Freedom Construction

Michael was reliable and efficient from start to finish - excellent initial consultation, swiftly followed by a reasonable quote and the job after we had accepted then was completed in very good time. We will certainly be asking Michael to quote on future jobs. Great experience working with him.

Freedom Construction did a wonderful job with renovation of my flat. Michael and his team delivered outstanding results within budget and agreed timelines.The project included a new kitchen and bathroom, windows replacement and instalation of hardwood floor. All to a very high standard. Good communication, effective management and attention to detail have ensured great results. I happy to recommend Freedom Constraction to family and firends.

I used Freedom Construction to manufacture and install a number of very large sash windows at my Victoria property. From the outset it was a pleasure to work with Michael and his team. I had a number of quotes for the job from different suppliers, but it was obvious from this stage that Michael provided the most comprehensive and detailed quotation. His attention to detail from the very first survey gave me full confidence as well as his very competitive pricing. During the manufacturing of the windows I was kept informed about the progress and installation dates were kept to. When it came to installation, I was very impressed with Michael's team. The age of the property, and the fact that there have been several major changes to some structures over the last century meant that it was obviously not going to be the easiest of jobs, but the installers were fantastic at making the correct decisions to ensure a perfect fit on every window. The quality of the windows also exceeded my expectations. Having had a couple of slightly smaller sash windows replaced on the other side of my property several years ago by a different company, the comparison with the new ones was night and day: the thickness of frames and the number of seals make the new windows completely draught free and sound reduction properties are great. I can not recommend Freedom Construction highly enough and would not hesitate to use their services again.

I used Michael to help refurb my parent's house after I moved out. The job was of a reasonable size, with an extension being added to the property. Michael was up front with the costs of the project and gave a rough time scale which we then confirmed and agreed when the work began. The Freedom Construction team was very helpful in allowing me to understand what was being constructed, and why certain aspects were taking longer than others. The time scale shifted as we discovered damp issues but the guys made me aware that this could be an issue and we adjusted our timing accordingly. They also advised of extra costs and gave me options for solving the issue before going ahead. This was very helpful to keeping in budget! Some of the windows we needed to replace were made bespoke which we were very pleased with the quality. Overall the finish on the job was as expected and as promised by Michael. My overall experience was a very positive one, I had little to no problems during the work and my parents are very happy with the finished product. I would recommend Freedom and have had them since work with other friends and family on similar projects.

We employed Freedom Construction to renovate a Victorian terraced house in East London. We wish we had not done so. They did not finish the job and we experienced many challenges in working with them. Project Management: We chose Freedom largely because they provided a more detailed proposal than other builders and anticipated a higher level of attention to detail in project management. We were badly let down. The project lead seemed unable to plan more than two weeks ahead or plan for different activities happening in the house at the same time. This led to significant delays. Client supply items would be requested “urgently”, and then not installed for weeks – for example, we interrupted a holiday to order a very long list of switches and sockets (many of which should not have been client supply), none of which had been installed three weeks after delivery. Four months into the project we asked for an updated project plan, which was never kept to. Six weeks before the scheduled end of the project, increasingly concerned at overruns, we asked for an updated project plan, which was never delivered. When challenged about the delays the owner said, "You can't expect a project to be delivered on time and on budget at the right quality". We did expect this and have experience of numerous projects where this has happened. Costs: We requested an all inclusive project price, whilst accepting that some additional costs would be likely which would need to be agreed by us and our architect before the work was done. During the course of the project, invoices for £tens of thousands more would simply emerge without discussion. For example, Freedom tried to charge over £10k for the demolition of a structure in the garden (which was included in the project scope from the start). Another builder completed the same work for less than £2k. A revised plastering invoice for £3.8k was submitted without discussion; we asked for an itemisation of the plastering to understand where this overrun came from which was never delivered. Communication: Scheduled site visits were missed without notice or explanation, answers to questions we posed were routinely unanswered and Freedom repeatedly asked for information to be sent multiple times – we sent our list of paint colours at least three separate times. In one case the owner of Freedom went behind our back to call our joiner, with whom he had no contractual relationship, and told him he had to delay coming to site for six weeks. The start date on site for the joiner had been agreed with Freedom two months in advance and Freedom called just two weeks before he was due to start on site. Project plans were routinely sent as 9MB PDFs with hundreds of rows and columns in a format we could not print or read, despite our constant requests for a more legible file format like Excel to be used. Responsiveness: Both our architect and we were astonished by the attitude of the owner of Freedom Construction. He did not appear to care at all about what we had previously agreed, what we wanted to happen or what was important to us as clients. He flatly refused to install our kitchen extractor fan, although this had been in the project plan from the start, and similarly refused to install a water pump which was requested by building control. He was unwilling to make purchases on our behalf when technical specifications or trade-only suppliers made it far easier for them to do so. Responsibility: Not taking responsibility for delays or cost increases was a familiar theme. Early on in the project £2000 worth of our items were stolen from site during a burglary which happened because Freedom had not secured it properly. In retrospect we should have seen that as a sign that we could not trust their professionalism and dealing with Freedom became so stressful that it impacted on our health. We finished the project with another builder who was much much easier to deal with, actually did what we asked of him and rectified a number of mistakes made by Freedom, including poor quality decorating and wiring, and redoing flashing on the roof which was causing leaks because Freedom had used poor quality products.