Built by Design

Description of Work: We asked Built By Design to give us an estimate to finish our basement (bar, 3/4 bath, 1 bedroom/office, rec room) and add a door and doggie door out of our garage into our backyard.

Description of Work: We hired Built by Design to do a major renovation of a 30 year old house we purchased in August of 2007. Our projects included: finishing the basement, converting the existing 2 car garage in to living space, and adding on a 3 car garage with a living space above it. We were very impressed with Built by Design in the beginning. This was a big project and we decided that hiring a general contractor was the way to go. Dave and Mike started off very professional, organized and timely. The basement finish and garage conversion overall went pretty smoothly. We ran into a huge obstacle when it came time to start the addition - we discovered that a major power line ran through the middle of our property and we would have to relocate it. This was not an easy task, but we have to give Dave and Mike credit, they worked very hard with the city and KCP&L and were able to get this pushed through ( this part of the project was pushed back three months). Unfortunately, this is where the problems with them began. We noticed as they finished the basement and garage conversion that they became really annoyed anytime we would point out something that wasn't done quite right or paint that needed to be touched up or any little thing that, according to them, wasn't up to their standards. The first time we entertained in our basement was about a week after we made the final payment for finishing this job, and as I opened the dishwasher to load it, it completely tilted forward as their plumber did not install it properly - a detail that they should've caught as the general contractors - (surprisingly, they missed this again after they finished the kitchen in our addition). As we continued through the process with them, they became very arrogant and acted like they were doing us a favor and not at all as if they appreciated our business; they never apologized for a mistake or took any responsibility for a mishap such as workers not cleaning up after themselves or their dry waller not showing up or poor workmanship, etc.; they gossiped about their other clients with us and we learned from someone we do business with that they disclosed how much we were spending with them to this person; Whenever we wanted to upgrade something or go above the standard, they were annoyed, complaining and derisive and yet had no problem writing up a change order, which we came to realized was their m.o. - they sold their estimate as reasonable, boasted that they had high standards, complained whenever we wanted something done and charged us a hefty price for it. I personally found it inappropriate and hurtful that they always made fun of our home because it was old.

Description of Work: After interviewing 5 contractors who were all highly rated on Angie's List, we selected Built By Design to finish our basement. While some of our original bids were slightly cheaper, it was easily apparent from the initial meetings that some of the contractors would have been much more difficult to work with and didn't seem open to much feedback from us. Even though the house was 15+ years old, the basement was unfinished, even after the house and basement were added onto. The project totaled over 1,600 sq ft of finished space, including a family room, bar, office, bedroom, playroom, fireplace and full bathroom. The project included a full review and modification of our heating and a/c systems to best utilize the available space, as well as custom cabinetry in the bar, office and family room. The location of the existing water lines was less than ideal, coming down in the center of the space, requiring a creative design to eliminate the need to break into the concrete floor and move the water line. One set of French doors were re-purposed from our upstairs and used to provide entry into the office through an existing load bearing wall. One additional unique component to the project involved successfully cutting a hole in the concrete foundation wall and installing a dog door to allow for a dog run to the backyard.

Description of Work: Basement finish with wet bar, full bathroom, surround sound and built-in cabinets.

Description of Work: We added an entire wall of cabinets (upper and lower), tiled the countertop and backsplash, changed out the flooring, got new appliances and updated the lighting.

Description of Work: The owners came out to view our 9-year old home and to listen to the basement and master bath remodeling job that we wanted accomplished. I found it strange that they took no notes and very limited measurements. I was told, at that time, that within four days they would call me to discuss a proposal. After I had not heard from them in one week, I called and asked about when I would hear a proposal. A couple of hours later, one of the owners called me on the phone and gave me a rough estimate of $25,000 for the basement remodeling and said that because he knew I was "particular" they would have to take their time. He also said that they would come out within a few days to show me their computer proposal and to further discuss the job. I NEVER HEARD FROM THEM AGAIN. I don't think they ever really wanted to do the job in the first place. ($25000)