Living Spaces

After his extensive visit, I accepted the proposal from Kirk Howeth, GM at Living Spaces, Inc. to finish out my bathroom. The job included a threshold-less shower (replacing a cracked tile in the kitchen at no charge during “project down time”) and using Custom Building Product’s (CBP) Fusion Pro grout. Fixed labor charges = $6,669 plus material allowance = $1,285. Work began Nov 8, 2017. When installing sheetrock his team broke the bathroom window. He said he would fix it, no charge. After installing mortar and lath for the tile floor, Kirk decided there was not enough slope for a threshold-less shower. He solemnly declared the house had shifted at least 3/4”. His solution was to demo the subfloor and lower it for an additional $1,600. That weekend I tore out the mortar and lath, exposing the subfloor beams. I demonstrated a perfectly level subfloor to his team. The house had not shifted at all. Still, Kirk insisted he must lower the subfloor, but would credit $200. Foolishly, I agreed. He and his team lowered the subfloor and reinstalled mortar and lath. Prior to Fusion Pro grouting the wall, his team drenched the wall with water. When the grout was applied it sagged out from between the tiles. Frantically, his team shop vac’ed Fusion Pro grout off the wall. Kirk declared the Fusion Pro grout defective; the wall must be grouted using Old-School grout. Foolishly, I agreed. CBP said his team did not understand how to properly apply Fusion Pro. Kirk agreed to CBP Prism grout on the floor. In December they replaced the window’s broken glass improperly; the glass rattled around in the window frame and drafts continue. The project dragged on, appointments made and cancelled, until Sat. Dec 16. Kirk was generally unreachable. When his tile-setter discovered Kirk had supplied incorrect or insufficient material I dashed off to Home Depot and made emergency purchases. A quartzite window-sill had to be cut to fit, but the cut edges were left unpolished. His tile setter reported “grout pinholes” while grouting the floor. “More defective grout!” he said. He suggested, after the grout dried, to mix more Prism grout, roll it into tiny balls the size of BBs, and stuff little balls of grout into the pinholes. Kirk phoned days later, agreed, and said he would finish the project after Christmas. I took pictures of his mess in my bathroom and sealed the floor with plastic and cardboard. CBP explained pinholes in Prism grout were caused by grout being applied too fast (not enough slake time) and too soupy. The proper solution was to grind out the grout from between the tiles at each pinhole to a depth of at least 1/2 the thickness of the tile and re-grout the joint. This applied to other grouts, too. Over the holidays we noticed pinholes in the wall grout. Jan 7, 2018, well after Christmas, having not heard from Kirk or anyone at Living Spaces, I decided we would no longer require his services. January 31, 2018 his “final” invoice arrived with a $500 credit to repair grout pinholes (I suppose with BB sized balls of grout), no provision to polish quartzite edges, no provision to fix the leaky bathroom window, no $200 credit promised in Nov and an additional $1,306.52 in undocumented material and unagreed labor charges. Total material and unagreed labor costs were now $2,591.52. I asked Kirk to reissue the invoice with a) the $200 credit applied and b) supporting documentation for his labor and material charges. February 28, 2018 I received an invoice with $200 credit, but no response to my request for supporting documentation. March 1, 2018 I repeated the request for supporting documentation. No response. April 13, I received a certified letter from Kirk threatening to file a lien on my property. No response to my request for supporting documentation regarding material charges and unagreed labor charges. Foolishly, I paid. Several months were spent repairing grout pinholes on the walls and floor per CBP’s instructions and performing other rework to get the bathroom up to a functional standard.

Kirk's work was outstanding from beginning to end. At first, I was a bit taken aback by the cost of "supervision", a line item few contractors provided. He proved to be worth every penny! His attitude is "we can figure out how to make this work". He was recommended by Charlotte Comer Interiors, and Michelle Langford coordinated plans with him. He spent a lot of time estimating the costs, advising approaches and discussing alternatives and the cost of each. Based on his recommendations, I have a lots of improvements I would not have thought of. He prepared a very detailed line-item estimate. Throughout the four-month process, he provided line-by-line statements showing the percentage of work completed on each task, and the amount due for the latest tasks done. Kirk was on-site almost every day, and sometimes twice a day, providing advice, counsel and supervision to his crew, and communicating with me. When problems arose, he came immediately. His crew were professional, pleasant, worked hard and cleaned up every evening before they left, something I appreciated greatly. They also took great care to screen off other areas of the house to minimize the dust and odors, and kept me informed throughout the process.. He is "first class" in my book and I wouldn't think of using anyone else for future projects.

Kirk is very meticulous. He pays attention to all of the details that you would if you had his remodeling knowledge and experience. Kirk is always on time, and is prompt with returning calls. They performed the work during the Christmas and New Years holidays, so it took about a month, but would have only been 2 weeks any other time of the year. We thought they did great work, and we were very pleased with the results. Kirk's after-job service exceeded our expectations, as well. We purchased some of the materials ourselves, such as plumbing fixtures and tile. Those costs are not included in the figure above.

The owner, Kirk, really went above and beyond on this job. I was trying to get a house ready to put on the market and discovered that what looked like a white residue that should just wash off was in fact a dog urine stain that went deep into the marble floor in about five separate areas. I had a tile company work on it, but they said I needed a specialist in natural stone. I found Living Spaces on Angie's List. Kirk came out promptly. He asked if I had any spare marble tiles in the attic from when the house was built. I didn't know, but as I was laid up from an injury and not living in that house, I couldn't find out. Kirk volunteered to go up into the attic and look for marble tiles. He found some, but they didn't look very much like what was on my floor. He took some of the tiles with him and experimented with the finish until they matched my floor. He was able to replace the damaged tiles, and you would never know they weren't part of the original floor. The job involved some inconvenience to him, in addition to rooting around in my attic, because I was simultaneously having hardwood floors refinished, and access to the bathroom was blocked while the hardwood floors were being worked on. The refinishers were vague about their schedule, so I could never tell Kirk precisely when he would have access to the areas he needed. He nevertheless showed up on the chance that he could get in, first to look at the problem and later to do the actual work. He always came exactly when he said he would. I was very pleased with this job and would not hesitate to hire Kirk again. He is a real craftsman, and the service was great.

Kirk was great. He called within an hour of my submission for assistance. Made arrangements to come out early this week so that the other contractors could do the work they were dependent on the completion of his work. I ended up asking him to give me quotes on 4 additional projects. Very happy with his work, professionalism and timeliness.

I would highly recommend them. They do excellent work. The workers are respectful. They are clean. I am going to use them again.

The crew started to work on mid Feb. They started with our main bathroom 1st by gutting down to the bare bones. The crew put up nice walls of plastic and covering over my hardwood floors. The prep work was great. They had a nice dumpster at the back of my house. Kirk had given me a list of places to go and select my new bathroom items . I had this done so he could order and have them ready as they completed demo. Most of the demo work was done at the same time. This was my den bookshelves and built-in desk unit. By mid March the plumbing was in place in the bathroom and tile work had started. The custom built cabinets were in and being painted. We had some down time the end of Feb. due to the snow storm and loss of power to our neighborhood for 4 days. We had about a week of down time in March as well due to the cabinets being completed. As they were working on the bathroom they were also installing a drop down stair well to the attic. When they got up there they found that the roofers had not put the turbines in correctly and we had leaks. They fixed all of this. I also had 3 pocket doors installed that required removing and installing walls again. Kirk would always check in with me on a daily basis either by phone or in person. He would always give me an updated time line which was appreciated. The first of April they had the main bathroom completed and starting the demo on the master bathroom. The den bookshelves were being completed and the plastic walls were coming down in the den and kitchen area. Some paint came off of my paneled walls and he had his crew paint the whole wall so it would match up. Any places that were damaged on the hardwoods was repaired as well. My new oven and built-in microwave was installed. The master bathroom was completed by the end of May. I can not say enough good things about this company. To go through remodeling is tough no matter what, but this was about as good as it gets! This was a very pleasant experience.

The referred contractor also called me back in a timely manner and set up an appointment. I was very pleased. I won't hesitate to call Living Spaces again for future work.

Kirk of Living Spaces is the best contractor I have ever worked with. He is honest, fair, and professional. His work is top notch, of the highest quality. He is flexible to listen to what you want to achieve in your remodeling and will change things to match or exceed your expectations. He has very experienced subcontractors that also deliver the highest quality that I have seen. I will use him in the future for all my home remodeling. I trust him implicitly to do a very high quality job. I would recommend him to anyone who is looking for an excellent, trustworthy, remodeling contractor.

Went no further than a bid since thier bid was twice the bid for any other work to be done. Bid for fixing the cracks with painting was 2X the amount we paid. The bid for fixing the doors was $650, I found someone to do the job for $120.

It was quite an extensive remodeling. He and all of his contractors were punctual and professional. They were perfectionists who did a great job. We would use Kirk Howeth again.

One of the reasons that I pay for Angie's List is to find more professional contractors. Kirk seems very personable and may be highly qualified for all I know. His reasons for deciding not to do the work are irrelevant. A one-line email is quick enough.

Kirk was very knowledgeable about materials and maintenance of the installed tile. The work was done promptly and to our specification. We love the result. Also a plus is that we had new drywall, paint, and granite in close proximity and none of it was damaged during the demolition of old tile and installation of new tile. We are happy campers!

I liked their price. It seemed like they knew what they were doing. Their work was perfect.

The experience was great. The single best thing about Kirk and his team is that he's more particular about the quality of work than any average person would know to be. With Kirk and his team, I gain comfort knowing that they're making sure stuff is doing correctly so I don't have to. His team is great. If you're going to have workers in your home for a couple weeks, these guys were great. They were polite, cleaned up after themselves, etc. Price-wise, Kirk came in right where he estimated. There were a couple things I asked to do differently than the estimate, and these cost more, but were reasonable and I was aware of them upfront. In my opinion, the best test of a contractor is not that everything goes right but how well they take care of it when stuff doesn't. The plumber put on the wrong fixtures on my shower and tub (because they were wrong in the boxes of fixtures I provided), and Kirk was very quick to said that he would make sure that it was right and take care of it. In my opinion, it's finding teams like Kirk's that make Angie's List well worth it.

Overall Kirk and his tiler did an absolutely wonderful job while keeping the dirt/dust to a minimum. The shower was gutted then they started to lay the tile. They were very informative on what kind of tile which should be used (i.e. ceramic/porcelain). I picked the tile we wanted and it was in to be installed in two days. The shower is great, my parents are glad to have a shower to use.

Kirk seems like a nice enough guy but my experience with him was very disappointing. It took over a month for us to meet (some of that was a result of the weather which was understandable) and I was always the one calling him to establish a time to meet. After we finally did meet and discussed my projects, he left saying he would be in touch with the quote and after three weeks, I still have not hear from him. I assume that he is very busy with his business or something but he could have told me up front that he did not have time or was not interested in the job instead or wasting my time and his.

I had my idea's of what I wanted done to my bathrooms and den cabinets. Kirk and I talked about what would work and wouldn't . He had some great idea's and his cabinet guy was fantasic! Kirk was always either by checking on things are calling in on a daily basis. He estimated about 4 months to do the job and that is exactly what it took. I can honestly say that is was a wonderful experience as remodeling goes. I think of Kirk as a friend now and my daughter will be using him as soon as she gets in her new home!

I think I answered this in the previous comments. In addition, the pricing quoted by Kirk was quite accurate and the entire project cost close to what we were originally quoted. Living Spaces probably won't have the lowest job quote, but their work is very good and we were entirely satisfied. Kirk is good at hearing what you want, and then coming up with creative solutions. The job took about 3 months, and for the most part people were on time, cleaned up after themselves, and were professional to deal with. Kirk semi-permanently sealed off most of the work area, and then used the zipper doorways for others, so we were able to contain the majority of the dust and stay in our house while the work was done. I will use him again if I have any future remodeling projects.

For a project of this complexity it could not have gone better. Our kitchen was badly in need of a significant remodel and we had known Kirk for many years. He communicated with us continuously throughout the project and was always available. From the very beginning, before any demolition, he toured all of his craftsmen through the project area and introduced them to us. He spent individual time with each trade and us to make sure we knew all of the options at each step. He spent valuable time with our decorator/planner to make sure that he was in synch with her and our vision. He maintained a good relationship with her throughout the project cycle. Prior to demolition he devised a means of reducing dust and debris to the rest of our home so that we could actually live there throughout the project. This also helped us feel better about the security of the rest of the home. We were gone or traveling for at least 4 weeks of the approximate 12 week project and we were always in touch. When he needed to make decisions for us, he made the right ones that enhanced the vision and maintained the traditional look. He was constantly providing us options at each step and likewise giving us the pros and cons. His judgement was always in tune with our vision. He always went the extra mile to make sure that the details were to our liking. We could not be more pleased with the living space that our kitchen/breakfast area has become. It will provide us more fun, style and utility for many years to come.

I called Kirk and explained on the phone that I got his name from Angies List and the tile work I needed done. I told him we were remodeling a kitchen, bathroom and utility area. He told me his company did complete remodels and I said he could bid it if he wanted to but I had a plumber, electrican, cabinet maker, etc. The tile contractor was the only piece I was missing. He scheduled an appointment and arrived on time. I walked him through the entire project and showed him some tile work I had done last fall that I was very happy with and was looking for the same quality installation. (That tile contractor is tied up on a commercial job and won't be available for my project) I told him I was most likely going to act as the general on this project since the bids from contractors handling the entire project was too costly. He seemed somewhat frustrated that I wasn't willing to pay someone $66,000 for a job I can manage myself for $45,000. I told him to email a quote and gave him my email address. A week later when I hadn't received any communication from him, I called his office. He told me he was very busy and was going out of town for the weekend and just couldn't get to it. He also mentioned a personal problem. I told him to get me something by the end of day the following Monday. I never heard from him again. I had a family member die during a remodeling project last summer and did not let it interupt the schedule of any contractor. I don't want to hear excuses. I called back and left a message to let me know if he didn't want this job or didn't have the time. Again, I never heard back from him. Very disappointing since Angie's List gave him one of the Super Service Awards for 2009. The service was anything but super.

It was excellent. I will definitely be calling Kirk down the road for other projects. Would probably be interested in him acting as the contractor for all the work, not just tile. Kirk and his team gave me confidence that they were more on top of things than I ever could be. I never felt like I had to look over their shoulder because they were way ahead of me. As an example, Kirk's team tested my tub prior to starting the tile work to make sure that it was secure. It wasn't. So they secured it. But their having the foresight to test that--even though it was the plumber's responsibility--was huge. The tilework itself was very well done. I never felt like any corners were being cut. It looks great. Kirk was also nice enough to talk me through potential remodeling strategies for my other bathroom. Also, there was a door threshold in my kitchen where a few thin pieces of tile had been ripped out. He asked his guys to put some grout down to seal that up and gave me some recommendations about how I could put a trim piece over it myself. All this work came in lower than I was expecting, considering the tile that I had chosen for the tub surround which was a decent porcelain tile.

They are very reliable and dependable. They do great work, their attitude is great and they clean up after themselves. Their work is top knotch and we would highly recommend them.

Kirk was very professional and always in touch to coordinate the work. Lillian and Robert took a lot of time with us to pick out some really lovely granite and marble. The tile installers, electrician and plumber were all very courteous and cleaned up after themselves. There was never any big mess or much dust. The kitchen backsplash and counters with under mounted lights looks very sleek. The new master shower is really a work of art and both the front and back porch are perfect. Everything went very smoothly.

Overall exprerience very satisfactory. Contractor toured our home prior to submitting pricing. The work was began on time and was completed as scheduled. Contractor did a good job scheduling various sub-contractors. Job was scheduled for approximately three and half weeks but was extended as owners added numerous additions to original estimate. We found the contactor to be honest, reliable and a great assistance to us as the project progressed. We would definately use Living Spaces in the future and have given his name to other individuals with a positve recommendation.