Ritz Design Build Budge It Home Remodeling INC
About us
Ritz Design Build (A Division of Budge-It Home Remodeling Inc.) has been making dreams a reality since 1965. Serving all of San Diego County. Our primary business specializes in home expansions/addition projects, second story additions, new home construction, room additions, and large home remodeling projects. Master bedroom / bathroom suites, kitchen / family room expansions, and second story additions are a few of our most popular projects. We have completed thousands of beautiful projects. We are licensed, bonded and completely insured. You will find our extensive client list in every part of San Diego County from North County to South Bay and from the Western most beach communities of Del Mar, La Costa, Encinitas, and La Jolla areas, to the far reaches of East County. This extensive experience level, our 48 years of successful building County wide, and our free 3D Computer rendering service are our most valuable assets and what separates us from our competitors. There are plenty of "contractors" out there who "can" build a room addition for you but none have our experience level, our client list, our professional and talented design capabilities, and our affordable prices. We are very proud of our success throughout the years and wish very much to bring our experience and expertise to your home. Thank you for considering us to design and build a project that is perfect for you and your home. Additional contact -Shahrzad Ghaemmaghami, email - [email protected].
Business highlights
Services we offer
Building Permits Obtained for You!, Complete Design/Build Company: 3D Computer Designs and Renderings, Complete Home Remodeling Projects, From Start to Finish, Home Additions, Master Bedroom Suite Additions, New Home Builders, Second Story Additions
Amenities
Free Estimates
Yes
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
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| 100% | ||
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"Thank you [Member name removed] for taking the time to write us a review here on Angie's List- It's greatly appreciated. We are also glad that you are pleased with your expanded living room and backyard patio area addition. It sure does add a lot to that new home of yours and we are thrilled you chose us for the project- Now when are we invited for a swim?! Just Kidding :-) You were a pleasure to work with and we hope the new space brings you years and years of enjoyment. Happy Holidays! Sincerely, Team Ritz"
Purchased a home in Oceanside, and was looking to do a major (flooring throughout, complete kitchen redesign, bathrooms, electrical, etc.) remodel, so I started talking to various contractors to get initial estimates. There was a house near my mom's place that had a Ritz sign out front, so I called the number to see what they could do. The receptionist was very nice and attentive, and after talking to her about what I was looking for, she scheduled an estimate at the house. When he ( I believe his name was Ed) showed up, he was on time and listened attentively as we walked through the house and I described what I was looking for. As I wrapped up my pitch, and asked what his initial thoughts were, I was completely surprised when his entire demeanor changed and he basically began talking down to me like I wasn't good enough for his company! His message was that Ritz was more of a "high end" remodeler, and I'm quoting verbatim here, "needed another $200k remodel like they needed a hole in the head." I let him ramble on for a few more minutes, and then told him it didn't sound like we were a good fit for each other.
Not sure if he needed to take more of his medication, but was really shocked at how quickly the whole tone of the conversation went south. After seeing a Ritz project in a very similar neighborhood and I'm sure with a similar scope, I can't believe this guy is representative of his company. Not sure how many other prospective customers he has insulted and chased off (have seen at least one here on Angie's List), but my advice to Ritz Design-Build is to put Ed out to pasture. He is doing your company no favors!
"Hi [Member name removed]- Let me explain, because obviously Edward didn't do the best job in explaining that we are a full service "Design Build" company. Our forte is "Designing and Building Home Additions", not typically "Remodeling Existing Space"... We apologize if Edward came across as condescending- we are certain that was not his intent... and we are sorry that you feel the way you do about our company. You are correct, "we are not a good fit" for each other, and you are also right, that should have been explained to you more eloquently- and for that we are truly sorry. We wish you nothing but the best with your remodel and hope you have wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year! Sincerely, Team Ritz"
"Hi [Member name]- We apologize, but as we informed you, we have a $50,000 minimum at our company for projects. Since 1965, we have been adding beautiful new space to people's homes in San Diego County, and it's our company policy that we have a minimum to ensure the greatest quality workmanship for the least price for our clients. We suggest getting plans and a smaller individual contractor for smaller projects like yours as we are a medium sized company with designers on staff and a full crew... and we could do it, but as our estimator said, it would cost you more with us. We are still one of the lowest cost/square foot in the county for new construction- but we do enforce our $50K minimum. Again, we apologize we were not a good fit for you. Have a wonderful Holiday Season. Sincerely, Team Ritz"
Many know, at least intuitively if not by experience, that the most important part of any construction project is the foundation. If it isn't plumb and square then nothing else that follows will be either. Sure, a good framing crew can cover up foundation mistakes, but that wasn't the case here. The foundation was perfect (I had it independently checked). And the framing crew? Absolutely the very best I've ever had the pleasure of working on any of my aforementioned four homes. I can say the same for the electrician, mason, painter and on and on. I learned long ago you can tell a lot about a company and in this case a construction team by how clean they keep the construction 'zone' during the day and how they leave it at the end of the day. Not only is it a sign of pride they have in their work, but it is an indicator of how the workers think about their own safety and that of the homeowner. On our last home project, I had to 'get after' the company owner several times for the project not meeting my safety and cleanliness standards. For our Ritz project, I never had to make that call.
As I told the owner of Ritz, his subcontractors, many of whom have been with him for several years (which is almost unheard of in this business) are his competitive advantage over all the other build/design firms in SD. Truth be told, we don't refer to the team that worked on our project as subcontractors; to us they were no less than expert craftsmen.
Did the project go perfectly, without flaws? Of course not. I've never had a home build go perfectly, but this one was closer than all the others. The owner was active, engaged and committed to making it right. One of the mistakes was, admittedly ours. In trying to save some money we insisted on a cheaper shower product installation only to have to agree late in the project we were wrong. He had every right to charge us for not only the demolition of the old plastic shower, but then to 'stick it to us' for the new tile installation, especially since our 'change order' delayed the overall project schedule. He surprised us with his generosity and desire to make sure we were satisfied.
We are big fans of Ritz and the people behind the logo. We've told the team at Ritz to use us as references. We can provide no better recommendation than that.
Though I tried my best to keep the secretary on the phone long enough to explain to her our project status and what we're looking for, it appears that effort was in vain. Leslie (the secretary) was itching to get off the phone during our initial phone call, though I wanted to explain that we are primarily looking for a bid for the labor piece of our project since we are working with a designer in material selection and everything else. So she scheduled Ed, a "senior designer", to come to our home later in the week. She even called an hour prior to confirm the appointment.
Ed calls himself a "designer/estimator", so I'm not sure who has the correct title, but Ed made it abundantly clear from the moment he stepped into our home and saw our proposed floorplan from our independent designer that he was ticked off. He was not happy he had to be there. I'm not sure if it was because he didn't think we had enough money to go through with our approx 100k in total project on an approximately million-dollar home because we are young enough to be his children and we wear jeans, or because he thought it was a waste of time for him to be involved in a project where he wasn't the primary and sole designer. He pointed out very early that he didn't think his company would be a good fit for our project, but yet he stayed in our house and kept going on and on about minor details in our (preliminary) design that he didn't like. He was very proud of the fact that he's been doing this for 30 years, and he reminded us of that fact multiple times during our conversation just in case we had forgotten it from 10 minutes prior.
In short, he was condescending, rude, untactful to say the least, and certainly not doing very well selling his company's services. Finally, nearly an hour into the visit, when he listened long enough to discover that we were not necessarily against taking our independently developed design and having a one-stop design-build shop like his take over, he actually mentioned that they would love our business--though non-verbally all else indicated otherwise. At one point, Ed asked if we had talked to any "real" contractors about the job--how much more condescending can you get? I mean, if you nicely want to explain why you think you're the best person for the job and why we should choose you, we very well may do that!
He said he would get back to us with a proposal within the week. We never heard from him again. SIX weeks later we got an email from the secretary asking if we still needed them... ?
In the end, we happily took our 100k+ elsewhere. Ed seemed surprised to learn that we originally found our independent designer on Yelp, as if it is preposterous to use the internet to find home services online--I know that wasn't done 30 years ago when he started his "career". I hope this review will help shed some light on the business practices, processes, and overall attitudes at this company for anyone considering doing business with them. My impression from our consultation is that this company would be a great fit for the presumptuous, snooty, and rich.
Ritz Design Build built our dream dining room. We live in an HOA in the Tierrasanta area of San Diego CA and have a small back yard with not much room for expansion, so we were thinking a rectangular room large enough for a table for twelve. John at Ritz designed a gorgeous, perfectly sized dining room with a vaulted ceiling and two push-out windows. In addition to the dining room, Ritz also added two arches to our existing living area, built beautiful cabinets in our original small dining area, replaced our flooring and redesigned our fireplace. The result is an updated living space with character!
Every member of the Ritz team - designers, demolition crew, framers, carpenters, painters, etc. - was professional, personable, polite and patient. Having heard stories about the earthiness of construction crews we were especially pleased that we never heard a "bad" word. It was apparent that each worker believe in a job well done. Project manager Tom kept the process moving along and updated us daily, usually in person, so we knew what to expect next. Laura, a new member of the team, helped us pull our material selections together so they all "work together". We are 100% pleased with our new living space! When we are ready for additional home improvement we will be calling Ritz Design Build."Thank you [member name removed] It was a PLEASURE designing and building your dream dining room home addition. Mostly, it was amazing working with the two of you- and coming to your home afterwards for Christmas cookies and coffee! Yummy! Having a team such as ours and making your dreams a reality are the reason we love our industry so much. May you create years and years and YEARS of fond family memories in that new dining room and around your beautiful new fireplace! Sincerely, Team Ritz"
"There is nothing we like better than working with wonderful people like the two you and making your home bigger and more beautiful. What a pleasure it was! And what a GREAT video you put together of the whole process from start to finish. Your project was one of our favorites, not just because of the design, but because of working with you guys- What a pleasure. Thank you for taking the time to write us a review on here and we wish you many many years of love, happiness and laughter in your newly updated space we created. Sincerely, Team Ritz"
"Thank you Stephen and Virgina! You were such a pleasure to work with from beginning to end. We hope you enjoy your bigger home and beautiful new bathroom for years to come! Please come by our design studio at 7878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., we'll be happy to buy you lunch at the Godfather restaurant next door. :-) Sincerely, Edward Ritter, President Ritz Design Build"
"[member name removed], Thank you for the very nice review and the kind words... But I'll have you know that I have given up Diet Coke! It's not good for you (apparently). It was a pleasure building BOTH of your home additions for you and your wonderful family in Clairemont. Please do not hesitate to bring your family by for a visit anytime to our new design studio right next to the Godfather restaurant- we would love to see you. Sincerely, Edward Ritter President Ritz Design Build (A Division of Budge-It Home Remodeling Inc.)"
"Thank you [member name removed] for your incredible detailed review on our company. We value each and every one of our clients but it was a GREAT pleasure to design and build your beautiful home addition for the two of you in particular. Hope you are enjoying your new family room, master bedroom, master bathroom, steam shower and HUGE walk- in closet! Thanks again for your kind words. Sincerely, Edward Ritter President Ritz Design Build (A Division of Budge-It Hoe Remodeling Inc.)"
Licensing
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FAQ
Contact Information
7878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, Ste K, San Diego, CA 92111
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