- Professionalism, Punctuality, Quality -- these are word to describe Mark's team and work.
We started the remodel contractor-shopping last June 2013 and naively thought we would have a new kitchen by September. But
researching a few contractors, we quickly learned the differences between the different companies. Some designers we talked to kept concentrating on the little details (what cabinets, what countertops?) whereas our main issue was usability. Aesthetics is easy to fix. We talked to Remodel Works Bath and Kitchen (Poway), who has good ratings and undoubtedly would deliver a good kitchen, but the pricing was just too high for our budget. We also talked to Regal Concepts and Design (another highly rated company in Angie's List). The price seemed fair but Paul said he could not do my project until 6 months later as he had other commercial projects he was doing. So we remembered talking to Kitchen and Bath Studios back in 2005, when Elizabeth owned it, and she wisely told us to save our money (we did not have enough for the kitchen we wanted) so that we do a kitchen remodel once and not regret it. So we went to speak with Mark Lawson in September 2013(now owner of the company, and by the way I am not sure why this company lists Morgan Lloyd as owner -- perhaps previous owner?). At first Mark was hard to get a hold of (took a few phone tags) but as soon as we did get a hold of him, he seemed very knowledgeable and confident of the work that needed to be done. Our kitchen project ended up being bigger than expected (even seen those HGTV shows where they discover surprises in the house, because previous owners hacked away at things or did DIY projects themselves? Well that was our kitchen -- previous owner took out a few walls but did not reinforce them). Long story short, Mark referred us to an architect (Ali Mohammadian) of ASM Design, who helped us redesign the kitchen and include designs to reinforce all the necessary beams and footings. Ali and his engineer submitted plans to the city and by December 2, the city approved the plans and we could move forward. Mark detailed the breakdown of the entire project, including allowances for things, so that we could easily compare his price against others. We subcontracted the structural work to someone else (moving of walls, reinforcing beams and footings, etc) after also comparing a couple of companies for that. While that structural work was going on, Mark and his team wasted no time doing what they can to get whatever they needed to get done (like start on electrical). The entire project took 10 weeks, including time waiting for city inspector to come and inspect (at which point work halts), materials ordered to arrive, etc. Things were not perfect, but the things that were not were fixable and assurances were made that they would be taken care of. For ex: wrong cabinet doors came (should have been glass) but Mark took care of it. His team (Frank, Ed, Kevin) were professional, polite, and clean. We lived in the house the whole time and they cleaned up everyday and kept it as neat as they can. There was one day when it was not as neat as expected and that day never happened again (apparently a newbie plumber was left and not aware of the rules) but in all those weeks, that one day was definitely an off day. And now those guys are gone, I miss having them, especially when I would leave them a list in the morning of things to do and check, and by the time I come home, they were taken care of. I was spoiled.
We love our new kitchen. Everyone who sees it says it came straight from a magazine (I guess all those hours I spent on houzz.com paid off). Mark was very easy to work with. He has a good eye for design. He would let you know what he thinks, but would honor your wishes. He is very practical (and quot;Why get a double oven when you probably won't even use the 2nd oven but maybe 2x a year?and quot; So we opted for a convection microwave oven instead that serves as our 2nd oven.) And usually, I trusted his design ideas and they worked well with my own ideas. His tile guy Chuck is very good -- very patient and is a perfectionist at his trade. And the project expanded into the hallway as well, and he built us new linen closets out of the space left over from the walk-in pantry. I would definitely save up some money to get him to do maybe a mantel over the fireplaces next, and maybe redo the bathrooms too. :-) Oh and Sue the office manager is easy to talk to and super friendly. So that helps a lot. So 10 weeks for moving a wall, reinforcing beams, doing 5 footings, and redoing the entire kitchen (dropping a new gas line and rerouting water lines) was definitely a welcome surprise, that it did not take longer. My pendant lights which I ordered from 'Tap Lighting' in Hillcrest is taking longer (almost 2 months now and still not here.) Anyway, if you ask Mark for references, you will see that they all rave about him. Some even ask you to come visit their house (which of course freaked me out) but that just goes to show how happy his customers were with the work, and now we are the newest members of that club.