CLEAR OAK DESIGNS INC

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We hired Clear Oak Designs to work with us to design and build a new kitchen. Working with Ross was a challenge from the beginning. He was often late for our meetings, regularly forgot what we had already discussed and decided related to the design process. Ross was also not very open to new ideas; when we would suggest some feature or other for our new kitchen, he would regularly tell us what what we wanted was not possible, and would only relent when we showed him these features in existing kitchens (thank you Internet and houzz.com). As an example, we wanted a pullout cabinet that was open on both sides. Until we sent Ross numerous pictures of these that we found online, Ross was certain it was not possible to build one. When the design portion of our project was completed, Ross gave us a set of "shop drawings" showing what our new kitchen would look like. These were a series of sketches or doodles which primarily showed the various measurements as opposed to any sort of detail about what the kitchen would ultimately look like. One computerized drawing was included but was not to scale, serving as more of a "it will look something like this" picture than anything else. When the construction of our new kitchen started, Ross left town. He didn't mention to us that he was leaving, we only found out when Mary (office manager, finance person, etc) mentioned it during an unrelated phone call. He was gone for the duration of the project (originally estimated at 3 weeks, but it took just about 6 weeks total). The construction portion of the project itself went fine, apart from going longer than expected. When the work was completed however, it was obvious there were a number of significant problems, including: 1. The countertop height was over an inch higher than it was supposed to have been. This was due to Ross not taking into account that our countertops were 1.5" solid, as opposed to 0.75" with a 1.5" face. Unfortunately, our upper cabinets were not raised; as a result, we have approximately a 16" space between the countertop and the cabinet bottom rather than the more traditional 18". In their defense, Johnny at Clear Oak offered to redo things and lower the countertop, but it would have meant at least another week of work, destruction and construction 2. Ross suggested that we go with a 26.5" depth for our countertops rather than the more traditional ~25.5". To account for this extra depth, the construction team installed our oven approximately 1.5 inches away from the wall, leaving an incredibly awkward gap between the stove's controls and the backsplash. To eliminate this unsightly gap, we purchased a new oven. 3. We had requested solid wood cabinets but instead received what appears to be plywood with a maple veneer. We brought this to Ross' attention and he maintained that no one makes solid slab doors because they would warp over time. We pointed out that in an old apartment, we have a kitchen that has solid cabinets that are 25 years old and are not warped.

They were outstanding. They did top quality work. They said it would take six weeks, it only took five. I would definitely recommend them to anyone, its the greatest kitchen I've ever seen!

Much of the job went very well. We started working with Sue Harrison, who was extremely helpful in organizing our thinking about the kitchen and prioritizing our actions (shopping for appliances, understanding the tradeoffs to be made, etc.). She is a Greenpoint rater, so she was sensitive and helpful in directing us to more "green" options. Clear Oak subs out electrical to Trevey Electric; their work was done quickly and professionally, although one of the light switch boxes was a bit crooked. Clear Oak then put up denim insulation on the outside wall while the plumber was in routing the gas line and running water to the fridge. Their drywall team came in to close in the walls, and did a very nice job. When the cabinets came in, one was the wrong size, one was scratched, but Clear Oak cleared up the problems quickly. Appliance installation went without a hitch, but it took them two months to come back and finish up the little details at the end.

They were done on time and it was beautiful.

We were very satisfied with our experience with Clear Oak Design. They worked for several months planning the kitchen design and layout, and gave us direction in where to shop for counter materials, plumbing fixtures, appliances and finish details like lighting and cabinet hardware. Construction began a couple days early with our permission. Construction progressed according to the schedule provided. The granite subcontractor was able to finish his work early and the time-line adjustment was communicated to us regularly. Clear Oak had someone working on our remodel almost everyday, and provided clear explanations for the times we were waiting for someone else to finish something. Our new kitchen was usable within 15 weeks of breaking ground. I highly recommend this company for their honest and ethical business practice, their high standards of job-site cleanliness, their efficiency and their attention to detail.