We just completed a kitchen, dining room, laundry room remodel with Remodel West, and have nothing…read morebut positive things to say. We originally selected the firm for their design aesthetic - theirs was the first showroom we'd seen where we liked all the kitchens on display, even if the style was not our own - and then were pleasantly surprised and impressed by the design-build seamlessness of their process and the quality of execution through construction.
Some details:
The designers (Kelly Funk and Sarah Spiroff) and the design process was excellent, moved along quickly (but over months) and helped make the challenging decisions - like where to anchor the kitchen, where/if to have a dining room - much easier.
The build process and the foreman (Pat Leary) were also excellent. Job was on time, and on budget (though both struck us as high at first). The details of the design and execution passed our anal-level attention to (different sets of) detail, with the foreman and designers catching things even we didn't notice and proactively bringing them to our attention.
The demolition team (led by Juan Carlos) taped off our home so neatly and were so happily respectful of the remainder of our living space and morning routines that (unlike with past contractors), we didn't feel like we were suddenly living in someone else's work zone.
Things came up, as they always do with remodels. Some changes / fixes Remodel West offered to pay for, others they asked us to sign a change order. Each change order contained the cost of change plus a running total for the project.
Some elements of the work that were beyond their project scope they spelled out clearly up front (for example, they didn't handle the painting, fixtures, turning our side-by-side washer/dryer into a stacked unit, low voltage work - running ethernet cables and a sound system) and for each of these we were struck by how much harder it was to manage things on our own without them. Just the washer/dryer solution took us 5 (aggravating) phone calls and a Sears technician who showed up outside the time window, demanded to be paid before starting work - though no one was there to pay him - and left less than 15 minutes later, refusing to start work and get paid on completion. Pat, the foreman, bailed us out on this by largely doing the work himself (with some help from my husband - helped clarify the potential liability issues). Similarly, Pat oversaw & fixed things the low voltage guys did, the roofer, the painter, etc. just by proactively being on site when they were due to appear and stepping in.
The project was due to be complete by Halloween, and it was - with the exception of some of the pieces we were responsible for.
We've lived with the kitchen for about 6 weeks now and it's turning out to be everything we wanted and more - opened up the house brilliantly, great for hosting Thanksgiving (with 5 people cooking) and holiday parties, and still feels so much like our own space that a small breakfast for just the three of us is a delight.
