Progressive General Contractors

I scheduled two appointments to get a quote and the first time, the company did not show up during the designated time and failed to call and let us know they were cancelling. The second appointment, the company cancelled minutes before and told us to find another contractor.
Was not pleased with their business etiquette or their communication skills. Would not recommend.

Al just finished replacing my kitchen floor after an appliance malfunction flooded the place and ruined the wood floor.
To avoid similar problems in the future I decided to replace the wood with Carrara marble tile.
Al was easy to deal with in arranging the job — reachable by phone, text and email.
He was clear from the beginning about the likely cost of the job and about what would and would not be possible. I am also extremely grateful for his flexibility — they arranged for the job to take place while I was in Europe so that I would not be inconvenienced by the work going on. I arrived back home to find a beautifully laid tile floor.
Also, in a mark of just exemplary «above-​and-​beyondness», Al drove to PA on the weekend to buy extra tile after I mistakenly ordered too little!
A complete pleasure to work with, and while I had concerns about not being in the country to supervise and oversee the work, I now realize that I can just leave things in Al’s capable hands — when the tile cutting I had requested wasn’t working he promptly let me now, suggested an alternative, and ran with it.
I look forward to engaging Progressive once a year to take care of the various bits and pieces needing attention in my apartment.

We hired Al to repaint our entire apartment, and complete a gut renovation of the bathroom, converting it from tub to shower.
Al was easy to work with, and maintained communication with us via phone and text throughout the project. He also helped us with the tile selections, making sure that the end result matched what we had envisioned.
As busy working professionals, Al was willing to work with our schedules, and often met us in the evenings or on weekends. He was also very helpful with coordinating the delivery of materials and accessories, saving us the headache of having to take time off from work. We really enjoyed working with him, and we love our new bathroom!

I’m very disappointed to say, Al has dropped the ball on several occasions. I needed him to take a look at 2 properties of mine and went so far as scheduling a time with my tenants only to be a NO SHOW more than once without even having the decency to call letting them know he wouldn’t be able to make it. My tenants took days off from work to wait around for him and he never called, never showed up. And his excuses were «an emergency came up», «I had scheduling issues with my secretary»… you are a service business, you were contacted to provide a service. I’m a grown up and can handle a simple no if you felt the jobs were too small. I feel bad having my tenants waste their vacation days only for you to never show up or have the decency to call to cancel an appointment. I texted Al the night he was a no show and my tenants texted me at that moment, Al was calling them telling them he’d call me the next day. And what happened, Al never responded to my texts apologizing and he never called me like he told my tenants he would. I’m sorry but while you completed some of the other projects for me, which went well (maybe because it was a $ 10K+ job), this time, you really dropped the ball and you lost a customer. I usually never write reviews but I feel I need the general public to know Progressive Contractors is not reliable. Don’t waste your time chasing Al down…

Al and his team did a fantastic job! I needed our apt repainted. His team was quick, efficient and trustworthy. They cleaned up after themselves and were done early. I’d hire them again.

I hired Al to install two heavy mirrors in my apartment. #1, he called me back right away. #2, he came on time. #3, he did a great job. and the icing on the cake? he put together a table for me at no extra charge. Great guy, his assistant a great guy too. Can’t say enough good stuff about PGC. Will definitely use again.

I cannot speak highly enough of Al and Progressive GC. I have never written a Unilocal review before, but Al literally saved the entire project I was working on from being a complete disaster. I called Al after another contractor had bailed on a time-​sensitive project with only 2 weeks before my deadline. Not only was he was willing to work on an unusual project (drilling and scoring up some ceramic tiles to use in a coral reef experiment) with a short-​term deadline, but he also saved the day when a tile dealer I had pre-​ordered from sold half of my reserved tiles. I was out of town and practically in tears when I found out the tiles had fallen through only days before I was scheduled to fly out of the country with these tiles, but Al 1) found the same exact tiles from another dealer, 2) covered the costs of buying the other tiles until I was back in town to repay him, 3) drove to the first tile dealer to make sure they were going to give me a full refund, and 4) was very calm/​comforting through the whole process– which is so rare and under-​appreciated during all the stress that comes with any sort of renovation or time-​sensitive project where nothing ever goes totally according to plan.
I’m so thankful I found Al and progressive– I would not have been able to run this experiment without them. A little far removed from BK, but I hope they know their efforts are now helping save coral reefs in the Caribbean. I would recommend them to anyone!

Progressive General Contractors did some work in my apartment for me earlier this summer that involved a bathroom upgrade (skim coated/​painted the walls, replaced the vanity medicine cabinet and lighting fixture, sanded/​repainted the heating riser, added some new grout in the shower area/​some tile work) and replaced the lighting fixtures in the foyer and hallway, and skim coated and painted the foyer, hallway, and bedroom. Al’s prices are extremely fair, he and his team are very reliable, they do high quality work, and have a clear desire to do right by the customer. Al was great about answering any questions I had and providing suggestions or solutions, without trying to sell me work I don’t need. Totally honest and trustworthy. I felt comfortable leaving my apartment with his men, who were always very polite and courteous. On top of that, I gave Al a date that I needed to have the project completed by and they were done a week ahead of time.
I had made a handful of calls when looking for a contractor to take this project and feel very lucky Progressive General Contractors is the one that worked out. If you need a contractor, definitely give Al a call. I couldn’t recommend them more highly!

I hired Al and his crew to remove 2 walls full of mirrors that were glued on to the walls by a previous occupant of my studio apartment. The walls were in a bad shape after the mirror removal and needed a skim coat and paint. The rest of the apartment also needed some minor repairs to the walls and a fresh coat of paint. Although I received cheaper quotes from other contractors, I went with Al because I thought he was honest and was the only contractor who did not try to sell me other services I didn’t need. They were able to start work within a few days of our first meeting. They were very professional and easy to work with. Al was very patient and responded to all my questions/​concerns via emails/​calls/​texts in a timely manner. I am very happy with the results and would hire them again in the future. I would recommend them to anyone who needs any contracting work done.

We hired Progressive to divide a room, which involved some electrical work too. Al was definitely the most reliable and easy to deal with of all the contractors I received quotes from, although not the cheapest. He also was generous with his time, answering lots of questions about home repair in general (we’re first-​time owners). The room division was done well and we are really happy with the work, although I’m leaving 4 stars instead of 5 because the mess left behind was pretty major. He did warn us on this front, however there was some kind of residue from mixing substances or something in the bathtub that has been very hard to remove. The paint job was messy. My advice– Hire Progressive and work into the price a clean up crew.

We moved into a coop recently needing a lot of work. After removing all the wall paper we found the walls to be in very bad shape. In need of a skim coat I got 3 contractors to come to quote me.
Al was mid range in the quotes, but he was by far the most professional out of the 3 which instilled confidence in me. We decided to go with progressive.
They finished the job a day ahead of schedule, they stayed with in the budget. Most importantly the skim coating was perfect.
I will continue to use Al for all my reno’s and I will recommend him to any one. This is the real deal.
Mark

Was promised a quote for an HVAC project. They requested photos and said they would get back to me once/​week for about 3 weeks. Gave up on them.

We own a two bed room co-​op on Ocean Parkway. The building is well over 70 years old and our apartment walls were in horrible shape. Al (owner and worker) scraped the walls and plastered the entire place except for the bathroom and kitchen which were in good shape. He painted the entire apartment. He gutted and installed a new shower stall and re did the internet cable so it looked great. He did other stuff as well but those were the major pieces.
My wife and I live 250 miles away in Washington DC so hiring a contractor for our project in Brooklyn was intimidating as many of the quotes we got were from contractors who were hostile or hard to work with. When we found Al we knew we hit gold. He did an amazing job on every front. And when he made a mistake, he took care of it at his cost. This only happened a couple of times when his guy broke the shower handle and they took off the picture hook molding by mistake.
All gave us regular updates and moved the project along quickly. I can’t say enough good about his attention to detail and his desire to look out for our well being.
I am sad that he works so far from our home as I would hire him in a heart beat to do all the work we need on our 100 year old house.
Often he would suggest better ways to get something done. Such as the plastering. They gave several coats of plaster and used a mesh so that these walls would last another 30 years if not more. He redid the shower stall when it did not look exactly perfect. He got the job done on time and within budget and with renovation there are always surprises. He just took care of them and was so friendly and communicative. He rocks! He lives his word and is totally trustworthy.
I told Al my wife and I would give him references if he ever wanted them from us. When we first started to talk to him he gave me four folks to call and all had great things to say about him. He is not the cheapest and he is not the most expensive, he charges a fair price that made me feel great about paying him.
Your friends may tell you to pay less or that it should not take so long. And I can tell you from experience the end result is the only metric for success in a project where you are taking apart a 70 – 80 year old apartment and bringing it up to speed. For example when they dug out the old shower he found leaky pipes. He could have ignored it and just did what we paid him for, but for another 600 dollars (which our building will pay for) he made sure it was fixed and saved us thousands of dollars down the road when another contractor/​plumber would have to dig it all up and do it again.
He always consulted with our super to make sure everything was done to the buildings specification. Al was at the job site doing the work most of the time. He is a skilled worker and not just a manager.

I would recommend Progressive General Contractors to anyone. Al is wonderful to work with and I’m so happy with how everything turned out in my apartment. He’s incredibly nice, very meticulous, and knowledgeable. I had my bathroom renovated, my wood floor stained and refinished, and the walls painted. I thought his price was very fair — I did have other quotes that cost less, but I didn’t feel like they would do as good a job as Al. He was very reassuring and communicated with me every step of the way to make sure I knew what was going on. I would absolutely work with him again.

Excellent Choice for all of your contracting needs! I used them through the recommendation of a co-​worker after a nightmare experience with another contractor. Let me assure you these guys could change anyone’s negativity about the industry. Very professional crew, and the boss is a patient and understanding guy. He explained everything in terms that I could understand and did not try to sell me on things that were obviously not needed. These guys aren’t pushy to sell and even completed the work on time.
I’ve recommended them to a family member that needed a kitchen remodeled and they once again did not disappoint.
Keep up the excellent work PGC! See you in the summertime for my basement bar construction!