Keil Construction Co, Inc.

2 stars because Keil Co. does beautiful work and takes pride in their craftsmanship. Their business practices are another story. In our case, Keil Co. was the lowest bidder on our project — a full basement excavation and first floor remodel of our DC row house — a very large residential project. After we had signed their contract, and after both both parties had signed a contract with the bank, Keil Co. came to us asking for completely different payment terms than were defined in either contract. In each contract, terms stated Keil Co. would be paid as each phase of work was completed. They then changed terms and asked us to pay the entire payment up front — this had never once been discussed prior to contract signatures or before we closed on the loan. Keil Co. then told us if we couldn’t pay up front, they would add a 10% «overhead» to the project. Again, none of this was in the contract and put us in a horrible position, having already closed on the loan. When we told them no, they held onto our deposit until we signed a «mutual» termination agreement. We likely had a legal case to enforce the terms of the contract, which is why they held the deposit, but we felt legal action before the works starts is not a good way to kick off a 12 month project. We did eventually find a builder who would honor the terms, at a slightly higher price, and the project has gone well.
The whole thing felt sloppy at best, disingenuous at worst. Based on our experience, this is the general feeling toward Keil Co. around Capitol Hill. (See some of the «non recommended Unilocal reviews» below). We know of at least 3 legal actions involving Keil Co. just on our block. If you are paying cash, are prepared for overruns, and can deal with Keil Co.‘s somewhat loose business practices, by all means they may be a good choice for you — as we said, they do nice work. Otherwise there are many many good alternative options.

We hired Keil Construction for a two-​story, full renovation of our 1890s rowhouse in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and couldn’t be more pleased with the result. Jeff Keil is excellent at preserving the look of the old while making a house new again. In particular, we were thrilled with his commitment to restoring the original pine floors hidden underneath another layer of wood. He painstakingly took up every board, laid a new sub-​floor, and put back down the pine boards so they fit beautifully. They glow! We were also very pleased with custom paint and trim work, which involved new cove molding and re-​use of the some of the old. The lead painter, Fransciso, was very accommodating, and often painted sample walls so I could see what a color would look like before I committed to it. His tile man was also wonderful, executing an old-​fashioned basket-​weave pattern for the master bath floor and constructing a gorgeous Calacatta marble shower.
Jeff Keil is also great at creative re-​use of material, and excellent at on the spot problem-​solving during construction. He brought over a beautiful old mirror which he recessed into the front hall, and worked with us to build a custom kitchen island wrapped in old porch ceiling boards and a custom kitchen banquette area with a built-​in TV stand and a lovely natural wood counter. When we had to re-​locate the A/​C return, and wound up with some space to fill, his carpenter, Carlos, built a beautiful linen closet in the upstairs hall. Jeff was also very helpful in executing my vision for a luxury master bath vanity made from a dresser found at Eastern Market. It was re-​painted and fitted into the wall with a beautiful marble countertop.
I will say that if you hire Keil Construction, you should be comfortable with changes to your initial plans. It was our experience that Jeff views plans as a jumping-​off point for the work which was a good thing most of the time, resulting in unique solutions that we were happy with. It also meant that communication was essential. Email, which I’m used to using, was a mixed bag. In the end, I texted him more often than not (sometimes to remind him to read an email!) and relied on our weekly in-​person meetings to talk about the progress of the renovation. Occasionally, we had to ask for clarification on change orders, or more detail about billing, but in all, Jeff was very generous with his time and resources, even providing unique ceiling lights out of his personal collection.
Jeff delivered the house as promised by the requested move-​in deadline (although work continued after we moved in.) His core crew was respectful, polite and helpful. For most of the renovation, we didn’t live in the house, but after we moved in, the workers used a lockbox and cleaned up after themselves each day. My only complaint was that, on occasion, I didn’t know they were coming to work, and was surprised to see them. I was also not thrilled with the slow manner and haphazard finish work of the sub-​contractor who handled the electric work (I shared this with Jeff, and he worked to resolve the issue by using his own crew as needed.) But on the whole, I was happy to have Jeff’s workers in the house, and they worked diligently and professionally, helping with everything from assembling a chandelier to building closet shelves.
If you are unsure about whom to hire, I recommend viewing several houses that Jeff has renovated and seeing the quality of the work. If his «old made new» style is a good match for your vision (as it was for us!) I think you will be very pleased with Keil Construction.