COFFEE TALK KITCHENS

They did a great job. They knocked down a wall and gave me an open kitchen layout - what a difference! When I went to sell the home, the buyers commented that the kitchen is why they bought the house.

I specifically was looking for a design/build firm in an effort to make the project as simple and hassle-free as possible. I?ve worked with a number of design/build firms in the past on six figure projects in my home, so I have some knowledge of how the experience should go. I should have realized from the start the project was going to be difficult. While the Dynamic and Coffee Talk said they were familiar with our town and the permitting process, the permit from the town was extremely late. A good deal of this was the pickiness of the town (which a number of times before the project was started I had mentioned to the builder that they had a history of being difficult), but the permit application was put in 1 week prior to when they wanted to start, while we had determine (and signed a contract with them) 3 months beforehand. So the application could have been submitted to the town at that time (3 months before start date). In an effort to make up for lost time, the floor was refinished (prior to all the cabinets being installed) during the down time while waiting for the town permit. My questions of ?should this really be done in this order? (ie typically you would finish the floor last to avoid any damage to it), I was assured the floor would be fine, however, ?measure twice/cut once? (which every carpenter will tell you) wasn?t applied and the floor repair missed holes from the old dishwasher because the toe kick on the new island wasn?t accounted for. Cabinet delivery was short by one cabinet ? no one was onsite to accept/count cabinetry ? but even that didn?t matter because the cabinets sat in our garage for a week and still no inventory was done. They didn?t find this out until cabinets were 75% installed. Although one cabinet was still missing (a base cabinet) ? delivery and installation of the granite countertop occurred. I was told, the missing cabinet will be slipped under the granite at a later date ? sound correct to anyone? So yeah, there?s a scratch on the floor where it was slipped into place. The straw that broke the camel?s back was using a custom hood manufacturer that Coffee Talk recommended. We had initial designs configured and needed to get final drawings and material samples. I was assured that we had time to get these final things completed because construction was still ongoing. Only later was I to be told the wait time on the hood was typically 8 weeks. While this is from another vendor (one which Coffee Talksays they will no longer work with as a result of this job), one would expect a design/build firm(s) would coordinate this and make certain it was handled in a timely manner. Although everyone says they will expedite it ? really no one has control over what Rangecraft does. After a number of screaming matches, the hood did arrive earlier than 8 weeks. All these headaches are the main reason I wanted a design/build firm to do the work, so that I could have just watched from the sidelines and things could smoothly be done, step-by-step as they were suppose to be. Using the combination of Coffee Talk Kitchens and Dynamic Contracting, this definitely did not happen. The design aspect of the project was smooth and helpful as there are many many decisions to be made and all along the way, the designer took her time carefully going through different samples and cabinet looks. The worker onsite seemed very careful and quality oriented. That said, I would not overall recommend these firms to people who are looking for a design/build contractor.