MC DANIELS KITCHEN & BATH

Before embarking on a full kitchen renovation, I did significant research. McDaniel's advertises a stress-free, full-service process, and since I’d never been through a home reno before I figured this was my best option. It was far more expensive than ordering from a big box home improvement store, but I figured it would be worth it. McDaniel’s was great during the sales process. After which the greatness, or even adequacy, stopped. The first cabinet I opened on delivery was damaged on both the frame and the door. The next cabinet opened was the sink cabinet. It was the wrong cabinet. The other large cabinet, for the built-in microwave, was also ordered incorrectly. Lower cabinets came unfinished on top and the end cabinet (the bookshelf on the end of the peninsula, or the piece de resistance!) unfinished on the sides. As the project went on, it was clear the measurements were not thorough, and every modification costs precious time and money. For instance, moving light fixtures because the cabinet wasn't measured for depth costs an additional electrician and a drywaller. Every single cabinet in my kitchen has dents or pitting. I expected that a small amount of cabinets would arrive with scratches or minor damage, I didn’t realize every single one would! The quality does not reflect the price of these cabinets. My stove, which was ordered and paid in full, never came. I cancelled it after waiting 4.5 months. What bothered me most is that no one cared that my project went so off track. I was constantly calling to check on delivery of stove, cabinet doors, trim, etc. My designer was very responsive. She always got back with me quickly. But I was never offered real solutions to these issues. In sum: the value for money is not there. I dealt with the same level of stress, frustration and contractor modifications I would have with a big box store, but it cost me roughly 60% more. McDaniel’s is a sales company, nothing more. If you know that going into it, you are far better off than I am.

**** Poor! Michael Jessup didn't show up for the appointment and instead of picking up half down--we're ready to go and I indicated it he was more interested in getting off work early and collecting a $100 fee. (His words not mine.) Must be nice to be the President's son. Jessup was rude, unprofessional, discourteous, and if Jessup Sr, condones this behavior its amazing they are still in business. Avoid like the plague.

Remodeling your home is one of the biggest – and most expensive! – decisions a homeowner makes. When my husband and I finally decided to take the plunge and remodel our kitchen and master bathroom we started out by getting referrals from friends and relatives and attending the Lansing Home Show at MSU. After narrowing the list of contractors down to a manageable five, we began the process of talking specifics with each. Everyone we consulted was friendly, professional, and competitively priced but when we got to McDaniels and met Nicole Dagen we knew our search had come to an end! From the moment we met, Nicole shared our excitement and truly listened to us. Not only is she a gifted designer and consummate professional, she’s a wonderful person who obviously cares about her clients and is genuinely invested in her work. I can say unequivocally that it was Nicole’s skilled guidance that transformed our ideas into sophisticated reality and we feel very blessed to have had her in our corner. With Nicole representing McDaniels and Dave Feldpausch as liaison with their partner Granite Construction, I don’t think we could have asked for a better experience. Our project manager, Jeremy Craig, was absolutely awesome, stopping by regularly and checking in via text. He answered all our questions, monitored progress, and always had his finger on the pulse of the project. To McDaniel’s credit, everyone we met along the way was friendly and helpful – and the work crews all cleaned up after themselves (YAY!!) – special kudos to Allen and James who were especially wonderful!!! So, here’s the bottom line – if you’re considering remodeling your home put McDaniels at the top of your list, you really need go no further!!!

McDaniels uses Granite construction to install the items you buy in the store unless you have hired someone else. Granite is a disaster. The workman have no clue what quality construction is or how to accomplish that objective. McDaniels just orders parts and they are not very good at it. They aren't much more than a middle man. They don't ensure you get the right parts or good parts. They just order the parts and when they are bad parts or wrong parts and your project is held up while waiting for replacement parts they just say oh well. Don't expect updates unless YOU call and ask. And don't expect to be treated like a valued customer unless you are spending 50k or more. I always felt like I was bothering them with my business. I know Granite assigned infrequently used or rarely used pros because my 20K job was not worth their best people. I know this because when they had to fix all their mistakes they said " it will be done right this time ; we're using are best people this time. They all change an exciting change to are home that we had saved for a long time to be able to afford into a nightmare. I still feel I'll when I think of the experience.

Positive & negative

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Initially I was very happy, they had a nice showroom and the lady helping us (Jenna) was very pleasant. We had a contractor who recommended McDaniels, so McDaniels also had our price range for the project. This is where is gets rocky. The tile we picked out was way over our budget, okay so we pick something else. No problem, they come and measure and plan for the layout. It then takes them over 2 months to get the tile in. When the tile arrives our contractor brings it to our house. We have a one bathroom home, the builders had to tear it out, we expected to be in a hotel for 7-10 days per the builders estimate. When we arrived home the first night after demolition, before instalation, we find that it is the wrong tile. McDaniels not only ordered the wrong tile, when it arrived they did not check to make sure the correct tile had arrived, before calling our contractors. They had the right information written down, but somehow managed to not only order it wrong, but not bother to check the order upon arrival. I called McDaniels immediately and had to wait almost a full day before a call was returned. When they finally called back they were not apologetic or initially helpful. I was told it was the distributor's error, instead of them taking responsibility they passed the blame. When asked to reorder it, I was told it would take at least 3 weeks. Our contractors called them and told them this was not an option and a rush needed to be put on it. McDaniels tried to eek their way out of any responsibility. We finally received our tile about 2 weeks later, still not the color we picked out, but similar enough. Our remodel is to help sell our house. When our contractor asked about our shower door we told them we had picked it out and ordered it with the tile. Jenna at McDaniels helped us with this as well. As it turns out, McDaniels never ordered the shower door and when we went back to order it, we found out it too was over our budget. She had all of this information at the very beginning, we were sent there with a budget for tile and a shower door. Not only were both over the limit, we were only told of the tile being to much. The orders that were placed were wrong, their was no quality check, and NO responsibility taken by McDaniels. Even when the errors we obviously theirs, they tried to push the blame to someone else and were not willing to accept responsibility, apologize or try to help correct the problems in a timely manner. A simple I'm sorry, or we screwed up, would have helped. Needless to say we ended up in our hotel (3 adults, a 3 yr old and a 13 month old) for over 3 weeks, because someone didn't take the time to check an order.

Would NEVER us this company again. Would Never recommend them to anyone. We spent approx. $47,000 on the Grabill custom cabinets.This does not include the cost to install them with my own contractor. Problem - The custom range hood was the wrong size! We requested that Mr. Jessup come and assess the situation and hopefully offer his recommendations to help us. His advise was to either 1) Buy a smaller exhaust fan insert to accommodate the range hood or order a new range hood from Grabill. Since we didn't want to hold up our kitchen any longer, we took it upon ourselves to order a smaller hood insert and pay the contractor ourselves to fix the situation. Waited 3 months and never heard from Mr. Jessup. He NEVER offered to help us with this error by Grabill/McDaniels. In fact, I had to write to him after waiting for 3 months to request reimbursement for their error. Three weeks after I sent the certified letter, he finally phoned me and said that he would be sending out a check to me. I am still waiting to hear from them as to when they are going to pick up the original hood insert which was too large.

We had hoped they could start the project while we were away for two weeks, but getting the permits, equipment, and supplies, as well as lining up the subcontractors to do the work didn't allow that to happen. The project started the day after we got back. We didn't have a sink, stove, microwave, or dishwasher for two months. However, they did install the new refrigerator within five days. Be prepared with a backup plan--where you're going to do dishes, how you're going to cook or make coffee, etc. The individuals doing the work showed up when scheduled--within two days. The men putting in the gas line were initially scheduled to install the line on an extremely cold day, so that was put off for two days, but they did come and install the new line for the stove and it didn't disrupt the rest of the schedule. The people who came here to work were wonderful! They were respectful and helpful and considerate. They were absolutely top notch professionals. They knew their jobs well. The qualify of the work is outstanding! The project foreman kept us informed of what was happening when throughout the project. We also had a printout so we knew who was coming when to do what. We kept this on the island counter so other workers would know what was happening when. The project foreman also called us frequently with information, and he was very prompt at returning calls. The project lasted a few days longer than projected because some cabinet doors and drawer fronts came back the wrong size or the wrong edge. When the correct order came in, they came out promptly to put those on. This was the last thing that had to be done. I'd already reorganized the cabinets and drawers, so not having two doors wasn't critical to me. I was able to use the kitchen while waiting for the doors, and the "old" drawer fronts were on the drawers, so that wasn't a problem. I highly recommend McDaniel's if you're remodeling your kitchen. They listen to what you want and make appropriate recommendations. They do the job right!

McDaniel's is a mixed bag of good and bad. We cannot recommend them however because they did not stand behind their work when issues arose. Dave, the designer, helped us make some good choices, but he also led us astray on other choices. His lack of knowledge of how some of those products would work (or not work) in our bath led to issues later on during installation. For example, we were led to believe that extra body sprays would work in our shower, but the plumber could not install them so they could actually be used. It's been 2 years and I have only used them once. We were assured that the fan would be "whisper quiet," but it is noisier than the one that was replaced. Also, we cannot use the fan and have the floor heater on at the same time without tripping the GFCI on the heater control. The electrician replaced the control, but it still trips. The response after that was simply that we were wrong about any connection to the fan, and that they didn't know what caused it. Some of their subs are excellent (drywall, plumbing), but others needed supervision. Mario, the tiler, can do excellent work, but he also makes mistakes when he tries to work too fast. He always seemed to be concerned more about getting to his next job than finishing our job. The project manager, Steve, was a no show. Even though many issues arose during our project, I never spoke to Steve on the phone and never saw him at our house. We would leave messages on his cell phone, and a day or two later he would leave a message on our land line. I think he knew this was a way to avoid actually speaking to us. In the weeks following completion of our project, we had problems with the new toilet that had been installed. The owner, Don, became involved and did not immediately stand behind his products or work. He dragged it out for a weeks while he claimed to be checking with Kohler for a replacement. Ultimately, they replaced the toilet, but not without a lot of time and effort wasted on our part. We did not expect a project like this to go without glitches, but it was very disappointing that McDaniel's did not always stand behind its work.

Designer (Charlotte) was excellent. Came to our house and measured everything. Gave us great ideas on new designs and what's in style. We ordered cabinets and granite countertop. All items were custom and Charlotte helped us through every step of the process. I am very satisfied with the service, pricing, and quality.

It went very well. The designer (Julie) was fantastic - in expertise and communication skills. She spent a lot of time with me, and listened well. She offered many insights, that only an experienced professional would know. Julie's suggestions were "right-on", and very helpful. Together we chose cabinets, counter-top, tile, paint, and accessories that worked beautifully. A bonus was that Julie worked closely with my contractor, so I didn't have to be a "middle man". One challenge was that the normal showroom hours are not conducive to a working person's schedule. Julie worked around this by staying late for our appointment. This project went over-budget, due to choices I made. Fortunately, the end results are very satisfying. From my experience, the quality of McDaniel's products and service are both excellent.

There were problems with them being accurate with what we ordered. It didn't have the right drawer closures. The base cabinet came in and it was a wrong color. The trim cabinets almost looked like it was unfinished. They were very nice to deal with and had a lot of different materials.

Horrible experience. They didn't show up the day they were supposed to and when they finally did come to install, they completely left out an entire area of the floor. Save yourself the stress.

Design was very good. Designer very patient with multiple choices ans decision making. Felt price was very high. Probably our fault for trusting them and not price shopping. Price of granite outrageous. We found our own and saved more than half. Many mistakes in ordering, difficulty getting orders corrected in a timely manner, putting work on hold. (No arguments with McDaniels--just getting the suppliers to respond quickly) I would like to use them again but the price seemed too high and their sub contractors were very high also.

Would I do it again? No. Never. Run.

I don't think they took me seriously at first because I don't exactly dress or look llike someone who has a lot of money. The sales rep took me directly to their cheapest line of cabinetry (Aristocraft) . i told him I wanted midline or better and we went from there. I met with him again to go over the cabinets i wanted and the Placement in the kitchen. (they came out previously - measured and took pictures) We are working with an existing kitchen so there isn't a LOT of room to work with, BUT the other company found me 1 more foot of space, knocked out one of the existing walls to make my snack bar a larger semi island with the cabinets hung from the ceiling and replace older cabinets with newer pulluts and a nice new functional pantry. McDaniels didnt SUGGEST ANYTHING. they basically showed me a computer drawing of my kitchen and asked me what I wanted to do. So, I basically had to design it myself. The reason we were redoing the kitchen in the first place was to get new fresh ideas. McDanield didn't offer any. Plus he had pegged in the Aristocraft cabinets and not the ones we told them we wanted. The other company and McDaniels both deal with the same midline cabinet company so I knew what cabinets I could get and where they would fit, yet EVERY suggestion I got from the other company that I presented to McDaniels, got shot down. "We can't do that" or "Oh, that won't work there" and so on. So, in the end, I ended up with the EXACT same layout as my original kitchen and a pantry that was going to be even LESS functional than the one i have now. Of course, since you don't give mcdaniels a depost, they won't give u a quote or give you copies of the layouts you decide on. The 2nd meeting was very fast, he gave me rough estimates of the counter top i wanted and a rough estimate of the labor and cabinets (nothing relating to plumbing or lighting yet). BOTTOM LINE: I went with the other company. The labor from the other company was 1/2 the cost of McDaniels and even though the overall project was similar in cost ( other co. a little cheaper) I was getting about 6 additional cabinets (with glass)a whole new stylish look and an additional ceiling to floor wall hutch (solid wood) that McDaniels didn't even think of to suggest for a dead area in our kitchen. plus they were pushing the dura ceramic floor which i researched and found many ppl complained about! Cabinets are ordered and project is pending for march.

When I went to their show room, I was helped immediately. We talked about my project, and they have been communicating very well with me by email and phone. It was a big relief to have their designer help us with all the choices. They understood exactly what I wanted, and they were very good to work with what is popular right now.

The sales consultant was knowledgeable, friendly, and experienced. The installers were great. Never a late or missed appointment, always neat, professional and top notch work. I was a little worried about the potential for leaks in a tile shower, but there are so many layers of protection built into the shower floor that I expect it will outlive me. They always put down floor protection and cleaned up completely. Great job and really nice people to deal with. There was a small problem with ordering and installing a custom shower door that took a couple of months to resolve, but they did resolve it and it's fine. I'd recommend them and use them again.