Mickey Simpson Ltd

Best builder! Best quality! I completed three projects with Mickey Simpson Builders in the past seven years. I highly recommend them.

My new house just completed by Mickey Simpson Builder (MSB) in Falls Church is absolutely fantastic — even beyond my considerable expectations. I could not be happier with the final product, and I would highly recommend the firm to anyone considering high quality remodeling work here in Northern Virginia.
This was my second major remodeling project on the same property in the past 15 years, and there is no comparison between my experiences on these two jobs. Although using MSB is certainly not an inexpensive undertaking, unlike the first job, I felt that I could anticipate exactly what I was going to spend on the basic plan, what upgrades I was going to consider as the project progressed, and, most important, what kind of finished product I was going to get when I signed the construction contract at the end of the architectural design phase.
With the very first design concept drawings presented to me, MSB provided me with a very upscale baseline feature set, which I have since come to learn is in all their standard packages. For my job, this standard feature set included such things as high ceilings, tall baseboards, large crown moldings, hardwood floors, detailed trims, wide doorways/​hallways, solid wood doors, among many others. While others firms certainly offer these items, with MSB, these items were not upgrades or change-​order items. While every job is certainly different, and while the design features on every job need to be different, it was obvious to me at the onset that there was going to be no skimping on the basics features in a MSB built house, only to be charged to upgrade later. Mickey Simpson does not build cheap houses so they don’t offer cheap features.
Equally important, MSB provided me with great flexibility by using an allowance approach on cabinets, appliances, lighting, tiling and the like enabling me to transfer allocated funding among these items as it suited my taste, and limited only by my own budget constraints — not by penalties or change-​order costs. In addition to this allowance flexibility, I found that making a number of small changes to already designed structural features on the fly were simply executed. I paid only for those structural changes that were clearly material, and I must admit that I made many of those as well, such as adding wainscoting to the main floor entry hall and coffering the family room ceiling. Yes, making these kind of changes did add costs as well as added time to the build schedule, but at no time did I feel that any delay was the result of MSB managing the project, but rather because of my own decisions to add considerable detailed features and built-​ins to my home.
Finally, I should mention that working with the entire MSB team was a pleasure. Clarke Simpson, who runs all of the day-​to-​day operations for the business that his father started, worked with me as a collaborative partner on every aspect of the project. Clarke is definitely passionate about providing a high-​end quality product worthy of having the Mickey Simpson name on it and does not want to cut corners. I admire his passion, his drive for excellence and I welcomed his input. While he always deferred to my final decisions, I felt that his direct involvement in helping me as I considered even some of the most minor design decisions made the house better. Equally important on this project, MSB has retained very high-​quality long-​term employees who are not only very talented, they are genuinely nice people willing to take care of any issue at any time. I will miss working with them. They also have a solid core group of excellent sub-​contractors who have worked with MSB for years — the coordination and teamwork shows.
So, if you are looking for a firm to remodel or completely rebuild your house in Northern Virginia, where design details matter, and where high-​end quality construction trumps the meaningless notion of price per square foot alone, you should consider Mickey Simpson Builder. I highly recommend them.

This company does excellent work. Certainly not inexpensively… but you can see the difference all their projects. I have used Mickey Simpson for several projects, including some very unique architectural designs that were outstanding. The owner is a straight shooter, and I think from the reviews below that may have rubbed some people wrong… but if you appreciate great design ideas, high quality workmanship and honest answers I can’t recommend them enough.

DISHONEST, ILLEGAL, FORGERY, FRAUD. Mickey Simpson was found by a construction industry arbitrator to have forged my signature on the building permit. To make matters worse, that building permit contained information MSB knew to be false. If those words aren’t enough, please also consider slow, incompetent, irresponsible, abusive, arrogant, condescending, unprofessional, immature and expensive. In addition:
1) The arbitrator in our case found that MSB took 15 months to complete a job they promised in less than six;
2) MSB kept monies for more than a year and a half that were intended for one of his subcontractors. We had to go to arbitration just to force Clarke Simpson to pay it back;
3) As of August 2012 (and for a long time before that), MSB has only two, full-​time employees (no matter what they tell you about their «excess capacity»). They use subcontractors for everything else. We were told that they use day laborers for small jobs — in our case they were people standing at the local Glebe Market waiting for work;
4) MSB cannot even get along with their own subcontractors. One of the kitchen subcontractors refused ever to work with them again while on our job saying, «I’ll never work for that ‘man-​boy’ again.» They also had disputes with their «preferred» lighting supplier resulting in trying to pass the costs of a faulty installation and lack of proper parts on to us. And we were told Clarke fired MSB’s long-​standing HVAC subcontractor because they didn’t think what MSB wanted to do in our house was appropriate. Later, Clarke’s father rehired him. Small wonder they were so late on our home.
5) Our windows were poorly installed and now have water leaking in ABOVE the windows. In the opinion of Jeld Wen personnel who have come to our home three times, the installation is seriously uneven (not one window unit is properly aligned with another), the flashing above the windows was poorly done and interferes with the window operation, the weather-​proofing was not done properly (as evidenced by the leak and by a separation in the seam where two boards meet), the condensation issues we have are most likely due to a lack of insulation under and around the frames and it’s likely they didn’t properly wrap the addition with home wrap before the windows and exterior paneling were installed.
6) Our home was treated with disrespect. Clarke Simpson would spit chewing tobacco onto our unfinished floors and into our unfinished walls. And MSB used our home to bring and complete projects from other places.
7) MSB did not even feel it was important to notify us when an attempted break-​in occurred in our home while it was under their control and left it exposed during the winter/​spring. Someone broke a window trying to get in, MSB reported the crime, but never told us and left the broken window for more than a week before we discovered it ourselves. This while the heat was running. Then they told us it was our responsibility.
We could go on and on.
By all reports, there was a time when Mickey Simpson was a reliable, trustworthy company. Since Clarke Simpson has taken over day-​to-​day management of the company from his father Mickey, I’m sad to report that is no longer the case. Working with Mickey
Simpson Builder Ltd (MSB), and most specifically Clarke Simpson, was the worst experience of our lives. Just look at his dismissive, snarky responses to criticism here and elsewhere and you will have a glimpse into his personality. A «Clarke S» was even caught trying to submit a five-​star review on Unilocal that they didn’t allow, so take even the very few positive reviews with a giant grain of salt.
Just a few of the myriad examples if you are still uncertain:
1) MSB will make tons of verbal promises. In our case, he kept almost none — always later falling back on, «Is it in the contract?» Examples: Glass shower doors included? Of course, MSB wouldn’t do a shower without them. I’ll charge you my pass through rate on additional
2) Even if you somehow manage to get a decent price, he will try to claw it back any way possible with absurd pricing for extras or add-​ons — particularly if he doesn’t want to do them. Try $ 11,000 for approximately 500 square feet of standard white oak flooring (we got a quote on our own for hardwood planking at less than half that. Or $ 1,200 for two shower niches that he had already promised verbally. Or $ 300 for every additional plug or light fixture after promising to simply pass on the costs of the subcontractor. Or $ 2,300 to put shelves in our pantry that were promised.
3) He’ll tell you that he can’t give you a copy of the contract before you sign and you must sign it in his presence. He’ll spin some silly tale of competitors wanting to steal his contracts. This is just his way of limiting your ability to have time to mull it over or to add all the little things he’s promised, but doesn’t really intend to provide. Whatever you do, sign nothing without taking it home.

I guess I can’t put a 0 but if I could, I would. These people are impossible to work with. They are the ruddest contractors I have every dealt with. In fact, none of the contractors I’ve ever dealt have been rude at all. Run away… run far and fast. There are 100s of other contractors to help you out before you use these people

Mickey Simpson Builders renovated our Arlington house in 2006. The project was delivered months late and was very poorly supervised and managed. By 2009 we had outdoor porch railings rotting off stairs and porches. Two independent inspectors indicated that the pine railings had been improperly sealed by paint prior to installation, and all exposed railings needed to be replaced. Additionally, two independent inspectors indicated that there was improper construction of «hardy» board under porches causing mold damage and numerous other issues. Multiple calls and emails to Simpson have not been returned. There appears to be no interest in rectifying the situation. This is an expensive design and build company that prides themselves on their experience, expertise and quality. After paying them high dollar for initial construction, we are on our own for correcting their construction mistakes a mere 3 years after move-​in. Although the architectural design is impressive (the architect is no longer employed there), they are inept at managing a construction project, come in significantly over budget and they do not stand behind their product.