We are having a house built by Knauf-Koenig Group in Naples, FL. Their web site is www.kkgbuild.com. Our house is actually on their web site so you can see the progress of construction jobs. We think we lucked out with getting the best builder in Naples-- or among the two or three very best. We continue to hear horror stories where people had a house built by some other contracting company that ended up in litigation or in major delays until completion or that ended up with problems after construction had been completed where the builder would not return to fix the problems even though the house was still under warranty.
This is the first house we have ever had built, so we were naturally anxious to have it come out right and with no screw-ups. We also of course were nervous about how costly it would be. Our assigned project manager has been just wonderful. He's got a good eye for design, for what works visually and what is possible both structurally and in terms of cost. We are about 2/3rds through now, so I'll update or augment my review after the house is completed.
One last thing is that, at the beginning, we took the proposal-contract to our attorney and his brother (whom we also recommend-- Conrad & Kevin Willkomm). They read it over, made a few suggestions about certain terminology which we were able to have KKG fix, and then the Willkomm brothers commented that usually these types of contracts favor the builder to the exclusion of the client. They commented that this was a very even-handed contract, fair to both sides which they said was somewhat of a rarity.
While construction is underway, we have continued to be surprised at KKG's attention to detail at every step-- super insulation between rooms and floors, extreme conscientiousness concerning waterproofing & protection from storms, even the way the stone surfaces are laid in, how things will look upon completion, quality of components like windows, doors, cabinetry, stone surfaces, hardware. Most impressive in our opinion was Peter Banski of Classic Stone who is fabricating our stone counters throughout the house & who will be setting in each sink and basin (undermounted) & whose own crew will be installing the counters.
Finally, we very, very strongly recommend our architect Falconer Jones of Falcon Design whom you can find on Facebook or at www.falcondesigninc.com. Most notably, Falconer visited every house he had designed after Hurricane Irma to see what worked and what may need to be rethought out for future projects. He called us the next day (we were upcountry) after the hurricane to let us know how our house had held up. It held up great! I imagine most architects would not have bothered. The quality of all the people with whom we have dealt has been exceptional, especially considering this is Naples which has a reputation for being expensive & where it seems to me, some folks prey on the unsuspecting. We love our builder KKG, our architect Falconer Jones and the subcontractors & suppliers all of whom have been just wonderful. -- Adele & Bill Nevins, Naples, FL read more
