Seek Design & Renovation

************The review is bit long, but for your protection please bear with me and read it through. ************ 1. ************************ Promise for high quality work and pressure to sign the contract: We were looking for a good contractor who could help us with our bathroom remodel. Don Prine with Seek Design & Renovation came and was eager to get the job. Due to previous bad experience we had great concern about the quality of the work (especially the tile work) and out of caution were very hesitant to commit to any company too quickly. He seemed sincere and promised good quality using popular commercial phrase to convince us and guaranteeing that we would be happy about their work. He bragged about his experience and their rating on Angie’s List. He also promised to finish the job in two weeks and then pressured us by saying that to meet the schedule we must sign that day. He also promised that they had a designer to help us. 2. ************************ Bad start: During our initial meeting we made clear that the tile work and design is the biggest challenge and we wanted to meet the tile guy as soon as possible. He promised that he would bring the tile guy to talk to us. On the first day, Don started the work without informing us about his plans. He brought several of his people except the tile guy. When I asked him, he kept saying that I need to let him to do his job. We had a big argument. 3. ************************ Strange communication rules: He didn’t want us to communicate with his workers at all. We could not check their work or ask any questions. Every time we talked or asked questions with his workers, they immediately informed him and then he called us angrily. He claimed that his expectation for his workers was to get it right the first time, but rather than monitor and correct mistakes, he defended their poor work. We were put in the position of getting an angry response if we pointed out something amiss, or having to put up with poor quality work. His poor communication skills made it very hard to work with him. Even his workers agreed that this was my house, and that I had the right to do things the way I wanted. 4. ************************ Fake Design claim: The name of the company (Seek Design) and the claim that they have a designer was misleading. They don’t have any professional designer. It turns out the designer is a woman in their office who is good at fashion (per Don). Don also claimed that he can design. I finally planned to have some professional to help us design the shower room tile pattern after I understood that they didn’t have any competent people to do it. He sent the people to start to work on the tile without our permission and a proper plan. The day before he argued and yelled for several hours and did not come up with anything that was proper. It was a nightmare to work with him. My husband finally asked him to step aside and let me and tile guy work together to finalize the accent wall tile. With the input from the designer I hired, the tile guy we got the design done in 20 minutes. 5. ************************ The unprofessional tile guy. They didn’t let us to watch the process and we ended up with an off-center floor tile layout and unmatched grout lines (See picture 1and 2). Although they finally redid the floor after we insisted, the shampoo niche was not level and it has to be redone. 6. ************************ The Incompetent Painter: Don promised us a quality job, but the result is anything but quality. Although his painter was a nice guy, he did not have the skill and the knowledge to produce quality work. For each job he tried many times and could not get it right. One time he even came to me telling me what strange things happened when he was texturing. (See picture 3 one of many poor quality examples) Another time he painted a wall without realizing that there were bubbles in the skim coat and an untextured patch until he finished painting (See picture 4) I have had several companies come in to bid to finish the work. They were all stunned to see what a terrible job we have gotten. 7. ************************ Wall damage: His painter damaged the wall in an adjacent room while he was taking down a shelf. The noise was so loud that I thought he was going to hammer the house down. We were not allowed to interfere with him. As a result the wall was bowed and has several cracks in it and several nail pops. (See pictures 5 and 6). They did not repair it. 8. ************************ Incompetent cabinet people: His cabinet people replaced the cabinet hinges with hidden hinges. Many of the doors would not close properly and some fell off in our hands when we tried to open them. They made three failed attempts to fix them and finally gave up, falsely claiming that the doors were warped even though the doors did not have problems previously. Tests with a straight edge showed that they were not warped. They left the job unfinished. (See pictures 7 and 8). 9. ************************ Rude and disrespectful to customers: We knew what we wanted and had high expectations. Every time we expressed our concerns, Don did not listen and was always defensive. He argued and bragged about how many years of experience he had. Many times when I tried to talk to him, he said, “I will talk to him (my husband), but not to you!” My husband had to remind him to lower his voice all the time. When he did not listen, I was very frustrated and raised my voice to him, and then he claimed that it upset the workers and that his people bad mouthed me. 10. ************************ Cutting corners in many ways: For example: (a) To avoid adding a header they wanted to set the shampoo niche off center. (b) They did not put any protection on the floor until we finally asked. Even then, we had to repeat the request but never got adequate protection. (See picture 9) (c) They did not prepare the existing floor and did not put adequate underlayment on the floor prior to tiling. Now we have loud squeaking coming from the floor. We have to hire someone to take the whole floor up again to fix the problem and the tile that we used has been discontinued. (d) They did not prepare the wall backer board properly. Now the grout at corner and edge of the tub has started to crack after a couple of months. We have not used the bathroom at all.(See picture 10) (e) He tried to use his painter to do the carpentry work. We had to hire a professional to finish the work since the painter did not have the required skill 11. ************************ For the sake of the customers: My understanding is that if this is way they conduct their business, there is no way they would get the ratings in Angie’s list. If I was the only customer to receive this poor quality, I want to know why! It is Angie’s List obligation to investigate those reviews because the reality and what are in the ratings are too far apart. The experience with Seek Design was pure misery! RESPONSE TO COMPANY RESPONSE: 1. Seek Design did bid a job earlier, but we re-bid the job later due to changes in scope. It was not the job originally bid. 2. At the meeting where Mr Prine submitted the current bid, he was extremely pushy. We asked for time to consider, but he refused and insisted that we needed to sign that day while promising exceptional quality results and guaranteeing that we would be happy. There was certainly no “reluctance” on his part. 3. There were some loud disagreements with Mr Prine, not the workers, as a result of Mr Prine trying to force his ideas on us instead of listening to our desires. 4. We had high expectations and that was expressed to him up front and due to past experience, we were very concerned about quality. 5. There were never three previous contractors as he claimed, but there was some previous work done. Mr Prine himself commented on how bad it was. We did not bring in other contractors, but we did bring in a designer and a carpenter for services he could not adequately provide. (He used a painter as a carpenter.) 6. My wife even went out of her way to buy lunch and cook lunches for the workers. 7. The pictures we submitted, with the exception of the floor tile and the carpet protection, are of the job as they left it - what he claims was "completed work", not during the process. 8. Mr Prine was the most difficult person I have dealt with in my years as an executive in the oil industry - over-bearing, obstructionist, high tempered, and pushy. He promised a quick job completion with exceptional quality is why we selected him, but this was a major mistake.

Seek Design & Renovation were truly amazing to work with every step of the way. They completely remodeled our kitchen and master bathroom. Their work was superior, communication was fantastic and the end result was flawless. We now have the home of our dreams, thanks to Seek Design & Renovation. We highly recommend working with these pro with any remodeling projects that you want done right!

Seek Design & Renovation completed a partial bathroom remodel by replacing the old outmoded tub and shower that was installed by the builder. Don Prine is the principal contact for all our work and he was very responsive to every request and concern throughout the process. The initial quote was a detailed line item listing of each step to be completed and the final number was competitive with other quotes I received. Co-ordination with subcontractors was very orderly and we were always advised when they would be arriving and what they were expected to accomplish every day. Don was present most days to monitor the work progress and update what was to occur the next day. Completion of our project was completed sooner than promised. Overall we are pleased with the final outcome and would not hesitate to use SDR again for any future projects

Everyone I worked with at Seek was very professional. I am extremely happy with our shower!

Recently Seek Design & Renovation remodeled our master bathroom. This is the second bathroom remodel job that Seek Design & Renovation has done for us. This bathroom was remodeled twice before by other contractors and was never done to our liking. I can tell you, it was overdue for remodeling the right way. The tub and shower stall were taken back down to the bare studs and completely rebuilt. The old tub was removed and replaced with a drop-in tub. A custom-made stand had to be constructed for the tub and the tub fit like a glove. The shower stall was redone with custom niches in the wall to accommodate soap, shampoo, etc. A custom-made cabinet was built to our specifications and installed. The cabinet was constructed with amazing precision. The cabinet top is a piece of Quartzite that we picked out and it looks very elegant. The old floor tile was replaced with porcelain tile throughout the bathroom and walk-in closet. The bedroom, bathroom and walk-in closet walls/ceilings were repainted. A special mention goes to the tile man. He is an absolute perfectionist. The bathroom looks amazing. Turnaround time for this project was about 4 weeks. Seek Design & Renovation came highly recommended from a friend that had his whole house remodeled by them. They were very easy to work with and had helpful suggestions during the design process that was greatly appreciated. They got the bid out to us very quickly and we thought it was very reasonable. One of the things that sticks out is how Seek Design & Renovation orchestrated the scheduling of the various crafts so that no one was waiting on another. Each time that a craft was about to arrive, I got a phone call or text as to their arrival time. In my opinion Communication is the key element to making a project like this run smoothly and Seek Design & Renovation accomplished this with the utmost efficiency. If you have a remodeling project in your future, I highly recommend talking to Seek Design and Renovation for the job. Dennis F

I love my new kitchen! Seek Design & Renovation did what they said they were going to do, when they said they'd do it. They came and got the job done in the allotted four days before I was going out of town. Everyone I worked with was professional, patient, and helped me see through my vision.

We are so happy we chose Seek Design & Renovation (SDR) to remodel our Master and Guest bathrooms and Kitchen/Dinning area. Their detail explanations and detail budgets assured us we would have the best remodel pro working on our home. SDR completed each project ahead of schedule, provided excellent communication and hands-on supervision at every step of the process. Everyone at SDR are extremely customer focused and completed each task with great attention to detail. They were extremely helpful with selections of counters, tile and paint and captured our vision to transform our kitchen dining area to our new “dining / lounge”. Our bathrooms’ custom cabinets were built with great pride and it showed. As a result, we expanded our project to reface the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers. Electricians, plumbers, painters, tile and counter crews are all master craftsmen and very trustworthy. We are already discussing with SDR about additional projects in 2020. This was the most enjoyable experience and our home looks amazing. We highly recommend talking to Seek Design and Renovation if you are considering a remodel. They truly enjoy what they do which makes the entire process a great experience. Thank you SDR!

After getting 5 estimates from contractors I decided to go with Seek Renovation and Design. I do have to say that I did make the right decision. There are some terrible contractors out there but Seek Renovation and design is not one of them. I decided to do a total remodel on my Master bath and Guest Bath. I do have to say that it turned out beautiful! Better than what I expected. The estimate was very detailed and listed all costs and did not go over the budget. I did have one change order and this was just as detailed. Very professional work and am totally satisfied. Good job Seek Renovation and Design! I am hoping to use you in the future for some other jobs I need done.

We had the damaged bathtub replaced and installed shower bathtub combo with tile on the floor instead of carpet. Plumbing was good, installation. Competitive price. And we also had electrical work done.

The remodel process went extremely well. Seek Design & Renovation completed the master bath project in four weeks even with Xmas and New Year holidays. So glad we chose them to handle our remodel. They love what they do, so it was fun to work with them. The designer was my lifeline in making great selections. Extremely efficient in managing the contractors. Very focused in spotting work where contractors need to come back to make fixes and touch ups. Mirrors, towel bars, door knobs/pulls are the last step to complete the installed this week.

Working with Seek Design and Renovation (SDR) was such a delight. Their entire team was both professional and courteous. The quality of their products and attention to details in their work made this the best decision I could have made. Not only does my flooring look fantastic but SDR finished ahead of schedule and on budget. SDR has created a customer for life.

Seek Design & Renovation did an outstanding job of keeping the subcontractors on schedule & without much down time. Quality of work was great!

SDR finished a refresh of my condo ahead of schedule. New bathroom, flooring, paint, custom cabinets & lighting. Garage interior paint and epoxy floor. Great communication. Would definitely call them again.

Everyone from Seek Design & Renovation was courteous and professional. They have excellent customer service and kept me informed about timelines and project status. We had new cabinets installed in our bathrooms and everything turned out exactly how we planned. Seek is at the top of my list for all future projects.

Seek Design & Renovation gave us everything we were looking for and more in our master bathroom remodel. You can easily tell them amount of pride the team at Seek Design puts into their projects. From the first meeting through the completion of the project, the communciation was always great and the folks executing the work were always on-time and very respectful. Seek Design transformed an old, out-dated master bathroom into the modern bathroom that we were looking for. The project was completed within the original timeframe and budget we were quoted with absolutely no issues during the process. We even added some additional interior painting work to the scope and they brought in additional people to ensure completion in a timely manner. I would not hesitate to recommend Seek Design & Renovation to family and friends.

Seek Design and Renovation were really easy to work with and went out of their way to provide us with exactly what we were asking for at a fair price. They were very responsive and timely and made us feel at ease with the process. I felt like I was in great hands with a trustworthy, customer focused company. I would happily recommend them to anyone looking to have work done on their home.

We hired Seek Design & Renovation to update our master bath, closets, and bedroom from top to bottom. We are extremely pleased with the result and finally have our 'dream' master suite to retire to every day. Working with the company was seamless. We had full access to our assigned design representative who assisted us in making our vision a reality from material selection to trade management. All of the trade craftsmen (electrical, plumbing, framing, flooring, painting) were professional and courteous. The job took a bit longer than anticipated to complete, but we were always informed and updated. We have already obtained quotes on additional work and look forward to working with Seek Design & Renovation on turning additional visions into reality!

We worked with Don & Paula to design and do a major repair and update a 3000 sf home. From the soundness of the structure to removing walls, building cabinets replacing plumbing, electrical, AV systems; they even made it ADA compliant. Paula is the designer and she took the time to sit down and discuss every detail about furniture, tile, paint and overall decor and design. Don is the GC and he manages the job site and the subs. Don runs a tight ship! He maintained contact with us daily. Even with the challenges of Hurricane Harvey, they managed to complete the job on schedule. The home turned out beautifully!

Seek Design & Renovation was a pure joy to work with. The company is prompt, true to their word, and does not leave you in limbo. There was not any point in time where my questions were not answered in a prompt manner. I felt I could trust these professionals to do their job without having to worry much about anything. The person I worked with grabbed a hold of my vision and ran with it which made my wife and me very happy. We were super stoked with the renovation project results and will be working with this company again in the future.

Project was completed in a professional and timely manner. I am very happy with the results and would recommend Seek to my friends.

Thank you everyone at Seek Design! Very professional crews. Did a great job remodelling our master bathroom and fireplace. The crew worked safely and quickly. We will use this company again for any future remodelling.

This was the first time my wife and I used Seek Desgin & Renovation. We had SD&R remodel a shower and tub and add a ledger stone accent wall in our master bathroom, remodel a tub/shower in an upstairs bathroom, add a floor-to-ceiling ledger stone accent wall around our living room fireplace, replace a sink vanity in our guest bathroom, and update/improve our kitchen lighting. The combined cost of these projects was about $30k. We’re very picky about quality of materials, workmanship, customer service, and design. We also like making our own design, material, and equipment decisions. So, we didn’t have any direct experience with SD&R design services. Given our overall highly positive experience with SD&R, we’d definitely consider hiring them again and recommend them without reservation to others for residential remodeling work. SD&R provided outstanding customer service. They were pleasant to work with and were patient, accommodating, and respectful of last minute changes in our design choices. Communication was generally excellent. Our numerous questions about project timing, next steps, technical questions, and design choices were quickly and clearly answered. They were generally neat and orderly in their work and respectful of our property. When something needed correction, they always promptly attended to it. SD&R’s proposal was price competitive, and they provided a step up in build quality and construction methods compared to quotes we received from other remodeling companies. For example, SD&R’s quote included installation of a water-proof membrane in the entire shower stall and tub areas, whereas other companies proposed only a partial membrane installation for a similar price. While there were some minor delays with our projects, generally the work was performed in a timely manner, which was impressive because all of our project start-ups were post-hurricane Harvey. Overall, we rank SD&R in the top 10% of residential contractors we have worked with in our nearly 35 years of home ownership. Again, we enthusiastically recommend SD&R for any home remodeling efforts similar to ours.

Communication with the company was good. We knew who was coming and when. If there was a change in schedule, we were notified. The tile work, cabinetry and granite work were excellent and we are very pleased with the results. The project was finished within the time specified even with lost time due to Harvey. We would recommend Seek Design.

Great project management and design assistance was outstanding. Excellent quality workmanship and attention to detail. Excellent communication in the process.

I called to get a quote for hardwood installation for the master bedroom, closet, and staircase. I told Don I had a quote from another company but he still went above and beyond explaining the process and details of the job and what to look for. Don was honest, helpful and very knowledgeable. I would definitely hire Seek Design & renovation.