REVIEWS:
A to H:
	Air Conditioning
	Basement Finishing
	Chiropractor/Accupuncture
	Computer Repair
	Decking
	Electrician
	Fencing
	Flooring
	Furniture - Interior
	Garage Doors & Openers
	Glass/Mirrors
	Graphic Design
	Gutterwork
	Handyman Services
	Heating/Furnaces
	Housecleaning
I to P (on this page):
	Interior Design
	Internet Access
	Landscaping
	Mailing/Shipping
	Mortgages, Lenders/Banks
	Movers
	Painting, Interior
	Painting, Exterior
	Plumbing
Q to Z:
	Real Estate
	Remodelling, Renovation
	Reupholstery
	Roofing
	Sprinklers (see Landscaping)
	Wallpaper Hanging
	Wild Animal Control
	Window Tinting
(As this grows, we will keep adding categories/services to the above list and pages to this section).

Rating System:
		Oh my, No
		Poor
		Average
		Pretty Good
		Excellent

The Fine Print:
The opinions expressed here are just that, opinions. We share them as conversations.

No advertising or revenue of any kind accompanies these reviews.

Businesses:
If you did what you said you would and received a favorable review, good for you, you deserve the recognition.

Interior Design

A Classic Design at 303-683-0372
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

Interior Design, ongoing, 1999-2001
Reviewer: a CPN resident
These people work with what you currently have and are great at accessorizing, window treatments, and referring people for other work you need done around your home. Great sense of style and likeable.

Internet Access

MHO at 303-755-2848
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

Internet Access, March, 2002
Reviewer: nkerklo from Canterbury
"We have been very pleased with MHO, and would recommend their services to any Castle Pines North resident."

A Carpenter's Son at 303-755-2848
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

Making it tough to be a good neighbor, May, 2002
Reviewer: Larry from Forest Park
"We didn't even hire this guy. The attractive brick deck he was building for our neighbor winds up being so high that the dirt they hauled in comes over onto our property line. I assumed he was going to move the loose dirt back. But no, they haul in boulders and pack down the "hill" on our ground. Those really ugly pink boulders, by the way. Ok, stop and think. A hill? Some boulders? Some trees? Maybe if I try really hard, I can imagine all this turning out alright. Till you realize the hill is like a dam diverting water onto the patio of our finished basement. Then a couple of days ago they drive their front loader up into our yard within 2 feet of our house, pulverizing the ground and causing changes in our back yard's drainage onto yet another neighbor's yard. I put in a post after last time to stop them but today they've pulled the post out and drove in again while I was at work. The last straw has been his pretension to move dirt around on OUR ground to create some drainage different than the normal central drainage between the homes. And to put more of that ugly pink rock on OUR retaining wall that moves the water flow a couple of feet past our patio before it drains into our yard. If we'd had a chance to think about how we were going to coordinate this I might be singing his praises. But not now. I must have misread the sign coming into our development. I thought it said "serenity," not "the twilight zone".

Perennial Landscape Co. (Chris Dunn) at 303-841-5419
Average Neighbor Rating:

; Number of Reviewers (1) Landscaping, July, 2002
Reviewer: resident from Noble Ridge
"Perennial Landscape came out and renovated our existing pond and waterfall, designed and installed a large perennial flower garden.

Unlike our past experiences with other landscapers, these projects took under a week to complete and we paid what was written on our original bid. What we liked most about our experience with this company was their professionalism. Not only did they do an excellent job, they followed up after the job was completed to check that everything was working properly and to our satisfaction.

It was wonderful to finally work with a company that takes pride in their work and stands behind it."

B&D Sprinkler & Landscape (Bill Goings) at 303-973-6047
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (2)

Responsive Sprinkler Maintenance, May, 2003
Reviewer: resident from KnightsBridge
"B&D Sprinkler has been a refreshing experience in the world of landscape and sprinkler vendors. They are prompt, courteous, responsive and flat out nice. This is the company to call if you want your expectations exceeded!"

Fantastic Experience and Results, April, 2002
Reviewer: P. Rubino from Kings Crossing
"Showed up on schedule, were tidy, and everyone was courteous. The quality of the materials was excellent, and they created exactly what we asked and agreed upon. Accomplished within 1% of the estimate! Refreshing to see pride they took in completing the project the right way."

Written in Stone Creations at 303-707-0762
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

Custom Engraving on stone and tile, April, 2002
Reviewer: Tristan Mederos from Greenbriar
"I recently constructed a new bluestone patio in my backyard. As an accent tile in the patio floor, I had an inscription etched into the stone. The custom engraving was performed by Written in Stone Creations. They were able to take my rough idea, suggest a more refined design and sandblast it into the stone. The owner was extremely friendly and knowledgable. The rates were very reasonable and the capability of his operation far exceeded my expectations. He is able to engrave in all types of stone and glass with an endless variety of fonts and designs. Also, they can engrave very large neighborhood entrance signs as well as individual house address signs. I am going to have them engrave more accent tiles for my next home improvement project!"

'Living Stone' Landscaping at 303-829-4684
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

Landscaping, April, 2002
Reviewer: Bob Cheek from the Hamlet
"Living Stone' Landscaping recently rebuilt a 45'/4' high stone retaining wall around our patio. They did an excellent job - very professional, courteous, and the job was completed as bid and on time. They were very reasonably priced (I got 5 bids). They offer full service landscaping & design to include sprinkler repair, flagstone patios, rock work, xeriscape, pruning, ponds, trees and shrubs.

Micheal Swanson is the owner and has been in business for over 12 years. Michael as owner is very 'hands on' to make sure everything is completed to your complete satisfaction. I would highly recommend them.

Mi Tierra Landscaping (Bernie Welch) at 303-621-2291
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

Landscaping, Spring Cleanup, Hauling, Planting, etc., 1998 to present
Reviewer: Marie Harper from Kings Crossing
Bernie is the best. He always shows up when he says he will, he is honest, fair, and hard working. He hauled away 40 tons of rock for us, replaced it with bark, planted bushes and shrubs, installed edging, and moved roses. He also does our spring cleanup and any other miscellaneous landscaping tasks. His specialty is building rock retaining walls. I highly recommend him.

Sunshine Landscaping at 303-683-1000
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (2)

Very pleased with Sunshine Landscaping, May, 2003
Reviewer: resident from Forest Park
We recently hired Sunshine Landscaping to lanscape our backyard. We already had basic landscaping done but wanted additional trees, lights, rocks and plants. They did a fantastic job. We are more than pleased with them. We told Don the amount we wanted to spend and he charged us that exact amount. They were in and out of here in two weeks, just like he had told us. Our backyard looks better than we ever expected. We would recommend them to anyone.

Happy with Sunshine Landscaping, August, 2001
Reviewer: Mark from Forest Park
Sunshine Landscaping did our lawn this past summer and did a really good job! Don from Sunshine incorporated some things and used more natural components than we would not have considered if we had done ourselves. Overall they were quick to complete the job and cleaned up after themselves which was very nice.

Don seems very customer service oriented once you get his attention. He is not always quick to return your call which can be aggravating. You just have to catch him early (7am) and set up a time to meet with you. He may not be the cheapest in the business but he stands behind his product and will work with you to take some things out if necessary.

We definitely recommend at least getting them out for a quote as a comparison. He has done quite a few in the Forest Park area that you can see and talk to those people about also.

Barber Landscaping at 303-793-0636
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

Poor choice for all but the simplest landscaping, March, 2000
Reviewer: anonymous
Barber Landscaping provided the lowest price bid on our project yet the sales person seemed very knowledgeable and competent. Unfortunately, we had problems with every aspect of the project except the sprinkler system and the grass. They did not match the height of the rocks to the grass, the small retaining walls were poorly done, they did not take the electrical easement into account, the flagstone patio looks like my 11 year old daughter did the work, they did not show up for days on end and did not return phone calls, and on and on. They did a nice job with the grass, but that is about it. I'm quite dissatisfied.

Waterworks Landscaping
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

Excellent landscaping, May, 2001
Reviewer: jimm100@hotmail.com from Kings Crossing
Ralph at Waterworks is extremely knowledgeable, very customer-focused, and does top quality work. The trees and bushes he installed all exceeded my expectations - very full, healthy, and taller than expected. Ralph is patient and willing to provide guidance on how to keep existing trees/shrubs healthy even if he didn't put them in. His prices aren't the lowest, but they are fair and his committment to his work and customer satisfaction are outstanding.

Mailing/Shipping

CPN MBE
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

A word of caution, May, 2002
Reviewer: Rhett from Glen Oaks
"A word of caution to all CPN residents, please be aware that the MBE store in the Safeway shopping center is very, very expensive (more expensive than any convenience it can afford to me).

On Monday May 6th I shipped a 5.8lb box (16X12) to Dallas Texas, UPS 3 day air and the cost was $44.28. In contrast, four weeks ago I shipped a 37lb box (20X20) from Desert Springs, CA to my CPN home UPS 3 day air and the cost was $55.51.

I have discussed this with the store manager (Mitch) today and I have been assured that the cost that I paid was accurate. Mitch stated the box weighed 17 lbs and UPS states on its tracking web page that it weighed 5.8lbs. In any case, Mitch informed me that the difference betweeen 5.8lbs and 17lbs would only be two dollars.

This experience with the CPN MBE is far different than any previous experiences using MBE's, MBUSA, or any other convenience shipper.

I hope my experience is abnormal and others find the business convenient and cost effective."

Mortgages, Lenders/Banks

Washington Mutual (various offices, locate through www.washingtonmutual.com)
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

Beware of Washington Mutual mortgages!, Jan-May, 2003
Reviewer: Linda from Kings Crossing
"If Washington Mutual is your mortgage company, BEWARE! You could be one of the unlucky customers who gets sent to mortgage-servicing hell. Even if you have a cancelled check, you may find that they did not post the
payment to your account. They'll charge you late fees, send their
collection agency after you, and tarnish your credit rating. Then the
real nightmare will begin: you will spend hours following up on what
you'll think should be a simple matter, and it still won't get fixed.
People complain about Qwest's customer service, but Qwest would get a
"five-star" rating compared to Washington Mutual!

We are now in our fourth month of our battle with them. They sent
collectors to notify us that our account was 3 months in arrears. This
was a total surprise since all of the payments had been made, and the
checks had cleared the bank. We thought this was a simple
administrative error that would be corrected once we provided copies of
the cancelled checks. No such luck. They lost the documentation we
sent them, closed the "work order" without resolving it, continued to
have their collectors pursue us, and failed to return phone calls. I'm
finally starting to get some movement toward fixing this, but only after
I went to one of their local banks and sat down for a couple of hours
with the branch manager.

I've recently learned that we're not alone ... Washington Mutual
customers througout the country have been reporting problems. FOX TV's
consumer advocate Tom Martino has reported that he's had hundreds of
complaints, and SmartMoney magazine had a cover story on the problems.
Several class action lawsuits have been filed. The same basic story:
you may be one of the lucky ones, and everything goes fine with your
account. But if ANYTHING goes wrong with your account, you're in for a
long haul to get even the simplest error fixed. There are many stories
like ours, where payments have not been applied. There are also reports
of failure to pay taxes or other mis-handling of escrow accounts.

Washington Mutual is now the largest mortgage company in the country,
and they've been buying a lot of mortgages in our area. Even if they're
not your lender now, you could be getting a notice that they've bought
your loan. So what should you do if you have your loan with Washington
Mutual?

1. If you pay by check, you might want to go to a branch and
hand-deliver the payment and get an immediate receipt. This way the
payment can't get lost in their mail room.

2. You could try setting up for automatic bank withdrawl (watch closely
to make sure this is set up right; there have also been problems
reported with this).

3. Don't assume that a cancelled check means that they've posted the
payment to your account, or that they're properly handling the escrow
account. Review your statement closely. Better yet: go to their web
site www.wamuhomeloans.com and set up a login to your account. Visit
monthly to make sure they've posted your payment and all other
transactions are correct.

4. Keep ALL of your records.

5. PRAY that you are one of the lucky ones that doesn't have a problem.

6. If ANYTHING goes wrong, DO NOT expect that those nice customer
service people are actually going to fix the problem. IMMEDIATELY
escalate the issue. Go to a branch office and get the manager to take
responsibility. Contact the Better Business Bureau. Call Tom Martino.
Contact an attorney that is handling a class-action suit (Washington
Mutual appears to give priority to fixing the complaints that are listed
in a lawsuit).

How to reach help:

• Washington Mutual will be opening a branch office in CPN later this
  year (in the King Soopers center). That will make it real handy to pay
  in person, or go talk to the manager. In the meantime, the closest
  branch is at County Line and Quebec, in Willow Creek, next to the
  Safeway. Or search their web site for other branches -- look for a
  "bank" and not a "mortgage office": www.washingtonmutual.com
• Tom Martino's Troubleshooter 1-866-966-HELP (4357)
  www.troubleshooter.com
• Class-action lawsuit: http://www.classcounsel.com/news/wamufaq.html

Good Luck!"

(There is also additional information in a Denver Post article)

Movers

Road Scholars at 303-693-7070
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

Never Again!, September 2002
Reviewer: BrambleRidge homeowner
"This company was a one of the least professional businesses we have ever dealt with. Shifty, unprofessional and customer indifferent would characterize their attidude and performance. They would not own up to their damage to our furniture, walls and wood trim they caused during our move.

This company is to be avoided!"

Painting (Interior)

Damon Painting at 303-814-8474
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

Caution
From a resident of Glen Oaks, June 2003
"Failed to show for two appointments and subsequently all phones have been disconnected."

Excellent Interior Work, April 2003
Reviewer: Robin in Canterbury
"We would definitely recommend Chuck of Damon Painting to anyone looking to have intereior painting done on their home. He showed up when he said he would, kept it at the cost he quoted, and finished in the time he stated it would take. His assistant was also very professional. Most importantly, Chuck didn't have us pay until the job was completed and we were happy with their work!"

Painted Accents at 303-663-2444
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

Caution
From a resident of Glen Oaks, June 2003
"[this business] phone has been disconnected."

Personable Perfectionist, June, 2001
Reviewer: KathNash@aol.com from Kings Crossing
Deirdre Farra faux-painted my dining room with precision, flair, and style. It was a pleasure working with her and I recommend her to anyone. Check out her portfolio of textures and finishes. You won't believe her "granite!"

Dave Clifford Painting at 303-257-2238
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

Quick, neat and cheap, April, 2001
Reviewer: KathNash@aol.com from Kings Crossing
Dave painted mudroom walls and ceiling, kitchen ceiling and soffit, and touched up my and hubby's "below-par" work in our office. Took about 5 hours, cost $240. He accurately mixed his own paint to match my chip. Will probably have him do the whole house eventually!

F & F Painting 303-906-8115

Superb Painting August 2003
Douglas M. Gittleson amazed me with his results. He followed a drywaller in covering an electrician's bores in the drywall, covering a repaired water leak, restoring tar drip damage from a repair years ago, and a structural crack. He also does exterior painting, and I will contact him when I next need that done.

Reviewer: Sheila Stephens from Claremont

KV Painting at 303-908-8376
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

Painting Exterior and Interior, June, 2003
Reviewer: Rhett from Glen Oaks
"Absolutely the best painting business I have experienced. Kevin and his team are punctual, professional, and perform superior quality work.

Highly recommended. Check the website @ www.kvpainting.com."

American Wet Works at 303-221-1225
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (1)

Exterior Painting, October, 2002
Reviewer: Ken from Royal Hill
Todd and Lisa Grant are a husband and wife painting team (interior and exterior). They have painted three houses in our neighborhood with excellent results. Highly recommend them if you have painting needs.

Pitrone Brothers at 303-688-8738
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (2)

Buyer beware - It is not what the literature says. May, 2001
Reviewer: gerry@bgni.com from Claremont
These days "professional" seems to mean how many short-cuts you know and the speed with which a job can be completed. Never mind about what you advertise you will do or the quality of the work performed. It apparently is in and out in a heartbeat, don't forget to give the check.

We had our house "speed" painted. In fairness, they did come back and zip through it again after we complained. But twice the lousy job is still lousy.

So I guess we are not supposed to mind the caulking and scraping that never got done, nor the upper-end cost, nor the mess and sloppy craftsmanship, these were really "professional" painters. Not pleased at all.

Pitrone Brothers at 303-688-8738
NO STARS - Hazardous to your sanity. Fall, 2000 and re-do in Summer 2001
Reviewer: anonymous from Claremont
We had our house first painted in the Fall and had to have them come back again. The painting was not done as promised. It was sprayed, not hand painted. It was done in one day by numerous workers who trampled bushes and flowers. No prep work was done as promised. No caulking was done as promised. The deck was painted and no prep work or powerwashing was done as promised. The deck had to be re-done as the paint was coming off in long pieces. When they returned to re-paint the deck (Summer 2001), they painted without preparation - no sweeping or washing - and painted over pine needles and dirt on our deck. The workers were rude and lazy. It was a nightmare.

Plumbing

Courtesy Plumbing & Heating at 303-688-0597
Average Neighbor Rating: ; Number of Reviewers (2)

Reliable, Professional, Great Work, November, 2002
Reviewer: from Kings Crossing
"Tom Ragolia of Courtesy Plumbing and Heating replaced my washing machine faucets quickly and efficiently and left the area clean even though he had to cut through the dry wall. He was on time, polite, and did the work at a fair price."

Plumbing Repair, April, 2002
Reviewer: from Noble Ridge
"Tom Ragolia of Courtesy Plumbing and Heating did an excellent job fixing our tub fixtures and replacing our garbage disposal. He provided an estimate before he began his repairs and only charged by the job, not by time."

Castle Pines North Homeowners Association
Copyright © 1999-2003 Castle Pines North Homeowners Association
All rights reserved.

Telephone and Fax:
303-482-3078

Address:
CPN Association, Inc.
7402 Yorkshire Drive
Castle Rock, Colorado 80108

Contact the Castle Pines North Homeowners Association (CPNHOA) by e-mail.