Lake Street Design Studio

Renovation started out great.  We loved the design that Lake Street Design came up with.  They hired the general contractor.  Many days he just failed to show up.  I would have to call the studio and ask if he was coming.  Then the shoddy work started.  The inlaid marble tiles were put down in the wrong configuration even AFTER thoroughly going over how it was to go down AND marking it on the floor. The contractor stated that he thought it would look better a certain way and said "the designers don't always get it right".  I told him I really liked the way the designers drew it out and wanted it to stay that way.   Still it went in wrong.  I had to call the studio immediately and have him come back that night to take it up before it dried and get the tiles down properly.  He was at our house until after 9 pm that night.  Really inconvenient.  Then after evaluating the "new" inlaid tile configuration, it looked like a kindergarten project.  The tiles were crooked and very uneven.  It was a mess.  I had to call the studio again and the designer came out first thing in the morning to see for herself.  She agreed it was sloppy and, again, it needed to be removed.  At this point I suggested that we get a "real" tile person but was assured by both the designer and the contractor that he "could do it.  (They) will make it right. (I'll) be happy".  Foolishly, I agreed to let him continue. Then the cabinets were installed - three times.  First they were installed up against the left wall and not centered on the light fixture.  The contractor said that was how it was drawn.  I remember thinking "really?  You wanted to instill your own design because the designers "don't always get it right" but you can't see that a cabinet is centered on a light fixture?"  Weird.  Then he moved it to the right - too far. Finally, on the third try he got it centered.  There are three holes in the back of my custom cabinets.  A false back had to be installed to cover all the holes for the plumbing.  Then there were excessive scratches on the face of drawers and doors and new faces had to be ordered.  While the contractor was putting up ceiling tiles, one or more fell onto the tub and chipped it.  This was brought to our attention by our plumber, not the contractor.  I also told the contractor that some of the ceiling tiles were crooked and not flush or flat to the ceiling and was told "it would be fine".  It's not fine, they look like they are falling off.  The marble threshold to the shower broke and this was covered up with a cloth and was discovered by myself, the designer and the glass installation man.  Tiles on the back wall of the shower had to be redone because the contractor measured wrong.  The tub had to be reordered because the contractor broke a huge piece off of the rim when moving it.  It was full of the plumbing hardware and he didn't bother to take them out when moving it and it was so heavy the rim broke.  The contractor said it was cracked to begin with but it wasn't.  The shower bench wasn't sloped properly and water pools.  The backing of tiles is exposed on most tile edges instead of being sanded down. Many tiles were installed broken.  Caulk was used instead of grout in at least two places (and that is very noticeable). Grout lines throughout the bathroom are inconsistent and many tiles are crooked and uneven.  The designer and also measured one wall incorrectly resulting in a bigger shower which they said we made the change, but it was because it was measured incorrectly from the start.   He also painted the ceiling without first taping and mudding a seam in the ceiling.  Really shows.   So the bathroom is finally finished and the whole thing  is a mess.  We had the designers come back and look at the finished room and pointed out the bad tile work and seam in the ceiling.  The designers and my husband and I agreed to seek out industry "experts" on tiling for their opinion.  Lake Street Design brought in a brother-in-law of the designer.  We brought in 3 tile people, 2 work exclusively with marble and granite and one of which is a speciality craftsman with CTEF certification. In other words, we found "experts" and Lake Street Design brought in family.  Did I mention that the whole bathroom is marble?  This was supposed to be our "retreat spa-like bathroom".  Anyway, all three of our experts thought the job was mediocre at best and would not leave a job/install like that.  One even said the installer should throw away his tools!!  Even the plumbers and my cleaning help (who both work around tile a lot) thought the quality was not good.  At this point. Lake Street Design started to not return my calls.  Their suggested solution was to remove and replace a "couple of bad tiles" AND  the SAME contractor would do the work!  My husband and I felt we had given the designers and this contractor too many chances to make it right and felt this was not an option at this point.  We contacted a lawyer and Lake Street Design suggested mediation.  I have timelines and pictures of everything that happened and we finally came to an agreement where Lake Street Design waived our final bill and had to provide all new marble tiles, wallpaper, under floor heating pad and rock for the shower.  It will still cost us more to fix this bathroom than what our outstanding bill was.  Lake Street Design should have paid to have the bathroom redone properly by a competent contractor.  It was only after we were into the project that we found out that the contractor was the husband of one of the designers at Lake Street Design.  It was not a good renovation and I would never recommend Lake Street Design to anyone because they did not stand behind their work.  One of the designers said she would be proud to have that bathroom.  She has low standards because that bathroom quality was terrible.