NORMANDY REMODELING

Normandy Remodeling was fantastic. They did the job on time, totally professional and any issues that came was dealt directly through one contact which made it extremely easy for us. We worked with their designers and they were very professional and they can make alterations with the design if we specify. The quality of the work is guaranteed for 5 years.

This was a horrible experience, I am adding it now because over ten years later, I am still dealing with their errors. 1. They proposed being done in 4 months with the entire project. After 8 months, we had to move into a still unfinished house and sleep on the floor of a large closet because it was the only clean area in the house. 2. Since they've finished, tile has fallen off the bathroom walls 3. Toilet was not attached to floor and rocked when used 4. Roof problems. They extended a roofline, and did not install weather-water proofing near gutters, so when we have bad storms, the water flows into the house. When other roofers have come to fix the leaks, they ALL state what a shoddy job this was. There were gaps in the roof shingles- some as big as one inch- the roof shingles were not overlapped. Roofers have also told me that the way they made the joint between the siding and the roof also caused leaks. These leaks ruined my kitchen table, another expense because of their shoddy work. 5. When they installed a basement window, they apparently cut the venting system for the heat, so one of the bedrooms in the house receives minimal heat, which is extremely uncomfortable in the winter, or hot summer as the A/C does not reach the room via the vent system, either. 6. The tile floor in the master bedroom shower goes upward toward the drain, so the only way to get water to go down the drain (rather than puddle on the floor) is to squeegee the water on the floor into the drain after each use. 7. They made a peak on the top floor of the house, merely decorative to go along with architectural changes. However, they installed a piece of plywood at the face of this peak, rather than the siding they used elsewhere on other parts of the house. This wood was not made for exterior use and rotted away (even though we painted it) after five years. 8. They cut the pipes to the sprinkler system and did not replace or fix. 9. Insulation was not put into attic areas- the option was not offered to me nor was it ever discussed- I had to have someone come in later and insulate. 10. They installed plumbing for an upstairs bathroom that leaks so badly, we can't use the shower or the sink. The toilet does not leak, thankfully. It has ruined the ceiling in the room below it, another expense on us to fix their shoddy work. 11. I had a heated floor put into the master bath. Their man installed it underneath were the bathroom vanity was going; it would have heated the floor beneath the sinks where no one would ever walk, not in the open area in front of the sink. I had to pay $2000 to another contractor to move the wall and bathroom vanity so I could stand on the heated section of the floor. 12. When choosing the countertop for the master vanity, I was taken by my Normandy architect to choose stone at a particular place with whom they do business. He helped me choose a beautiful stone. After installation, it broke in front of both sinks in the countertop. No one could figure out why until another contractor pointed out that the size of the sinks was too big for this "weak" a stone. Why didn't my architect point that out to me when he approved my sink and countertop selections? 13. I asked that the toilet "room" in the master bath be soundproofed. I was told by the foreman that soundproofing did not exist; that soundproofing was not real and could not be accomplished. How interesting to find it in other homes. 14. In a hall bath, their installer dropped the light fixture going in over the sink and mirror which took a chip out of the sink. They said nothing, installed the sink anyway, and hoped I wouldn't notice. I did, and had to argue to get it replaced. 15. MAJOR Structural problem: I had a plate glass picture window removed, and had windows that opened installed. In doing so, they had to alter the brick below the window sills. Since that time, the wall has sunk and tipped so that the windows cannot open- they scrape the outside sill because of the angle they've tipped to. Also, the brick grows the most remarkable algae because when they did the roof above, they did their typical shoddy job- no weatherproofing underlayment, poor shingle alignment. At this time, a large steel beam was removed and left in my yard. I'm betting that beam should have been used to support these windows. My foreman took this beam with him. 16. They installed a new furnace in one section of the house. When I had another company come out to service this furnace, I found out it was over 10 years old at the time they installed it. 16. When they roofed the area where the chimney is, they did not install flashing, so more leaking into the house. 17. Exterior walls they build have horizontal cracks running through them- they did not build the walls strong enough to hold up the roof. 18. On one exterior wall, they did not complete the connection to the foundation, when chipmunks found and moved into the house. The hole left was located by using a mirror to reflect upward as I walked along the foundation. It was 3 inches of wide open space to every animal in the yard. 19. They had to match up siding, which they did fine with, color-wise. However, the siding material they used is not durable and began pitting itself out 4 years after installation. I need to re-side where they installed. 20. They cleaned up a little, but not nearly enough. We had 3 tire punctures (requiring new tires to be bought) in our driveway from nails that came off the roof in rains and landed on the driveway. I have to say that when we initially LOOKED at the job, it looked good. It is when it started to fall apart that things have gotten much much worse. For the amount I paid and for the amount I've paid since then to correct their work, I could have razed this house an built a new one. Their initial pricing was fair, but it is apparent they cut every corner possible to make their estimate. So much for quality- there just was none. EVERY inch of the roof that Normandy replaced or constructed has been re-replaced over the past ten years. Litereally EVERY contractor that has come to redo their work has asked me, "Who did this?" and they go on to point out error after error. These errors are in the construction, materials, lack of use of proper materials to cut corners. If you choose to use this company, please be very cautious, and have a deep pocketbook. You'll need it after they've completed your job.

They forgot to include a major thing that was about $4,000 or $5,000 when they provided us with a contract. I would not recommend them to others as they did not pay attention to detail.

They have very high quality. They have very good customer service. They're very excellent. They're great company and very nice. They make sure that everything is done correctly and they follow up and make sure that we’re happy with everything that they’ve done. They provide an excellent quality service. I think it’s definitely worth the money. It seems to be very fair in their pricing. I used them a few times actually because of their high quality and expertise.

I like everything about them. They’ve been running a long time, very efficient and their people are great. They’re high-end but excellent company and get what you paid for. The project is not yet finish but so far so good. They are ahead of schedule, very professional, with good quality of stuff, great people but as I said the project is still going on and we don’t expect any negative so far

Our basement is finished and we are looking to 'update' it. It is framed and drywalled. Normandy Builders sent Heather out to our home. Our initial meeting was fine and we gave her ideas in how we wanted to update our basement space. We spent a couple of hours. We were excited to see what she would come up with. A few weeks later, we met at Normandy Builders. The designs presented were good, but no prices revealed. Heather was showing us everything including flooring. Once we got to the pricing, we were flabbergasted! Remember, our basement is currently finished. Yes, there would be work to take out the carpet/flooring, drop ceiling, but the walls and drywall are there and not going to be removed (though some added for extra space created). So back to the price...wait for it...wait for it....$145,000+! Yes, that is correct. Now, the basement design was nice, but not a new condo nice. Not a "I could send my kid to college nice." The design did have an $8,000 fireplace, which we took out right away, but other than that nothing fancy. No theater room. No wine cellar. Not even a sauna! When asked for the justification of the bathroom would cost $28,000--no details were given. Was it a pot of gold toilet we'd be sitting on? She couldn't explain. There was no breakdown of cost. We didn't even know what materials were 'included.' The 'boss' even came in and no explanation. I don't know about you, but I think that is a bit steep for a basement that wasn't filled with Beverly Hills goodies. That's not even furniture, new Tv's and didn't even include the paint on the walls! We are definitely willing to pay for a nice basement and have now found another firm that is reasonable with the same features presented through Normandy. Let's just say, we'll get our basement done and have money still in our bank to send our kids to college!

They were superb. They did what they said they were going to do. They were on time. They had a foreman who appeared every morning first thing and supervised the guys and made sure they were on track. The only delays were from the city of Chicago in getting the permits. Once they started, they kept right at it. They were clean and neat. They made a special dumpster because it wouldn't fit otherwise. They did a super job. We would recommend them highly. They were pricey but they were worth it. I would love to have them come back.

They are very professional and friendly. We liked the design ideas that they offered to us. They are very understanding and didn't push us at all.

FIrst person we delt with never got back to us. After waiting for 6 weeks for him to come up with a design and estimate, I called the company. They sent another sales rep to our house. He was more responsive and came up with a plan. We had to pay a $500 deposit for him to put his ideas on paper. 2 weeks later he arrive to show us very nice plans for the rennovation. However, his price tag was about double what we expected. The company refused to give the deposit back stating it was for the time expended to cover the design. We asked to keep the design drawing so we could shop it around and were told it was the company's property. Since we paid for the drawings I felt they were wrongfully withheld. Would not recommend this contracter. They are everything you don't want. Non-responsive, high priced and difficult to deal with.

The price was too expensive. They were very professional and had a professional designer. They had quality marketing materials but market to higher end projects. They were very good but the pricing was too high; they were 3 times above what others were charging. I would only use them if I was rich.

.After requesting a free consultation on there web site we were contacted promply and had an appointment set up in about a week. Kathryn O'Donovan Our designer arrived promptly and was very personable.She spent almost 2 hours talking to us about our likes and dislikes. Listened to our concerns about our attic access . We made an appointment with her for the following week in their showroom. to see her design ideas. We loved her design ideas! and her unique but simple solution to the access problem. she was very well prepared and was willing to take the time to explain the different aspects of the project. the original price was way over our budget . Kathryn was eager to work on a solution to try to get us down to a better price We scheduled an appointment for the following week when we arrived Kathryn was as always very upbeat and cheerful. She spent another couple of hours with us trying to get the project price down to our Budget amount. Sadly we were unable to reach that number and have chosen a different contractor. From our 3 meetings (almost 6 hours of her time ) Kathryn's attitude was wonderful and I really wish we could have chosen Normandy for the job.

I was looking for someone to re-do a handyman job on my back porch. They came out and made some recommendations that I eventually went with but did nto use their services this time.

Normandy measured all the windows and ordered everything. Each window fit properly. The carpenter that was sent to install the windows was excellent. The mouldings and trim were removed, old windows removed, new windows installed, and mouldings and trim replaced. There was absolutely no mess. The interior trim was put back so expertly that you could not tell that it had been removed. Even the holes to mount the mini-blinds lined up. Everything was completed on time, clean and neat.

I have used Normandy before. They are excellent and demand top notch workmanship from the sub-contractors. I only had to contact the site superintendent. The roofers showed up a little early (a good thing) and the site superintendent showed up at the scheduled time. Every concern was addressed. The roofers worked on protecting my building as well as the neighbor's landscaping. At the end of the job, they did an extensive cleanup, leaving my property and the neighbor's property clean. The gutter contractor showed up as the roofers were finishing and installed the gutters and downspouts as requested. The entire job was completed in one day and looks great.

They told me that they will finish the project in six weeks, but it took them three months. They were not able to provide a premium contact with a decorator. It was supposed to be part of the project. They did a good job, but three months to finish it is too long.

First the architect, Troy designed the spaces. I would give Troy an A+++++ because he designed exactly the space I wanted. He was awesome-creative and professional. We were assigned a project manager-Rick. Rick was so-so, and I believe no longer with the company. He was nice, but often missed details. The first step was to pick out the materials. Now, Normandy advertises that they are the best. However, to get the best materials (tile, fixtures) you have to pay extra. They put in the absolute cheapest fixtures and materials unless you pay extra over the price quoted for job. I did pay extra for hand glazed bathroom tiles and ended up with 10! extra boxes of this expensive tile. Never found out why or who ordered so much. Also had to pay extra for some rather average decorative tile for basement shower. The next step was demolition of the existing bathroom and basement. This proceeded without any problems. Next the various subcontractors came in and did their stuff. Here was the problem. Rick the project manager really did not seem to have much control over what they did. The subcontractors did their own thing and their efforts were often not coordinated. For example, the tile guys laid tile in the downstairs bathroom and left without doing the upstairs. Tried to tell them but they wouldn't listen. Had to explain to Rick, but took days to get them to come back and install upstairs. The subcontractors often used the cheapest materials. After spending thousands on new furnace, found that they put in the absolute cheapest thermostat. Because the subcontractors did not work together and the project manager did not check up on their work, we found problems after job completed. For example, upstairs bathroom fan vibrated and did not remove moisture. Paint was starting to peel. After two visits by their follow up person, he found that the vent was never vented to the outside. No one had checked to make sure this had been done. Normandy fixed it, but did not offer to pay for damage to paint. Another example, had dripping shower head with 2 years of completion. Drain stopper did not work properly. The plumber Normandy sent out to fix it stated that the Kohler fixtures i had paid for were cheap ones, not the high quality I assumed they were. This upset me, as I assumed hiring the best meant I would get the best materials. Another problem with Normandy is that they do not paint, stain or caulk. When your big expensive job is finished, you have to either complete the details yourself or hire someone else. How annoying. To summarize, our experience with Normandy was ok, but not the stellar experience I would have expected for a contractor that wins all sorts of awards and represents themselves as the best. However, they were honest, showed up and designed some beautiful spaces. The problem was in the execution and details. The devil is in the details as they say.

After meeting and finding out the price we did't go any further. I was also a little annoyed that the three designs they presented were not as good as I would have hoped. Needless, we didn't go with any of their designs.

Overall, the project went well! We initially met with Terry to discuss the project. She was extremely easy to work with and highly professional. Once the overall scope of the project was determined, Terry got to work on the drawings. Once the drawings were finalized, Terry assisted us with the selection of the counters, cabinets, tile, etc. The Normandy showroom is quite impressive. I loved how everything was under one roof, I was able to meet with Terry and see the showroom - all in one visit. Terry was also careful to stay within our budget at all times. Our superintendent Rick was great to work with on site and always available via phone. He was highly qualified, professional and courteous. The project always ran ahead of schedule, even though there were a few minor hiccups (i.e. weather, old home). Because of his knowledge and experience, he was able to deal with any issues that arose during construction and communicate with the crew and vendors to ensure that the work got done on time and properly. Throughout the project, Rick provided updates and communication regarding the project so that we would know what to expect and when. - there were no surprises The project was planned, organized and managed from start to finish with professionalism, knowledge and courtesy by Terry and Rick.

We were tired of all the little things that were going wrong with our master bath--loose tile, leaking shower drain, poor space use, no storage, etc. I had seen Normandy's ad and after some investigation, we'd thought we'd give them a try. They were everything they said they were -- great design, on time, on schedule, very professional, and probably the cleanest contractors I have ever worked with. Ann Stockard, our very creative designer, worked with us on every detail, from beginning to end. They were so thorough, we didn't even have a punch list at the end of the project. They even discovered a plumbing problem original to the house that they fixed. When the project was completed, it was completed. Our master bath was so beautiful when it was finished, I was almost afraid to use it for fear of messing it up! With Ann's design and Normandy's execution, our remodeled master bath won Normandy a First Place 2010 Remodeling Excellence Award from the National Association Remodeling Industry (NARI) of Greater Chicagoland in the Residential Bathroom $30,000 to $60,000 category. Friends and family ask if they can book a "day at the spa". It's been over a year and the master bath is as beautiful as the day they finished and everything is working the way it should.

In my opinion on a scale of 1 to 10, I would score them 20. They are right there to help you with everything and have a supervisor, who ensures everyone is doing their job. They ask your concerns right there and cater to the same. I will use their services in future.

We did not go with them, as they were expensive. I was, however, very impressed with the person that came. She was very good, thorough, and a very good designer. They were a more sales oriented kind of company. They came up with the best designs. We would have gone with them if their price were low. I rate them high overall.

I cannot say enough great things about Normandy and the professional people I worked with on this project. Leslie Lee was my designer, and Andy Healy was the project manager. I first met with Leslie about a year ago. She came to my house and spent several hours with me, talking through what I'd like to see accomplished. I remember asking her if Normandy charged more for materials that were above "mid-grade," and she laughed a little. She promised that all materials used would be high-end. (They definitely were). She listened closely, and a few weeks later provided my husband and me with four great options for the renovation. Her designs were fantastic, and kept with the style of our home. We chose the option we wanted, and over the next few weeks the house was measured and detailed plans created. While we waited for the plans to be approved by the city, we started picking out all of the materials. Leslie was so patient with us as we went back and forth on what materials we wanted. She met with us on the weekends in the showroom due to my schedule during the week. She was fantastic in guiding us on which cabinets would look nice with which countertops and flooring, etc. Once the plans were approved, the work started in January. Andy, the project manager, was great about keeping us informed as to the progress, what was going to be happening each day, etc. His genius idea was to build temporary stairs on the outside of our home for the workers to access the work area. This meant that I never saw a worker walk through my home until months later when the stairs came down and then only finishing touches were being made. I was prepared for a renovation of this magnitude to be a horrific experience, but it was close to painless. The main work took place between January - April. January was kind of a wasted month though since the weather made most of the month unworkable. Andy was frequently on the site to monitor the work being performed, and continued to provide me constant updates. The final product is remarkable. It looks like my home was meant to be built this way. It doesn't look like a renovation was done, which is fantastic. I would definitely do it again, and will use Normandy for any future renovation projects. The price was high, but well worth it. You really do get what you pay for, and my new space looks so high-end. We could not have asked for a better team from Normandy to help us!

They are a top company that has a lot of class. As I told them, the whole project exceeded my expectations. It was a nice and neat job that everything fit together perfectly.

They were phenomenal. The workmanship was first rate. They were incredibly responsive. The project supervisor always returned phone calls and was very patient. The quality of the workmanship was just awesome. I was amazed. The best room in the house was the one they built. We didn't find them on Angie's List. The quality of their workmanship was what stood out to me the most. They are a general contractor. They got the guys that work for them very carefully. They are good. They are very professional. You will pay. I just thought they were a little high, but it wasn't crazy expensive. It was on the high end. I think now they are amenable to negotiations and you probably would get a much better deal than I did. I am a new homeowner and I asked my dad about them because he has owned houses for a long time and he said that the cheapest things that you ever build will be the most expensive things you will ever own. We had asked around and we heard nothing but good things about them.

We met with John and we explained what we wanted to do. When John arrived, I told him I had no idea if we could afford to do what we wanted since we had no idea what it would cost. Initially, when we met I told John I wanted to go out 10-12' with a four-season room off my kitchen/dining room areas, move our laundry from the basement to the end of the four-season room with windows all the way around and add a half bath. Then, go upstairs with a master bedroom suite. Unfortunately, what I wanted was way over what I could afford to do, because John said that to do what we wanted would cost approximately $300,000 which, first, we couldn't afford to do and secondly, it would have priced us way out of the market in our area. So, John suggested that we consider just doing the master bedroom suite upstairs and that he would work with us on what we could afford. He came back about a week or so later to take measurements and we set up another appointment for early March to see what he thought he could do. About a week later, I received a call from John stating that because the way my home is set up, there was no place to put stairs to go up without losing a bedroom which I didn't want to do. I wanted to have a 3 bedroom home, not do all this work and still only have 2 bedrooms. So, John said he may be able to just go back the 12' but by doing that, I told John of my concerns about losing the light that was in my dining room and spare bedroom which I didn't want to do. John said to let him see if he could figure something out and he'd get back to me but because I didn't want to block out the light in those rooms, I am assuming, he couldn't come up with another solution because I didn't hear back from him.