Homeworks Construction

Homeworks Construction did a complete rebuild on our home plus built an 800 square foot ADU. We had an excellent experience with them, and highly recommend them if you are looking for professional, high quality, beautiful work done within the contracted time. We needed a company that could help us from start to finish with permitting, design, and building.
 
We had gotten quotes from 5 other construction companies but decided on Homeworks because we really liked Heather Hickox, who came to our house to look at the place, listened to our ideas and she gave us great ideas too. She spent time with us and was very helpful and friendly and gave us a good impression of the company and what they had to offer. We also liked the fact that they drafted a drawing along with giving us a quote at a later meeting and that the quote was reasonable given the scope of work.
 
Planning and permitting took the longest time, but that was due to covid times and delays with DPP, not Homeworks fault. Once demolition occurred, everything went quickly, smoothly, according to plan, and was often ahead of schedule! From demo to completion, everything took about 9 months. They planned and ordered things ahead of time to avoid delays. We are extremely happy with the way it all looks and turned out.
 
Everyone we worked with throughout the process was professional and knowledgeable in their area and stage of the project. Bob did a great job with the demo, Cody had great creative ideas and helped with the planning (David as well who is no longer with Homeworks), Elyse and Sean designed our dream kitchen and bathrooms that came out amazing, Marc Dawson was our project manager and made sure everything was coordinated and done according to schedule and in a timely manner, Marlon did a nice job of putting together details at the end of the project,  and most of the subcontractors were friendly and professional. Janelle doing the admin side of things in the office is on top of things and very responsive. The owners Marshall and Silvio took the time to speak to us and problem solve when questions arose. I never met the architect personally but love the design of the house. I'm sorry if I missed anyone, there were many people who worked with us along the way and all were great.
 
Thank you Homeworks for designing and building our new home and ADU. We love it!

Tried getting simple quotes for different jobs at my house. They came out and said no problem. When they sent the quote they only gave one and said it's all or nothing.

It also was an outrageous price. I could have had a whole new house built for the price they gave me. I'm no fool to how much things cost. I'm a jack of all trades just don't have the time to do it myself.

Lied to me in person. Shame on this company.

Will not use them and recommend you don't even waste your time contacting this company!

This review is based on Homeworks as a company and not work performed. I had been trying to work with Homeworks to do a rebuild of my house over 5 years ago. However things did not go my way at all. Heather sat by as I constantly tried to get figures nailed down for a budget and I ended up going dark for about 2 years. Then in 2023 I thought I had things figured out and was finally able to get some work done. But as luck has it Oahu is expensive and my budget was way too low to do half of what I wanted to do. Unfortunately I could not get the work done by Homeworks but I do appreciate their follow thru with keeping in contact and trying to help me get what I wanted done.

We just signed our contract with Homeworks and are super excited!

Our home remodeling journey began a few months back. Initially we thought we would manage the project on our own, but quickly realized that coordinating a remodel of our magnitude would not be so straightforward--particularly on top of juggling work, children and other responsibilities.

We were stuck.

Luckily, we read about Homeworks Construction online and placed a call. Within days Marshall and Jon came to our property for a walkthrough. The following week, they proposed a plan of action and provided a quote.

Homeworks is a one-stop-shop with architectural, engineering, design and construction talent under one roof. Which means that we won't have to worry about vetting vendors, coordinating schedules or attaining permits.

With Homeworks onboard we hope our remodel will gain some much-needed momentum so that we can move in and start enjoying our new home.

Here is to a happy remodel ahead!

The company is about average overall for a home construction or remodel contractor. Don't think they want to bother unless it is new construction or a huge remodel. Marshall came in first to see what I wanted done and was very nice. Caleb started out nice enough, but once they started falling behind schedule he became defensive and combative if asked when they might complete the job. One item they could not finish on time because the part had not been shipped and that wasn't their fault. But there were several unrelated projects they could have gone ahead, finished but they just disappeared for about 10 days and left that stuff unfinished until the part for the other project arrived. There was a wood section that was left unfinished after they said they were all done. Caleb himself begrudgingly came back to finish it. It still wasn't completely finished after his visit so I just gave up. One shorter guy who works with them repeatedly took food and beverages out of our refrigerator without asking. The really bad thing is that he does not wash his hand after he goes to the bathroom. I know because I listened and waited more than once when I was there while they were working. This same guy is apparently just a helper. I heard one of the others trying to show him how to do something. The trainer told him he would show him how to do it but was not going to do it for him. I don't want someone doing on-the-job training during my project, work that I am paying a good amount to have a PROFESSIONAL do. This same helper guy starts running around shouting "Oh suuuuuu!!!!!" when he is told he has done work incorrectly. Don't know what that means. The hot and cold water lines were reversed in two of the sinks and had to be corrected. I overheard 2 of the employees talking about it. These guys were unhappy because Caleb had gotten onto them for reversing the hot and cold. One of them said to the other that they are not plumbers, and he was right-they were not plumbers, they did woodworking, carpentry and other types of work. So why wasn't a plumber doing the plumbing work? Kudos to the cabinet maker employee for his excellent work. I watched him work to repair a cabinet that had accidentally been damaged. He was amazing and obviously had been doing it for years. Wish all of their employees were that skilled. Also some employees blast music from their radios. I turned it down one time when I was present because it was so loud. A few minutes later one of them turned it way up again IN MY HOUSE. Rude. I need more remodeling done on a property but don't know where to turn.

Homeworks exceeded our expectations. We are ecstatic about our new Ohana addition and Lanai! We had interviewed a handful of builders and our outlook bleak until we met Heather Hickox. We've had an absolutely positive building experience with this professional team. Every step of the way Marc Dawson and Elyse Grable were professional, prompt and resourceful. All members of the build team were exceptional in the quality of their workmanship and skill. Their fees were not only reasonable but very flexible working with in our budget. Our build was not a million dollar one but they treated us as if we were a multi million dollar job. We highly recommend this builder for any type of build big or small. We are grateful that they have been a part of making our dream come true. THANK YOU HOMEWORKS!! Nathaniel and Dawn Duff

After several months of regularly visiting properties with a realtor and actively searching I finally found an absolutely fantastic property that I was very excited about buying but I wanted to make sure that building a house on it would be affordable and that it was possible to build there. I called Homeworks Construction and spoke with them and they seemed enthusiastic about the idea and told me that someone would call me back with more details and so that I could get a quote on a price and also information about whether or not the lot was buildable. They never called me back so I called them additional times and also emailed them. Each time I contacted them Homeworks Construction made it sound like they were going to imminently give me answers to my questions and could potentially build the house. This meant that they strung me along for weeks and never gave me an answer and now today someone else bought that amazing property so now it is impossible for me to get it. If they didn't want to build a house for me or could not do so for some reason than Homeworks Construction should have been upfront and just said that instead of wasting my time. If they actually were going to build it then they should have given me an answer in a timely fashion.

To say this experience has been extremely frustrating is an understatement.
I was very ready and excited to buy that property and would have done so in a heartbeat had these people provided the service that they said they would provide. I do not recommend this company. Their behavior was very unprofessional!

Ironically, I could have given Homeworks Construction repeat business had they actually built the house. The lot I was interested in buying had enough space for three houses. I wanted to start off building one and then if everything went well build the other ones later and I actually said that in my conversations with them. One would think that they would want business but the way they behaved certainly isn't the way to achieve that!

I called into KHVH radio show when Jim Byxbee of HomeworksHawaii was on with Rick Hamada. I talked to him about building an addition to the back of my house and he sounded all helpful and told me to call the office and they would send someone out to take a look.

That day I called their office and was told someone would call me back regarding my project. After 5 days John Z. finally returned my call. I explained that I wanted to build an addition to the back of the house and one of the first things he asked was what my budget was. When I told him I didn't really have one, but was hoping to keep it under $100,000, he told me that Homeworks doesn't even mess with projects that small.

I was disappointed that they wouldn't even come out to the house for a consultation, and feel that they have gotten to big and non longer have the small company attitude like they used to.

John Z referred me to another contractor John G. and I called him but never received a call back.

Mr. Byxbee, if you read this, your either a fraud on the radio or you no longer have an idea what going on within the company.

The funny thing is, I would actually be willing to spend more than $100,000 if they would have come out and done a proper estimate and showed me options and gone thru the costs with me.

Very disappointed with Homeworks Hawaii, they don't live up to the hype.

Our home was built in 1952 and with a few minor remodels along the way we decided it was time to bring our house into the 21st century. We knew immediately what contractor we wanted to use and that was Homeworks Construction, Inc. We had worked with them 12 years ago on another project and had nothing but good memories. Sure enough they made what could have been an overwhelming experience nothing but simple and easy. All along the way we were provided with a time line and they came in on time even with some of our change orders affecting it. They provided architectural help as well as everything needed in the way of cabinetry, lighting, plumbing parts and flooring, all in house.
Heather was our go to gal, she was on property almost every day, and available to answer questions with a smile on her face. All the subs were polite and did great work. The house was constantly cleaned up and trash removed on a regular basis. The result was amazing, we couldn't have asked for more. Thank you to everyone involved, from Marshall and Heather to everyone in the office and on property. You did a remarkable job!

Homeworks build a master bedroom addition, extended our back deck and remodeled the previous master into a tv/media room. The workmanship of the remodel was excellent. The home inspector on purchasing the home reported that Homeworks used quality materials and didn't skimp on building materials. Something to do with the large beams and construction materials are top notch. We are super happy with the quality and workmanship of Homeworks. Everything was permitted and approved.

Here is the real reason I give Homeworks five stars. About two years later after we purchased the home we get a call from Homeworks stating that on inspection of a neighbor's home, the Dept. of Permitting and Planning inspector questioned that our deck was too close to the property line and may be within the required setback. Homeworks, which was listed on the permitting documents, voluntarily came to check it out. There was no compliant filed or any official request from the city to do so. As it turns out, our deck was within our property's setback by about six inches. Note, this is WITHIN our own property completely and having to do with rules on structures being a certain distance from the property line.

Homeworks handled this proactively with the sole goal of rectifying the issue. Marshall was courteous, forthcoming and responsive to all our questions and concerns. Homeworks took care of the situation 100% by proactively applying and paying for the variance and also providing a new property survey. In the end the city does not like to give out variances so they required us to modify the deck by 6 inches. Homeworks completed all the work. It was a silly modification; nonetheless, it was approved by the city. In the meanwhile we had hired a lawyer for consultation. After all was completed, Marshall offered to pay our lawyer's fees, which was awesome.

When it comes to construction contractors, I recommend Homeworks for their honesty, integrity and proactive approach to customer service.