IDE Structural Engineers

Great work. Marcel arrived on time and performed a complete inspection of our home. He provided a detailed analysis of our home and the issues we want to address with a contractor. I am very satisfied with the work and detail that was put into our plan.

Marcel came out to the house and sorted through the different areas of the current space that exists so he could create plans for what we want to do with this space. After he spent about 45 minutes with my contractor and I we each received an e-mail, approximately 5 -6 days post visit, of the plans he put together. A hard copy followed in the mail a few days later. With great review and thought, we changed our plan and went back to Marcel and asked him to revise it. After a week we received an e-mail with the new plans as well a hard copy in the mail. He has been open to speaking with my contractor to answer some questions about the plans. He was very professional and straight to the point about things. He is extremely knowledgable and has helped us tremendously. We highly recommend him to anyone looking for a structural engineer.

I called Intelligent Design Engineering due to the wonderful reviews I saw on Angie's list and to my pleasant surprise they were all right. I was amazed by Mike's helpfulness in answering my questions and providing me with his thoughts based on what I described. Ultimately I didn't have to hire his services because he was able to set my mind at ease and explained to me that the report I received wasn't necessarily below expectations. He could have suggested that we hire them to go out and re-perform the inspection but because of his honesty and integrity he saved me hundreds of dollars. If ever in the future I need engineering work I know where I'll go. Thanks Mike for all your help and patience!!!

Arrived on time. Professional appearance and attitude. Quickly got to work analyzing the situation. Gave an initial recommendation but provided the official report within several days after further reviewing the options at the office. Would utilize their services in the future.

I hired Intelligent Design Engineering (Marcel) solely on the positive reviews from Angie's List and other Internet sources. It wasn't a mistake!! My husband and I decided it was time to finish our basement; however, we wanted/needed a structural engineer to evaluate our home for two projects: removing a load-bearing wall and changing the shape of my wall to allow a circular staircase to replace some shop built stairs before we started. After searching the Internet and joining Angie's List, we chose Intelligent Design Engineering to conduct the evaluation. Initially, I communicated with Marcel by email. He responded quickly by email within 24 hours and followed up with a telephone call. After we worked out the details over the phone, Marcel arrived at our home a couple of days later to make his assessment, look at our builder's plans and take measurements of the items we were concerned about (fortunately, I had a copy of the plans from our builder so it made the process that much easier). After he completed his evaluation, he explained what options we had available and his recommendation to complete our two projects. He even found a discrepancy between our builder's plans and what the builder had constructed in the basement, which I will need to work out with the builder. Marcel answered all of my questions and emailed me a copy of his report the following day. Hiring Intelligent Design Engineering was a good decision and well worth the money. Overall I had a great customer experience -- rapid response, reasonably-priced services and a structural engineer that is very knowledgeable, thorough and detail-oriented. Let our positive reviews from Angie's List speak for themselves. I guarantee you won't be disappointed by your choice!!

Marcel Papineau with Intelligent Designs Engineering is one of the best in Charlotte in respect structural engineering services to the Real Estate Sales Community. He is responsive, timely, accurate, and fair. Marcel not only makes observations on the state of the particular item(s) in questions, but will provide a design for the issue to be fixed by a general contractor. He will then inspect the work done and make sure it is done correctly. He provides the inspection for your records and in turn for the homeowner so they have the information for the next transaction. I would highly recommend their services. Amy Rawson Rawson Realty, LLC Charlotte, NC 28209 704-622-7892

Marcel went our of his was to fit us into his schedule. Although we are building outside of Charlotte, he came and spent as much time as needed. He suggested that the builder should also be present for our inspection so that we were all on the same page. The inspection was thorough and several additions were recommended. Marcel worked closely with our builder to ensure that all of the recommendations were completed to his specifications. Once completed, he followed up with a letter to confirm this. Marcel was reliable, professional and responsive at all times. I would highly recommend him. If I ever need his professional services again, I will not hesitate to call him.

Mr. Papineau was very professional, courteous, and knowledgeable; he thoroughly inspected the house from crawl space to attic, reviewed his findings with me, and delivered a comprehensive report with action items. I feel well informed and confident that he identified all major issues and gave us a path to resolution. We would definitely use him in the future.

Marcel was totally professional, courteous, informative. (I wish there were A+'s on the Ratings) His recommendations were different from the foundation repair company's and will save us about $1,000 in unnecessary cost. Marcel's turn-around time was above and beyond considering the Memorial Day holiday. I would use him again and recommend Intelligent Design Engineering to anyone.

I found Intelligent Design and wonderful glowing recommendations of Marcel on Angie's list after I noticed small cracks in drywall and doors sticking on doorjams. Phoned and made appt. with Marcel. He promptly returned my call and showed up on time for our scheduled on-site analysis of the issue at my house. Marcel just now left my house after his thorough exam and evaluation. I am more impressed than I hoped to be by his overall knowledge, demeanor, obvious experience, and technical expertise. Marcel observed the evidence I showed him on the walls and doorjams inside the house. He made notes and did measurements and noticed even more visual evidence that I had not yet noticed. He suspected what the cause was by observing the visual evidence and he then went into the attic to examine the roof trusses and then went into the crawl space under the house to examine the beams and other support. His verbal explanation was clear and comforting to me concerning the proposed solutions. He made a detailed drawing with notes as to solutions in the attic and underneath in the crawl space. He recommended his personal "go-to" man (as he calls him) to do the recommended repairs and support solutions. At this point I cannot say enough good things about my experience with Marcel. Even though this will all cost me something to get it solved, I can honestly say that it was a pleasure dealing with Marcel. He is definitely on my "A List", and I will call upon him again if need be. Kudos to Intelligent Design for having him on their team.

We had cracks in our drywall, squeaking floors and door jams out of line. We spent $6,000 3 years ago to fix the problem, but to no avail. The cracks came back, the floors continued to squeak and the doors did not open and close porperly. After Macel's recommendations had been implemented, the problems are gone and for 25% of the cost we paid last time.

After receiving multiple conflicting opinions and estimates from foundation repair companies, we decided to have a structural engineer inspect the property. We were under a tight deadline due to other repairs being done on the house. We contacted them and spoke with Marcel Papineau. He originally said it would be three days before they could come out, but called back later the same day to schedule a next day visit. Upon inspection he indicated there was no evidence of foundation cracks or settling and indicated the exterior brick had probably just shifted. He recommended repairing and monitoring the area for future movement. If future movement occurs he recommends having a lentil repaired/replaced. The foundation companies wanted to install helical piers under the fireplace for >$3000.00. Marcel showed me measurements taken with a level and it all made sense that the foundation or structure of the house is not compromised due to foundation or structural problems. I highly recommend them. Marcel was professional and prompt. Intelligent Design does not perform the actual repairs so they do not have a product or additional services they are trying to push onto us.

We noticed several cracks appearing in our walls and above molding. Marcel was very thorough, friendly and professional. Gave us accurate advise & recommended great contractors to help with the repairs. He answered questions and followed up even after the report was done.

After being told that our home needed a structural inspection by a general contractor, we contacted Marcel Papineau. The initial e-mail was sent Saturday morning. Marcel called us by Saturday night. He was comfortable communicating by text, as that works best in my busy schedule. By Sunday afternoon, we had scheduled an inspection by that Friday. Marcel was on time, professional, and very thorough. We chose him over other engineers because the cost was going to be the same for any of them, but his deliverable was so much better. The detailed instructions and drawing for the repairs is easy to read and completely explains all of the needed repairs. The report was in my in-box in a week. I was able to e-mail it to the contractor the same day to start requesting quotes. The contractor stated that he prefers Marcel's reports to others as they are very detailed and easy to follow with the diagram he provides. Intelligent Design is the must use Structural Engineer. You will pay the same price for any of the highest rated engineers, so contact Marcel to get the best product for what you are paying for.

Easy to contact via Angie's List and their professionally done website - the videos he has on AL and on his website were informative and helpful. He knew we were operating under time constraints as we were considering a real estate purchase offer and worked to accommodate our schedule and needs. Wonderful experience. I HOPE I never have to meet with him again, but if I ever DO need a structural engineer, he'll be on speed dial.

Chad Ritter inspected the house and prepared a professional engineer assessment report. They were knowledgeable and prepared a thorough report.

Marcel came to the property to inspect areas the general inspector submitted with his report. IDE did a thorough drawing of the exterior and the interior, performed a very detailed inspection of the entire house and spent a long time under the house due to the settling, cracking in the walls, uneven floors, doors not shutting properly, countertops sinking, etc. IDE provided a very thorough report within the time frame we needed (inspected Monday, delivered the report by Friday) so that we were able to provide the short sale representative an answer as to whether we would be buying the house or not. I would highly recommend Marcel and feel very confident in the report he provided and the amount of time and the thoroughness he spent with his inspection.

Bricks were settling out on the side of our home, so they ram-jacked them back into place.

He was wonderful! He gave me all of the recommendations of everything I needed to do and referred companies. He continued to answer emails even after he sent the report out for any additional questions we had. We really liked him!

Marcel is amazing. He is very professional. He was prompt, respectful and genuinely a nice guy. He had to do a lot of the evaluation in the rain and he was a real pro about it. Marcel talked to me and made recommendations that he would make if it were his own home so I really trusted his advice. I highly recommend hiring a structural engineer before doing any foundation or structural work and I wouldn't hire anyone but Marcel. The foundation companies often try to sell you more than you need. Marcel does the inspection and the report. He doesn't do the work so he doesn't have a vested interest in what he recommends. We have to put 2 helical piers below our chimney and one below the corner of our garage. There are two other areas that may need piers but Marcel said he wouldn't make the investment now and just to watch for any more moment. I really appreciated his honesty! We found Marcel on Angie's List but a contractor working on the house next door also recommended him. I don't think it was a coincidence. Marcel has a very good reputation.

My recent home inspection revealed buckling on a basement wall. The inspection had us freaked out and the inspector advised we needed a structural engineer to come out and inspect the issue and prescribe a solution. We thought that it was quite possible that we would need to excavate outside of the basement and/or have helical anchor systems installed, which would have cost us a fortune. Fortunately I found Intelligent Design here on Angie's List. I was also pleased to have made contact with Marcel Papineau, who was mentioned in most of the Angie's List reviews. Recognizing that we are located in Statesville, Marcel was very careful to ensure that we knew what to expect and how he would proceed with the inspection. Marcel came out on the agreed upon date and time and conducted a thorough analysis of the basement and a detached garage we have that has its own set of issues (a wall is separating at the back of the garage). Marcel was not as concerned with the cracking as the home inspector due the size and age of the cracks. He prescribed a couple of carbon fiber straps on one of the basement walls and re-pointing on the wall that we were most concerned with. He recognized that we were anxious for our report and had it completed in a few days. The report was thorough and complete. We are now looking for a mason to come out and complete his recommendations. It should be a much cheaper job than we expected. Marcel was very accomodating, friendly and helpful and we would definitely recommend him to friends. We were also able to utilize the coupon that was on Angie's List.

We received a detailed analysis of the problems that our prior contractor had caused and a detailed assessment of what needed to be done to fix the problems.

Intelligent Design is great, as is Marcel! They were very helpful, and professional. Their analysis was right on track, as was their estimated cost to fix the problem. I would definitely use them again, and highly recommend them!!! Thanks

The inspection was done in a compete and very professional manner.

He was good and thorough. We were happy with his work.