Fred Berger Design & Build LLC

I hate to leave bad reviews particularly for someone we’ve known for 20 years! But he welched and never got going with our garage project, had our deposit of course but slow walked the process. We got frustrated and said just do our bathroom. He graciously used our deposit from the garage for the bathroom, which he could have said no. It took FOREVER ie months to begin demo and complete it. We had to write threatening legalese letters. His employees are WONDERFUL and VERY TALENTED. He almost completed it, but he didn’t. Still don’t bring our vanity. He put in a cheap “temporary” one. It’s 6 months later. Didn’t finish painting, the mirror is loose, not secure, water spews out of the shower onto floor after each shower and using the “temporary” sink that is now permanent. Now we must replace it ourselves. Bathroom looks great though! Fred won’t return our calls, txt or emails. It’s always been like this. He’s not trustworthy. I’m SO MAD and DISAPPOINTED! He is a hustler!

Several years ago we signed a contract with Fred Berger Design and Build LLC for the renovation of our basement and conversion of a side porch into a screen porch. The initial contract amount was $67,286.58. Over the course of the project there were several change orders for unanticipated work and fixture upgrades, all of which we paid as the work was completed. Work started in February and progressed until June of that same year before stopping suddenly. Over the next year only minor amounts of work were done. In January of the next year, 11 months after work began. Mr. Berger requested a check for $4,550 to order the built-in cabinetry, which we paid. Over the next year we contacted Mr. Fred Berger repeatedly to follow up on the status of the remaining work and the cabinet order and were given a myriad of excuses. When we asked for a refund of the $4,550, he refused and told us the cabinets were on order. Over the course of 2 1/2 years we paid Mr. Fred Berger a total of $67,744.43 and we were left with an unfinished basement and screen porch renovation, several unaddressed construction problems, and the task of trying to recover $4,550 from Mr. Berger for cabinetry not ordered. The powder room was left unfinished and not useable, a custom stairway railing was not ordered or installed, the screen porch still needed a door that actually fit in the opening , and he owed us $4,550 for the cabinetry he never ordered. At this point our repeated calls to Mr. Berger were not returned. Working with the Maryland DLLR, Maryland Home Improvement Commission, we were able to get Mr. Berger to return $1,500 of the $4,550. He also promised to return the remaining $3,050, but has failed to do so. Because our contract includes an arbitration clause (required by Maryland law) we are forced to submit our dispute to arbitration, which would likely cost more than the $3,050 we are trying to recover.

We contacted Fred Burger Design and build(not through Angies List) back in January 2012 for an estimate on remodeling our master bath. He came out and gave us an estimate, which was the highest of any estimate given to us but liked what he promised- we were ok with it and signed a contract. Work did not begin until September 2012 as he kept delaying us saying he was on other big projects and wanted to give ours his full attention. He said it would take approx. 4-5 weeks to renovate our bath maybe sooner because all of the vanities and tile had already been ordered and was in his warehouse. He was very polite and punctual when it came time to collecting his payments but when adjustments came up or we would notice that things were not looking like the designs he drew up, he became very angry and not flexible at all- as if it was our fault and would charge extra every time. Fast forward to November 2013 and the bath was still not complete. Endless emails and voicemails that would go un returned we finally turned to the Better Business Bureau and filed a complaint. He quickly responded to them stating that yes of course he would be happy to finish the renovation and has all of the replacement vanities in his warehouse and would only need 1 day to replace them and repaint. We set up a time for them to come out which he never showed and again would not return any phone calls or emails, this happened 2 other times after that. The BBB contacted us and wanted to know if everything had gone ok and I explained what had happened so they contacted him again. Again he said he would be happy to come out. He contacted us and stated that he did not have any of the vanities nor had he ordered them that he had forgotten and could they come out and see what needed to be replaced. They did come out ( he never came out personally throughout the entire process) and replaced what needed to be replaced and repainted what needed to be repainted but wanted us to buy the paint!! We are still waiting for missing pieces but have given up on him and went out and bought our own missing pieces.

I would never use his company again for anything. He used cheap flooring and priced it wrong when I called him out on it; he made up different excuses.

Fred will price every detail on his estimate down to the last face plate for a light switch. While some people might find this annoying (all changes get re-estimated) I found it very comforting to know that we had total agreement on what EXACTLY was being done. There were no surprises in final cost of the project. All work was done up to standard and on the few occasions where something was not quite perfect, the imperfection was fixed right away. I am totally satisfied with the quality of work performed. Fred was also very helpful in helping to make design desions, quality of lights to use, size, placement ect. I will totally use Fred Berger on my next project. I feel his prices are fair and the work is good!

Excellent start, willing to work with us to get a custom result. Deposit given in 2005. Designs arrived 2006. While it took some time to get the designs to our satisfaction but it seemed normal given the complexity of the structural work. Then things went downhill quickly. Work did not start till summer 2007. Poor coordination with Washington Gas and Pepco resulted in numerous delays in the start. We as homeowners were forced to take over communication due to multiple verbal errors (while promises to us were just as frequent). Escavation was by a good sub and went well. Foundations were installed by Fred's Step-son and were poor. Installed structural steel in footings for montgomery county inspection, then once the county gave the order to proceed were removed. (I happen to work from home the day the started the concrete footings). Took digital pictures of the Step-son putting loose soil in the bottom of the footings too, I assume to reduce the amount of concrete needed. Called Fred and he rejected my call to meet the next day. Only after threatening to call the county back to reinspect did he add another 6 inches of concrete on top of the already poured footing. In hind sight I should have fired Fred at this time. Foundation sub named Keith from Howard county was next. Excellent workmanship on the brick but mis-measured our foundation by 4 inches in width. I called fred again and anger was his response. This pattern repeated itself for the next year. Each time I pointed out less than specified quality or quantity Fred would attack my Wife and I verbally. Framing went well. One or two minor issues with the framing, kitchen sink on cabinet plan did not line up with window opening in framing. Siding guy was not good. Left broken existing siding (broken during demo phase). Rained in kitchen some more. Structural I beam was ordered buy Fred 8 inches short. Fred tried to make us pay for another I beam at the correct legnth. Cabinets were supplied by us so only one or two minor issues there like installing cabinets so that one cabinet was too far over the cooktop. Fred was willing to switch the two cabinets for an additional $400. This was the kind of QA that was needed by Fred but he was rarely on site. The flooring was installed well. Fred's guys are excellent drywall people. At this point we were 80% finished but Fred driving for payment before each phase was 100%. Walked off the job at 90% complete and ignored an extensive punch-list. Overall, he does a pretty cosmetic job but right below the surface is corner cutting and poor workmanship. Use this contractor at your own risk.

My experience with Fred Berger and his team was exceptional. From the beginning phases of selecting tile, redesigning my island to installing floors, island and countertops, were done with timeliness, professionalism and awareness of my budget. He was very responsive when i had questions and gave alot of great suggestions along the way. Fred treated my project as if it were his own home, with great detail and care. I am extremely happy with the finished product and would highly recommend him for any remodeling project.

The work started in Aug 2008 and was supposed to be completed by the end of May 2009 (stated date in contract). Work is still not complete and it is 12/7/09. There were several problems with the quality of work. They installed the wrong A/C unit. This took a couple months to resolve in terms of getting the correct unit installed. The unit was spelled out in the contract, so I don't know how that mistake was made. When the workers were installing the ductwork, one of them partially fell through the floor/ceiling to the room below. The whole work with the heating and A/C unit is still part of the work that is incomplete. And the first unit was installed fall 2008. It's basic things like insulating the pipes, which since we just had the first snow of the season and it's six months past the expected end date in the contract shows how timely and efficient work is performed. The basement was one of the first jobs done and the first to show significant problems. They probably had that done by Sept 08 and by Dec 08, we had a flooded basement. All the leaking was from the new space. The crew came and did some repairs. The next good rain, more water in the basement. This problem occurred and was reported at least 5 times and they sent someone out to repair it at least 3 times. That problem seemed to be solved. However, the old part of the basement started to have problems with water leaking in. We finally had another contractor look at it and seems the problems is that there was never any flashing installed when the new siding was put up. Odds are that before we didn't notice it as the water was probably just being funneled to an easier entrance (new addition) and now the easiest entrance is the original part of the house as they put flashing and drilled weep holes on the new addition to solve the problem there. Too bad they didn't install flashing everywhere, and I would think that would be a standard requirement for installing siding. Plumbing, yes that was a problem as well. They had water in the pipes from initial testing after the plumber installed them. Then since the whole upper level addition was relatively open to the elements (no insulation, only the wrap and the siding) and the work was going on last winter, when they had the inspector over for the plumbing, they turned it on and we had a leak into our dining room. The professionality of the plumber can probably be summed up here. One day after coming home, the area rug in the basement where some plumbing work was going on was soaked and the person who was at the house when the plumber was working could only state that the plumber left wearing wet clothes identifying that he would return after changing clothes (and never returned that day). Advertising, not true to form. Both the website and our contract stated that trash would be removed daily. Not an issue when there was a dumpster in the front yard. When it wasn't there, we had trash in the front and back yards and it still took a week (or longer in some cases) to get the trash removed. Interface with company. We have been told that we would be interfering and in violation of the contract if we are present for the final inspection. Who knows when that will happen, but what kind of company is afraid to have the customer present during an inspection of the customers own home?