Custom Design & Construction

They were pretty expensive. The clean-up was pretty good. Some of the people they hire, you know, sound like, and ldquo;don't put it over there!and rdquo; I give them a B for clean-up and stuff. As far as the service and stuff, they have a 1 point which is really good. That part is really good. They were pretty responsive.

They were referred and they were excellent. It took them about two and a half weeks to get the work done.

They assigned a subcontractor who mismanaged the remodel. Some of the work was shoddy and incorrectly done (e.g., we had to have two light tubes reinstalled by another contractor and the kitchen cabinets have warped and the paint has begun to peel off). On the plus side, workers directly assigned by CDand C were generally very talented and conscientious. Overall we definitely did not get our money's worth.

I visited their showroom....which is very nice, and set up an appointment to discuss a major kitchen remodel. They were all very nice and seemed very professional. They went over how they work and showed me their scheduling tool, etc. However, I felt like I was having a circular conversation with them. They asked me what my budget was and when I told them they indicated it probably wouldn't be enough. They said they do design and construction. I asked if I could start with just the design work....but they said no, you have to sign up with them as a client first. And I said how will I know if I like their design and want to continue if they didn't come to my house to discuss and that I wouldn't go forward if I didn't like the design. They said that's just how they work. so I got from them that I had to commit to their work without any kind of preliminary looking at my house or design or anything. They also couldn't give me a budget range to work in and from what I gathered they seemed very expensive. They couldn't tell me anything about the crews that would be in my house and they were very vague on lots of other things too. I felt like I was being interviewed by them instead of the other way around. Then I noticed that the owner had checked me out on Linked In....which I guess is fine, but I didn't come away with a great feeling from them to be honest. I've seen their brochures and I know they've won awards and their work looks nice but the preliminary process wasn't working for me. I felt like they weren't really listening to me.

This is a design-build firm so you pay more up front for the piece of mind that you won't be nickel and dimed at the end. The design part was great as was the initial build phase. The last phase of the build phase dragged out longer than needed. At times, we really had to push our project manager to get the contractor to provide the highest quality work. Even then, some of the subs that were used were subpar in my opinion.

It did not go very well at all. The first crew Randy sent us were a bunch of imbeciles. From giggling while getting shocked when working on wiring, placing outlets unevenly throughout the kitchen, jerry rigging the dishwasher power which I found today(9/24/2012) to doing a terrible job laying tile in our kitchen. They took an extension cord and wired it to a junction to feed power to the dishwasher. The extension cord outlet rests on the floor under the dishwasher. Good thing the dishwasher never leaked. Now to spend more money getting that done correctly. The grout is not only cracking all over the kitchen but so are the tiles. Not to mention the grout turned very dark from not being properly sealed. His granite guy did a mediocre job with our counters as well. We were lucky that they fit because he had cut them too small. I finally had to tell Randy to get that crew out of my house. The next crew were better. My only complaint with them is that, on occasion, when you turn the faucets on in the bathroom there is a sewer odor. I think the plumbing exhaust was not done right. So more money to fix that issue. I am sure Randy would fix these issues if I told him about all these things but I don't trust his judgement on the sub contractors he hires. I am just glad that those people will never step foot in my home again and that I was around enough to catch all the other mistakes they made.

Their quote was high and was very expensive for the work they were going to perform. They are a full service company and even perform designing. They are very organized, very communicative and were very responsive. I really liked them but the overall impression I got was that the work they were to perform was above the standard of my house. They were going to give me a really modern bathroom for a 1920 house. They were giving me better quality than what I wanted. I would potentially use them again in the future.

Called Custom from reading Angies list, spoke to Beth, and subsequently Bill Simone. Made an appointment to meet with them the following Friday. Upon arrival I browsed their on-site showroom, they offered me a beverage before the meeting. We had a one hour meeting, and it was a true meeting, they asked me unobtrusively what I wanted to do, when I planned on starting, what my past experience with contractors was, what were my expectations, I mean it was a true interview from both sides of the table. They introduced me to their site manager, gave me a realistic expectation of the construction process, and even gave me a guide that Bill Simone wrote on contracting and the things I needed to require from any contractor. At the conclusion of the meeting, Bill thanked me and although he did not submit a bid for the work I wanted done, he asked that I consider Custom to do the work. While I chose another contractor from Angies List, I was nonetheless highly impressed with the professionalism and level of customer service I received from Custom Design. They are a design/build firm and I definitely will consider them for future projects. Although Bill assured me that they do small jobs like mine, I just felt that they were more thatn what I needed for this job (or rather more than what I'm used to...they're that good!). I have nothing but high praise for Custome Design and hope to work with them in the future, I have no doubt the work would be exceptional! By the way, after informing Custom that I chose another contractor for the job, Bill offered to review the contract for me and assist me if I ran into any problems....that is simply AWESOME!!!

The design work was fantastic. My cramped and very run down ancient kitchen and laundry room were turned into beautiful rooms with plenty of storage and more open to the living room. Other walls were removed to open up the floor plan and several other rooms were spruced up. The design team were easy to work with and very responsive to our wishes and comments. We love our new kitchen and it is nicer than we ever expected. Our kitchen is small, but now the space is well utilized. The job execution was handled very professionally. The bulk of the work was done on schedule with clean-up done every day, often working 6 days a week. We were living in the back of the house while they remodeled the front and they took extra effort to make sure our living arrangements were comfortable and relatively dust free. The project manager had a scheduled meeting with us every week to address any issues or questions. The work did slow down somewhat at the end; a list of small fixes took about a month to complete. There was some sticker shock, but the contract was fixed price and they fixed extra things along the way and went beyond the contract if needed. For example, the contract stated some water damaged wood siding on the outside of our problem room would be replaced; but instead the outside of the room was stuccoed and the window replaced to make sure the water leaking stopped. The only additional cost was the actual price of the window. Small extra things were done at no additional cost. An add-on to the job for some additional painting was easily handled through a change order at a reasonable cost. The ease of working with this company and the quality design and execution was worth the price, especially for people like me who are not knowledgeable about construction.

They are quite expensive. They did a good job. Everything was done well. The kitchen and bathroom looks beautiful. They are fairly punctual.

They really are very good. The work that is done is just beautiful and the people that came to do the work were terrific. I would use them again in the future.

We hired them because they seemed to have really good customer feed back on their web-site. Based on their web-site they looked and presented themselves professionally. Their bid came in slightly hire. Our primary reason for hiring them, was because they were going to take care of everything (hire subs, material, design, etc.) The biggest problem was that the main workman who they hired to do the job almost never showed up. Him and his crew showed up on a Monday and then didn't show up again for another week. And this was supposed to be a full time job. The actual custom designer who was responsible for our project was very nice, but he didn't keep on top of things well enough to realize what was going on. There were a number of little issues a.) the design they came up with for one of our bathroom was completely unworkable with our plumbing. It ended up taking them 3 months to solve a simple issue of correction of something very small. B.) They were supposed to help us pick out kitchen tile for the floor. What they picked out was much too large. After 4 months we actually ended up having to tear up the large tile and it started creating craters. We literally had to have them sand blasted out and reinstalled. What we had been promised was a 6 month job that took 2 years to complete. We do not recommend them. When all was said and done they did eventually bring in a crew to finish the job correctly. It was just a huge hassle.

I was very pleased with the work. One thing I really like about this company is that they have a weekly meeting with me at the same time every week. They asked if I had any new questions or concerns, if I wanted anything changed, how were the workmen, etc. They stuck to this through the entire project. The project took 4 months, but that was expected. They also brought in an interior designer at the beginning of the project, and she was extremely helpful. The only problem I experienced was with their consistency in arriving for the job. In the beginning they were here all day, every day, but near the end sometimes no one would show up. If it ever happened, I would call the company, and they would have the workers out quickly. I have had several people in the home, and they are very impressed. I would recommend this company.

For the most part, the work done was good. Communication with Randy R., the project manager was not good at all. Every week we'd go over the issues, and it would take several meetings to get them resolved -- mostly because until the end of the eight month remodel -- he never wrote anything down. The work of the employees was fine, if a little slow at times, but there were several problems with the work of the subcontractors (flooring, HVAC) -- which came up during the inspection and sale of our house -- two months after the remodel was completed. We felt two things were overpriced -- the painting at 16K, and the floors at 10K. Additionally, the project design begins, but it's impossible to get any prices until you've paid the design fee -- in my case about 5K -- which can be somewhat prohibitive for most.

I FELT LIKE THERE WERE POOR COMMUNICATION SKILLS BY THE OWNER AND INEXPERIENCED PEOPLE UNDERNEATH HIM BEING DELEGATED WORK. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THEM. I HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTED.