Most of us like spending time outside when the weather is nice, and nothing fits that desire better (for us older folks) than a covered back deck or patio. We purchased our current home in 2018 as the second owners and almost immediately added a Sunsetter ® Motorized Awning for shade. That was a start; however, it didn't protect us from the bugs, and we wanted it to be taller with a ceiling fan large enough to keep us cool. So, in the middle of last year, my wife Diana started looking at contractors that could cover and screen in a small (10' X 16') back deck. We planned to relocate the motorized awning to the concrete patio that was adjacent to the back deck (so we didn't waste the awning!). My wife, Diana, chose DDR. The Managing Partner, Jesse Haffley, came to see what we wanted and, on the spot, based on the decisions that he led us through, was able to give us a fixed price quote. It was not "his first rodeo"- he had a lot of knowledge of what would and wouldn't work as far as the support structure and roof line for our specific project. He saved us time and money from the start and gave us a very good estimate (as it turned out) of the project timeline. DDR specializes in very specific remodel/addition jobs and that is why they are so good at what they do. The project proceeded at a good, but well-controlled pace with DDR taking care of the Design, CAD Drawings, building permits, and HOA approval. The communication with the project manager, Leroy Coofer, was excellent and he was well connected to us and our project from start to finish. The crews (framing, roofing, siding, electrical, some plumbing, finished carpentry, and screening/doors) were all well run, polite, and did a pretty good job of cleaning up after themselves. The payment plan was well communicated ahead of time and the interface at the office through the Manger, Brandee Smith, was both prompt and courteous. The materials showed up on time and any excess materials were quickly removed from the property. DDR is not the least expensive turnkey contractor, but they are one of the best to have worked for us. Both Diana and I highly recommend them for their advertised specialties. read more

Distinctive Design Remodeling - OUTSIDE-AFTER - General Contractors Near Me - Lexington, Kentucky

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From start to ending the contract early, this company has no ethics. They cut corners, used poor quality materials, & were generally a nightmare. Really horrific. read more

Kevin Kelly my sales person and he was on time, informative and percise on what services DDR could provide. My project manager , Leroy was the best. Kept me informed on the process, was presant and answered any questions I had. DDR should be proud of how these two men represent their company. The crews were hard workers and didn't stop till the sun went down. My outdoor front porch is amazing. I highly recommend read more

Distinctive Design Remodeling - General Contractors Near Me - Lexington, Kentucky

great salesman tells you how good they are, goes down hill as soon as you sign the contract. Has been nothing but disappointing from there on, the project manager does not communicate at all except to tell you things that do not happen, we have ben waiting for them to pour footers for 3 weeks, and have been told for 3 weeks they are going to but no one ever shows up or calls. This has been nothing but a nightmare from day one, they send you a letter telling you not to call on weekends or after 5 any day, then the project manager sends you an email telling you the same thing, I think since they started they have worked a total of 4 days in 5 weeks, and they have never been here on a Friday or Monday. Not sure where the good reviews come from, all we want is to at least call and tell what's going on. read more

August 17, 2024 I give DDR a two-star rating only because the final product eventually turned out good. However, I would NOT recommend them nor would I use them again. Their salesman made promises that were not kept or just not true. (Most subs are not employed by DDR but are independent crews.) Our project included adding a room for a master bath with laundry and covering our front door stoop with a roof. The problems started immediately when the foundation crew ignored our request and moved our compost bin from the side of the house to the front yard instead of the back. Materials such as Hardie board and doors were ordered incorrectly and didn't match our existing siding and doors. This required returns, reorders, and obvious delays. The framers did not follow the plans for the front roof requiring at least three separate returns to make it acceptable. The siding was installed poorly on the addition making that crew return and correct it. Virtually all workers (framers, electrician, plumber, dry wall, trim carpenter, and tile installer) had to return for redo's to correct easily avoidable mistakes. Thus, I feel there was poor supervision on the part of our project manager. Finally, I think many of the subs showed a lack of respect for us and our property. This may not be DDRs fault, but DDR did not hold them accountable. They often came and left without telling us - once as late as 7:15 at night. Utility razor blades were thrown into our grass, away from the work area, where we or our grandchildren could have stepped on them. Personal trash was not picked up, and our gate was repeatedly left open in spite of telling them to always close it (dog escaped). In contrast, the subs we hired ourselves (painters, HVAC, and glass shower installers) were more professional and more skilled. DDR's price was competitive, but not better than several other estimates. If you choose them, be prepared to watch them closely, don't accept second rate work, and expect avoidable problems. Paul Sherman Not sure why yelp posted me in San Francisco. I am in Louisville, KY. read more

Distinctive Design Remodeling - only one example - General Contractors Near Me - Lexington, Kentucky

Our project was to have a roof installed over our deck. I referenced Angi"s list and decided to contact DDR. I sent a request on a Sunday nite and Tuesday afternoon, Jesse was at my home discussing the project! I did not feel "pressured" in any way! Everything Jesse said about the project, his crews and how the job would be completed, went excellent and on time! Chris T was our project manager and I don't think we could ask for anything more. Chris was on time, enthusiastic about our project, and very attentive to detail in looking over our finished project! Chris's crews cleaned up daily after working. I read reviews and value customer opinions and comments! I was very confident in choosing DDR. My project is 2 hours away from completion (electrician installing ceiling fan switch) and I must say that my wife and I are 100% pleased with our new covered deck. Thank you Chris and DDR. Don S. read more

This has been an utter nightmare with this company. They come on big with a hard sell and then continued to disappointment me almost daily. The supposed leadership was never on site even after continuing to complain. The crew consistently blocked my driveway so I could not get in or out. Some of the crew were loud and disrespectful and rapped in my door to demand to use electricity in my house. One evening after dark 2 men knocked on my door to say they were here to work on my garage. It scared me really badly. When I phoned no one knew they were coming. I do not recommend Distinctive Design Remodeling. read more

Distinctive Design Remodeling - Said they were finished and sent the electrician fit their money - General Contractors Near Me - Lexington, Kentucky

Imagine the worst contractor you could ever hire DDR is even worse. My sister hired them after assurances with their salesman Pat that there would be details to go with the porch to room conversion. No details were ever provided. When she pointed out that she had asked from the beginning fort the best easy to clean double hung windows the owner argued that she was stuck with the crappy off brand garbage windows that they were going to install because in his mind the rough drawing showed sliding windows. For $50000 they would not install a floor or paint. When a multitude of deviations from the drawing and contract were documented with incontrovertible evidence DDR was confronted with their contract violations we received no real response. They will not put anything in writing. The roof was built wrong. The shingles are wrong. The Tyvek was installed wrong. The siding was installed wrong. There is no Z molding at the bottom of the walls or above the cheap door so their work will fail prematurely. The gable end is anti-professional. The soffits do not match their own drawings. DDR itself claims that the construction must match or else the deviations are violations of the contract. We received one photograph from DDR. it shows the slope of the roof does not match the contract. It shows the the shingles do not match. The contract requires DDR to have matched the shingles. It also shows, what I believe to be a pack of beer up on the roof (attached photo with DDR caption showing it is DDR's own photo). With the evidence furnished by DDR of what appears to me to be its workers drinking on the roof and the shoddy construction we asked for proof that DDR has current worker's compensation insurance and for proof of liability insurance. We have received no proof of valid insurance. Only threats of a defamation lawsuit if anyone made this public. That is why I am posting this. I believe that I have not only proof of their workers drinking on the job, but also that DDR condones it. Otherwise, they would not have supplied the evidence. If DDR files suit I will post the court's opinion. read more

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I hired them to build a room addition . Bottom line I had to seek the advice of an attorney. My opinion is Don't use them.

We were going to get our upstairs remodeled and the person who answered the call was rude and questioned why we were calling them. Someone from the company had come to our home to give an estimate for work in our basement a couple of years prior. The gentleman who came was unfriendly and acted like it was an imposition to be in our home. He couldn't give us a true estimate, I felt like I was at a car dealership and we went with another company for the job. read more

I called for a quote for a job and ask if they would break the quote down before they showed up. The sales man arrived and said the couldn't do the foundation work, I then ask if they would break the quote down and he said they don't do business like that. I would be very leery of a contractor that will not break cost down with different trades and materials. This indicates they may have hidden cost or over charging. He then ask to see any quotes I have for the job. He said he would try to beat them. I said No end of meeting waist of time. Then they blocked my review on Home Advicor. read more

I highly recommend Distinctive Design Remodeling. The quality of their materials and work are excellent. Our experience working with this company was great. The salesman/design consultant, project manager, craftsmen and construction teams were very friendly, professional and took pride in the work. You should consider contacting Distinctive Design Remodeling for your next home improvement project. read more

Our idea for a four season room began with a vision for our covered concrete/brick patio. We envisioned exterior stacked stone to complement our outdoor fireplace/entertainment area and huge windows. We knew this would be fairly simple (relatively speaking) since all we needed were walls and a new ceiling. We contracted with DDR at the end of February. Our salesperson was Ray who was quite a character, fast-talking and funny, but a character who seemed to know his stuff. He came to the house and spent a couple hours with us, listened to our ideas and gave us his input where needed (for instance, pointing out that our idea of wall-to-wall/floor-to-ceiling windows wasn't realistic due to code requirements). The price was extremely reasonable for what we wanted to do. In fact, it was much less than we had expected. Next came the architectural drawings and a visit from Jon Penn. Jon walked us through everything again and made sure all measurements were correct. Our original plan was to have a wide slider from the room to the outside but this idea was ultimately quashed when, for logistical reasons, the exterior would have looked asymmetrical. We opted for a regular door which provided us with the perfect balance and symmetry we were looking for. The heater/AC was moved on a side wall to a more centered location. These changes were easily incorporated, we approved the final drawings and work commenced at the end of March. We wanted the room done well ahead of Derby weekend. The first crew arrived to frame in the walls while my husband was out of town. The next day when the two arrived, he pointed out that the side walls didn't reflect the correct positioning of the windows per the drawings. They set to work immediately to correct the problem. The stonemason and his crew worked through a ten hour day on the exterior and the results were nothing short of amazing. The stone is beautiful and makes a perfect visual segue from the addition to the outdoor entertainment area. From start to finish, the various crews were extremely diligent and dedicated to their craft. The drywall crew also installed the ceiling and new French doors from the breakfast area to the new room. We had opted for tongue-in-groove for the ceiling vs. cheaper beadboard. This added $750 to the overall cost of the room, but it was well worth it to go the extra mile on quality. Chris Thomas was in contact with us nearly every day and coordinated each crew's schedule with us. We had a slight glitch with the door we had chosen. Apparently, only exterior style doors are available with grids between the windows. We wanted the design to match all our windows, but an interior door was delivered in error. Chris corrected this immediately. The attention to detail and prompt service is impressive. When the room was finished (we were so excited it felt like forever, but was really only three weeks or so), Chris did the walkthrough with us and we went over the punch list. There were a couple very, very minor items that were handled over a few days... a bit of trim around the new French door, a couple nails to secure another area of trim, plugs around the window of the door. All pretty insignificant and attended to quickly. The crews removed all trash from the site. We are so impressed with this company - the quality of the work and attention to detail is superb, communication is excellent. At NO time were we pressured for payment. We were aware of the schedule from the time the contract was signed - four payments of $5,000 required at specific points of the process. We would receive plenty of notice so our payment was in their hands as requested. Everything was done in a timely manner. Our new room was finished in time for us to paint and get ready for Derby weekend. We've gotten a lot of compliments since then and would definitely recommend Distinctive Design in the future. read more

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I used Distinctive Design to build a porch. The whole process was very stressful. They have different subcontractors come in for each part of the process. The sub-contractors for the most part we're good except for the main part. The concrete work was awful! The porch has only been in for less than 6 months and there's a huge crack right down the middle!! When they poured it we argued with them that not enough rebar was being used. They used 2 sections for a huge porch!! I would definitely not use them again. read more

I was the contractor basically. We paid all this money thinking one would oversee. That was our biggest concern , since I have a Trumatic brain injury. To have someone oversee and be there. No such luck. SMH. That put me through extreme stress. The communication is not very good at all. They did good job on the basement which is great but... never covered up the vents or anything down there when remodeling our whole basement. Now we are left with a large cost of having a company come out and cleaning out all of our vents. And have been congested and sneezing for weeks. Very expensive! Some of the subcontractors they used should have communicated better ....as well as the owner. Several things happened due to poor communication It's just a shame you hire a contractor and they rarely show up for weeks. Especially on such a large job. The work they did was good. And the employees were very nice. The most important thing I wanted during this difficult time was for me not to have to keep overseeing every day . I think I should have been paid instead of the person who never showed up (unless they wanted another $check from us.) Then he would immediately leave. SMH again. This was my experience. Overall they did a great job! I normally don't post anything but this has bothered me. . read more

We could not be more pleased with how our screen room turned out, and even more so with this company. The points of this project that stand out: * On our initial consultation, Jesse really listened to what we wanted, and offered very good suggestions to improve our design. * The project manager, Chris, was always responsive to all our questions and concerns. All concerns were addressed and in a positive manner. * We were at all times, even with repeated bouts of bad weather, kept informed of what would be done when, and by whom. * DDR uses top quality materials and their crew members are skilled. Leo and Rolando and their crews did great work on the framing and finishing. John and James, the electrical crew, wired everything perfectly. The clean up crew cleaned up thoroughly. If you're thinking of a remodeling project, you would do well to consider Distinctive Design Remodeling. read more

I feel very fortunate to have found Distinctive Design Remodeling at a home and garden show. A representative met with me immediately after I contacted them and spent the time to fully listen to my needs and expectations. We had met with several other builders and were very impressed by Jesse. His estimate was precise and included all aspects of the room addition project. Every one of the sub contractors did a superb job and Chris,the project manager, keep me informed every step of the way. I could not be more pleased with our new addition and would absolutely use DDR again and refer them to anyone looking for a remodeling company. We love our new addition! read more

1) We were very impressed that Jesse, one of the co-owners of DDR, met with us to discuss what we were looking for. He took detailed notes, and provided helpful feedback on different ideas we were looking at. 2) When we were reviewing the CAD plans for our room addition and breezeway, Jesse answered all of our questions without fail, and included different details into the CAD plans that we had discussed but were missing. 3) All the different members of the DDR team that were involved in the project (materials engineer, project manager, etc) were all very pro-active and touched base with us with questions, in order to ensure that everything would match as closely as possible to our house and detached garage. 4) The project manager, Chris, always kept us in the loop regarding which teams were coming to the house, materials being delivered, etc. This was definitely appreciated and made us feel like the project was being handled in a professional manner. 5) All the teams that came (concrete, framing, roofing, insulation, siding, electrical, drywall, trim, and clean-up) were highly professional and worked hard and fast to ensure that the project would be completed on time. Chris would visit to check on the work and to take pictures. When the stairs from the breezeway to the room addition was first built, Chris recognized that it did not meet code nor did it meet DDR's own standards, and had the stairs re-done. We greatly appreciate the action that was taken. 6) The clean-up team really impressed us with the care they took in making sure that everything was as clean as possible on site, including hosing down our driveway (where the dumpster had been sitting), so that we would not need to do that. Would we contact DDR in the future for any other additions or work on our house? Definitely. Would we recommend DDR to anyone who is looking for a company to do work on their house or property? Definitely. read more

When i ordered the patio I provided a nearly CAD quality diagram of the design of my patio. The design was never provided prior to construction starting and I told them the dimensions were wrong when they started the foundations. Went to Work came back and was still off by several feet. But was told the i signed off on dimensions. Next they started the roof and they tried using foil dry hose for extending my dryer vent. They then changed the roof design without asking. When they did electrical the disconnected an old switch then just left it. Then came concrete, it was a rush job to do framing and concrete same day, they used a bobcat and destroyed my yard. Then rather than follow drawing they tore down my firewood stand so they could run concrete where the stand was. Poor communication is the biggest problem. I'm still waiting for them to return to pickup dirt pile in my yard and put cap on rain gutter. Unless you can supervise I do not recommend. The quality is great just not what i asked for. read more

I used Distinctive Design to finish my basement and it was a huge mistake. The only thing that was done correctly was the drywall and trim work. The plumber was back to fix his screw ups 5 times and I still had to hire a plumber that knew what he was doing. Chris Thomas, the project manager, was a smug prick! Do not, I repeat DO NOT use this company! read more

They built a beautiful new deck and gabled roof for me. The project went well for the most part but we had issues like all construction projects have. Chris and his crews were easy to work with and willing to please. The main reason I didn't give them 5 stars is because they left the construction area unsafe, full of sharp objects and they didn't clean up after themselves. Every worker that was here met my dog and for the life of me, I can't figure out why they wouldn't have been more careful with screws, nails and sharp cuts that were left on the ground. Just thankful that no paws or feet were injured. read more

I have never written a negative review about any one or thing. This is written only with the hope of saving ANYONE else from even a part of what I am still going through w/this company. In Aug. 2013 ,I signed a contact w/them to add an addition to my home, which I was guaranteed I'd be able to occupy by Nov.2013. Many assurances were made ( payments to only be due at certain intervals, last one to be made ONLY after we were totally happy w/the work , top grade materials, & of course, all work would meet city code.) A check for$8,000.00 was written to start work. Long before the 2nd check was due or "work" of any substance had been completed- Chris came by wanting another check. This behavior continued . While the workman were still hammering ,they wanted the last check & became very agitated when refused. Many problems were noticed,brought to their attention, that they deemed rectified during the construction. Not so. As is usually the case, far too much shoddy work was done to go into it here. Let's just say that the first time it rained ,I had water pouring out of the electrical socket. So far, I have had to have the entire job(siding , door, gutters,etc. . ) redone by others,who w/no profit in sight for themselves, have said it was one of the worst jobs they'd ever run up on. The company I signed to do this work has an answer for all problems-caulk guns. It is now April 2014,& I am hoping to be able to carpet this room. But,since no footers were ever poured,that's up in the air pending city code. This is at best a shady,double talking company, who's owner called me a week ago to become aggressive because I questioned why no footers were poured! So, do yourself a HUGE FAVOR-with so many decent companies to choose from,avoid this one like the plague, because that's what they are. This was a $33,600 project , so no matter what you pay ,you are not immune to the unscrupulous practices of Distinctive Design Remodeling. There you have the 1st & only negative review I have ever written . Hope you can use my mistake to your advantage. read more

Amazing job and super crew! We were told the job would be finished in three weeks, and even with bad weather, they were done in 20 days! A first for us! The workmanship was superior and they were always on time. We would definitely use them again! read more

OMG stay away!!! First cement guy showed up and had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. There was no project manager on site to direct things. There was only an exterior picture of my garage, no interior, and when I asked, I was told they'd come by with it, which never happened. Literally they were building without my knowing what the final product would look like. I was never consulted to select fixtures. They delivered their standard, the cheapest crap around. The building inspector came by and made them redo a portion of the wall because they were trying to get away with using the old existing support instead of adding a new one. In order to fix this problem (which they created to save $100,) they had to rip apart the wall. The new wall never matched up evenly. The work looks amateurish, but I spent plenty! In the end, I found out that they pay people to write positive reviews. You have to be suspicious of a company that has lots of 5 stars and then a handful of 1 stars, right? Shouldn't there be more of a mix? I'm just trying to stop more folks from having my headaches with this den of thieves. read more