worked. After funds clear up I plan to use Jim again for various projects.

I don’t usually write reviews, but I do want to recognize fantastic work when credit is due. We hired Jim Brown and his crew to pretty much paint the entire inside of our home. Jim and his crew were amazing. They were professional, on time, extremely meticulous. I will be using them again in the future! Jim can do it all!

We hired Brown’s to replace a chain-​link fence with a wooden one, and they did a great job. Jim came out to do an estimate; he was friendly and informative about what the job would entail. Afterward, he was pretty responsive via e-​mail and phone, and even texted me photos of the fencing options from Home Depot so we could be sure we knew what to expect. He wasn’t able to fit our job in right away, but he kept me posted as to their schedule, so we never had to worry that we had «fallen through the cracks.»
When they came out to do the actual work, the job turned out to be more complicated than any of us anticipated, but Jim and his staff were upbeat and professional throughout the process, even after working a long day in 95° heat! When the job had to run to a second day, they even created a patch so that our dog could still use the backyard while the fence was being worked on.
Our new fence looks great and I found the service to be professional and personable. Exactly what you’d hope for from a contractor. We look forward to calling on them again.

We hired Jim’s company to complete three small projects on the exterior of our home: power washing, repair trim around the back door, and replace a few boards /​resurface the deck. Jim gave us an estimate that the work could be completed across approximately 2 days and he could get started 2 – 4 weeks from the date the contract was signed. We agreed to this, but emphasized that sticking to this timeline was important to us due to an upcoming HOA inspection. Below is a summary of our experiences.
1. Jim’s crew did not complete the work by the deadline we agreed upon. On May 2, we gave him an initial deposit equal to ¹⁄₃ the cost of the total project, but he didn’t start work until 5 weeks later, and work wasn’t completed until 8 weeks later. We were cited during our HOA inspection which occurred while we were waiting for the work to be done.
2. Jim did not reduce the final charges for us as he said he would for referring our neighbor to him and for the delay in completing the work. These discounts were his suggestion and it was disappointing that he did not follow through.
3. The work Jim’s crew did was subpar. There was cleanup work left at the end of each day. The deck does have a great looking application of stain /​resurface product, but one of the newly replaced deck steps collapsed within a week of installation. Another step feels loose like it could collapse any day. When we contacted Jim about the issue he was defensive and initially non-​committal about not charging extra for correcting his crew’s mistakes. Later, he did contact us to say that he would come out to fix it free of charge, but we declined. At this point, given our experiences, we preferred to seek out another contractor to work on our home.

Jim did several major jobs on our property: interior painting, kitchen floor/​cabinet painting, landscaping, HVAC work, and waterproofing a flood-​prone basement. We checked for pricing from other contractors and he always came in with reasonable bids. We really liked the people he had doing the work. With several large projects there were bound to be some glitches and he always listened to our comments and fixed problems we came to him with. On a personal level, he’s a very friendly guy, easy to communicate with, follows up on calls/​emails/​texts quickly. Jim Brown deserves all the good ratings he’s getting here on Unilocal

STOP! You’ve found him! You may have spent forever researching who is going to fix your back door leak or to repair those wires some irresponsible electrician left live without a box. And you may wonder how on earth to tell all these people apart. THIS is the place! Brown’s Custom Contracting is just amazing!
Our house has a lot of issues and Jim has only begun to tackle them all, however the first two projects we tasked him with were fixed this week with as much care as my dad would use. Seriously. (And I used to think people who said that were just exaggerating.)
Jim and his dad installed a new back door for us, taking the time to achieve a perfect custom fit and repair damage left by a misguided knucklehead who thought he knew his way around a sledgehammer. Jim and his crew are careful, professional and cleaned EVERYTHING up before they left, going above and beyond our expectations.
We also got some electrical work done and his electrician is fantastic as well. Knowledgeable, helpful, and willing to offer plenty of advice.
Jim is very straightforward and will not screw around. He offers his honest opinion and provides trustworthy, reliable service.
We are looking forward to having Brown’s put in a new kitchen in our in-​law suite soon! Thank you guys!

Honestly, I wish there was an opportunity to give a 6^th star.
I had Jim put a parking pad in behind my rowhouse in Baltimore. (Which by the way, having a parking pad has TOTALLY changed our lives — amazing!)
We had to work around a few pipes in the back. One was the sewer return that Jim had a plumber come out and shorten so that it wouldn’t stick too far above the pad and be a nuisance — no problem. I had previously thought that the other pipe was a vent for the sump pump. Well, Jim called to tell me that the other pipe was just a broken piece of PVC shoved six inches into the ground!!! Jim was amazing. He had his plumber come out again to meet me after work so that we could make sure that the sump pump was properly vented because we were worried that the house inspector had missed something. The plumber came out, looked things over and said that we were fine, it vented to the roof, it took him about three minutes and he didn’t charge us a cent. I offered to give him gas money but he wouldn’t have it. (We never did figure out what that PVC pipe was doing hanging out there — gotta love Baltimore.)
Anyway, the whole experience was amazing. We even had him pressure wash and stain our deck while he was here and it looks great. And now we are thinking about another project. He’s a little addicting, he’s so good, it makes you want to get things fixed!
And if you want to see his work on the pad in person, just walk in the alley behind the 200 South block of Bouldin St. You’ll know which one it is because it looks awesome!

Called Jim last Monday and described the house projects I was interested in getting an estimate for. He seemed a little confused as to what I wanted (which is perfectly understandable since I rattled off a laundry list of random small projects mixed in with a powder room update…). He suggested that I email him what I was interested in having done and that he would touch base soon so that he could come by to take a look later that week. I emailed him that day (Monday).
Anyways, here we are midway into the next week (Wednesday) with no email reply or phone call. Helllllllloooooooooooooo??? Apparently you have to beg folks to take your money around here. Not impressed.
Update —
So. Got a voicemail from Jim within about an hour of posting the review above. One great thing about the interwebs is how prompt a response one can receive when you’re able to publish your views and experiences for the world to see. Anyways, I do appreciate the callback and the Unilocal response — Jim, I am sorry for your loss. We’ve decided to move ahead with another company. Thanks for touching base.
I’ve added a star to my previous review to reflect the callback/​yelp response.

I hired Jim to take down a busted up old deck and replace it with a much larger and sturdier deck. We ran into some permitting snafus that required us to change the deck layout. Jim helped me to come up with a new layout which frankly I like even better than the original.
When it came to the yard, he helped us work out what we wanted in our heads and make it reality when we needed to work around the new deck.
He’s responsive, prompt, friendly, and all about making sure the work is customized to my needs.
I’d definitely recommend Jim to a friend!

Jim is a great dude!
A fair and honest contractor… What? Yep, it’s true!
He just repaired, power-​washed, and stained my old wooden fence and it now looks brand new again. I liked his work so much that I called him right back and had him install 3 ceiling fans. Fair prices and great work = happy customer
Keep being awesome!

Brown’s Custom Contracting did a fantastic job on my kitchen grout and bathroom caulking. My wife and I were moving out of our condo, and needed some touch-​ups before renting it out.
The kitchen grout now looks better than when we first moved in, not joking. Everything was done quickly, cleanly, and extremely well.

I called Jim Brown to have my deck repaired and from day one he impressed me. He always either answered my calls or he immediately returned them as well as replied to my emails quickly. He kept me informed of the project and the end result was great! I felt he gave me a great fair price and I would definitely recommend him to family and friends of mine. He was a breath of fresh air compared to contractors that I have used in the past !
Holly

I recently hired Brown’s Custom Contracting to regrout a shower, mount a television, and install three ceiling fans in my home. Jim came out and looked at what I wanted and got back to me with a quote in just a few days. He was friendly and helpful, and discussed my options with me, issuing a second quote when I wanted some things done differently.
Once we made a deal, Jim worked with me to schedule a date and was able to get everything done within a week, well before the date I’d requested he have it done by. The people who came out to do the actual work did a great job, and when they were done Jim came by to ensure it was done correctly.
Overall great experience, would recommend.

Jim at Browns Custom Contracting was a true pleasure to work with. From the initial quote and walkthrough to the ongoing work and completion — Jim was very professional, courteous, and considerate.
We had a pretty intense plan for a remodel of our unfinished basement. Jim was integral in offering ideas/​opinions to maximize the space and make the areas more usable and maximized.
The daily work was captured and cleaned up above expectations and again was a great experience.
Overall the project was on-​time, within budget (even when we added a little more :)) and most importantly a really great job.
We would and are going to use Browns Custom Consulting again in the future.

Browns gave me excellent service in every area. I contacted them to do some work on my home before I sell it. Jim originally referred me to someone else because he wouldn’t be able to get to me that week. The person he referred me to, never returned my call though. So I contacted Jim again, he apologized and he made the time to do the landscaping at my home.
Jim was professional, friendly and accommodating. They did a fantastic job on my front lawn, which was busy anyway. It is more simplistic now and looks great. So when prospective owners come up to my house it won’t look a mess anymore. They also pulled out two rose bushes in my back yard.
Browns has great prices and they always kept me informed of what was going on. I highly recommend them to anyone who is looking for affordable and honest workers.

I recently hired Jim Brown, based on previous Unilocal reviews, to do some work for my rental property in Crofton. I was hesitant, being all the way across the country to hire a contractor from the internet to do work in MD, but boy was I happy with Jim’s work!
First of all he went to assess the property and took photos and texted and emailed them to me. He gave me an appraisal for worst case and best case scenarios, and assured me he wouldn’t undertake any extra work in the worst case situation without approval. He did excellent finish work on a larger wood construction project, and was also graciously willing to do smaller yard work and other handyman projects around the house. My tenant and I were really pleased with his work and I am already using him again. I am very pleased, what a relief to find someone good!