Kowalske Kitchen & Bath

Beautifully remodeled bath, and a great experience! Very happy we chose Kowalske. First time a home project turned out exactly as hoped, and as promised. I was home throughout and saw firsthand the care they took with our home and the frequent quality checks by the project manager, and I overheard many conversations revealing a quality culture. For example, an apprentice tile setter being coached to “go ahead and do that one over, because now you see how to make it perfect.” We feel like they treated our project the way they would have treated their own.

HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE.. Just after the contract was signed, and 6 weeks before the project began, Kowalske sent me a "change order" which included one small change we made to the tub, an access panel required by state law,moving a furnace duct over, and the tile and faucet selections. Right away he had tried to charge almost double the price of the faucets I had been quoted and I had to argue to get the correct price. The access panel was not a change, nor was moving the furnace duct and these expenses should have been included in the original bid. He kept the bid lower by not including essential components of the project then stuck us for the charges in the change order. That is not what change orders are intended for-they are intended for actual "changes". Protection promised for floors was not provided until the end of the first day of demolition. Workers used the vanity top as a workbench and did not protect it, and as a result it was heavily scratched. During the job I saw everything from porcelain tile,fiberglass backed accent stone material, tools, screws, demolition materials, keys, sodas, a boom box, a binder, and tools I didn't even recognize on the vanity surface. A hole was punched through the master bedroom ceiling by his workers which resulted in our having to repaint the entire bedroom ceiling once it was repaired. The hallway walls got dented and chipped during this job, and the brand new laminate transition strip was damaged as was the laminate stair cap. The access panel FAILED THE STATECODE INSPECTION and it took a long time before Kowalske got anyone to come out and abort it. He has yet to credit us for this panel. The inspector said that the panel Kowalske installed is against the law. Kowalske said that is how they have been doing access panels for years. He is not even aware of state code requirements yet he is taking a lot of money from people and isNARI certified. When he finally got around to addressing this, they grouted up the access panel and aborted it and cut a 10"x14" hole in the basement ceiling and glued a $10 plastic cover on it. THE INSPECTOR WAS READY TO FAIL THIS 2ND ATTEMPT AT AN ACCESS PANEL TOO BECAUSE HE COULD NOT REACH THE OUTLET THROUGH IT. The outlet was at least 30" up from the hole and the worker cut the hole such that a joist runs right through it so you can't fit much of your body up through it. I offered to try and after 15 minutes of straining on a ladder and getting an allergic reaction to the dirt and materials between the ceiling and floor I managed to trip the outlet so it passed. It is important to note that not only did Kowalske hit us up for the state code required access panel in a change order, and that it was not to code, but also that it was the most expensive way to make an access panel. He could have just put the hole in the ceiling in the first place and it would have cost almost nothing. He had told me to select the tile at the store and buy it through him to save money because he "got a better price for it". Turns out he got a fantastic price for it but he marked it up so that you pay exactly what you would pay if you bought it directly.That is deceptive very profitable for him. He said he bought more than enough tile yet he did not plan properly. I had to return a lot of tile to the store and he got the credit for it and has yet to pass the credit back to me despite the contract saying I owned the material and I paid for it. If I had not intervened, the tile accent would not have been added to the face of the tub as originally agreed to. He said he ordered "more than enough"material to do the tub tile design as we wanted it, then without a change order he tacked more money onto our bill because he didn't plan and order properly. Because he refused to itemize for us, we can't tell if we are getting charged twice for things that should have been in the original bid.When I told him about the damage to the vanity top he said "I can fix it" so I allowed him to. He then said he had never done that before and was not comfortable doing so. He offered $120 instead. I investigated and found that the vanity top is a custom size and is not stocked and has to be cut and that at a big box store it would cost at least $500 to replace, plus $40 for side splashes. Kowalske admitted himself that the plumbing work to swap out vanities would likely cost $300. Then there is the labor, the disposal and any wall repair costs. This could easily cost upwards of $2K. Kowalski Then said he would give us $150 and that was insulting to us. We liked our vanity. The existing mirror did not fit back over the vanity when Kowalske was done with the job and we had to spend $300 to get a new one that matched the vanity nicely. We wanted to keep our vanity because there was nothing wrong with it and now it's ruined. Kowalske said "it would take a miracle to fix it". He won't fix it, he won't replace it, he won't pay for the damage his workers did. I showed him photos of the vanity top taken just before the project began so that I could use them to select tile and paint that would coordinate our lovely vanity. I had a close up shot too. The photos indisputably showed the vanity was in good condition and had no scratches before this job began. Why is the failure of his workers to protect the vanity top and the damage caused to it our responsibility? It's unethical. Kowalske then resorted to insults by saying the vanity was "old". The house was built in 92-93 and we have lived in it 7 years and there is no way of knowing if it was the original or if it was replaced. Either way I would not consider it old and it certainly was in good shape before Kowalske's people ruined it. His worker also destroyed a brand new unopened furnace register and didn't bother to mention it. Also this person was standing inside the tub in street shoes even though the factory directions said"stocking feet only" for workers. He also failed to identify that we needed to replace the window to meet code. Also, THE TUB DID NOT FIT INTO THE DECK THAT KOWALSKE BUILT. The tiled deck had to be cut open in two places and pried open and the plumbers ended up having to rip off chunks of the expensive insulation we paid for to insulate the tub in order to get it to fit. We primed one coat and painted two coats on the drywall when the project manager told us to. Somehow brand new drywall was ruined. Paint was scraped off in buckshot pattern over the entire West wall and there was a large "v" shaped gauge in the drywall. Kowalske refused to do anything about it so we had to patch and paint ourselves even though we paid for new drywall and we did not cause the damage. The first representative to visit us from Kowalske did not even identify that we needed an extra water heater to be able to fill the tub with warm water, and he had also told me to "keep my questions to a minimum". I should have run at that point. I worked with the water heater manufacturer and the plumbers to identify the appropriate size water heater that was needed and the model number and plumbing contract was provided to Kowalske and he approved of it. Per the contract Kowalske was responsible for all electrical work. The plumbers could not operate or test the water heater after they installed it because there was no electrical outlet per code to plug the water heater into. Kowalske sent someone over to address this, then many weeks later we got a bill for it from a business we did not recognize, Kowalske Electric which is owned by Matt Kowalske's brother. We disagreed with the added charge because it was fundamental to have the outlet to operate the tub and any remodeler should have identified this from the beginning in the bidding process when they visited the home. No change order was ever discussed or presented, no charges were ever discussed. Other materials were returned to Kowalske and we were promised credit for them but credit never came. Kowalske's payment schedule is such that it protects him and leaves the customer vulnerable.He has you pay a lot of money up front, and a lot of money at the start of the project, and you owe very little at the end of the job. Kowalske was paid almost all of what the contract stated we owed him. He refused to replace the vanity so we were stuck with his offer of $150 which is unethical. Once you deduct all the credits due we owed him nothing, and he actually owed us. We got so sick of all the email arguments with him and his failure to be reasonable that we told him we should just call it even,no one owes anyone anything, and he could get away without replacing the vanity top. Kowalske's response was to tack more unapproved cost onto the low balance we had before the credits would be applied and give us notice of intent to file lien. He has threatened to cancel our warranty. He has threatened to take this to NARI and that we would have to pay $1K for arbitration. I tried using the BBB to resolve this and despite the fact there are now 2 very bad complaints against him with the BBB, he maintains an A+ rating there simply because "he responded" to the complaints. His response did not resolve the complaints. I have since provided him with Right to Cure, showing him mathematically that we don't owe him anything based on credits and agreements, even sent him a summary of the agreements that he agreed to in an email, and that he is saving almost $2K by not having to replace the vanity, and that we want lien waivers and paid-in-full statements from both Kowalske businesses, and warranty paperwork. I would never hire any Kowalske business again and he goes by several names,Kowalske Kitchen & Bath, Kowalske Design Studio. This has been a nightmare for us. We work hard and saved to be able to buy this tub for therapy and now the value of our home is less because the Kowalske team used our vanity top as a workbench and ruined it.

We worked with Kowalske Kitchen & Bath for remodel projects in the kitchen and basement of our newly purchased home. We received quotes from other companies (including the big box stores), and we were really pleased that Kowalske Kitchen & Bath was really competitively priced and their turn around time was actually faster than anyone else with whom we talked. The customer service was excellent - very responsive, friendly and understanding of what we were looking for, and everything with our projects met established time frames. We are really happy with the finished product and will be working with them again in the future!

unknown

Horrible Experience! Our remodel experience with Kowalske was a complete disaster! They were obviously in way over their head and failed after repeated attempts on many of the projects. They just couldn?t seem to get anything right. I?ve wasted enough time with this company, so I?m not going to get into all the details. I would have to write a book, and some of the stories are so unbelievable you?d think I was making it up. The bottom line is that they simply proved to be totally incapable of completing a quality remodel project, and we ended up pulling projects and firing them before the work was completed, leaving us to find other sources to complete the projects. My opinion is that their failures were due to the owner?s (Matt Kowalske?s) inability to manage the projects or his subcontractors. We were left with the impression he just didn?t care much and didn?t want to (or know how to) deal with problems. Even after Matt tried stepping in during the beginning, the problems continued to pile up and he was unable to provide effective solutions. He basically ended up removing himself from the situation, leaving his designer, Sorrell, to clean up the mess they had created. Then to top it off, after we fired them, he actually tried sending us a bill stating we owed him more money. Unbelievable! We refused the bill and parted ways. Bottom line, based on our experience, I would have to say that Kowalske is completely incompetent and advise you to stay away! We ended up hiring Stone & Banister to complete some of the remaining work, and had a great experience with them! If you?re considering Kowalske, forget it and give Stone & Banister a call.

Did not use because poor communication and designer seemed inexperienced

They did it in a timely manner and so far it works fine. I used the shower this morning and it worked just fine. They were competitive with two other quotes. I would use them again.

A couple of weeks went by and I emailed her. First she said she was on vacation and she get back to us in a couple of days. We didn't hear from her. I emailed her again and again nothing. To this day I have not heard from her.

We were pleased with the whole experience. The staff at Kowalske's is not happy unless you are happy! Anytime we had a question or concern, they were more than willing to do everything they could to make it right and make us happy. The estimate was reasonable and only changed because we opted for some upgrades. Work was done in a timely manner and on schedule. Kowalske's also worked around our personal schedule and flooring schedule (we had the floors refinished during the process by another company) without any problems. The end result is a very functional and beautiful kitchen. I am glad we went with Kowalske's.

I've used them in the past. I was very happy with them. They basically fixed up a house to sell it and we got 4 offers and it sold for the asking price so I was really happy. I would absolutely use them again.

I will definitely use the company again. We have another, much smaller, job in the works for them. Overall, the experience was good. Matt's contractors are really good. Kudos especially to the carpenter, John and his part-time college student son. John is one of the most meticulous carpenters I've ever met. Everyone cleaned up after themselves. Even though the work itself was very disruptive to our household, I believe they tried to minimize the disruption. With a crew as big as it needed to be, it was not surprising that a few times, contractors did not show up when scheduled. I'd have appreciated better communication around that. And that really is our only complaint .

Lowalske had good ideas on design and materials which saved us money. They guted the shower area to the studs. I was very impressed with their carpenter who packed all of the old buidling materials into his van and removed them from our premises. There was substantial build out to make the walls and floors plumb.The title man was an artist. He split titles to provide an attractive border to the shower. The work was completed ahead of schedule. They held to their original bid, even after finding substantial surprises. We never had to clean up when their workers left the house.

They made the master bath look like a spa. They also did tile work in the guest bath and the master bath. They could use some work on their communication. Overall it was a really good experience. Their staff is fun and knowledgeable. They have a pretty good rapport with their clients.

THEY SUBCONTRACT WITH PEOPLE WHO DONT KNOW HOW TO DO THE WORK. THEY HAVENT FOLLOWED CODES AND DID NOT TAKE OUT THE REQUIRED PERMITS. THEY DONT RETURN OUR PHONE CALLS AND THEY STILL HAVE NOT COMPLETED THE WORK. THEY STARTED IN NOVEMBER OF 2002. IVE CALLED THEM OVER 100 TIMES IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS AND STILL NO RESOLUTION TO THE UNFINISHED WORK.

OVER ALL THEY DID A FINE JOB AND THEIR TILE MAN WAS EXCELLENT. THERE WERE MANY DELAYS, HE SAID IT WOULD BE A ONE WEEK PROJECT BUT IT ENDED UP TAKING A MONTH AND A HALF DUE TO PRODUCT AND ORDERING DELAYS. I FEEL THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE ON THE BALL IN REGARDS TO MAKING SURE THAT CORRECT PRODUCT HAD BEEN ORDERED AND WAS NOT DAMAGED. THEY DID THE STAINING IN HOME WHICH CAUSED SERIOUS FUMES AND BAD SMELL, WE HAD FANS GOING ALL THE TIME.