GNA Construction

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After getting bids from three cabinet companies, we decided on a design that resulted in removing three walls and moving major appliances. GNA could have done this, but we felt we should go with the company that provided the design we liked best. Lorraine was punctual and very pleasant. She took pains to be sure to utilize every inch of our small kitchen space in her design. Her work and their cabinet samples were awesome. They're a great company and I would recommend them to anyone wanting to replace their cabinets and remodel a kitchen or bathroom.

We hired GNA Construction after reading about it on Angie's List. Originally we had them remodel the master bath with the thought that if we liked their work we would have them complete the rest of our remodel. My first impression came from the preparations Nic made before the work actually began. Because the master bath is upstairs, he carefully laid paper from the door, up the stairs, and across the bedroom carpet to the bathroom. He taped it in place. I thought the time he took to protect our floor might be indicative of the quality of the rest of his work, and that turned out to be the case. The bathroom was finished within the six week window that they originally gave us. Lorraine designed the bathroom and took us to look for tile and countertops. One of the best experiences of the remodel was when both Nic and Lorraine met us at an exotic wood business in San Diego. We chose the veneer for the bathroom cabinets, which Nic then made. The cabinets are beautifully done--he is truly an artist. We love our master bath and we enjoyed working with Nic and Lorraine, so we had GNA go ahead with the rest of the project. As in every remodel, as you replace one area another looks particularly shabby. GNA rearranged our small kitchen so that we have more storage and more counter space. Again, Nic built the cabinets for the kitchen and the bath, including beautiful veneers. One of my favorite things about the remodel is the stairs. Lorraine worked with my concern that wood stairs would look strange with tile floors. She combined tile and slate for the risers and wood for the steps and landings. They are beautiful! The fireplace was the focal point of our triangular living room, and Lorraine designed a concrete and glass tile surround that makes it worthy of that focus. The walls were an odd combination of paints and patches, so GNA replastered them. What a difference! All the tile work is amazing; the floor has no uneven edges! As for working with Nic and Lorraine, I couldn't have had a better experience. They are meticulous in their work, from making sure the site was clean each evening to hiring and supervising their subs. They are easy to work with, and they truly care about the quality of the job from start to finish. I would highly recommend them and, in fact, they are in the design stages of another remodel for us.

This report is just a followup to my original report. I just want to comliment GNA on their support after the project was complete. We had some grout that cracked in our kitchen and bathroom due to settling, and they very quickly sent somebody to repair it. We also had a crack in the drywall. They did not just patch the crack. They repaired it the right way, and then repainted the entire living room wall. They were quick to respond and did not make us feel that we were "putting them out". Almost one year after the completion of the project, we are VERY pleased with the final product and the services provided by GNA. They are an honest, hard-working team who take pride in their work.

Lorraine and Nick Adkins agreed to be present with our insurance adjuster for the initial inspection after a toilet caused extensive damage to our master bedroom/bathroom, kitchen, dining room and living room. Right off the bat they were pointing out damage that the adjuster had overlooked. Throughout the ordeal they did not hesitate to negotiate with the adjuster, often times directly, to justify repairs that needed to be done. Lorraine probably redid our proposal on 6 or 7 different occasions. In the end, the insurance company paid about 4 times more than they originally estimated. I know this is how the system works, but Lorraine and Nick were very patient and supportive throughout a very stressful ordeal with our insurance company. They were always honest and helped us to fight for what was right. I got the feeling that most of the bigger contractors that gave us bids on the job were not interested in dealing with an insurance claim. We had the option to pick any contractor we wanted, but chose Nick and Lorraine because they seemed like honest, hard-working people. Thank goodness we were right! What makes this team special is that they truly care about their clients. We always dealt with Nick and Lorraine directly. They were always present on the jobsite. They completed the work in a timely manner and we are very happy with the work that they did. Our kitchen and masterbathroom are amazing! We still stare at our kitchen in disbelief! They did most of the demolition themselves. Nick builds the cabinets and does beautiful work. He takes great pride in every detail. They subcontracted the drywall, electrical, painting, trim work, flooring, framing, and stucco. Lorraine supervised their work and they use reputable, professional subcontractors. Lorraine met me several times to choose materials for the job (tile, granite, paint). She spent hours with me each time and was patient and helpful. At one point during the construction Lorraine found mold in our framing. One of her subcontactors expressed concern that mold spores may have been spread throughout the house when the company sent out by our insurance company when the damage first occured came to dryout the house. This company did not isolate the area that had exposed mold before they turned on their fans. Lorraine had an expert test the air, and we did find dangerous quantities of mold spores that had spread throughout the house. We contacted the company that did the work and they agreed that they had made a mistake. They returned to the house and cleaned up the mess (this would have cost us approximately $20,000 !) Lorraine and Nick were extremely helpful and once again patient when this slowed the job down by an additional month. We had some cracking in some grout in our kitchen that occured due to settling. Lorraine had someone out to fix it right away. The bottomline is that Nick and Lorraine did exceptional work on our home. We are extremely pleased. They were always easy to contact and quick to respond. The project was completed in a timely manner. They used good subcontractors. They are an honest, hard-working team. They even sent us a gift during the holidays!

I contacted GNA in April and we sketched out details of what my wife and I were looking for. Lorraine and Nick helped with advice and suggestions of what we could do. Lorraine brought a rough blueprint with her at our next meeting. We liked what we saw made a initial commitment and then we went out buying all the goods, such as, granite, tile, and appliances. Nick started demoing on the 24 of May. And brought in subcontractors as the job progressed. Drywall, plumbing, tile, and electrical contractors all made their contributions. Nick finally installed his beautiful cabinets and then wrapped up the job on the 24th of June. One month! What a difference. We now have a kitchen that went from a 1980's dungeon look to one with an open and inviting classic look. Thanks Nick and Lorraine....or as they are known professionally...GNA Construction.

GNA Construction rescued us. We had hired another individual (Daniel Guidroz of Daniel?s Design and Construction, which I have reviewed separately) to remodel our kitchen and family room. That project turned into a never-ending, never-finished, poor workmanship nightmare. Finally we contacted GNA based upon Angie?s list. After our first interview with Lorraine, who becomes the project manager and point of contact, we fired Daniel?s Design and Construction and never looked back. Lorraine and Nick Atkins are a husband and wife team. Lorraine handles the contracts, finances, and project management. Her husband Nick is a master carpenter. Both of them are great people: personable, competent, and reliable. They tore out the previous contractor?s work and re-did the job superbly. Moreover, once they started, they moved forward quickly and finished in weeks what the previous contractor had been unable to finish in months. Nick made a beautiful wooden overhang for the sink (photo) as well as a cabinet adjacent to the sink (photo), crown for the cabinets (photo), a fireplace mantle (photo), and base molding throughout. He re-finished the existing cabinetry and fixed a center island. He brought in an electrician to re-install some outlets. He brought in a sub-contractor to install a new front door and casing. My wife and I cannot recommend these fine people highly enough. It was a pleasure having them in our home and doing business with them.

We haven't used the service yet but were impressed with the estimate process.

Nick and Lorraine are such a good team--Lorraine keeps everything organized and running smoothly and Nick is there everyday to do the work and make sure all the subcontractors are doing what they need to do. It's amazing how smoothly everything went considering all we had to do, our job was completed in just about two months from beginning demo to end of small details that Nick handled. Lorraine has a wealth of ideas about color and design and was a good source of educated opinions when going through the planning stage with colors, etc. Nick is a true craftsman and takes real pride in his cabinetry and it shows, they're just beautiful (and very functional as well!) and we've had many compliments on them already. I appreciated how open they both were to my ideas about what I wanted incorporated into the kitchen and beyond. The subcontractors that they used on our job were all top notch and respectful of our home, we were pleased with all the different aspects of work that came together for our job from electrical to plumbing to tile work. It seems to be a mutual respect as well, all the subs said the same thing we knew, that Nick and Lorraine are good, honest people and look out for their clients.

We could not recommend anyone more highly than Nick and Lorraine. They are very down-to-earth honest people, rare in this business. Their prices are very reasonable. We talked with and took bids from 6 other contractors before choosing them because we had a previous bad experience with a very large and well known contractor in San Diego. We received a wide range of bids. GNA was near the bottom in price but we thought they offered quality at the top of the list. The original bid was for the kitchen and family room only, but along the way we decided to do the rest of the downstairs which of course raised the price. They never took advantage of that situation. The add-ons were all very fairly priced. When we changed our mind about a couple of things, they were quick to adapt to the changes at a minimum added cost to us. Both Lorraine and Nick had some great design ideas but for the most part Lorraine managed the project and offered design help and Nick was heavily involved with the construction including design, and they worked very well together. They had a good selection of subs who handled such things as plumbing, electrical, drywall, painting, etc, and they did a good job of supervising these subs and demanding that the finished work meet their high standards. They kept unbelievably well to their original schedule and completed this massive job in less than 3 months while we were able to maintain our daily routines (my wife and two kids). We have had no regrets, and feel Nick and Lorraine are like family. In a few months we intend to do some work on the 2nd floor, primarily two bathrooms, and our first stop will be to talk to Nick and Lorraine and hopefully they will be able to work on our next project. We both enthusiastically recommend GNA to anyone doing any remodeling work whether it is a small bathroom project or an elaborate kitchen project, or a major home remodeling.

Nick and Lorraine make you comfortable from the beginning. Lorraine heads up the design service and is very good at guiding you through the process and making selections. Nick is very responsive and willing to offer quality tips, in addition to being a master craftsman. Both are very focused on quality and exceeding customer expectations. We had a couple of bumps during the project (related to a particular sub-contractor) but Nick and Lorraine took ownership of the problem and resolved it quickly and to our complete satisfaction. We have received many compliments on the new bathroom. We highly recommend this company!

On a scale of 1 to 10 they are a 12. They are easy to get along with. They roll with the punches.

Communication with GNA is very good and if Nick is running late, he calls and lets you know his ETA (which is very much appreciated). I first spoke with Lorraine, the receptionist (and Nick's wife), she asked a lot of detailed questions, about how I wanted the mantel to appear. After I emailed a description and a photo, Lorraine emailed me an estimate. The final cost was much lower, since I used the piece of molding he had with him. Nick came out and had a piece of molding with him, but he was prepared to purchase a different piece, if I didn't like what he had. I was satisfied with what he had and he and Joe commenced work immediately. The job took about 3 hours to complete and he even fixed a couple of hinges on my kitchen cabinets, which were installed by a different contractor, as a courtesy. The mantel looks very nice and I am quite happy with the end product. Nick was very nice and professional. I would definitely hire GNA again.

Lorraine and Nick were always on time, and carefully insured that there were no surprises. Everything was done right the first time. Their communication skills are excellent.