Amethyst Contracting Inc

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Kristi has done a great job and has been very easy to work with. She has a great eye and pays attention to what we ask for and comes back with options. Her experience in building has been very helpful when it comes to determining potential financial pitfalls of one option over another. Lastly, she has been very patient and accommodating with the iterations we have been sending her. Will come back for progress updates as our project continues.

Our addition was finished in 3 months, on time and on budget! We chose Amethyst because they had done the remodeling for the previous owners of our house. After living in the house for 2 years, we are so impressed with the quality and thought behind the home's new details. So we wanted to use the same company. Kristi worked quickly and smoothly with the city officials in Whitefish Bay to secure the permits. The work crew was a small group of responsible and talented people, whom we felt completely comfortable with in our home. We even left on vacation for a month with them working away! I had a few significant changes along the way which they stopped and incorporated, which was very impressive. I can't believe we didn't do the addition sooner -- we had put it off thinking it would just take longer, cost more, and turn into a nightmare like some stories we hear. Instead we have a lovely addition that feels like it was always part of the home. Kristi was a pleasure to work with, and I don't know how she runs the whole show, but she does! Thanks Amethyst!

Her insight into the design process, architectual review board, and what we were looking for in a remodel project is remarkable and her taste is impeccable. Like I said, I was at a loss to find someone who understood our unique project and who was able to see our vision in this house and Kristi was the first person to walk into our house and not only "get it" but acutally make our vision better. I am overjoyed with the elevation drawings and can't wait to start on the second phase- construction of which her crew will be the absolute first bids. Can't wait to work with her again and can't thank her enought for the enthusiasm and creativity she brought to this project.

I'm not knocking her or her team's work, but her project management skills and ability to control a larger team of subcontractors seems to be a pretty big challenge for her. She's not very knowledgeable about services/trades beyond architecture - I believe this is the root of my concern with working with Kristi. I would recommend setting dates and budgets (set parameters upfront) and recommend that she be very communicative with you from the start, so expectations are set. It took no time at all for Amethyst subcontractors to make a time to meet and review our home for a remodel estimate. We gave her a detailed list of to-do's (built-in fireplace cabinetry, mason work, library-style shelving for an office, a built-in china cabinet, some minor electrical work and and a design to tie it all together). Kristi and her team came within 1 week. Unfortunately, it took us 3 weeks and repeated calls to decide not to move forward on the project. We were expecting a line-item bid from her and her subcontractors' services, along with a design and project plan. We never received these items after 3.5 weeks. She finally sent me a few emails with piece meal cabinetry ideas and asked me to call some of her subcontractors directly to complete the projects and to get individual timeliness from each of them. We do not have time to do these things (especially after 3 weeks of our timeline was gone). We decided not to partner with Kristi, because of her lack of project planning and confidence in her own or her team's work for a simple project.

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Kristi provide detailed plans for a shed dormer addition on our duplex. She responded in a timely manner and quickly made all the changes we requested. Her insight and design detail led to smooth interactions with contractors and review authorities within my community. Her warm and professional personality gave my family the confidence to undertake our first major remodeling project.

Kristi was contacted by phone, email as well as in person. She was very detailed orientated and had wonderful suggestions on how to accomplish the project. Her thought process was very complete. She kept us very informed and listened to our wants and needs. She worked well with the city officials and contractors which enabled the job to be approved and completed in a short period of time. The project was a success; actually better than what we thought was possible. The upstairs project turned out much better than anticipated. The cost was more than reasonable. The key players worked together seamlessly to get things accomplished.

They are an architectural firm and there are some serious remodeling issues that we have asked her to take care of for us. She submitted a whole bunch of drawings and we made revisions and now we are changing our minds about the whole thing. It is not something that we are in a hurry to have done. She is absolutely great. She is extremely friendly and extremely patient. She is very, very punctual. Not many people would go along with the work schedule that we have set out for her. We met for a few times and then we haven't met for five months. She hasn't submitted a bill, which many people wouldn't do. She has been very flexible. She is very quick and returns calls. She has been very available for meetings. I am calling her today to see if she can meet on the weekend because that is the only time my wife is available. She doesn't smoke and she doesn't show up with alcohol on her breath. She is very nice and very friendly. She presents herself very well. We are very happy with her.

Loved working with Architect/Owner Kristi. Flexible on price and amount of work. Tim showed early in the morning and worked straight through to quitting time. Cleaned up when finished and stayed out of our way.

Working with Amethyst was a great experience for my wife and me. By knowing both the contracting and architectural aspects of a project, her insight is invaluable. Of the many contactors we had visit us, she did the best job of listening to what we were looking for and interpreting that into a concrete plan. She added her insight to come up with a plan that was better than we had imagined. She brings positive energy and will build a rapport with you – working with her was always a great time. She is always coming up with ideas on how to make a space unique and does a great job of communicating these plans as you move through the process. She was also always willing to adjust our blueprints as the project evolved.

The project was done iteratively and in a collaborative approach to be able to meet all the zoning, design guidelines while exceeding our expectations. The idea proposed and implemented exceeding our initial expectations by preserving the charm of our 1929 house and upgrading the features of the house to meet the needs of a 21st century family with kids. The results was able to address the scale challenge of the project with great feedback from the Whitefish By Architecture review board.

Stay tuned!

Great experience

It was a pleasure to work with Kristi. She is very enthusiastic and welcomes the customer's input every step of the process. Kristi is easy to approach with concerns and questions. She especially did a great job of helping me to create the new spaces with an eye toward keeping a very tight budget.

I think she is very professional and prompt. She is easy to talk to. I think she has some of the same ideas we did. She had the same styles as we were looking for. I think she is very knowledgeable.

Project went very well although we didn't do the remodeling. My fiancee and I broke up and we wound up selling the house instead.

When I purchased my home, I knew that I wanted to remodel the upstairs of my bungalow. It had two bedrooms and one bath but the layout was awkward and had very limited closet space. I thought a design/build firm would be the most efficient way to ensure that my vision was carried through from design to completion. I also wanted a firm that would bring ideas to the table to address the space but also take my ideas seriously. I contacted couple firms prior to calling Kristi at Amethyst. Most did not call me back and one even came to my house to take measurements and talk about the project but then never contacted me. At this point, I found an ad for Amethyst in the yellow pages and reviewed her website. I was impressed with the work I saw. Her work was more modern than the direction I wanted to take my home but I thought that would provide a great balance to my ideas. When I did finally contact Kristi, she returned my phone call immediately and came out for a home visit shortly thereafter. During the visit, she had lots of ideas and we had a very collaborative discussion. From there, we worked together to come up with a great design. Kristi dealt with permits with the village architectural board and its inspectors. She did a good job of helping working through the unexpected issues. Kristi also did a good job of overseeing her sub-contractors. I was particularly pleased with the tile work, finish carpentry and dry wall repairs. The sub-contractors also did their best to keep work area neat and tidy and reduce dust and dirt tracked throughout the rest of the house. Overall, I am very pleased with how my project turned out and would use Kristi again. I got everything I wanted ? more closet space, a usable guest room (with new dormer) and a better layout while maintaining the character of my 1920?s home.

Excellent experience in all areas: Very punctual, professional, personable, and enthusiastic about her job. She made money saving suggestions and was a good listener to my points of view and requirements. I recommend this company very highly.

It went very smooth once we decided to go ahead with the project. We delayed the start until we got our financial affairs in order. Preliminary design started in late April, 2006.

The basement renovation was a complete success all thanks to Kristi at Amethyst Contracting. Kristi presented an excellent design that utilized every inch of available space and turned a dungy, musty 1,000 square foot basement into a clean, warm and inviting basement that the family is now able to enjoy. Kristi was a joy to work with and I would not hesitate a second to recommend her for any renovation or construction project.

When I bought my house it was in bad shape and the intention was to remodel (it was a foreclosure). During the first few years I spoke to and/or had design build companies come over to discuss. An architect wouldn't even make an appointment without a deposit first. I didn't feel like anyone took me seriously or wanted to deal with a small project. Finally I picked up the yellow pages and saw the ad for Amethyst Design "a woman owned and operated" firm. I called and talked to Kristi for about 1/2 hour and she came by 2 days later. It was obvious that she respected my own thoughts and would be easy to work with. During the design phase we met often and worked together on ideas. Kristi was easy and fun to work with and was always ethusiastic about the project. In addition she was very flexible to work around my own personal work and travel schedule, often meeting evenings or weekends to accommodate. The build phase was not without it's problems, the weather delayed the progress and material availability and/or changes I wanted to make "on the go" brought some additional delays. Kristi was very supportive even when I called a hault to add 7 skylights. I love my home and it's still a "work in progress" as I'm not a quick decision maker on interior design and/or landscaping. I still consult with Kristi as needed.