Clients

My wife and I had been looking for a new home for about 2 years, but were been unable to find exactly what we wanted, so in 2009, after the failure of a short sale, we decided to focus on property and build something that would meet our needs. At that time, some friends introduced us to John Hammer, the builder who had constructed their home. After exchanging the required jokes about him having the right name for a builder, he began exploring what we wanted, asking “why” at each stage of the conversation. We supplied John with drawings of what we wanted, and, after getting a no-commitment estimate, decided to engage a designer that he recommended to translate our ideas into working plans, and we renewed our search for property that would accommodate our project.

Site preparation started in February of 2010, not the optimum time of year to be digging a hole in the Willamette Valley, and we received our occupancy and moved in that September. One surprise for me in this process, contrary to the many horror-stories I had been told about building a home, was that the project was relatively free of any major problems/challenges, and those that did occur were addressed immediately by John and his sub-contractors. In fact, in the early stages of the project, it was going so well that I approached John about building the shop that I had fully intended to build myself after we moved in (my wife and I decided that perhaps having his crews on the top of the 25’- high 8 in 12 pitch required might be more sensible than doing it myself). Two other pleasant surprises included: The project, with the exception of specific changes that we made and for which John cannot be faulted, came in on budget, and, Contrary to what we had jokingly been told by many, my wife and I remained friends.

Now, a year and a half later, we live in a comfortable home that meets our needs. The high quality of construction is what we expected, my wife has her art studio with north, east, and sky lighting, I have my shop, and the only thing remaining is the completion of the landscaping for our son’s wedding to be held in the back yard in August of 2012.

Was there a punch-list after we moved in? Of course! But John was conscientious in addressing each issue that arose, and did so to our satisfaction. As a businessman, I admire integrity above pricing (though our price-point per square foot was very competitive and fair), or getting a job done in a short time-frame (although 8 months for a rural home of 3,100’, a 1,000’ garage, a studio of almost 700’, and a detached 1,600’ shop with 900’ of loft storage is not bad), and for this character-trait I give John the highest plaudits. We were told by our friends that we could trust John, we did, and we do not regret doing so. The bottom line is that we would not hesitate to either recommend him to friends, or to hire him again ourselves.

Van and Kathee Moore

John Hammer was a great contractor to work with on my home remodel of my 30 year old home in West Salem.

John understood my vision and linked it up with outstanding architect and other craftspeople under his general contracting role to build a fabulous home.

John was always a forthright, available to me in person or by phone. He was very response to my requests, answered all my questions, and made the home remodel experience a delight. I am thrilled with the end result and my house is the envy of all my friends!

I have zero reservations in recommending him to anyone who wants to remodel or is planning on building a new home.

Kathryn Ryan; Salem, Or