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    McGowan Builders

    5.0 (11 reviews)
    Closed 9:00 am - 5:30 pm

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    Services - McGowan Builders

    Drywall installation or replacement

    Drywall repair

    Siding installation

    McGowan Builders Photos

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    Recommended Reviews - McGowan Builders

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    Reviews With Photos

    After renovation.

    Jamie installed new siding on my house in June and July of 2025. He and his crew did an excellent job. We have gotten many compliments from neighbors and people just walking by. He also rewired our outside lights, replaced the rear stairs that had rotted from the snow and replaced a rotted joist below the deck. He pointed out a number of things to watch for on the house with the snow and sun in our weather here in Tahoe. His cost was very fair; we think we received great value for what we paid. I would not hesitate to contact Jamie again for any jobs on my property. I highly recommend him.

    Jamie installed siding on my house in South Lake in early 2025. It was a big job, and his team worked tirelessly through the winter ensuring the project was done the right way. He provides outstanding customer service - calling me regularly at the end of the day to check in and sending pictures of the details to get feedback and confirmation. I don't live full time in the area, and it was a big relief for me to find a contractor I could fully trust to do high quality work in my absence. The job is done now, and I couldn't be happier about the results. It was clear from the beginning that Jamie's priority was to make sure I was satisfied. I will certainly use Jamie again!

    BEFORE

    Jamie McGowan/McGowan Builders is truly the best! Jamie is an amazing craftsman with attention to details, solution oriented, has a wonderful eye for design, and provides amazing customer service. He replaced our old, beat-up siding/windows and made our house look beautiful, stylish, and new. He also suggested some updates to the interior of our home (which we would have never thought about) that truly finished the house, making it warm and cozy. Jamie is very communicative, provides daily/weekly project updates, and is a pleasure to work with. We tell everyone, we hired a builder - but made a friend. Five stars for McGowan Builders!

    Edge of roof that had snow buildup threatening neighbor's home/windows

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    Review Highlights - McGowan Builders

    Jamie did an amazing job, on time, even tackling some extra projects which we hadnt anticipated, but were discovered.

    Mentioned in 9 reviews

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    Shelter Building Company - Cold Water Brewery

    Shelter Building Company

    (13 reviews)

    If you want quality work and excellent service at a good price, Christian is the contractor for…read moreyour job. We had Christian remove a wall between our living room and a bedroom to make a great room. He replaced the carpet in the old bedroom with the same flooring as in the living room, painted walls and ceiling, and installed a bar. There is no sign that it used to be two separate rooms, it looks like it was always this way! We had to live in the house during the job and Christian was fast and left the house clean every night. We highly recommend Christian!

    My husband and I bought a little 1950's house and wanted to transform it into a modern cabin. I'm a…read moredesigner and very particular about what I want. Christian clearly understood my vision, was very easy to work with, and offered ideas to make our place even better. And most importantly, he kept within our budget. Below is a complete list of what he and his team did for our cabin: OUTSIDE: * Painted fence and bear box * Painted exterior and trim of house * Opened up entry way ceiling, added decorative wood beams, and installed new deck flooring, as well as new front door * Installed new stone patio * Built a custom deck and bench and installed hot tub to go on it. * Cleaned chimney and brick * Installed new circuit breaker INSIDE: * Installed new entry way stone flooring * Painted all of the interior walls and ceilings * All new light fixtures throughout * Grounded all outlets * Replaced hot water heater * Built a custom reclaimed wood fireplace mantle and painted fireplace * Installed a custom storage cubby under our stairs * New stair railing and wood trim (probably my favorite transformation) * Wallpapered 2 rooms * Opened doorway between living room and kitchen * Installed decorative corrugated metal and wood trim in our bathroom (gave it that industrial/rustic look we wanted) * Built custom reclaimed wood shelves (truly a unique piece that makes a statement in our room) * Painted our kitchen floor with porch paint (it looks amazing) * Painted our kitchen cabinets (saved more money than replacing them) * Built custom wood shutter to replace window blinds (another one of my wild ideas he brought to life) * And probably more that i'm forgetting! He tackled everything from as large as building an entire deck and patio for us to as small as installing a new door knocker on our door. I would recommend him to anyone who is looking to give their home a fabulous update!

    Backcountry Woodworks - Gucci joints on my hardwood floors?

    Backcountry Woodworks

    (4 reviews)

    They say remodels are stressful, but working with steve and his crew was pure pleasure. My hall…read morebathroom was so water damaged for so long there was a lot to tear out and rebuild. They rebuilt it better then ever and brought everything up to code. They're meticulous and efficient and take care to make it look good, too. Keeping the house clean while they worked, answering all my questions, going over all the options, taking a trip out to the tile factory, it's a real full service experience. Special shout-out to stevefor his hard work, quality and professionalism. I love my new bathroom and highly recommend backcountry woodworks

    In sum, nothing but bad things to say about Steve. He's not only a bad carpenter, but also a bad…read moreguy. I hired he & another carpenter from S. Lake to work on my remodel in Incline. They had the chance to turn a bad situation into a great one. Instead, they decided to suck all my $ away, literally sitting around in lounge chairs playing on their phones & planning their next jobs. What little work Steve did he either took way too long or it was unacceptably poor quality. What's more, he worked hourly & routinely lied on his time cards. Here's the details. After I hired him, I quickly realized Steve was slow, inexperienced, & error prone. He was not accomplishing much & after it took him 2 wks to trim out a window wall, I told the "foreman" I was not happy with Steve, especially since he also made a big error - he told me a piece of walnut that was clearly not grain-matched with the other pieces it was mitered to would match when the lacquer went on. Naturally, it wasn't so. So I told the foreman to have him fix it. Steve never owned up to it & charged me to fix it. Then he started to install hardwood floor steps - another week. This time he admitted it was taking him a long time. Then onto some hand rails - another week & poor performance again - uneven & popping off the rails. In between these projects, he worked on doors. One door took him four hrs to hang, handleset was uneven and mortise was not flush (many had this problem). There were myriad examples of his poor craftsmanship. One time I had some very expensive granite being installed. He couldn't get a cabinet lift to work while fitting the granite in. So he said I had to cut the granite down. Naturally, he was wrong & I lost a lot of $'s b/c he had them cut a seam into it. I'm still looking to replace it. At one point, he told me his background was as a handy man. That explained it - he did not have the chops to work on a multi-million dollar home. Steve is just a talker. All the while, Steve was living at my house. While I knew that was bad (makes them too comfortable) he theoretically provided security. But then he couldn't be reached (even though he was always on his phone) & it went to his head as he really thought he was the boss. But he not only couldn't finish his projects, he also couldn't manage subs. He was so disorganized I had to remain as project manager & had a tracking list for him. He couldn't get things done on it & the job is still ongoing (May '14). Anyhow, I knew he was weak sauce & was going to fire him but I kept thinking we were almost done & it would be good to keep a resource around if he could be motivated. But it just kept dragging on & he kept slacking so I knew I had to fire him (less is more). But the foreman said he'd do a good job on the hardwood floors. So I kept him for that & he was okay but was such a pain to deal with - I was trying to explain to him the pattern I wanted in terms of putting good pieces in the main areas and he copped such an attitude. Weird given he was working hourly, i.e., do whatever I want, it doesn't cost you anything. It was no wonder that he would regularly butt heads with people on the job. He would routinely criticize my best carpenter for going to fast. It's always a blend of speed and accuracy but Steve had no reason to criticize this guy. Other than the fact that this other guy just made Steve look bad by working circles around him. His final day was comical - I told him not to show up but he did anyhow. He spent 4 hours trying to figure out how to hook up an ipod docking station that turned out it was too late to do. Naturally, I had it on his list for mos. & he always neglected it until it was too late to put it where I wanted it, the whole time saying he was going to do it & it would be really easy. Worst part is his ethics. The whole time he worked there, he was working w/the foreman on setting up their next jobs (talking on the phone) & playing on his phone. The only thing he was good at was DJ, he picked some mean beats to hang out to... He worked about half the time he was there, which means I paid him 2x what I was supposed to. Furthermore, he not only was a slacker, he lied regularly on his time cards. And at one point, he asked me if he could use the toilet even though I had a temporary one outside for the workers. I told him "no" b/c that could go really bad if people disrespected it. At one point, I asked him if he'd been using them b/c all the toilets were installed & he assured me he was using the temp. So one day, I found a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom where he'd shower. Sweet, lie straight to my face. So this man is an incompetent liar. How he can live with himself, I do not know. I would never hire this guy to do anything for me. But if you can't help yourself, don't pay him hourly. Do a fixed bid & know that he is an unlicensed carpenter & you have no recourse for his terrible work & that he will be out of business when you ask him to fix it.

    McGowan Builders - handyman - Updated September 2026

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