My wife and I are incredibly happy with our new porch, designed by the talented and professional…read moreKurt West. It was a modest project as far as home remodeling projects go, but Kurt still gave us his full and undivided attention, which meant a lot to us. He patiently answered and provided a quick response to our (many!) questions about the design and construction process, personally visited with us on multiple occasions to go over draft designs and flooring/roofing/coloring samples, and was extremely helpful in working with our structural engineer and construction contractor (since we had some foundation and drainage issues that were also being repaired). His design advice, based on his many years of experience, was superb, and he actually ended up saving us tens of thousands of dollars based on his input on our concurrent foundation/drainage project. Kurt is a true artist, and a really nice guy as well. He did an amazing job for us, and we can't wait to work with him again on our next remodeling project. Thank you, Kurt!

From the owner: West Workshop Architects is an award-winning contemporary architecture and design studio focusing…read moreon residential, commercial and public art projects. Kurt West, a registered Architect, founded the firm in 2017 and provides leadership in project design and firm operations. The firm's collaborative design process translates clients' desires into unique, practical and enduring solutions that exceed customer expectations. The firm operates offices in Alexandria, Virginia and Raleigh, North Carolina.

Kevin Wyllie has helped us with several major home projects. He designed our 300sqft family room…read moreaddition with a beautiful stone walk-out patio. He not only designed the space to meet our desires and needs, but he was involved daily with our contractor to ensure that the construction reflected the vision of his design and our desires as client. We have been very, very happy with the result in the two years since it was built. Recently Kevin was involved with the design of our renovated master bathroom. We did a complete rebuild of the space, expanding it by about 50% to absorb a former closet space. The result is fantastic - a beautiful and totally functional room. Kevin's greatest strength is his ability to listen to desires and iteratively adapt his design to his client's input. He is a pleasure to work with, a friendly and kind person, and strives to acheive the best result for all. And he stands by his work. He has wonderful working relations with several contractors and craftsman and we have benefited greatly by employing these talented people. We cannot provide a stronger recommendation for Paperspace.

Kevin helped my family with a porch on our deck and his professionalism was by far outstanding in…read morehis interest to make the project pleasing and functional. In the end we settled on a pergola due to county codes for our property and Kevin was more then willing to guide us through the process. I would recommend his company for any remodel project as he is detail oriented and truly cares about its looks as well as functionality.

We have worked with Chris Tucker on several projects over the last ten years. The most recent…read moreproject was a rear screen porch and patio. After listened to our desires to reclaim our back yard from the mosquitos, Chris designed a slightly modern outdoor entertaining space off the back of our traditional 1920s American Foursquare. The results were the blend of the traditional screen porch (beadboard ceiling, ipe flooring) with modern features (recessed LED lighting, ceiling fans, all-weather speakers) creating a perfect bug-free entertaining space. Completing the project is a small patio containing a couple of chairs and our grill. We could't be happier with the way the project turned out! While the project went slightly longer than expected (don't they all!), the quality of the design and construction were worth the extra few weeks. Chris was very good at keeping us appraised of the progress during all phases of the project (design, permitting, change orders, inspections, etc.), answering our questions and concerns about building process, and incorporating our changes during construction. We will certainly use Mode 4 Architecture and Chris Tucker for any future projects at our house!

Called with a quick architecture related question and was impressed with the professionalism and…read moresupport. I will definitely consider using this firm with my next project.

We used Arminco to install protective shields for the re-opening of our dental practice in…read moreAlexandria. Not only was Al professional and courteous on the phone, Sean did an amazing job installing the shields and he was on time. The shields looked so esthetically pleasing you barely noticed they were even there. It has certainly make things easier during this unprecedented time of having to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. I wish more companies could operate like Arminco out there. Thank you so much for helping us out during this stressful time! -Dr. Dan Cassidy

I had the opportunity to work with Arminco, Inc. recently during construction of a new dental…read moreoffice I was consulting at in Manassas, VA . They did a great job and the dental office turned out outstanding! Edwin was always there helping us out whenever we needed his service and the entire team at Arminco, Inc. were helpful. Highly recommend them and hope to work with them again in the future!

We contacted Synergy Design and Construction about a renovation for our home. After meeting with…read moreus, they asked if we were considering other contractors. We had dealt with another contractor in the past with good success. Synergy said "It sounds like one firm has done right by you. Why don't you see what they come back with, and we're happy to offer free advice." We sent the other contractor's proposal to them. They responded the next day with suggestions to improve the design. They also said "if you have seen their work and are comfortable with their quality, then you should go with them. It seems like a fair proposal." Unlike most contractors who bad-mouth the competition and will try to sell you on any job, Synergy genuinely cared about our results as a homeowner, first. We tried to shift the project to Synergy, and their owner said "I think the other guys earned your business. Please consider us for the next one." WOW! This is the kind of company you want to work with!"

We engaged Synergy for a major renovation of our home in Great Falls VA, a house we'd recently…read morepurchased that didn't quite fit our needs. It's difficult to express, in as few words as possible, our satisfaction with their product as there are too many factors involved in a major construction to be able to include them all. I will touch on the major points. Mark and Mina and their team became like members of our extended family; they talked with us and asked questions to uncover the aspects of the house that could be changed to make our home one where we would use the space, inside and out, to the greatest extent possible. The team examined every inch of the house, in order to discover it's potential and to avoid problems. We learned quickly that we could trust them completely, their diligence and attention to every detail allowed us to leave the job to the team, which we did. They delivered a design that was, frankly, beyond what we could have imagined. Their architect, Tom, is a hidden gem with significant talent and skill. He monitored the entire construction for oversight and to maintain the integrity of his design. The quality of the construction is superior, the carpenters are highly skilled. The people who work for Mark and Mina are some of the nicest people I've ever met which made working with these creative, helpful, skilled people a pleasure, it was never a burden. We were greatly blessed by the work of the hands of this company and it is my hope you will consider using them for your project. If I had another project, I would not hesitate to pick up the phone and call Mark. If I have a problem with the project they've completed, I know they will respond graciously and quickly. Karen W Great Falls, VA.

We have had now two projects completed by SGS Builders, and the work completed by Steve Sanders,…read moreEnrique, and crew was nothing less than outstanding. Several years ago we hired Steve to remove a load bearing wall to create a large open family room. Steve completed the project in record time and it looked perfect. In Mid-2018, we decided to add 1,000+ Sq Ft to our home to create a new Kitchen, living room and dinette space all in an open concept. What I had in my head was placed into a design by Steve and built exacted as we dreamed. It has now been nine months since the project was completed and we couldn't be happier with the finished project and Steve's work. The space looks great and we have had no problems with the workmanship. Everyone who has seen our new space has the same reaction, Wow, who did this work? There were so many complexities to this project which included the removing of a fireplace, raising a portion of the house that had settled, splitting the HVAC system to install an upstairs and downstairs unit, new plumbing, fixtures, adding a new section right next to an existing pool, the list goes on and on. Steve thoroughly planned each and every phase of construction in a timely and professional manner. To add to Steve's burden, my wife and I remained in the house throughout the 120 - 160 day construction period. We made a very large investment in our home and Steve was the only one we trusted to complete such a large project. Steve has outstanding project management skills as well as his vast experience in construction will keep any project on track. Steve and his crew were onsite 1 June through Mid-September and we had zero problems with the construction or crew. The subcontractors Steve's works with he has known for years and they are very good. We have found Steve's pricing to be fair, competitive, and honest. I would not hesitate to hire SGS Builders, Steve and Enrique, again. They are outstanding to work with and we couldn't be happier with our two projects completed by Steve.

SGS Builders! Remarkable deck re-build (585 sq ft) at my residence last week by SGS Builders…read more Managed (and personally completed) by boss Steve Sanders and his employee Enrique, the finished effort across 4 days turned out simply beautifully. Steve is a solid professional & honest as the day is long. He delivers an excellent product with splendid attention to detail and to the important Virginia deck-building code. Price was excellent! I'll recommend SGS Builders without hesitation to anyone with deck-construction needs. Web address: www.sgsbuilders.com. Tel: 703-791-3417

Had a few problems along the way. Not clear on the layouts, quick to enclose and replace doors…read morelater. A few sketchy subcontractor and not the best quality equipment. 3 years after the build and replacing furnace. Not to mention the plumbing problems. Watch the contract closely and use Lowe's materials- they do! But try to upsell you on other sites. Really disappointed because we love the space.

incompetent. We…read moreretained Moss to do two projects, one called the "interior/beam" project and the other for the master bathroom. As to the interior/beam project, one of the two support columns that their subcontractor installed was over a gap in the foundation where there is a passthrough to our crawl space. Moss didn't even check to see if the column would be over the foundation before construction. Fairfax County Code and Development Compliance (inspector Haggerty) recommended three possible alterations to deal with the fact that the column was over the gap. The inspector said we could (1) get a longer beam, (2) put in additional headers in the crawlspace to distribute the weight across the gap, or (3) support the column by placing a short column in the gap and cutting a new pass through. In addition, the inspector noted that the other support column was improperly constructed. In fact, several of the studs from the roof to the new support beam were cut too short and did not even contact the new beam (see pics). They also did not put up a temporary wall to support the upper levels of the house during the time they installed the new beam. In addition, on the first day of the bathroom project, the worker broke a pipe when altering the plumbing to the bathtub and there was water damage on the ceiling of the family room below the master bath. We later learned that this young man is not a licensed plumber. For these reasons, among others, at this point we had lost all faith in their structural work and decided we couldn't take the chance of having them try to fix the interior/beam project. Consequently, we terminated the interior project, but decided to finish what was left for the bathroom project. We then asked them to tally up the costs to date for the beam project so that we could reconcile them with our payments to date and close it out. After about three or four weeks they agreed to give us the costs and indicated that they would tack on a 30-40% markup as the general contractor. Even though we understand that the industry standard is 20% (10% for overhead and 10% for profit), we agreed to their markup. The "costs" they gave us, however, were grossly inflated. For example, the first line item is for a gas fireplace that they purportedly had already ordered. There was an allowance of $3,986.89 for the fireplace in the contract, which would equate to $5,581.64 with a 40% markup. However, the total cost they gave us for the fireplace was $6,891.25. And, they hadn't actually ordered the fireplace! Once we saw the fireplace discrepancy, we began to question the other line items. The first thing we did was to obtain the actual invoice from the Sheets lumber yard in Vienna for the next line item, which was the steel beam used in the framing. The line item on the original worksheet they gave to us had $1,114 for the steel beam. The Sheets invoice shows $568.25, which would be $795.55 after a 40% markup. At this point, it was clear that the "costs" they gave us were grossly inflated and were not even remotely based on actual costs. We called them out on the overcharges and they initially denied them. We had to show the project manager the receipt from Sheets before he would acknowledge the fraud. Then Moss took him off the project. After all that, when we gave them the check to finish the bathroom project, they had someone come to the house to take the check and then told us via email that they were terminating the contract. We later learned that they have been fined by VA DPOR for their contracting practices. You can look it up on the DPOR website. There are a lot a good qualified contractors in Fairfax county. Based on our experience, you should look elsewhere. They claim not to know us. That should tell you everything you need to know

Bitarchitects was so easy to work with! Responded to my Request a Quote for a structural…read moreengineering assessment in a matter of a hour and got things scheduled quickly afterwards. They completed a full scan and photographing of the property to provide the best quality report. The engineer was super knowledgeable and happy to explain any issues he noticed while working through the assessment. I then met with staff to discuss the report and answer any remaining questions. And all in 1 1/2 weeks from start to finish! Highly recommend them for any future projects!

Editing to add actual dates to the events described…read more I will update this rating if we ever get our final report, but the bottom line is we've been waiting close to eight weeks now to get a diagnosis and recommendation on how to resolve the front room of our house, which is apparently breaking off the rest of the house. Longer story: I was excited to work with Bitarchitects - they have great reviews, I appreciate that they are woman-owned, and in our initial conversations, they were so responsive and confident that they had all the necessary in-house expertise to figure out what was happening in the house we just bought. The structural engineer seemed great during the inspection on 9 July - spent lots of time at the house, took all the measurements, answered all my questions. We chatted about the fact that there is this crawl space under the front room that doesn't have an access panel, so you can't get underneath to inspect the stem walls. He told me he would have the report to me in a week. Six weeks later (18 August), we got the report. And the report said. . .we can't diagnose the problem without access to the crawl space under the front room. So question the first - WHY would that conclusion take six weeks? When it was known at the time of their visit? (It was actually known before that - the home inspector had included it in his report, which we had sent Bitarchitects in advance of their visit.) But okay, they said they could send someone out to create an access door to the crawl space, take some pictures, and then we would get a completed report. So that happened a week ago (28 August), and we've heard nothing. Almost eight weeks now since the inspection, meanwhile there are new cracks appearing in the floors and walls. Communication overall has been extremely frustrating. While assuring us that the (first) report was imminent, I was told several times "don't worry, your house is not falling down, you're not in danger." Which is great of course, but doesn't remotely address our concerns. I get answers to maybe 50% of the questions I ask (fairly reasonable questions, like "will cutting a door in our foundation create structural instability down the road?"), if fact, the only time they respond quickly is when they are asking for payment. I am so so disappointed and frustrated at this point, I don't even know what to do.

I approached Heather to design my master bathroom remodel. She listened to what we dreamed of and…read moreshe delivered! She kept me exactly on budget and now I have the bathroom I only dreamed of. We are shower people and while I used to take 5 minute quick showers in my small very dated builder shower, now I luxuriate in my huge shower.

Heather is a very creative individual and it shows in her interior design projects all throughout…read moresocial media. I worked with her down in Charlottesville one time on one of her assignments and she is a great public speaker as she was the tour guide and guest local interior designer to host an event for a well known interior design magazine hosting a revamp of a colonial style home turned into a modern day work of art in a secluded part of Central Virginia. She gave us great information on the dos and do not's of interior design in a colonial style home like that one and immersed us in newer more accepted technologies that make our day to day lives 1000 times more convenient than what we are use to. I would highly recommend heather as your Interior Designer for your home, office or etc you plan on remodeling as she is very professional to meet just about anyone's vision for their projects.