Distinctive Design Remodeling

Throughout the design process and construction, there was always good communication and the guys were very friendly. DDR was very accommodating and responsive to our change requests and we felt like they really listened to our expectations of quality. As with any job of this size, there are bound to be bumps along the way and our bumps were resolved to our satisfaction. We love our new garage.

I will start off saying at no time were our concerns ignored and or our issues with the quality of work dismissed, however they were numerous. In the end, even after final payment had been made, they came back and did their best to fix the remaining issues and were professional at all times during the process. The project started out with the salesman ensuing us "we will be in and out in 2 weeks" as this was a "simple" job. I have finished basements 2 other times and knew this would be at least a 4 week ordeal even if they were anywhere near as quick as they advertised. Since we insisted the project be permitted and inspected, that added (and I'm being generous here) 10 business days time. The project kicked off the week of November 17th and was not wrapped up until the week of January 12th, so approximately 9 weeks. 9 weeks, less 3 for inspections, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years = 6 weeks of work days to do the job. As the project continuously missed deadlines, it was frustrating as the project manager Chris kept insisting it was the fault of the inspector's causing the delays. Instead, it was due mainly to their being unorganized, their subcontractor's not showing on time and gaps between the various crews showing up to start the next phase. Being based out of Lexington, this often times resulted in the work day starting after 10 am as the subcontractor's had to make the hour drive to Louisville. Major issue #1, and a large factor in the lower overall ratings was the Plumber. Unreliable, was not punctual, was not professional (was a nice guy), unorganized, helped himself to tools from my garage (shovels, ladder and hand tools which he did not bring with). Had to go to Home Deopt or Lowes sometimes more than once a day for pvc fittings, pipe and other standard items any plumber should have a truck stocked with or at least know enough to buy what he needed for the job he was doing. He left a mess of broken concrete that sat for weeks where they had to jack hammer the floor to install the drains for bathroom. He did poor quality work that had to be redone installing the shower head arm and toilet water line shutoff. Framers: Absolutely the best crew they brought in. 5 Guys, one day and the entire job was done Electrical: Overall very good job - crew came in and had the rough electrical done in one day and after inspections and drywall one day to finish. Electrician did have an unreliable vehicle that broke down on way here the first day, so a delay and was still having issues with it when he came to do final work. Shannon was a very nice guy and professional. Drywall: Mike and crew showed up on time, worked very hard when here and did decent quality work. There were some areas that had to be reworked by the painting crew I hired once DDI was done (they do not do carpet or painting), but much better than I have experienced with others in previous remodels. Bathroom tile floor: I should have hired it done myself instead of having DDI do it. They had their clean up and general laborer do it and he is not qualified. Grout lines are not even as tile is not square and even. Damage to the home: 1) The new bathtub they installed - someone along the way decided to use the tub as their workbench or as a sawhorse. There were several gouges in the fiberglass/plastic, some of which are not repairable (some were repaired by sanding and buffing the tub). No form of compensation for the damage was offered by DDI, only the sanding and buffing to make it look better. The toilet seat suffered the same damage which a repair was also attempted, but it was not successful 2) The egress window in the basement DDI used to insert and remove material from the basement was broken. We were not informed of this and happened to find it one evening when we also saw a pile of scrap material that was removed from the basement and simply left laying in the side yard. The initial suggestion by DDI was to simply place a tint film over the window as that would seal the crack. Excuse me, you broke my window glass and think you don't need to fix it properly??? I was dubmfounded by this. It was removed and taken for repair. They will typically let you know Sunday afternoon who will be showing up Monday (or wahtever day of the week they will show up). There are gaps of several days at times between the various crews, depending on what other jobs they are doing at the same time as yours. Cleanup: Do not expect them to clean up after themselves at the end of the day or end of a phase even (like after framing or after drywall rough in). They will send in their general laborer every once in while to clean up scraps, but not much more. Most disappointing was the final clean up. Our new bathtub/shower unit was covered in drywall compound that was slopped on it as it was not draped and the bottom of the tub was caked in the stuff where they washed out their mud trays and cleaned up their tools. I was very disappointed in the filthy condition things were left. If you hire these guys, be prepared to babysit your project, be prepared for delays, expect to be frustrated; but that will happen to some extent regardless of who you hire. I personally would chose someone else next time as I had a frustrating experience, but will say they are honest, do acceptable average quality work and did ultimately address all issues we raised.

The folks at DDR were open to our ideas, professional, courteous and attentive to our needs. In particular, Tom G., project manager, went above and beyond with communication throughout the process. Jon P. worked with Tom in the final stages of the project and couldn't have been more accommodating. Overall, we are pleased with the final product.

DDR handled the production professionally and with good communication. We made a couple of changes and they were reasonable and took it all in stride. I would recommend them to anyone looking to build a garage.

Was given a estimated schedule from the beginning and it went as planned. Most of work completed in 2 weeks and Chris notified me before each day of work. No surprises!

I was originally very excited to work with DDR; they replied to my inquiry for an estimate quickly, and were very professional over the phone. The contractor that visited my home, however, was one of the worst I've ever met. As soon as I showed him my basement, which I was hoping to have at least partially finished it was clear that he had no interest in working with me. He just kept saying how small the area was, and how it wasn't really worth his time. When I had made the estimation appointment I told them it was only part of a basement, and I gave the approximate dimensions of the space, so DDR should have told me at that time if they had square footage requirements. Maybe they would have treated me better had my basement been 8,000 sq feet. The estimator was barely listening to anything I was saying and kept muttering, "what? kinda....I don't know." He was incredibly rude, and I would not work with this company again or recommend them to any of my friends. Sorry you feel as though you wasted your time, Pat, the feeling is entirely mutual.

We set up and appointment for a consult and bid on an all weather room the week prior. The day of the appointment I received serveral calls reminding me that they would meet me at the appointed time. The messages asked me to call if I would not be there. Then just before the meeting time they called again this time saying I needed to call to confirm. I did not because at this point it should not be my job to confirm when I had the opportunity all day long to let them know if I was not going to attend. At four minutes after the appointment time I called and was told it was too late and the designer had left the area because I didn't call Unbelievable! I guess they have forgotten the fact that I am the customer. The guy asked if I wanted to reschedule and I said I definitely do not want to do business with them.

Tom Garrison was the project supervisor and the entire process was a joy with DDR. Tom the electrician (Shannon and crew), Mike (Drywall) did an incredible job and I couldn't be happier with the results. During the build I changed a couple of things from the original layout and they took care of my needs and did so at a minimal cost increase. In the future if I have any work that needs to be done I will be sure to give them a call and if I know of anyone that needs any work done I will be sure to send them their way as well.

Everyone I spoke with on the phone at DDR was very pleasant and easy to talk with, getting me to the right person to help me effectively. They gave me a date within a week of my call to send someone out for a property review, get an idea of what I wanted to do (new residential driveway of poured concrete and 1.5-car garage designed to be a cute, smaller replica of my small house), and provide me with an estimate. They sent Pat Painter, a very knowledgeable guy on all the issues involved in my project ideas, who also provided me with some creative and helpful ways to finance the construction. Pat took his time to really listen to what I want to accomplish, how I want it to look (I am VERY fussy about all and sundry details!) and how I/we could achieve my goals. He also gave me great comfort in assuring me that the DDR team would take care of all the permit/variance/inspections issues imposed by the local government where I live -- which is at least as fussy as I am because I live in an historic district. Thank you again DDR for a great initial experience! I do hope we can work together to build this driveway and garage that I so very much need!!

First I want to say that OVERALL we are satisfied. With that being said there were several issue that occurred causing a 3 week project to become a 2 month project. Personally I feel that better communication between contractors, the company and us would have prevented most problems. All contractors were professional, knowledgeable and reputable. Distinctive Design needs to have better communication between sales, supervising personnel and contractors. I can not say this enough! There are still several cosmetic issues arising and a couple of issues with rotting/bowing wood. Again I feel this could have been avoided with better communication. The sales job was rushed ( even though we had thought this through before contacting companies) and several other pieces of the project were not detailed enough to follow. Also several added expenses that we were convinced would be cheaper if we purchased on our own turned out to be 3 times the expense and hassle. If communication was better, a singlecontractor used and the major issues would have not occurred I would recommend this company. But at this time I cannot reccommend this company. One last note: I do want to point out that the company did try to make us as pleased as possible which is appreciated. But because of the delay in progress I feel several more issues will pop up causing several return visits by contractors *****AS of 10/9/2014****** I have spoken once again concerning issues with our screen room. I feel that Distinctive Design has taken steps to correct some of my concerns and continue to do what is possible to make us happy. I feel comfortable now recommending this company in the future

All of the subs were polite, professional and customer oriented. No complaints.

The job went smooth and without any problems.

Great! Always showed up and did a great job. The house looks like a different home. It is beautiful!

All of the subs were polite, professional and customer oriented. No Complaints.

Overall the project was completed as promised with several modifications during the process that were handled reasonably well. General cleanup could improve but overall no issues on workmanship.

Overall great job by contractor. Very professional. Owners returned call and kept me informed as to progress of project. I love my new addition.

They started on Jun 15 and finished by July 13. Overall, fairly well, communication could have been better, warning of what was coming and when, etc.

In my opinion this business just cares about the money and not the quality of work. update: The building inspector came out about two weeks ago and failed the garage that was built citing structural repairs must be made before it could be passed. There has been no attempt by this company to meet the structural repairs that are needed to get a final inspection from the building inspector office. That is why this rating will remain an F until something is done. On the surface the work looks good but it is not correct or it would have passed the building inspection. Update. For a company that says they provide good customer service this one has not made much effort to resolve the issue of the failed building inspection. Still waiting> We passed on the electrical inspection but have yet to hear of a building inspection. I wonder how there can be several reviews on the same day (just enough to put the F review out of the ones you see first) then nothing. As I said before customer service lacks a lot to be desired

Overall Experience was great. I would recommend Distinctive Design to anyone. Great company to deal with as they work with you on issues that arise during the project.

We are VERY happy with our basement. From start to finish, it took approximately six weeks to complete, but there were a couple of times when they had to work around our schedule if we were out of town. All of the teams were professional, listened to our questions and gave us helpful answers, and were willing to accommodate special requests such as setting up separate circuits for some specific electrical needs or moving around plumbing drains to change the layout of the bathroom. Chris, our project manager, was easy to reach if something came up and very responsive. He also helped us stay on top of the arrival times of all of the different teams so that we knew who was coming when to do what. We worked with a separate provider for the flooring (which is not unusual for Distinctive Designs' clients) and will review them separately, but they were also excellent (Korfhage Floor Covering). I would absolutely work with Distinctive Designs again (and hope to in the future when we're ready for another big project!) and highly recommend them.

overall Fairly well, communication could have been better ,warning of what was coming and when,etc.

This company has no concern for the customer or the service they provide. The entire process after the start went HORRIBLE! They only were concerned with money and no concern for the work performed or how happy the customer was, to the extent of a phone conversation with them yelling at myself and my husband needing/wanting funds prior to the agreed upon percentage of completed work and payment due at each step because they had a balloon payment due. The project took 4 months to complete with at times no response to our concerns. Each contractor who came to work on the project the company would say has worked for them for months and did great work, however in conversations with the said contractor they were just hired over the intranet with the company having no real knowledge of the quality of work the contractor may provide and when that work was unsatisfactory it would take days and hours of our time to address the issue or get it resolved, if resolved at all. We were requested to sign different contracts at different times with different company names, Distinctive Design and GRB Design. I would not suggest this company to anyone nor any company who Jon Penn, President, or John Burdett, Salesman, may work for.

We do not have items corrected yet and are going to someone else complete the project due to their incompetence. We will be filing a BBB compliant against them as well as taking them to court if it comes to that. DO NOT USE THEM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Distinctive Design has from day one been on time for all appointments. Weather caused some delays but otherwise all work was done timely. Subs were great. All workers were friendly and hard workers. Design is great. Great products.

Good. All workers were professional and friendly. Small problem with initial ground excavation, but company quickly took care of issue.