Island Design Homes, Inc.

We were really pleased with the work done by Mike Rinkel and Island Design Homes. He provided us with a detailed cost sheet and timeline and stuck to both. The quality of the work was excellent and we really appreciated how accessible and trustworthy Mike was - if any issue arose, he told us immediately and came up with options quickly, and explained any cost differentials. We were under a deadline for when we had to move in, and he kept to his timeline and finished the job right on schedule, even a few days early. He and his team were cheerful, professional, and did a great job cleaning up on a nightly basis and at the completion of the job. We felt very secure with Mike and will use him again on any future work. We highly recommend!

He kept us updated as we were in L.A. when he did the work. He was excellent and everyone on his staff is great as well, and we have continued to use him. We would recommend him to anyone and everyone.

I marked Mr. Rinkel and quot;Fairand quot; on Price because it started out that way, but it cost me way over the estimate to correct the problems Mr. Rinkel caused. I marked Mr. Rinkel and quot;Badand quot; on Quality, instead of and quot;Lousyand quot;, because some things seemed okay at first but developed later. See below . . I marked Mr. Rinkel and quot;Badand quot; on Responsiveness, instead of and quot;Lousyand quot; , because he was responsive early on. See below. I marked Mr. Rinkel and quot;Badand quot; on Punctuality instead of and quot;Lousyand quot; because he did show up initially. See below. I marked Mr. Rinkel and quot;Badand quot; on and quot;Professionalismand quot; instead of and quot;Lousyand quot; because he was professional initially. See below. The home cost me $250,000 plus. It started out well. Mr. Rinkel constantly referred to himself and his company as one of the and quot;good guysand quot;. He lives just down the street from me. Since I' was approaching senior citizen status, which I now have achieved, I was looking for someone I could rely on for future handyman projects as well. Initially, my concerns were addressed. Then there were multiple issues/concerns. Some were addressed, some were not adequately addressed, and some were not addressed at all. See below for examples. Examples: (1) After hardwood floor varnishing was complete, the hardwood floors had many and quot;dulland quot; areas and after much consultation with his floor re-finisher, who claimed he could see no problem, I had to pay extra to get a uniform varnish finish. (2) After I pointed out that an entire upstairs wall was in the wrong position, Mr. Rinkel was willing to correct it. (3) Many of the Portico composite deck boards were split at the ends because they were drilled/screwed closer to the ends than the manufacturer recommended. After and quot;very many discussionsand quot;, Mr. Rinkel returned and replaced some of the more easily assessible split deck boards, but not all of them. (4) Around the time of the Occupancy Certificate, we noticed cupping/buckling of oak hardwood floors in office/bedroom. I tried to convince Mr. Rinkel that it was water damage we were seeing as opposed to 'normal drying' which he was proposing. It wasn't until he placed his fingers in the water under the sink in the adjacent bathroom that he relented. He did replace the extensively damaged hardwood floor x2 because the first re-installation was not satisfactory even according to him. (5) But, it required paid formal mediation to address my mold concerns in that bathroom and adjacent walls. Mr. Rinkel took a great deal of convincing to acknowledge that the and quot;visible black/green growthand quot; in the walls was indeed mold and that the de-lamination of the vanity and black/geen growth at the bottom of the bathroom vanity was the result of the leak. We had to go to paid mediation to resolve that and had to call in a specialist. (6) About the same time of the Occupancy Certificate date, we noticed cupping/buckling jn the living room oak hardwood floors. After multiple emails and conversations, in comes his floor expert again with a diagnosis of questionable normal processes. Even as I watched water profusely pour in from rain on the hardwood and floors/tiles, Mr. Rinkel's ultimate solution was caulking. Really? Ask your contractor, building inspector, and insurance adjustor if that works and run as fast as you can you can if he/she says and quot;yesand quot;. Mediation resulted in caulking by Mr. Rinkel, but after more water poured onto my hardwood living room floors, I requested mediation again. By that time, Mr. Rinkel apparently had washed his hands of me. I had to hire another contractor to properly flash all the sliders and windows to the cost of $8000+. (7) For some reason, I could not get the information, that the manufacturer requires, from Mr. Rinkel I needed for certain warranties and repeated requests fell to deaf ears. Until this day, I do not have them. How simple a request is that? I'm hoping I never need them. (8) Mr. Rinkel literally told me one day that he did not want to do any more work for me. I received none of the one year warranty typically offered and promised in our contract, not to mention resolution of the already identified problems. (9) We went to arbitration because our contract required it. It cost big dollars$$$. I didn't recoup as much as much as I spent after legal fees. Beware. There's more but you have enough to make an informed decision.

We engaged Michael Rinkel of Island Design Homes, Inc., to replace the windows, to re-cut new matching trim as needed. He provided recommendations based on our existing construction and re-used our trim as much as possible. He also stained the windows and trim before installation in order to minimize the smells. The installation was done perfectly within no more than about two days and considering the New England weather, this was quick-enough to avoid the temperatures. The locations (one in second floor bedroom) were kept very clean and all the waste was removed. They did a superb job and we have complete confidence in their workmanship.

Mike met talked with our kitchen cabinet designer, met with us, gave us options for various changes, and helped us select doors, windows, sink,and range hood. I had pretty specific ideas of what I wanted and Mike and his crew made sure to match my requests.. Mike was always reachable if I had a question or concern. The work was completed in about a month, and went beyond our hopes. We still love our beautiful kitchen to pieces!