Go elsewhere! Save yourself the drama and total lack of accountability. One excuse after another from begging you for a payment to pay his workers, repair upon his endless repairs with always the response "I got rid of him now I'm sending you my best" and now being completely ghosted when the poor workmanship is truly showing itself! Please see the attached ceiling, under the roofing to the extension he placed but "it's not our problem" followed by complete silence and no return calls. Pm me for additional pictures and details. read more

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Do NOT hire Graves Design. What should have taken 3 months took over a year! From start to finish there was nothing but problems. We signed a contract in August and went to his show room on Traford Ln. in Springfield which had recently been updated with some beautiful cabinets. His assistant drew up plans for us and we chose cabinets. The drawings were sent to us and upon review, I noticed several discrepancies in measurements. I brought these to the attention of the team and they made some changes, but I would later find out not all issues were remedied. Come October we inquired when the cabinets would arrive and to our surprise it sounded like they hadn't even been ordered. After all that, the cabinets still arrived in the wrong sizes. This set us back several more months as we ended up having to reorder several. On top of that, no trim was ordered. There were no kickplates, island trim or anything for moulding. Once the second order arrived, there were still problems with the island cabinets being too tall on one side. Doug suggested we just rig them and make the island an inch taller than the rest of the kitchen. I said absolutely not. I then sat up for hours one evening trying to think of ways to make it work so we didn't have to wait yet another few months for more cabinets. I came up with a plan and we ended up doing a two level island with a bar on one side to accommodate stools. As a customer, I should never have had to be this involved in correcting the contractor's constant mistakes. Along with this, throughout the process Doug was hard to get ahold of and would never come to the home to check on things unless I insisted he did. Even then, he came once or twice over the course of 3-4 months of construction. Working with all of his subcontractors was ok, but they were not well coordinated. For instance, the countertop company showed up before the cabinets were installed. They said Doug told them that the kitchen was ready with cabinets. They came from a long ways away, so they measured what they thought would work. Of course they were wrong and we had to have new countertops cut adding more time to the process. Beyond this, we had wood flooring in our living room that came up to our kitchen tile. I told the contractors countless times we only had a few pieces of wood to replace what they might need to move, so they should be extra carful to keep anything they could. On the day they removed flooring, a large part of the wood floors were removed without care. In the end we waited another month for them to go find something similar and make it right. As the tile flooring went in, it was fine, but within a few weeks the grout started to crumble. After speaking with Doug and his assistants several times, we finally got one of his contractors to fix it. Unfortunately several months later grout started breaking out again and after months of trying to contact Doug again, we are still without a reply. read more

Similar to the other review, our estimated completion was 6 weeks and the project took 19 weeks to finish. Despite paying the full contract amount, we have a granite company trying to harass us since Graves Design did not pay them. Quality of work was also mediocre based on what we were charged. read more

Working with Graves was torture and not worth the trouble. We signed a contract with Graves earlier this year for a renovation of a small, functional bathroom in a single family house. The estimated start date was six weeks later, estimated to be completed in three weeks. The actual start date ended up being two weeks later than estimated and the job took two months to complete. The project was so poorly managed that the work crew (w-2 Graves employees, not subs) notified us mid-project they were quitting, but did hang on to finish our bathroom. The main categories of failure were: a complete absence of project management, a complete absence of communication and customer service, construction errors and abandonment of a messy/ dangerous work site. Complete Absence of Project Management My wife and I had to spend multiple hours EACH DAY basically managing the project for Doug, who was completely absent. Graves did not know which crew was or was not coming on a given day. The crew was given no instruction, did not even have a copy of the contract or plans. Crews would constantly be asking us design questions that Doug should have communicated to them like what size and shape the faucet hole in the countertop needed to be or where the vanity was to be placed. Errors were chronic - the shower floor was initially installed the wrong size, wrong shape, with the wrong material in the wrong color. For a project that was estimated to only take three weeks to complete, parts had not even been ordered nearly two months after the original, functioning bathroom had been demolished, with Doug usually unaware that those parts were missing. Even after a shower door the incorrect size was installed and uninstalled TWICE and the newly installed tile had to be replaced because it had holes in it from the faulty shower door installation, Doug went on a vacation to the mountains instead of coming to the house in person to check on the issues. Despite the project being plagued by issues and delays over the course of months, Doug only came out to our house once to inspect the job site. When the project was completed, Doug never inspected the renovated bathroom. Complete Absence of Communication and Customer Service On at least eight separate occasions, we were promised a crew would come to our house for the day and when nobody showed, we never received a call, an email or a text. On another occasion, a vendor showed up to our house in person unannounced asking my wife and I what size and shape the countertop and sink needed to be. Doug and Jamie failed to properly notify us of issues with the project. When the shower floor was installed incorrectly, Doug and Jamie were unaware and we would have to notify them. When the shower door was discovered to be the wrong size after being half installed or the countertop was delayed or the cabinet doors didn't fit, instead of Doug or Jamie notifying us of the issue, we would find out later from the crew or have to call them asking why there was a delay and nobody was showing up to finish the job. During the job, Doug and Jamie were always traveling. The entire process was torture. Construction Errors The project was plagued with construction errors. After the first day, the construction site was abandoned for multiple days with an active leak. The shower floor was originally installed with the wrong material, in the wrong shape, wrong size and wrong color. The shower door was half installed, then discovered to be the wrong size and uninstalled, putting holes in the brand new tile. A SECOND shower door was also half installed and discovered to be the wrong size, then uninstalled. Then the now-damaged brand new tile had to be replaced. After the third attempted installation of the shower door, it leaked. The toilet paper holder fell off the wall when I tried to put a roll of toilet paper on it. The towel bar was loose. The faucet was installed crooked and the cabinet doors promised in the contract were unavailable. The cabinet doors were eventually installed opening in the wrong direction. Progress was excruciatingly slow. To their credit, Graves did eventually fix most of their construction errors, but they resulted in preventable delay, cost and inconvenience. Messy/ Dangerous Job Site Abandoned A box containing razors and a bottle of some chemical with the spray nozzle removed so the bottle was wide open was left in our garage next to our two-year-old's toys for weeks. Materials were left in our garage for a week, rendering our garage unusable. As mentioned previously, the site was abandoned for multiple days while a pipe was actively leaking inside the house. UPDATE: Six months after the project was completed, we started receiving Final Notice, Seriously Delinquent letters addressed to Doug Graves from vendors he used on our project. read more

Terrible Experience. Signed a contract, made a downpayment, and no one contacted us for months except for grumpy excuses. After 8 months of no work, we asked for our money back and were threatened with a lawsuit for asking for a refund. Hired a lawyer and threatened to sue to get our downpayment back. After 13 months, we finally got our money back. No work was done and we wasted 13 months and $1000 paying a lawyer. Do Not Hire! read more

Graves Design built us a beautiful family room addition. It was in the beginning/middle of the pandemic but Doug and his team got the job done. The addition required an existing slab and brick retaining wall repar, They cleaned original brick and reused it so the alteration is indistinguishable from existing retaining wall. It was a hustle and stop job, but Doug informed us why as we all worked through pandemic challenges. Though it took more time than we originally planned, it was worth it. We also appreciated that Doug stuck to the original budget (I'm sure at his own expense as cost of materials were going up). We absolutely love our new room and I recommend Graves because the final product was great and the cost was cheaper than we expected. read more

I had an appointment for an in-home consultation; that time came and passed without a phone call. Then several days later, I received an email apologizing for the miscommunication. I decided to give them another chance, so we booked for Monday, September 5th. Monday came and passed, and on Tuesday, I received a call from Isabella who was trying to reschedule (again). I asked what happened, and she said she didn't know it was a holiday, and that they "tried to contact me but couldn't find my number." Umm, what? If this is any indication of the quality of their work, we will take our business elsewhere. read more

We hired Graves to do a total renovation of our small condo in Old Town Alexandria. We chose Graves because the estimate Tom provided was much more detailed and thorough than any other we received. Also, Tom came up with some innovated ideas that we had not thought of. The design ideas by Caroline were awesome and turned out great. Throughout the process, the communication with Graves was always easy and straightforward. There were no hidden fees or extra costs. The price they quoted was the price we paid. Doug Graves was on the job site daily and he took over some of the most detailed aspects of the project and completed them himself. They came back and completed all of the follow on items quickly and within the project time promised. I have another project to do at the condo and I plan to use Graves Design again. They are true professionals. read more

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Several years ago we hired Graves to take out a weight-bearing wall that separated two rooms. we did not want a header, which caused massive headaches for Doug. There was a miscommunication and he had not realized that this was what we wanted until the day demo was started. Doug was creative and tenacious and figured out how to make all of this work out for us, mostly sticking to our initial estimate. There we're a few problems with a couple of teams who were doing the work, but Doug immediately fixed the problem and had work redone, which we appreciated. Caroline was very helpful with design decisions. it's been several years since this project was completed and we have no complaints with the work that was done and would hire Doug again. Most teams did excellent work. read more

Graves Design and Remodeling converted an unfinished basement space into a cozy extra bedroom. The project went very well, from start to finish. It stayed within budget, and the team was responsive and pleasant to work with. The work was extensive - they excavated and installed a new egress window, installed new lighting, switches, and outlets, built in a closet, installed and painted new drywall, installed new padding and carpet on the floor. The attention to detail and commitment to the project exceeded our expectations. I would highly recommend Graves Design and Remodeling to anyone looking for a home improvement contractor. read more

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Hired Graves to build a new porch on the front of our house. Finished product is exactly what we envisioned. Graves team was great to work with from design through completion. The were very helpful in guiding us through the design process to ensure we got the best possible finished product. Construction was very smooth, and project was completed on time and without unexpected change orders. Thanks Doug, Caroline & Chris! read more

Graves completely overhauled our home, turning our post-WWII chopped up Falls Church Cape Cod into open living luxury. Over the course of 7 months, Graves remodeled nearly 80% of our home. The biggest change was rotating our stacked staircase 90 degrees to allow our first floor to be completely open. This enabled us to move and expand our kitchen, build an entryway onto the house and really make our space more usable. Prior to this change, we had whole rooms we weren't using and would fight for counter space in our small galley kitchen. We now have a semi-custom kitchen with large island perfect for cooking and entertaining. Upstairs we popped up the back half of the roof (shed roof) so that we would no longer hit our heads on the sloped ceiling, upgraded HVAC/insulation, built a walk-in closet, added a double-vanity master bathroom with large shower and WC - overall creating a second floor master suite. In the basement, we finished off the space, so we'd have an exercise room and tv area - plus replaced some features that needed it (new sump pump, drainage). Outside we got a brand new driveway complete with appropriate drainage to pull water away from the house. To say that we're pleased with the changes is an understatement. We looked at multiple companies before making the decision on who to use. Graves was the only company to really listen to our concerns with the current space and offer a solution in which we could envision living. All other contractors offered the "easy" (and uncreative) solution of building a big addition on the back of the house. This wouldn't have tackled our problem with unusable space. Graves prices were reasonable and actually came in a bit lower than some of the bigger names. The contract was set up in such a way that we didn't have to worry about being nickel and dimed as issues popped up. Early on in the process, we did have a budget. We could have stuck pretty close to it... but as we started to pull things apart and think critically about finishes and features, we realized that we didn't want to go through a future renovation. As a result, we changed scope, schedule and our budget increased. We were under no pressure from Graves for this to happen and made this decision on our own. We're super glad we did. As is the case with most contractors, time estimation and scheduling could have been better. Sometimes we would hear that something would be done the next day but in reality would be done within the next week or two. There were usually reasons for the wait and communication could have improved. We found some of the contractors were more respectful of our space than others. We had most of our items in storage, but the crew still managed to damage a few items we left behind. With such a large project there were bound to be a couple accidents and each time there was we spoke with the owner Doug and he promptly corrected the situation. The best feature by far of using Graves was that they take pride in their work. Anytime Doug came by, he would inspect the work of the team and make them start over if it wasn't perfect. Even a few months after the job was finished, he had his team ready to address any questions or concerns we had. We even accidentally scratched up our hardwoods moving our furniture back in and he kindly had the crew come fix the issue at no charge. All projects have challenges, but Graves will work with you to make it right. It's for this reason that we would wholeheartedly recommend working with them. We'd certainly do it again. read more

Our home was built in 1882 and when we found it, it had been neglected for well over 50 years and was in need of a full gut and renovation. We reached out to about 7 local design-build contractors and were very concerned about making our budget after all of the prices came in. Doug came and met with us at the house, walked it and talked about the scope and where he thought the biggest costs were. After a few calls and meetings we were able to get as close to our budget as possible and we signed on with Graves. Our renovation included: - Full demolition down to the structure, including removal of and interior chimney and all interior walls - Excavation & new basement slab - Structural Framing at basement perimeter (the old brick foundation walls were failing) - Structural upgrades at roof, around old chimney and support for new upstairs bath/shower - Completely New Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing systems - 2 Full Bathrooms (1 master, 1 basement) and 1 Half Bath (main level) - 3 new bedrooms plus walk-in master closet - New Kitchen - Built-in bookshelves and Fireplace - New Exterior Basement Doors We already knew how we wanted the house laid out, but with Caroline's help, we created a really unique master bathroom layout with a walk-in shower, double vanity and soaking tub, with room for an added credenza down the road. Doug's team helped us develop color schemes and ideas for tiles, accessories and counter-tops and developed our lighting plan for both current and future fixtures. The house looks incredible and although the project took longer than we would have liked, we are thrilled with the results. read more

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We recently moved back to the area and bought a 1986 home that had the original master bath. The room had an awkward layout and it just wasn't our style. I got three different quotes from some of the larger companies in the area. While they spend a lot of time and money on advertising, I felt they were lacking in understanding what I wanted for my home. Their sketches and 3-D modeling seemed to lack attention to detail and I didn't get a good feeling that they understood what I was looking to accomplish. In my estimation, Graves Design went above and beyond. We had a personal consultation with the owner (Doug), and he was very attentive in listening to what my wife wanted in a remodel of the master bathroom and walk in closet. He spent a number of hours creating a 3-D rendering of the space based on our details and provided us with a layout that we loved. The project was started approximately two weeks after we locked in the design and it was completed in the agreed upon timeframe. The Graves Design crew is very professional, and we had zero issues with them. They laid down drop clothes, covered our furniture and did their best to minimize dust and debris. At the end of each day they would sweep up around the worksite and kept the area nice and clean during the renovation. Doug is detail oriented and a perfectionist, and I've witnessed him on more than one occasion ask his crew to change some things around because he thought it would look better. I also failed to mention that Doug had the lowest quote as well. We now have a picture perfect bathroom with a massive walk in closet that made my wife very happy. Doug guarantees his work and came back over and adjusted a valve in our shower for us when we asked him. You won't be disappointed with the results! I should also mention that Doug's company completed a major renovation for us about 6 years ago on a different home we owned and did a phenomenal job on our master bathroom, downstairs fireplace, and laundry room. Because he did such a great job, I called him when we moved back to Virginia in 2014. read more

I had been living with a horrible kitchen since I moved in 7 years ago. When I was finally ready to update my kitchen, I called Doug. I was wondering if my kitchen was too small to be the Tuscan paradise I wanted. It took Doug no time at all to understand my basic premise and refine it into the gorgeous space it is today. Doug and his team were fantastic. Doug was my second estimate and he gave me a fair price, high quality service, and best of all, answered everyone of my questions, and promised I would love the results. He was 100% right, and 100% worth it, and I absolutely will use him again. read more

We are very happy in our renovated house! The crew was hard-working, punctual, responsive to my comments and suggestions, and very good at paying attention to detail. The woodwork was especially fine. Since it was such a complicated job, we had some scheduling back and forth, but my calls were always acknowledged. I felt I was in capable, trustworthy hands throughout. Doug was forthright about the gas lines in my 80+-year-old home and we compromised with gas fires and wood-burning stoves in fireplaces, that look very nice. I feel this is a company that stands by its work and its word. We were all so pleased with the kitchen that Caroline, the designer, had it professionally photographed for the Graves website. read more

I hired Doug Graves and his team to complete a water damage restoration and a new kitchen and bath. They were personable, professional and took care of every last detail. Would hire them again in a minute and highly recommend them. read more

Graves Design and Remodeling took an 80's bathroom and transformed it into a beautifully designed contemporary bathroom. Very professional. I never knew when the workers were in my home. They treated my home with the utmost respect. Highly recommend!! read more

Doug Graves and his crew did a fantastic job remodeling our condo kitchen! Doug took what was a dumpy, claustrophobic space that I couldn't stand to be in and completely transformed it into a more open, modern, awesome space that I'm eager to work in. Doug provided us with a computer generated design sketch and written estimate before work began. Then his crew turned his vision into reality. The guys were professional, efficient, and patient with our question. And Doug was frequently on site. As is typical with remodeling jobs in older units, we ran into electrical and plumbing issues, but there wasn't anything they couldn't handle. Doug was careful to negotiate the added costs with us and gave us a fair price before proceeding. It was a pleasure doing business with Doug and we love our new kitchen! read more

Look at the "Luxury Town Home" (https://www.houzz.com/projects/1366996/luxury-town-home) photos by Graves Design and Remodeling on Houzz. Nothing more can be said that you cannot see in the photos. Except every person who comes into our home oohs and ahhs about the gorgeous kitchen and bathrooms that Graves Design and Remodeling created for us. The Graves crews are masterful in their work and spotless in their follow up after doing the work. Their designer listened to our every requirement and accurately and carefully executed everything we asked for. Graves remodeled a 17 year old town home for us and now everyone who walks in asks us if this is a new house. They are true artists in their remodeling work and creative in ways we would have never thought of. They had a team spirit and great sense of pride in everything they did and I believe it is because they are all Graves' teams - not subcontractors. That makes a big difference in their care and attention to detail. And also how wonderfully they treated us every step of the way. Remodeling is difficult and you never know how it will turn out--well, our project turned out beautifully and now that we are living here, sometimes we just look around and marvel at the gorgeous home that we are fortunate enough to live in. read more

I would gladly recommend Graves Design and Remodeling for home renovation and remodeling projects. We used them in the summer of 2017 to complete an addition/remodel that included expansion and remodeling of the kitchen/dining room and the addition of a mudroom and garage. Graves was also responsible for the design and helping to pick out the finishes for the kitchen. We relied heavily on the designer in this area and could not be happier with the result. We are equally happy with how the project turned out overall. The work was done well with emphasis on quality and detail. Several people have commented on how natural the transition from the existing house to the addition looks. Though there was a slight slow-down stemming from a delay in Dominion moving a power-line, everything ran smoothly when work was going on. We never felt short-changed or as if short cuts were taken, quite the opposite. There were instances when, for compliance or aesthetic reasons, additional work needed to be done and was with no change to our originally quoted total. This was all the more impressive because the aesthetic changes were issues and suggestions brought to our attention, not the other way around. Communication was generally smooth (it could have been a little better around the delay), and staff as well as contractors were easy to work with. Several months in, we are still enjoying the new space and have not had any issues or concerns pop up. I would recommend Graves for the quality and emphasis on getting it right versus just getting it done. read more