Howard Construction

We hired Howard Construction in 2021 to rebuild our home after a fire. The work was completed in February 2022 and has produced significant, ongoing problems. Floor failure. The wood flooring throughout the house is failing. A certified NWFA flooring inspector has examined the installation and identified deficiencies in the moisture control system required for engineered wood over a concrete slab. The damage includes dark staining bleeding through the finish from below, finish failure leaving raw exposed wood, and mold and mildew on items stored in closets. The most severe damage is at the back of the house, where a structural engineer separately observed that the yard slopes toward the house rather than away from it — a drainage issue that should have been identified before flooring installation. Walls and floors not level or plumb. Interior walls were not built to 90 degrees. The guest bathroom wall is off plumb enough that the vanity had to be cut down to fit. The floor is unlevel enough in one area that a bookcase cannot be placed against the wall without tipping forward. Structural and code issues. They left the lintel off the garage header, causing the header to sag visibly. We had to demand they put it back in. The roof was not built to code, which was independently verified by a city inspector we called out, but shingles had already been installed before that inspection. Pre-fabricated trusses were cut without documented engineer authorization. They wanted to leave waterlogged and burnt framing in place until we insisted on replacement. Poor workmanship throughout. Insulation was not properly installed. Nails appeared to be hand-driven and frequently bent over rather than nail-gunned. Construction debris was left in the yard at completion. Communication and project management problems. Project manager Mike Galaska became increasingly unresponsive over the course of the project. When we reported the flooring failure to him after problems emerged, he came to the property once, acknowledged the problem, said he would arrange for a structural engineer to inspect, and never followed up. It has been over a year since that visit with no further contact. They actively avoided having anyone present when work was being done, despite our request to be notified. Billing concerns. They submitted requests to insurance for items we did not want and did not receive (a speaker system) and we had to catch and challenge the billing to get a partial refund. They submitted supplemental requests for things like construction debris cleanup that should have been their responsibility to begin with. We would not recommend this company to anyone. If a contractor is suggested to you through an insurance referral, get independent contractors to bid before agreeing.

After working with Don Towery for the past several months on the repair of our home, I am writing this review to give Howard Construction 5 stars. Our home was damaged during Hurricane Idalia back in August 2023. After dealing with a different contractor for 15 months that did shoddy work, Don with Howard Construction was assigned to our case in November 2024. At that time, I was very untrusting due to everything we had been through but Don earned our trust. Don was very kind, did what he said, was very transparent and honest, explained everything, uncovered the shoddy mistakes of the previous contractor, and made things right. Once we got past the engineering needed to correct the work of the previous contractor, the progress of the repairs went quickly. Don went above and beyond, ...always working on our behalf. We are back in our home and are very thankful Don was assigned to our claim .

We have needed a general contractor twice in the last three years and chose to use Howard Construction at the recommendation of a friend who had also used them several times. They redid both our kitchen and bathroom. Both times we worked with Mike Galaska as our project manager. He did an outstanding job of bringing our vision to life. He is honest, straight forward, organized, communicates well, and is a great listener! All very important and rare traits these days. We especially liked that he was not afraid to brainstorm with us. He, his trade crews, and Howard Construction were all a pleasure to work with both times. We highly recommend them every chance we get and would choose to work with them again if the need arises.

I would never recommend this company to anyone!!! In April of 2009 I had a tree fall through the back part of my home. My insurance company USAA gave me the option of using one of their contractors so I would not have to gather estimates on my own. Howard Construction came out to my house, they seemed very kind and concerned. They were only going to patch the roof but finally agreed with me that a total replacement was needed. My contract, the second building permit they pulled and the Notice of Commencement they filed all said Replace Roof. I thought I got a complete roof replacement. Fast forward to May 2025. After a heavy rain storm I started seeing water stains in the ceiling of my family room. I had a roofer come out to see if it could be repaired since I thought I still had 4 or 5 years of life left in my roof. He proceeds to tell me that my roof was only patched in 2009 not replaced. I had two other roofing companies come out to confirm this is true. Not only did they not replace my roof in 2009 but the work that they did was not good. I now have to get a new roof and I have to figure out where the money is going to come from. It has caused me much distress and heartache that a company that I did not choose (my insurance company did) would not do the work agreed upon. I will make it my mission to be sure as many people know about this and that this company should not be in business.

After experiencing a house fire in February, we chose Howard Construction to take on the construction of our home. First of all, they were highly recommended by everyone we spoke to and they proved their work from the first time we met with them. Mike Galaska managed our project and he was so wonderful to work with. He was very professional, honest, prompt, and extremely easy to communicate with. All of the people who worked with him were compassionate, hardworking, and did an excellent job. We are forever grateful for entrusting them to put our house back together even better than it was before!