Revive Designer Bathrooms

Do Not Use Revive Designer Bathrooms, an Airoom Company, for your Bathroom Remodeling! It is a painful experience from start to finish. And the total cost is very high for the quality of work you receive. Our project was relatively simple: approximately 60 square feet of floor space; new tile; new shower with glass doors; new vanities, toilet, mirrors, fixtures, lights; heated floor; no walls moved; no tub installed or removed; no steam shower. In our first meeting with Revive we were told that the “process from contract signing to project completion is approximately 4 months, with the actual remodeling work taking 4-6 weeks.” In our case, from contract signing to project completion was 153 available working days (backing out Good Friday; Memorial Day; Independence Day; Labor Day: and our one week vacation), 30.6 weeks or approximately 7.5 months. The actual remodel from original start date to completion was 87 available working days (excludes Independence Day, Labor Day, and our one week vacation), 17.5 weeks. Actual work took place on 28 of these available working days (32%). After our last substantial payment (“on tile”) when the finish work was set to begin, the project took an additional 47 working days, 9.4 weeks. At this point Revive had received 97% of the total contract amount. On the 55th available working day, 11 weeks, the trim carpenter suggested I contact the company’s President via email. I did and the President responded, pledging “to move trades around and to make your job a priority”. From the date of the President’s email to completion, with his applying the necessary pressure, it took 33 available working days, 6.6 weeks, with work occurring on 8 of the available days (24%). And on the final inspection visit our Superintendent commented that “despite some hiccups we kept things moving along nicely.” In fairness, two days after completion the President called and asked to come look at the job in our home. He commented that they probably took on more projects than they could handle; it was difficult scheduling trades; but our job was not managed properly. He stated that he wanted to refund the portion of the contract attributed to “field management.” While we appreciated this gesture, it was small consolation for a wasted summer of aggravation and disruption. If you are still thinking about Revive Designer Bathrooms, an Airoom Company, read on for more details. Start Date: Six weeks after final contract signoff and selections we were provided a start date. Three days before the scheduled start date we were told that our work would be delayed two weeks because another job was taking longer than expected. We were told that this would insure a smoother process for us and provide the finished product “we deserved.” One Drop Delivery: The one drop delivery is one of their big selling features, so with a two-week delay in our original start date, which shouldn’t have been scheduled if all the material was not in their warehouse, our one drop should have been fine. It wasn’t. Material arrived damaged; one of the two tile styles required didn’t arrive at all; and the vanities were not what we ordered. The topper was on the 43rd available working day and 29th available working day after the “one drop” was inventoried. We were advised that the floor tile shipment was short of the necessary tiles (tile work was in progress) and that no more was available in the United States. We were advised that it would be six weeks for delivery, forcing us to find a different tile to complete the project. Then on the 55th available work day we were advised that the pocket door was the wrong size. It took 26 working days, 5 weeks, for the correct door to arrive. Design/Site Drawings: Our drawings showed the toilet main pipe in the wrong place which meant that the vanities could not be installed per plan. The result of this change essentially made having two wall hung vanities useless—we would have just had a double sink unit installed. Quality of Work: Rough electrical required a second trip because they forgot to install conduit through which to run wires for a heated floor. Rough plumbing required a second trip because they did the rough-in at the wrong location. On dry wall visit one they forgot to dry wall a portion of the wall for which it was required. In fairness, the tile work was done by a true craftsman and the results show it! Additionally, he was the first person we encountered who seemed at all concerned with the project and was the only person to apologize for all the issues with it. The sublet company hired to install the glass shower door was excellent. And the trim carpenter seemed concerned about the status of the job and was a solid tradesman, employed directly by Airoom. He was good natured and took his time to ensure a good job. Our first visit from the trim carpenter was emblematic of the overall experience. His plan for the day was to install the new pocket door; hang vanities and mirrors; and time permitting hang the accessories. Given that the rough in for the replacement pocket door was incomplete/incorrect, he spent the morning trying to install the new track. Once that was complete, when he went to hang the door he discovered that it was the wrong size! This door had been in our home since the “one drop” delivery and was inventoried as here by the Superintendent. Unfortunately, the Superintendent failed to see if it was the correct size. The end result was the need to order a new door (a simple flat door with frosted glass insert) with an estimated lead time of 2 weeks. Actual lead time was 5 weeks. Communication: In our experience the burden of communication was on us to “pull” information versus the Superintendent proactively telling us things like trade scheduling; status of missing/broken/incorrect materials; what the next steps would be; etc. When a scheduled activity went awry (not showing up at the scheduled time or day) it was up to us to try and find out if or when the activity would take place. Perhaps more annoying was the total lack of concern for the inconvenience these things cause or any attempt to accept responsibility to correct things in the future. And reaching out to their leadership (Senior VP Operations) proved of no value. When I sent an email after things got off to a chaotic start, he did reply with an apology for the “rocky start.” When conditions deteriorated further I sent another email to which the VP didn’t even respond. Very late in the process, when the trim carpenter on his first visit suggested I reach out to the company President, I sent an email and did get a response. He pledged to move trades around to make your job a priority. Unfortunately, this was 55 available working days (11 weeks) into a project that was supposed to take 4-6 weeks.

unknown

I'm a "water under the bridge" private person, and as such hadn't intended on writing a review.  However, several people have asked us about our experience with and whether we'd recommend Revive Designer Bathrooms.  When we say we wouldn't, those people have encouraged us to review Revive, saying "others need to know".  So here goes.
Let's start with the good.
 If you were to look at our new bathroom, you'd say "Wow, that's gorgeous."  And it is.  It looks like a high end, designer bath in a luxury hotel.  It's the result we sought when we first called Revive.
Our initial meetings were exciting and productive.  Revive's stylish and enthusiastic designer shared our ideas about the space, made some good suggestions and created a lovely, photorealistic rendering of what our finished bath would be.  Even though we felt the proposed price was high, we went with Revive because of that positive experience with their designer.
I give Revive high marks for their planning process.  No stone is left unturned in their showroom, as you select every last item and the materials needed to create your dream bath.  These materials, along with pricing and specs, cut sheets, and drawings and permits are subsequently itemized in your "selections binder" which stays with you.  It all felt good, and we were impressed.
Revive explained that the idea was to collect all of the fixtures and materials and deliver them to our house before starting work - this way, avoiding inconvenient and unnecessary work stoppages.  They told us that once work commenced, we'd be looking at 6 weeks, 8 max, start to finish.  They also suggested building a plywood "dumpster" on our lawn, as our driveway is too narrow for a traditional roll off construction container.  We had to replant the grass, but the suggestion was a good solution to a real problem.
We felt the demo crew, the plumbers, the electrician, the tile guy, the drywall installers, the shower glass installers and one carpenter overall did a fine job. And they were nice people, which counts in my book. 
Finally, our Superintendent was responsive to our endless emails (more on that below) and in fact attended a "meeting" at our house (along with our designer) just to discuss several major issues we had.  Unfortunately, the meeting turned out to be more lip service than not.
Now, the bad.
In my opinion, Revive Designer Bathrooms is expensive.  Their price would be more acceptable if the entire experience was better.  Most of our problems had to do with work stoppage, dishonest communication about that stoppage, shoddy carpentry and unfinished business.
The initial superintendent who did our walkthrough left Revive before we ever got started.  Our replacement superintendent also "left" precisely around the time we finally gave up on finishing with them (more below).  We were informed of his departure in an email with only the words "Joe (not his real name) is no longer with Revive."  That was all.  The showroom manager we worked with similarly disappeared before delivery of our materials.  High turnover doesn't help keep things flowing smoothly in my opinion.
Although we were told our job would take "6 weeks, at most 8", we had our last communication with Revive at the 16 week mark.  I say last communication because we finally gave up trying to get what we felt we deserved and instead hired our favorite painting company to fix several things.  
Most of what needed fixing was to due to sloppy carpentry by our superintendent's brother, a situation I found increasingly worrisome and nepotistic.   Both thresholds he built needed replacing, a windowsill doesn't exhibit the detail found in sills throughout the rest of the house (he used a chunk of pine 2 x 6) and was originally installed not level, holes cut in the tile for the vanity mirrors were chipped and jagged, requiring additional unfortunate edge polishing after the "caulk fix" proved to be at best a band-aid.
Our door frames were rebuilt with the original trim pieces - pieces that were deeply chipped and damaged during demo.  It would have been so much easier to rebuild with new pine.  Our painting bidder just shook his head and said we needed to strip the original trim as a result so we could get a decent paint job.  
The vanity was installed not level and required a reinstallation.  The sink holes in the marble slab were not cut in the right places, and a new one had to be reordered - which stopped things cold for some time.  I always wonder what such a mistake (we don't know whose) does to pressure on the bottom line.
One piece of tile in the floor was chipped.  To me it looked like someone dropped a tool and did the damage.  Our superintendent wrote, "I did see the small chip.  We will obviously take care of this."  Never happened.  It's still chipped.  Also, while the tile installer did a good job, he didn't choose the prettiest pieces of marble (we have a lot left over, and many were tiles of better quality, which was completely avoidable and disappointing).
We had a conversation about replacing the built in door mirror with our designer when we were planning our job and felt it was part of the job description.  Our superintendent wrote, "the mirror is on a task list, just not yet."  Revive never installed one.  We had to (painlessly) hire an alternate mirror and glass company.
Worst of all were the endless delays and lip service we got about when work would continue and tasks completed.  There were times where 2 weeks would elapse without seeing a single soul.  Here's an example of the communication we received from our superintendent when asking about the lack of progress:  "I apologize for the delays and will push hard to be done by the end of next week."  That was on May 29th - and our last dealings with Revive weren't until July 10th.  We needed more than another month to bid and work with our painters to get everything right.  There were many, many more emails like this that promised so and so on such a day - and then no one showed.  Oh - our superintendent "lost" his cell phone for a week.  "I apologize for the slow response.  I have been without a phone for almost a week now."  Really?  Even if so, how hard is it to get a replacement or loaner?  
At our meeting about our disappointment, we cornered our superintendent and asked if the problem was simply too much good fortune with jobs that booked and not enough manpower to go around.  He smiled guiltily and said that was the case.  Our designer seemed anxious and unhappy about this revelation.
There were other minor annoyances - like the hand shower they couldn't figure out how to attach to the fixture.  Turns out they ordered one intended solely for use with a free standing tub - and that therefore had a female instead of male end.  I offered to return the expensive incorrect item but they never took me up on it.  I tossed it in the trash.  They threw out a Spacepack outlet cover during demo.  I told them so.  They could have easily searched for it upon emptying the dumpster, but they didn't.  They had to order me a new one.  All puts pressure on their costs and bottom line, right?
I continue to like the ideas Revive has about an all-inclusive service with an exciting design process and thorough pre-planning.  It's just a shame you don't have contact with a proprietor or a partner who values your business and instead deal with a revolving door of yes-men who seem driven only by profits.

unknown

Revive is a division of Airoom Architects.  Unlike the main company, Revive only does bathrooms, nothing else.  They know their business because bathrooms are all they specialize in.  In our case, we knew up front we were going to want a couple of fairly high end bathrooms, and so this was exactly what we wanted, a contractor that only specialized in bathrooms, with no other distractions like cement, or roofing, or other commercial jobs to distract their attention.

Good points about Revive:  They have a system, and it works pretty well, but if you are in a hurry to just get started and get your bathrooms done quickly, then this is absolutely not the contractor for you.  Revive will take you through an excruciating planning and detail selection process in order to get it right the first time, and this will take much time and focus on your part, so be prepared.  Generally speaking, you will be thankful you spent all this time planning and documenting later - it protects both you and Revive, so you should feel good that (especially at these prices) you are doing it right.  You will spend one or two appointments with a designer going over all your requirements, then they will go off and do the design.  Then, you will have to review, make changes, and then approve the final design.  Next, you will sit with a materials person who will help you select all your fixtures and materials from their established materials sources, but you may have to wait 2 to 3 weeks before you have the appointment with this person because they get backed up.  Once you get your materials selection appointment, you will go to their showroom, and you must be prepared to spend several hours there, probably for at least two visits.  You will have many, many decisions to make - ones you didn't even know about.  The materials choices Revive will offer you and the vendors they use are considerable, but not all-encompassing, but they will all generally be brands you know and are familiar with.  If you want something they don't carry or source, you can go buy it yourself and they will install it, but this cannot be more than 5% of the total materials or cost.  In our case, we didn't see the tub we wanted, and went outside to source our own tub.   At the end of this process, you will get a big thick binder.  It will have all your plans and designs, the specs on every single fixture down to the last screw, and also show the manufacturer of every item, and there will be pictures and schematics.  A few more weeks will pass while they order and stage all your materials - they will not start construction until all the materials ordered have arrived, and generally speaking, this is a good idea.  The intent is to not start construction and then have to stop and hold up your whole project while you wait for your fussy special faucet you picked come in, for example  (though for a variety of reasons, this happened to us anyway).  The materials get staged in your garage by the way, and will take up at least half of a 2-car garage.  So if you are doing this during the winter, be prepared to kick a car out and get your snow brushes ready.  With all planning and documentation complete, construction eventually started about 2 and a half months from the time we first called Revive.  All the Revive workmen (and there were many), were clean, punctual, friendly and usually very good at what they do.  As we went along, we found the occasional odd minor mistake or we changed our mind on something because it didn't look like what we were hoping, and Revive immediately responded, and did immediate corrections and changes.  Communication back and forth was excellent throughout the whole project, and was primarily done by email, including your change orders.  Some daily activity stuff would happen with short notification windows, so monitoring your email throughout your construction project is an absolute must.  Some of your modifications will result in in additional cost change orders, but many didn't - it will depend.  In the end, everything came out great, and everything was done professionally and we are very happy with the final construction result.  All the people we worked with throughout the process, were great to work with, and very professional.

Weak points about Revive:  Revive is very expensive, probably one of the most expensive ways you can go to build a bathroom. We spent $92K on 2 bathrooms, and I feel like they are more like $50K-$60K bathrooms, and that this is what other vendors probably would have charged.  There will be significant markup on every item you select, but they will tell you this up front.  Every item you buy from revive can be bought cheaper someplace else, but this is true of almost anything nowadays, and if you want to source all your own stuff cheaper, then have at it - Revive is not the choice for you.  A large part of what you are paying for is their process, which is very planning-heavy.  The total process from first call to final sign-off was 9 months, and the construction period was 7 months.  Initially, when we asked how long all the construction would take, we were told 10 weeks.  It wound up taking 31 weeks.  Some of this was Revive's fault, but some of this was because of our prerogative to make a few changes, but suffice it to say take whatever time estimate you get with any construction, and then double or triple it.  When our ordered materials finally all came in and were staged in our garage, there didn't seem to be a good QA process to check the exact specs on everything to confirm it was truly the right thing.  So, we had a few events where the construction day came to install a widget staged in our garage, and lo and behold the workman would pronounce that it wasn't the right widget.  This was frustrating because the widget had been sitting for 4 or 5 or 6 months in our garage, and if it had been flagged as wrong when it first came in, then we wouldn't have had to waste time while new items were ordered and delivered later.  This caused weeks of delay, as some of these widgets were custom pieces that had to be remanufactured from scratch.  Also, Revive put a huge dumpster in the driveway, and we only had half a driveway for about 5 months.  This is to be expected from any contractor doing demo though, so the dumpster itself is to be expected, but this dumpster, after being removed after 5 months, left hideous rust stains on our new Unilock paver driveway that had just been done the previous summer.  Revive did a great job protecting our carpets and floors from the workmen, but little or nothing to protect our driveway.  It was a considerable effort on both our part and Revive's to remove the rust stains.  The last thing is that Revive seems to have unusually high turnover of folks.  We lost our project manager and designer at various times, but substitutions were made, and they worked out fine.  It would have been nice to have continuity.