Marrokal Design & Remodeling
About us
LIC # 593914. Award winning.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Design-build residential remodeling including kitchen & bath remodels, green building specialists., master suites, outdoor kitchens
Amenities
Emergency Services
Yes
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 75% | ||
| 11% | ||
| 8% | ||
| 3% | ||
| 3% |
The "designer" really didn't listen to what we wanted and we ended up not really getting what we wanted, we got what he wanted to give us. I felt very rushed into choosing standard fixtures when I was looking for something a little more custom. (you'd think, paying that much, we could get what we wanted, but not really)
Some items are still not done (Fireplace) and not done correctly (deck, see PIX)
and overall I really wish we had not done this- or, rather, I wish we had chosen a company that cared about us rather than just getting those regular checks into their pocket according to their schedule. My brother chose Lars construction and was quite happy with their work.
I think the job was just barely adequate -but for the money I feel I should have gotten exactly what I wanted. All I got was disappointed.
"Sorry that you have been stewing on this for 8 years. Neither your designer or project manager are with the company any longer so I can only apologize for the experience."
"Glad we could help. Call us anytime if we can be of further service."
"It was a pleasure working for you and we sincerely appreciate all the marketing support you have provided for our company. We look forward to coming back and doing more!"
Contractor supervisor was always on the job and kept in constant contact with me; subcontractors (electrical, plumbing, flooring, tile, painting, trim finishing) were all excellent and very personable. Did not hesitate to re-do something if it did not measure up, and they did it without my asking. For example, when adding a tile accent strip to the steam shower they discovered the placement of the shower controls by the plumber came into the accent tile strip location. They stopped, opened up the wall again, brought the plumber back to relocate the shower fixtures, resealed the wall and finished the tile. they did this without my asking them to, the job supervisor and tile folks did this on their own.
I lived in house while vconstruction was underway. They blocked off work areas to minimize dust and worked with me to minimize impact on my staying in the house.
Excellent follow through on all aspects of project. Projecf took 4-5 months and was well worth the time and money. I knew they were high end, but so many friends have horror stories of working with contractors, I felt this was a good way to go. I was not disappointed and would recommend them to anyone and use them again.
Marrokal works as a team and integration of company, design, subcontractors and supporting folks was excellent. They made it look easy, but it was a very complex job. After watching all the TV shows on remodel doing it yourself and seeing them in action I now realize what is left out on those TV shows. The TV shows make it look easy, but in actuality it is like juggling five chain saws.
Getting Marrokal was the best decision I ever made in doing a project of this scope and magnitude.
"Thank you for the review. Keeping clients like you happy is what keeps us in business. You are our priority, and will continue to be now that your remodel is complete."
"We would look forward to working with you again. Thank you for the kind words."
"Remodeling projects by nature encounter issues. What we believe to be important is how we respond to misunderstandings and challenges. When she called about a mistake or an item being different than her expectations, regardless of signed drawings, we responded quickly, professionally and made changes/corrections on our dime. Some client / contractor relationships just are not a fit. We hope she enjoys her kitchen."
"We apologize because it does not sound like you received the Marrokal experience we strive to provide. We have incorporated many suggestions from clients since your remodel was completed and sincerely believe these many small changes have improved the quality of service and supervision."
"Thank you for your kind words. You were a great client to work for!"
"Thank you for your response. We understand it is as much about the experience as the end product!"
"Thank you for your referrals."
"Thank you for being a wonderful client and ambassador!"
We felt our hands were tied in terms of understanding the budget for this job. While we knew (and approved) the bottom line figure we never saw a breakdown of each part. When we wanted to make changes it took days to get an answer about what we'd be saving if we cut "x" and put the budget toward "y". For that reason we would prefer to deal with one contractor and have the itemized budget as part of our working arrangement in any future work we do.
Marrokal is a great company if you have no experience in building or remodeling and do not plan to be involved in the project. They will professionally take care of it all for you. Just be aware that they will rush you through the plan phase and press you to make the commitment so do your due diligence carefully. This is a big company where you interact with different people for different things.
"Thank you for posting your review. We would be happy to send someone out to see if we can help you with any issues you are having. Please give our office a call."
"Marrokal was not allowed to perform the construction work here. It is true that our policy is to not release documents until we have a signed agreement with a client as well as a deposit check. Clients are welcome to spend as much time in our office reviewing documents, in one or multiple visits.These clients did sign an agreement in our office and were given a 3 day notice of concellation which gave them a cooling off period. Six weeks later they notified us of their intent to cancel because they had selected bath hardware at a $6000.00 price point (they were told most people spend $3-4,000.00) and they had not understood that painting and flooring were not included (even though they had initialed their understanding in two places). We were entitled to damages of lost profit and overhead, but in an effort to work with them we sent a letter explaining that we would refund the unused portion of their deposit upon return of the plans and a signed release. They refused the mail not once but twice. We then sent an email offering to refund the deposit in a gesture of goodwill. The gesture was met with a response of "keep your money and quit wasting our time." They then went about their mudslinging campaign on the internet. At this time their money has been refunded, but Marrokal was the party wronged in this situation. Marrokal has had more than 2000 clients in over 30 years in business. We have been honored by the BBB with the local and International Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics 8 times in the last 8 years. We are sorry that the communication fell apart, but glad that it was discovered we were not compatible before their bathroom was deconstructed."
From the first meeting with the designer to the final walk through, Marrokal was a pleasure to work with. They were on time, professional, and cleaned up each day before they left. They gave wonderful suggestions but more importantly, they listened to what I wanted. Having dealt with another local company for an earlier remodel and having an awful experience, I was a little leery of being "burned" again. Those fears were quickly put to rest by everyone I came in contact with at Marrokal. I would recommend them to everyone. LOVED them.
"Member- Thank you for the recommendation."
"You guys are the greatest. We got off to a rough start and you gave us the opportunity to redeem ourselves. Thank you for the referral."
Marrokal came up with two design options for us to consider and we were very involved in all the aspects of the project (perhaps, more than they would have cared for). We had some specific ideas about design and how we would use the kitchen and they worked to incorporate our needs and desires into the design.
The project included ripping out a wall to open the kitchen to the dining room, adding additional foundation supports, redoing all the electrical and plumbing and making a replacing the existing dining room French doors going to the backyard.
We were budget conscious, so we offered to do some work ourselves, but due to their warranty, they weren't really excited about that. We ended up only doing insulation installation and painting. We also lived in the house during the project which as anyone will tell you, is hellish.
One note - because the house is historic, we had to go through San Diego's Historical Resource Board's review which was very problematic and time consuming. The original design was something City refused to approve and Marrokal had to go back and revise the plans to meet the historic guidelines.
Most of their subcontractors were great. The plumbing sub was honest, on time and professional. Their drywall team was amazing - they were fast, professional and did better than I expected in matching the new drywall texture to the old lath and plaster texture. Unless you know where one ends and the other begins, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Their electrical guy, though surly and always trying to find ways to charge more money, did a great job. Their cabinet builder did an amazing job creating custom cabinets to match the space required in our oddly shaped kitchen, making sure we didn't lose any space. And the cabinet opening for the oven, it fits like a glove! The counter fabricator team came out to take templates for the Ceasarstone counter and installed our farmers sink perfectly into the counter.
The stucco guys not quite as good. The work eventually got finished correctly, but only after they would show up at 6:30 am and start hammering (p****** off the neighbors), then when we called them on working before the legally allowed time they drove off honking their horn and peeling away. They started work before the Marrokal project manger told them to, and improperly measured the wire for the stucco and wanted to cut window screens down to size to fit rather than correct their error -- all after they were told not to start the project yet. When they did the final coat, they left out huge chunks of the stucco and had to come back two times to get it right. (In my opinion, it was either just a total lack of attention to detail, cutting corners or laziness.)
Our project was estimated to take 3 months, and ended up taking almost 7. Some of this was their fault, some of it was the hold up with Historical reviews and some of it was our delay. (In fairness, to "save" money, we bought windows and doors ourselves to avoid a markup on cost from Marrokal. Unfortunately, some of the measurements were wrong on the plans so the windows purchased were smaller than what they should have been. For the doors - well, those were a disaster. Some how, the company we got the doors and windows from to "save us money" ordered doors that were 6' 4" doors instead of a standard 6' 8" -- so there was a lengthy delay while they were reordered (and yes, any money savings disappeared when we had to reorder new doors). Marrokal wasn't really helpful in this process as they seemed to have a "we didn't order it" type perspective.
One of my few complaints was that in the initial estimate process, I was asking for how many lights, electrical outlets etc were included and we were told that would be covered at the "dusty shoe" walk through (after the whole estimate/proposal is finished and signed off on). We could never get a commitment on how many of what was included and of course, when we started asking for outlets or lights in certain spots, suddenly change orders starting coming up. Just keep in mind - aside from things that go in the walls/ceilings, you'll pay for all the lighting figures and stuff and you need to incorporate that into the budget.
Overall, we're very happy with the end product. Having gone through it, we certainly know what to do differently next time on any new projects.
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