Village Designs Remodeling

I hired to Gene Chernay /Village Designs to remodel my kitchen in June 2018. My only regret is that I did not take the time to post a positive formal review sooner. However, since I have had experience with a number of different home improvement and home repair contractors and services since then, I have come to deeply appreciate Gene’s professionalism in comparison to others. This was a really big investment for me and a really big deal. As single mother and sole provider for my family, there were lean years where I had to live with things in disrepair because the money just wasn’t there. Once that changed, my daughter was in college and all my money went there. Finally, I was in a position to invest in my home but it was scary for me. It took me a long to time pull the trigger on signing a contract with Gene and he was patient and very professional in following up with me without pressuring me. Here is my honest take: · He was always kind and courteous, even during moments when I felt stressed or frustrated. · His tear out crew and tile people were fast and efficient! · His carpenters and electricians were a joy to have in my home and I definitely do not feel that way about every contractor or service technician who has come through my home. · Everyone picked up after themselves (trash, tools and equipment) daily and was respectful of me and my home (believe it or not, some contractors just don’t) and they did not break or damage anything (and that is not true of all contractors.) · I have since used his plumber and had positive experiences. · I have used an AC company he recommended and had positive experiences. · I wish I had used his painter to paint my exterior but I made a mistake on that decision and went with someone different for which I will post a separate review. · His fabricator did a stunning job on my kitchen counters! · I followed his recommendations on sourcing all new appliances from a business that he had a long time relationship with and that worked out really well. · He left every detail down to the selection of grout color up to me with his guidance and suggestions as needed. · He gave me a list of decisions I needed to make as we went along and helped me prioritize them. There were a couple of minor concerns with the cabinets that could have been done differently, but in the end, they are absolutely beautiful and I am so happy with my new kitchen and the way I was treated! I will definitely hire him again if he hasn’t retired by the time I am ready to do my master bathroom.

gene remodeled my master bathroom, my guest bathroom , and my kids' jack and jill bathroom. he first did my master bathroom, and i was so pleased with the work that i hired him to do the other two bathrooms in my house. gene pays a lot of attention to detail and tailors all the work to his clients' exact specifications. his crews are punctual and do great work. i would not hesitate to recommend him.

Gene Cherrnay was easy to work with and a true professional. We are very pleased with our new master bathroom.

Took longer than scheduled, but very satisfied with work. Extended schedule did not result in problem.

The work was extensive and the owner (Gene Cherrnay) managed the entire remodel. He did the bid, the floorplans, the crew assignments and the supplies purchase. The tile work was done by Luis, a real artist, and the job went very well. The new bathroom is outstanding! It might just be the best bathroom in the DFW area. Thank you to Gene and his Village Designs company.

With his many years of experience, Gene Cherrnay was the perfect person to remodel our outdated kitchen. He listened, visualized and guided us to achieve the look we wanted in a new kitchen. Thanks to Gene's planning our project was totally completed in three weeks. The scheduling of the contractors was precisely coordinated so that each component of the remodel was completed like clockwork. Gene or his assistant, Enrique, promptly responded to our every question or concern. Gene personally resolved every issue to our satisfaction. It was a genuine pleasure to work with Gene and Enrique. We love our new kitchen and highly recommend Village Designs.

Gene came onsite and reviewed our current Master Bathroom.. He listened (very well) to our wishes as we described our ideal bathroom. He created a rendering of the new bathroom layout, and provide various samples for the material. We selected the design and plan he proposed.. He worked with us very closely as we selected the Tile for the floor, the Tile for the shower, the accents for the tile, the Marble for the Countertops, the new bathroom fixtures. Gene and his assistant Dan are extremely professional, and customer focused. They were both very prompt for all meetings and work that was scheduled.. They were onsite overseeing the entire project, and kept us up to date with all the status. They were quick to respond to issues that arose and executed plans to overcome obstacles encountered. I was so pleased with the coordination of all the subcontractors and skilled workers by Gene and Dan. if you could ever think a complete remodel of room in your house was a pleasant experience.. working with Gene and Dan sure made us enjoy the process. thank you guys!!! we LOVE our new Master Bath.

After talking with Gene one day, and getting excited about getting an estimate to begin the long over due bathroom remodel, something change the next day. A lot of, in my mine, excuses why not to come out and give an estimate. Seems my job didn't present the numbers he would like to warrant an estimate.

We requested a quote for a complete Master Bathroom remodel. Gene responded very quickly and came out to take measurements and discuss what we wanted to do as part of the remodel. He provided some suggestions on the initial meeting and listened to our ideas. About a week later Gene provided a rough proposal and some initial numbers just to see if he was on the right track with what we wanted. He again provided some ideas and we shared some changes we wanted in the proposal. Gene came back out again with his detailed proposal and drawing. He explained all parts of the proposal and showed us examples of tile and a sample cabinet door. He is very professional and a pleasure to talk with about ideas for design. Gene is very straight forward and explains things very well. We had a difficult time making our final selection between his company and a second contractor to go forward with our remodel project. Although we did not select Gene's company, we felt like we would have gotten a great bathroom with his company as well as the one we chose. We would not hesitate to use him in future projects.

It went very well. Gene came out to meet with us and provided us an estimate and proposal within 2 weeks as promised. He was very professional and communicated extremely well.

We got it done in September. The service was very good and we were not at all disappointed. The work overall when finished was very good as well.

Submitted online request - response within 24 hours. Scheduled time for first visit - showed up on time. Delivered proposal when expected. Modified proposal according to needs - very professional. Not the least expensive. Spent time getting to know me (very important difference from others that provided quotes). New floor, new shower, new tub, new countertops, new faucets, new sinks, new toilet, paint, resurfaced cabinets, new cabinet hardware, new window, new/improved lighting, improved ventilation. Gene Cherrnay is a professional. Communicated effectively. Not everything went as planned, but challenges were met and results were just as expected. Gene will start in first place on my list for a major kitchen remodel this year.

Right from the first time we met Gene for the estimate, he came across as very professional, sincere and thorough. So glad we chose him because his work reflects exactly that! He completely redesigned our closed kitchen into a beautiful open space we now enjoy. It was our first remodeling project so we were very nervous. He took the time to really understand what we wanted and delivered as promised till the very end! He has a good set of contractors that are always in praise of him. He was always on the job to personally over see the day's progress and always accessible by phone and email. His attention to detail is amazing. The best thing about Gene is if there is something wrong, he simply takes care of it till you are satisfied. We have really enjoyed getting to know him and working with him. We would highly recommend him to anyone interested in good quality work and professionalism!

The project went extremely well, from the initial contact to the final taking care of all the punch list items. The owner of the company, Gene Cherrnay, was a pleasure to deal with. Village Designs is primarily a one man operation, with Gene functioning as the general contractor with subcontractors doing the work. Gene met with us to assess our needs, developed a design, prepared the estimates, finalized the design, then closely supervised the work daily all the way through. The advantage is that you are dealing directly with the owner of the company. Gene is totally dedicated to customer satisfaction and doing things right, extremely honest, with impeccable integrity. He also has the additional qualities that make working with him on a project like this the most satisfying it can be: very responsive in communications via cellphone or email, very organized, keeps his priorities straight, does what he says he is going to do, is determined to keep the project on schedule, and uses subcontractors who share his values and are willing to go the extra mile. The test of a project like this is what happens when the unforeseen problem occurs. Not everything can be anticipated and written into the proposal. And I would guess something unexpected happens in many remodeling projects of any size. That happened with us. We have a builders spec house built in 1991. (We bought the house in 1998.) As is common, shortcuts were taken while the house was being built on mechanical items like plumbing and electrical. During the demolition, two major problems were discovered, neither of which could have been anticipated. The water pipes supplying the shower were not done correctly where they came up through the foundation and the wiring to the can lights in the fur down were not secured to the studs according to code. I am not an expert in these issues but I imagine some contractors could have left them the way they were and just covered them up or "jury-rigged" a make-do solution just to save money. Not Gene. He explained the issues to us carefully and we explored various options and their implications on cost and project schedule. He strongly recommended (an understatement) correcting the issues the right way and definitely bringing everything up to the current code. We agreed. The plumbing problem required a lot of additional chipping of the foundation to move the pipes. The electrical problem also required a lot of additional work to place the conduit in the studs, instead of just on the surface. The personnel of both subcontractors worked very late, until 11:30 one night, to keep the project on schedule because other crafts were scheduled the next day. Both of these problems caused significant additional cost over what was estimated in the signed contract. Gene approached that in what I think is the fairest way - he explained what the additional cost was that his subs were billing him and we agreed to share it. More about cost. I gave Gene an A on cost. However, if you are if you are looking for the lowest cost on a remodeling project, Gene will probably not be your first choice. He will provide high quality at a fair price, which I define as high value, but probably not the lowest cost I understand if some one is not able to or doesn't want to pay that extra. We used an interior designed, Kristy Mastrandonas, who works with Gene, and she was very effective in helping us narrow our choices on tile pattern and color, granite for the counter tops, paint color, and by suggesting an accent tile pattern and color that pulled everything together. Other reasons we went with Gene is that he is an Aging in Place specialist and had very good suggestions in our first meeting as we were developing the scope of the project. Also, he is an architect and this proved valuable as we got into relocating the two walls and the complications that involved. One final note, Gene had a young assistant, Dan, who was just learning the business and helped with our project. Dan was also pleasant to deal with, eager to learn, responsive, with good communication skills and did an excellent job in taking care of all the little items on the punch list at the end.

Gene Cherrnay, owner of Village Designs, personally oversaw the entire project. His personal commitment and hand holding through the entire process gave us complete confidence that everything would be completed as promised and on time. All materials were correctly ordered, delivered on time and were exactly what we picked. Gene's selection of and long standing relationship with a proven set of skilled subcontractors (9 in all during the process), gave us additional confidence that each phase of the project would be performed according to specs and professionally completed. While we did exceed our budget in later selections during the process, Gene worked with us to procure upgrades at contractor prices which enabled us to get the kitchen we wanted at a price we can live wth. We are absolutely thrilled with the results and would recommend Village Designs without hesitation.

After meeting with us and talking with us about what we wanted done to our home, Gene prepared a design for our kitchen. We were thrilled with his ideas. The plan showed that he had listened to us and included changes that we didn't think were possible with the existing footprint.The workmen that he brought in were professional and did excellent work. Gene continually checked to make sure that we were satisfied.

I had 4 bids on this remodel which included 2 shower areas, fixtures, plumbing modifications, and flooring. I am new to Angie's list so used past reviews. Gene, the owner, lives in my neighborhood and takes pride in the area. Between this, his personality and competitive price, I chose them. I like a personal relationship with someone that's going to be in my house for a week, and he could put business aside and be a real person, I like that. The work was awesome, executed in a timely manner between plumbing and tile work. Both teams (tile and plumbing) worked extremely well together and we're very courteous in my home. ALWAYS early, EVERY day! I just started leaving them there all day and running errands. Job complete and perfect in every aspect. Will use Village Design for future work.

We initially contacted Gene and one other highly rated contractor in the summer of 2012 to meet with us and give us a very high-level estimate of the costs we could expect for this project. Both Gene and the other contractor meet with us and talked about options we should consider, things that impact cost and typical timing and costs for a job our size. Fast forward 7 months to January of 2013. Although both contractors we meet with the previous summer were highly rated and both provided general cost ranges that were very similar, we selected Gene based primarily on the fact that he is an extremely likeable and conscientious person. Plus, he doesn't take on many jobs, so we knew we would be getting his full attention. We began meeting with Gene in January to start the planning process. Gene is very patient and very easy to work with. This was the largest remodel my wife and I had every done, so we had lots of questions. Gene responded to all of them - this is where his easy demeanor comes in very handy. We selected all of the necessary fixtures, granite and tile -- the most difficult was the mirrors and the lights (who knew). Based upon Spring Break, we asked Gene to start the Monday immediately following and like clockwork, he called us that Sunday to confirm everything. He estimated the job would take 3 full weeks. The crew placed plastic pretty much everywhere to protect against the dust from demolition and then Gene has his cleaning crew do a full clean of the impacted areas upon completion.. The project proceeded along without a hitch for the first two weeks and everything looked (and still looks) great. Our only hiccup was the glass order for the frame less shower. For some reason, the order didn't get placed in a timely fashion and so that delayed the install by a few days. Not the end of the world, but since everything else was so easy up to that point, any slippage in the dates was noticed. Basically, instead of having use of our shower on Saturday, we had it on Monday. The shower however, does look fantastic. Gene has also been great at follow-up during the entire process and afterwards to make sure we are happy. He is extremely easy to get in contact with and was very prompt responding to items. He also did a great job of stopping by the job site each day or calling us in the evening to make sure things were going well or to see if we had any questions. I would gladly recommend him to anyone and think he did an absolute wonderful job on our bathroom. When we redo the kitchen, he will be the first call I make

We were ready to upgrade our kitchen after living in our home for seven years and putting up with aweful wallpaper, beat-up cabinets, formica countertops, etc. Gene came to our home, listened to our vision and put together a great group of professionals to bring our vision to life. Gene was a partner along the way, he made his recommendation for the granite warehouse and met us there to assist in our selection. The selection was extensive and he patiently walked around with us until we made our choice. We were in constant communication on our timeline, our choices, our progress, etc. The most invasive part of the project was completed in one week - this included removing the counter tops and replacing with granite, removing wallpaper and repainting, replacing backsplash and painting cabinets. The house got a little dusty, as we were expectinig it would, but Gene took care of it without any prompting or requests from our end by hiring a cleaning crew to clean up the dust. We are so happy with our kitchen and we know we made the right choice in selecting Village Designs Remodeling. We know who will will be reaching out to when we are ready to undertake another project in the future.

Very well. Lots of dust but that is to be expected. Some minor unexpected issues with uneven ceiling, electrical, tile but overall went very, very well. We are extremely pleased. Gene was always available, always responsive, always there to please; there was never a controversy or disagreement. All of Gene's subs performed admirably but some had to return to tweak a few items but the final result is awesome.

Excellent. The bathroom was gutted in just a couple of days, all electric, cabinetry, plumbing, tile, drywall, carpentry, painting and removal of old bathroom was handled by Gene and his crew. We had a new tub and surround, build out and expand existing shower with frameless glass, privacy wall and door for commode, new custom cabinetry, granite countertops on the vanity and the counter behind the lady's vanity, two pocket doors, elimination of two doors to master bath and replace with one pocket door...and more. Gene was the consummate professional, always available, always a good word, always kept us up to date on progress and when something had to wait. It has been a year now since the remodel and we are ecstatic over the changes and the quality of the work. His redesign concept was one that we had not considered and it was perfect for the space, our needs, and our wants, not too much and not too little, just right. Work began on 4/2/2012 and the major work was completed around 4/27/2012. There were a few loose ends to finish but it was just under 4 weeks duration and we didn't think that was too bad. It was worth waiting for.

From beginning to end, Gene did what he said he would do and did it timely. A schedule was planned and the plan was executed well. Gene and his crew were punctual and professional. Care was taken to isolate the remodel area from the rest of the house to prevent construction dust from spreading. We ended up with a beautiful new kitchen that exceeded our expectations.

This service did a terrific job and we are very pleased with them.

Each project that Gene has executed for us has goon so very smoothly that we continue to go back to him for the next upgrades. I am eager to use Gene again, but wanted to made sure I share his talents and great work ethic with others. We plan to call on him yet again and he has been so kind and generous in working with our religious organization. There were many women involved who wanted different things, but Gene was patient and forthcoming with his advice and wisdom. We have a great kitchen that is used my many today and his foresight has been invaluable, i know that now after having used that kitchen for one year. We began working together when he designed my kitchen 4 years ago now. Well it has been a wonderful space and my parents would say the same of the kitchen he designed for them 2 years ago. Great use of space and his advice is always geared to the situation at hand. If you are looking for someone dependable, trustworthy, prompt, professional and easy to work with, then Gene is the one you want to work with. We look forward to working with you again soon Gene, thank for all your help.

Project was not started. We chose another contractor because Gene had other project commitments and we had summer visitors coming and were against a rigid time crunch.