Neil Kelly Design Build Remodeling

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They made sure that we approved and they were very prompt. They were always here when they said they would be. It was a very good experience. They were a little more expensive than others.

Its my fathers house. The downstairs bathroom had a pipe ruptured from an outside root and it damaged the bathroom and surrounding area. We had a plumber (EM Plumbing of Issaquah - report already submitted) repair the damage, a speciallist cleanup company (no report yet - I thought they were very expensive but i'm comparing notes with others) do the clean and dry. When all that was done the area was all torn up, but clean. So Seattle Design Build came and looked at it. Roger suggested some easy fixes (which saved money), and we scheduled it. Michell was the worker assigned, and never slowed down. We'll use them again.

We contacted them but it took a week or so for them to come out to evaluate. We were anxious to get going, but the wait was worth it. Roger knew his stuff and had a couple ideas to reduce the work and our costs. He suggested a couple of changes (like to the doors) that were better than what we had chosen. The crew began on a Monday. There were 3 of them and they had two trucks with supplies and equipment. It was complete professionalism. They arrived promptly at 8 (early actually, but would sit in the trucks and have coffee till 8:00) and worked till 5. They cleaned up every day. They left equipment and supplies neatly stacked in the house overnight. We had our furnishings pushed aside in areas that they were working, but when they needed to move them, they returned them back where they were. These are minor points, but our last contractor, (Tolt River) made messes and didn't clean up until they left. When I got home on Friday they were finishing up and gave me a walk through of everything they had done so far. The exterior lights were on and there was no trace of disturbed walls or landscape to even hint that there had been construction. It was amazing. They returned on Monday and finished on Wednesday. Roger returned on Friday to do a walk through and to make sure the cement had cured properly. Great experience - This is the only way to remodel. We have a Kitchen remodel planned in the near future. We will use them.

Overall, my experience with Seattle Design Build was excellent. I felt right from the start that they would be the people I'd want to work with -- when I first met Darlene, she mentioned right away that I could continue to work and live in the house while construction was going on, which was a huge factor for me as I work at home and really couldn't afford to move out for a few months. The lead carpenter, Brent, was fantastic to work with and really cared about what he did, and didn't mind me pestering him to explain some of the things he was doing. The plumbing was one of the biggest problems in that they left an inexperienced person often on the job alone, and Brent had to check his work. At times, I felt like they would never leave. They were the one sub that made it difficult; otherwise, most of the subs used were fine except for what I call the "guy factor" -- they just didn't care if they made a huge mess. Brent was always incredibly meticulous about dealing with that, though. We also ran into a problem with the sink/faucets that I'd purchased and the soapstone countertops, and I wish that had been checked on before, we did find a solution but it wasn't my ideal, considering the cost of the high-end things I bought for the kitchen. The cabinets are fantastic, and the tile floor is breathtaking, though I am having settling problems with it in a few spots. They were able to plan for an eat-in space in a very small house, create a utility room for me to bring the furnace and water heater up from under in the dirt crawlspace, create a real working kitchen, and work with all my choices in colors, materials, and green stuff. It was a good fit. My only problem besides the plumbing sub was that a huge job in another part of the state often meant people were unavailable at times I could have used some hand-holding. It's hard to schedule around those types of things, but as someone who has never done this before, I would have liked a bit more personal assistance when choosing materials and items for the remodel. I frequently felt very incompetent, like at the snobby tile store. Hopefully the next project, I'll know to ask for more help. And if I'm really lucky, I'll get Brent again.

The original Estimate was $87,000.00 but after we signed the contract it was made clear to us that the estimate did not include interior and exterior painting, siding to match the existing structure or the labor to install it, gutters for the new structure to be matched to the old part of the building, flooring in the new room and lastly sales tax. They gave us an extra estimate for Cedar Siding in the amount of $14,000.00 and I did my own checking and found out I could get it for a much lower price. All totaled with all what we had to pay and do ourselves that were not in the contract, the total of the costs are around $119,000.00 and we still haven't had the exterior painted as yet. The final costs will probably be around $130,000.00. I didn't like the fact that they don't add this stuff into the contract and then they want you to use their subcontractors so they can take a 33% mark up on that.

For a small space, the most was made to update the bathroom and make it usable. In the end, it turned out well, and suits our home and lifestyle. While our salesperson/project manager initially impressed us with her idea of how to update the bathroom and the relatively low cost to do it, we had to double check measurements/figures and follow up on everything from deliveries to contractor scheduling to quality of work. Had we known that we were going to do so much project management, we might have considered another firm. The plumbing charge came in higher than expected and the tile guy did good work, but under-ordered the trim tile which delayed him, resulting in higher labor charges. We really wanted to work with a company & project manager who were detail-oriented and quality driven, and would share their professional experience/opinion with us. Seattle Design Build fell a little short.