Old City Design Center

If you want a trouble-free, on-time project with excellent project management, DO NOT use Old City Design. On March 23rd, I hired this company to remodel my master bathroom, and paid an initial deposit of 75% of the project cost. The project manager (PM) said construction would start on May 13th and would last three weeks. Be advised; Old City does not do plumbing, painting, or electrical. You will be responsible for contracting for and coordinating these aspects of your project. Old City also will expect you to provide storage space for project materials. In my case, my garage was used to store lumber, drywall, cement board, tile, plumbing fixtures, cabinets, etc. I lost the use of my garage for the duration of the project. On Day 1 of the project, no one showed up. The PM eventually called me and said work would begin the following day instead. Once demo was done, Old City was supposed to begin framing the following day, but no one showed up. I called Old City and was told the framers had another job to finish up, but would be at my house the following morning. The next day, the framers showed up at 1 PM (not my definition of ?morning?) and worked until 8 PM. I was not pleased that the framers seemed to set their own work hours and worked into the evening while we were eating dinner. The framers then showed up unannounced on Saturday morning and again on Memorial Day. On May 28th, I then asked Old City to provide me with a schedule so I would know when to expect workers to show up. The schedule indicated the project would be complete on June 14th. On May 23rd, I asked Old City if the bath tub they had ordered had been received. They told me the tub would not be received for another three weeks because it was a non-standard color. This was a lie. The reason the tub had not been received was because Old City didn?t order it until May 15th, nearly two months after my initial payment was made. When tiling began, the tiler had to remove debris that accumulated in the bathroom. So, instead of removing it from the premises, he piled it up in the front of my garage, such that I couldn?t close the garage door that evening. After working a couple of days, the tiler walked off the job. Three days later, Old City agreed to find another tiler. The original tiler had installed about 80% of the floor tile, 75% of the cement board in the shower, and none of the shower tile. Instead of using fasteners designed for the cement board, he used roofing nails. The new tile crew began work on June 12th. They completed the cement board installation and refastened all of the cement board using the correct fasteners. On June 14th, the new tiler informed me that there was not enough tile on hand to complete the job. Old City assured me they had ordered enough tile, but the tiler turned out to be correct and additional tile was ordered. Tile work continued on and off for the next three weeks, with a typical work day lasting three to four hours. On June 13th, Old City informed me that the pebble tile for the shower floor was back ordered to June 30th. Remember, this project was supposed to be completed by June 14th. I asked Old City when the pebble tile was ordered and was told it was ordered on April 23rd, a full month after the contract was signed and my initial payment was made. Why did it take Old City a month to order the pebbles, and why didn?t they inform me sooner that the pebbles were backordered? On June 14th, I noticed that the diverter valve Old City had ordered for my shower was the wrong model; I needed a diverter that would work with the three shower heads Old City had designed for my shower, but the diverter Old City had ordered would only work with two shower heads. It took some convincing, but eventually Old City realized I was right. Initially, they wanted me to pay for the new valve, but after some back and forth, they ordered the correct diverter valve. When the new toilet was installed, I noticed the color did not match the tub and sinks. While Old City agreed to credit me $250 so I could buy the correct color toilet, it would have been better if Old City had done their homework and ordered the correct toilet in the first place. On June 26th, the granite counter, with side by side sinks, was installed. I notified Old City that the installers had forgotten to drill holes in the counter for the soap dispensers that were included in the design. I also noticed that one of the undermounted sinks was not flush with the underside of the granite, and the installers had screwed boards to the inside of the new vanity to support the sink. The installers returned the next day and drilled the soap dispenser holes and removed the boards. Apparently, nothing could be done about the sink that wasn?t flush against the granite, so the installer added an extra bead of silicone to fill the gap. When electrical work was completed toward the end of the project and lighting was restored in the bathroom, I noticed the side by side sinks were different colors. I informed Old City of this fact and they sent a crew out on August 1st. They confirmed the sink on the right (the one that was not installed flush to the granite) was a darker shade. They replaced it with the correct color sink and mounted the new sink correctly. The project was eventually completed nearly 12 weeks after construction started; a far cry from the three week duration the PM originally estimated. All work done by Old City Design is done by subcontractors; they are not Old City employees. That?s fine provided the PM is supervising the subcontractors. In this case, the PM never set a foot on my property. He never saw the work site and had little to no control over the actions (or inactions) of the subcontractors. The Old City representative who did make site visits, only visited on a couple of occasions, usually at my request. There was very little on-site presence by Old City throughout the project, and as such, it was up to me, the homeowner, to police the work of their subcontractors. Learn from my mistake and hire another company for your renovation.

~On 4/20/13 we spoke with Amber @ OC & made an arrangement to come in that day. Amber was amazing, helpful & very knowledgable. She kept in great contact via emails & phone calls. We made a 75% deposit on 5/15 of $ 7960.50. I had advised Amber that we were having 2 bathrooms completely remodeled and that I wanted to wait until they were done before we started this project. She said that wasnt a problem. That they would go ahead & order the wood and hold it until we were ready. I told her I would call her 4-6 weeks in advance to let her know. From this point on, I never had another call from Old City until June. ~Some time in June, I called to check on my statis & asked for Amber. They informed me that she no longer worked for them. My account was now being handled by Gary. Gary assured me that he would take care of my account & that Amber left great notes for him to follow. I told him that we would be ready for our installation the end of July. He told me he would be back in contact with me shortly. I never heard from Gary again Called OC in July & asked for Gary. I was informed that Gary no longer worked for them and that I now had Ron, the project planner as my rep. Ron and I talked and set up an installation date of 8/26/13. Ron informed me that he wanted "Patrick" to do my job. ~On 8/21/13 I called them just to make sure all was still on track. (You would think I would have heard from someone by now, since my installation was in 5 days). Ron informed me all was good. Got a call on 8/22/13 that they would be delivering my wood. They did. Got a call on 8/23/13 that they were delivering the glue. They did. Assuming everything we set for Monday, August 26th...my husband and I prepared our room by removing all the furniture from these rooms. We also painted and prepared 132 ft of baseboard for them to install. ~I get a call @ 10:30am on Monday, 8/26/13 from Ron saying that our installation was delayed until Tuesday, August 28 but that he would be here @ 8:00 am. No problem. I understand things come up. On 8/27/13 @ 8:00 Tracy Riley appears to do my installation (not sure what happened to Patrick?) He came with one helper. He proceeded to let me know he had NO idea he was doing this job today, he just got it the night before ( which tells me that OC NEVER had an installer for me on Monday) and had no idea what he was here to do other than rip up carpet. He had nothing nice to say about OC and commented on the mis-management and disorganized. Tracy stayed for exactly 1 hr. He only ripped up carpet & left me with a HUGE mess (pics included below). He also left me the carpet & padding he pulled up! The entire house was full of piles & piles of dirt, dust & pieces of carpet & padding. He just ripped up the carpet, pulled up SOME tack strips ( left the rest that I had to pound down my self) and left. He said he would be back Wednesday, 8/28 @ 11:30am. He said my job would take him only one day. I then spent the next 2 hours shop-vaccuming the mess he left me & sweeping. On Wed. 8/28/13 Tracy called me @ 11:15 to let me know he was not going to make it. That he wanted to start "fresh" on Thursday and that he would be here first thing. That something "came up" at another job he was doing. Once again, I was understanding. I also received a visit from Ron @ OC. He was coming by to check to see how the job was going. Ha! Needless to say, there was no "work" to check on and obviously NO communication between the sub & him. Thurs. a.m. Tracy arrived @ 8:30. He pulled up the rest of the baseboard, tack strips etc. He then proceeded to tell me that he needed to test the moisture on my wood & in my house. I did not have batteries so he went to buy some. Upon returning he informed me that because the OC Reps. that delivered my wood...did NOT unstack/unpack my wood to acclimate... when they should have, and left it all stacked on top of each other that my wood readings were not appropriate to lay ( why did he mention this 3 days ago when he saw it?) That my room levels were at a 10 and the wood was a .2. ( keep in mind he was checking the room moisture in my baseboards! Anderson clearly states to test the CONCRETE! not the baseboard!) He told me he could not lay the wood and that he would come back tomorrow. Needless to say at this point I am beyond livid! I call Ron, he informs me that the wood should be fine. That its had a week to acclimate to my house. I then put Tracy on the phone with him. They talk. I get the phone back & I am informed that Tracy is going to go to lunch & then come back and start my floor. I was fine with that. The minute I hung up the phone, Tracy said he indeed was NOT going to lay the floor. That a couple of hours is not going to make a difference. I was very upset when I was just TOLD he was going to lay it! Tracy then proceeded to tell me that he would lay the flooring if and ONLY if I signed a piece of paper saying that he is not responsible for warped wood or swelling if he layed the flooring today. Are you KIDDING ME? Um no, I not signing that. Tracy then proceeded to open all 30 boxes of wood & spread them throughout my house to acclimate. He then leaves saying he will be back first thing. He had NO desire ahad no intentions to do this job today. He obviously had other work that needed done elsewhere. Fri. a.m. 8/30/13 he arrives @ 7:30 with two other guys. The first thing he asks me for is a trowel. Really? Your a wood installer and you dont have a trowel? He then went off to Lowes to buy one. 45 minutes later they finally get started laying the floor. Keep in mind, I NEVER saw him re-test the wood that he was so worried about the day before.. Periodically throughout the day ( I never left) I would witness him talking about what "crap" wood I bought ( I paid $5.99 a sq.ft. it is NOT CRAP!!!) How poorly it lays, that its just terrible as was the glue ( Mapai glue, top of the line glue!). As I watched them do this, I noticed that there was no consideration or protection laid down to protect the floor as they moved throughout the house. They walked on it the minute it was laid. They never covered up what they did with any drop cloths or cardboard. They never put protection under their equipment or protected the floor from their big dirty work boots. The cut ALL the wood INSIDE my home, not outside. They did however cut my baseboard outside on my screened in porch, however left the door wide open so the dust still blew inside. The biggest problem started with the glue. They DID NOT apply the glue correctly with the correct trowel ( which can be a warranty issue!) , so therefor the glue seeped through the seams. There was and still is glue everywhere. They walked in it and then proceeded to track it all over my new floor. The trim work they installed was horrible (pics included how he stuffed cardboard from my garbage to make a baseboard bow, so it would cover a gap in the wood where it didnt meet the wall!!!!! He also said it was bowed cause my walls were uneven!!!!) . Obviously he never did trim work. It was cut poorly, uneven and very rough. They laid the living room floor and half of the hallway. They then decided it was quitting time @ 2:30. They also decided it was ok to quit after spreading some glue & not laying the wood on it!!!!!! So I had 2ft to 3ft square areas that were COVERED with glue and no wood! How am I suppose to get around my house for the next 24 hrs? he advised me to cover it with cardboard!! Again leaving me with a mess (pics included) On Sat., 8/31/13 he arrived @ 9:45 with 1 guy. Laid the flooring in the dining room & foyer/hallway. Still glue everywhere of which he said would easily all come clean when he was done. Rick showed up at my house around 1:30 and said Tracy would stay today and get this job done. The minute he left, Tracy was singing a different tune completely. At around 3:30 he decided he was done for the day and would have to come back TOMORROW! He had maybe 15% more to go and the clean up. I was not happy. He refused to finish. When I asked if he was going to at least clean up this mess (pics included) he told me that the mess that I was seeing was from my carpet when he pulled it up! WHAT?? This was almost a week ago...what does that have to do with his mess of wood shavings, garbage, dust, dirt, glue etc? Things then got heated. Both my husband and I were very upset. Tracy refused to clean up anything & left my home. He told us we were miserable people to work for. Told me that the problems with all the glue is because of the wood. That it was garbage. On his way out the door, he very rudely insulted my husband by telling him he is not one of his "little lawn boys that works for him" (making assumption from seeing my husbands work truck). He also rudely told us this: "Oh by the way, because of this wood being crap? I had to use the EXTRA wood you bought to do your kitchen so you are going to be short!" I could not believe this man! It is now Saturday @ 4:30. I called OC & talked to Nia who was very helpful. I refused to let this Tracy person back in my house and she was working on getting a new installer. I wanted the owner here to see this. Asked for him 3 times throughout this mess (via calls & emails) from Saturday till now. No call backs. No visits to discuss our problems (until Tuesday) The buck was just passed to his other employees to handle. Finally Tuesday I get a new installer, Brian. He was very nice. He redid all the trim right and installed the remaining flooring in one closet. However, he was unable to get up all the glue was spread all over my floors ( pics included) that was really bad. We refused to sign off on the job til the owner was here to find out how were going to fix this. No owner. No visit. Floor is a mess. On Wed, 9/4/13 Don ( their NEW project manager who is a general contractor) arrives at my door step. He informs me that they just hired him to "fix all their problems".( see pic #1 for cont of story)

They installed floor tile which was installed so poorly it had to be ripped out and reinstalled. They sold us tile that was to be used on the bathroom walls that was actually cut up floor tile with sharp edges. While the renovation was going on we had complaints from neighbors about how they dealt with the trash from the remodel work. They made many mistakes. There was poor communication within the business. When they did the demolition in order to renovate, they trashed fixtures that were to be saved. They were very disorganized. They say that they offer good prices, but I did not find that to be the case.

In summary, the quality of the finished product was very good. However, getting there was painful and time consuming. We finalized the plan and provided a 75% deposit on January 26, 2013. We just had the final walkthrough today, June 4, 2013.That means that a bathroom remodel required four months to complete which was projected to take less than a month (once the cabinets were delivered). Suffice it to say, this project took way too long. First the positives. The quality of the work is high so I gave Old City an A for quality. The tile subcontractor (Patrick Bennett) was meticulous and did a great job. I'd hire him in a heart beat. Another sub that was outstanding was Ryan Freeman who seemed to be able to do anything from framing to finish work to painting and drywall. We would not have been satisfied with the final product if it wasn't for Ryan's great work. Ron, Old City's Project Manager was also very good at resolving quality problems for us. He is an honest guy who did his best within Old City's crazy business practices. Michael's Plumbing was a sub we hired who also did a great job and was very accomodating. The negatives are many starting with the four months required to complete the project. Another concern is Old City's billing and collection practices. This was my first experience remodeling and I foolishly gave Old City a 75% deposit before they started work. I will never do that again. In the last month of the project, Old City's "designers" began calling us asking for the balance before they had completed the work. There was no agreement as to when or how they would be paid the balance and the "Owners" were allegedly pressuring the staff to collect the balance. Their collection practices are absurd and unprofessional. There is no way Old City should have been asking for the balance before the completion of the job, particularly when I already paid 75% in advance. The collection calls were persistant to the point I told them to not call me again until the "owner" called me directly. Surprise! I never received a call from the owners and they kept trying to collect. We did not pay until we were satisfied with the finished product. That said, we should not have had to deal with harrasing and unprofessional phone calls trying to collect prematurely. Old City also did a very poor job of documenting what was included and what is excluded in the price. There were a couple of instances where that ambiguity could have caused a problem. For example, there was nothing in the design that told the tile subcontractors how and where to lay the tile. We had to intervene and get instructions from the designer. Another example was that it was uncluer as to who was responsible for moving the shower drain. Ron the Project Manager did the right thing and agreed to cut the concrete to allow the plubmer to move the drain. However, the person sent to cut the concrete was not well equiped and did not cut enough. Michael's Plumbing (who was our subcontractor) got fed up and just did it himself without charging us. The granite installers (unnamed subcontractor) were sloppy and unprofessional. We had to complain about poor quality and incomplete work to get the owner of the granite subcontractor to come out and see for himself. He was unapologetic and visably unhappy to be called back. In the end, they did a good job but we should not have had to demand re-work on a sloppy job in the first place. The first cabinet installer incorrectly concluded that the cabinets were not designed correctly to accomodate our plumbing so he just waslked away and nothing happened for more than a week. Fortunately, Ron the Project Manager brought in Ryan Freeman (super sub) he did a great job with the cabinets. I am still unhappy that the mystery owner(s) of Old City did not think enough of me or my business to call me personally when requested. Moreover, their poor business practices do not bode well for future customers in my opinion. In conclusion, the price was good and the quality was high. However, it took a lot of time, effort, and patience on our part to get to that point. If you decide to use Old City, do so knowing you will have to pay close attention to the details and hold their feet to the fire. If you are willing to make that investment in time, energy and emotion, you can get a good finished product.

ffPut down 60% deposit on work first of January. Told work would be started when all tile and countertop were in house. Never received call from 'project manager' and finally visited showroom to inquire on start date in beginning of Feb. Told all material in-house and work would begin next week. Shower demo, soffit torn down (leaving hole in ceiling approx. 1 1/2 feet by 6 1/2 feet), removed countertop, shower door, and sink facuets. Plumber arrived next day and replaced valves and pipes for shower. Had to call project manager the next week to ask when somebody would be returning to work, meanwhile all heat is going up the huge hole in the ceiling. Finally, workers showed to put up wallboard in shower and then tile work started. Tile not completed for another 13 days. The water proofing for the shower was walked onto my scatter rugs and rugs in bedroom by workers and I have been unable to clean the stuff off of the rugs. I did use a razor and cleaned up the waterproofing that was walked onto the tile floor in the bathroom. Insulation, wallboard, and all manner of materials and debris stored on back enclosed porch for over 4 weeks. The sheetrock job was so bad, that after complaining, they finally came and repaired it and cleaned up the backporch. We had to call our designer to prod the 'project manager' into calling us. Project manager never communicated schedule of work or when workers were to be at our house. We asked for a work schedule several times, but could not get one. After being told in Jan. that work would not start until all materials were in-house, found out they didn't have countertop, were still waiting for it. Countertop was finally installed on 3/11. Longest 8 to 10 working days ever. We are happy with the final outcome of the project, but would not use Old City Design again. I don't want to spend that much money and have to make many phone calls and send lots of emails to get the project completed. If I had wanted to project manage the project, I wouldn't have gone to 'Old City' to begin with.

He has been right on, top of the list, reliable, and I would use him. I have already recommended him.