DED DESIGNS

We spent about $15000 on that work. The general contractor was very hands on and did some of the work himself. He is supervises his subcontractor and he is in-touch constantly.

Our overall experience with Duncan was very good. He came in with the best estimate of 3, partially because at the time he had not completed his licensing tests, although he had many years of experience. (He has since completed the exams and is now fully licensed and bonded.) He was recommended by our interior designer, who had worked with him on many previous remodels. Duncan immediately spotted a problem with our design, which we were able to work around, but hadn't been noticed by anyone else. He is British, as is most of his crew. He is very easy to work with. He knew that I had a budget and did his best to work within it. We had some difficulty with the building inspector and had to redo some of the plumbing. Although this meant an upgrade in the plumbing, we were able to compromise on additional costs. Duncan calls every day to follow up on work. Many days, he is there himself. He is very responsive, and I never had a problem reaching him. I also appreciated that he was willing to work with a subcontractor that was not one of his own, especially when I had difficulty communicating with this other guy. In the beginning, I had asked for a very detailed estimate, including all the steps I could think of. (I strongly recommend you get as much detail as possible on any estimate.) He provided that, plus the cost for each aspect of the job: plumbing, electrical, drywall, etc. He did not require a deposit (I purchased my own fixtures, tiles, etc.), but only required partial payments as the work was completed. His crew was extremely neat, and he insisted they clean up every day, no matter how long a day it was. They arrived early in the morning, unless other work was scheduled, but you always knew when they were going to be there. Duncan scheduled the meetings with the inspector and was around to meet with him each time. I also appreciated the fact that when we had delays on items being shipped, he would send his guys back to do the installation as needed without additional charge. The work took longer than anticipated, partially because of the inspector (whom we had hoped to avoid) and partially because my house is built on a canyon downslope, and many of the conditions under the house were unanticipated. Before hiring him, I asked to see a job that he had done , and he found someone less than 1 mile from me to talk to. He also doesn't "nickel and dime" you. there were many extras that he and his crew did that came up as the job went along. I really appreciated his efforts and would definitely hire him again.