Summary: Beautiful end product, be prepared to be on top of things and check the work. I'd give 4.5 stars but as that's not possible, 4 stars will have to do.
We found MKB through Yelp and started working with Bret, who was very personable, easy to work with, and very responsive. There were a few times we needed to remind him to update the design with agreed changes, but he was patiently able to work with us through multiple alterations. Time wise, the remodel was finished pretty near to time estimate Bret gave.
During the remodel, the workers arrived mostly on time when Bret said they would come. Maybe this is how it usually goes, but I had to contact Bret almost every morning and ask when the workers would come and what, if anything, would be done today (on the days nothing was being done, I didn't want to leave the house unlocked all day). Seemingly to address that issue, at the start of the project, there was an invite to buildertrend.net, which is a website that aggregates all the timing, scheduling, communication, payment history, etc. It would have been very useful but it was never used/updated and the schedule that was posted on it was a generic schedule.
Here are three main complaints and the reason for not giving 5 stars:
(1) new electrical was put through the attic to accommodate the range hood move and the electrical guy perched an unsecured plastic outlet box on a unattached 2x4. There was also no outlet cover. Possible fire hazard and definitely not up to any code.
(2) A new hole was punched through the roof after we'd been assured that the hood vent would route through the old exhaust pipe. This new hole was capped off with something akin to a dryer vent. Per friends that worked as a roofer and builder the vent was not installed with the correct roofing practices and would leak in a few years. (See picture for details). The installer told Bret he does it this way all the time and never has problems, but the roof guy who came out to correct the mistake definitely had a "WTF did the last guy do" conversation with us.
(3) We ordered a fireclay sink on our own instead of going with their stainless steel. When it came time to install, the worker realized that we needed a special flange, so we had to order that which extended the finishing date another couple days. Not the biggest hiccup in the world, I just wish Bret had told us earlier since he said he had the same exact problem with another remodel and they also had to order a flange. So....since he'd had the same problem before, and knew that we were also getting a fireclay sink, why not warn us ahead of time so we're not scrambling to order a part at the last minute?
It is important to note that after we notified Bret of the first two complaints, he sent out people right away to correct both the electrical and the roof vent. MKB and Bret deserve credit for making it right. They were still issues worth mentioning though, because we wouldn't have even caught those issues if my husband hadn't crawled through the attic and up on the roof to check the work. It also felt like the original guys who made the mistakes were the B-team and the A-team guys had to come out to fix the mistakes. There were some other minor cosmetic and installation issues, but they were also taken care of quickly and not really worth mentioning.
Bret let us know later that the electrical guy had been let go as he'd had other complaints about him. So, the next home owner shouldn't have to deal with the same electrical issue. It's good to know that MKB is willing to stop working with people that do substandard work.
Getting a kitchen remodel done can be very stressful. You really want to know that you are getting a quality product for the giant chunk of change you're putting down. MKB delivered a beautiful kitchen at the end, but we had to be on top of it all the way through. read more