Baywood Design Build Group Inc

We were deceived by owner Brett Schoolnick and by job foreman Carl Goad. The job was delayed because Schoolnick would not order materials. When we complained, they lied about it. They did not keep their promises to us, nor did they have a good work ethic. They were lazy and lied to us daily, but were great at trying to placate my wife and me. They did not finish the job leaving us having to hire another contractor. They wasted their time and mine, making a 6 month project take longer than a year. Beware: Schoolnick filed for Chapter 11 and folded up the company, but I expect him to return under a new name. Save yourself a lot of trouble and seek help elsewhere.

The crew was professional, expert, timely, and super clean. The job was originally estimated at 6 months - it took a year, partly owing to some mission creep (see the long list of jobs!). There were a few missteps, which I take to be normal in this size job. These were all corrected as efficiently as feasible. At least one neighbor was inconvenienced by the presence of a dumpster in my driveway for such a long period of time - there was nowhere else to put it, and as the job was very close to finished it was not a problem to speed its departure. The only substantial negative comment I have is that I would not recommend the painting subcontractors that were used - at best, adequate after adjustments. I rated the job overall as "A" for quality because this particular aspect (paint) was really a minor component in the scheme of things, and so much else was done so very well. I see that Baywood is in bankruptcy court as I belatedly write this review. I do not know what has happened. So, the "Would you hire again?" = Yes is clearly a rhetorical answer, based on our interactions with Baywood prior to bankruptcy proceedings. I did want to post that I was quite satisfied with both vision (nice architectural plan) and the implementation. I am certain that we could have done parts of the job more cheaply - but I do believe that working with a Design/Build company is the way to go for large remodel.

It is now almost October of 2017 and the work is not finished. Baywood declared bankruptcy in August. Obviously we did not know what was going on to cause our project to be delayed for so long. Many excuses were given and we were deceived by both the owner/designer, Brett Schoolnick, and the construction foreman. Work was half-completed and strung out for many months. The carpenters sent towards the end of the project provided very shoddy, sloppy work that must now be ripped out and redone. We are incredibly upset and disappointed about this group who had received such high ratings and evaluations. We have had to contract with another builder to correct and complete the work.

BUYER BEWARE: Past performance Is not Indicative of future results. Baywood promised to complete a major repair and renovation project in 4 months. In that time, they performed minimal work, completing nothing more than the demolition task. They put up a small amount of drywall and the workmanship was inferior, with seam gaps, uneven boards, and ragged edges. They offered numerous excuses and performed a few hours of work per day on the days when someone showed up. The only acceptable work was done by their electrical and plumbing subs. Then they announced plans to file for bankruptcy, although no claim has been filed as of this date (8/24/2017), robbing me of over $50,000, and the electrical company is threatening to file a mechanics lien to recover money I've already paid to Baywood

-employee Will was completely unprofessional. Spoke negatively everyday about his boss the owner Brett. -would come 3 hours later than plan and then leave several hours early -would take extra long to complete daily job while complaining about how much he didn't want to do the work or how the work was beneath him -when I told the owner about this, he simply did not care much -there are many better contractors out there, do not waste you time on such laziness

unknown

They did an excellent job. The design they presented to us was excellent. It took much longer than they said it would take. They were here everyday until it was done. We actually used them 3 times. We had a bathroom remodeled and an addition built onto our house. In every case, they took much longer than they said they would take.

Our family room overlooks a lovely woods; unfortunately, we have never had a great view of it because instead of a wall of windows we had five-and-a-half foot wide expanse of wall flanked by two relatively small windows. In late 2012 Brett Schoolnick and the Baywood Design-Build Group were mid-way thru a major redesign and renovation of our master bathroom and closet (reviewed elsewhere). This seemed like the perfect time to proceed with our long-delayed wish to “capture the view” so we asked Brett to come up with a plan. Brett got back to us with 4 designs for the space; we opted for a picture window flanked by casement windows and a row of transom window across the top – almost a 12 foot width; Brett specified Pella windows. In February 2013, when there was a lull in the bathroom reno, Baywood got to work on the windows. Installing the new windows involved constructing a temporary “wall” in our family room, approximately three feet away from the exterior wall, to support the upstairs floor when the 12 foot by 6 foot opening was created in the exterior wall for the new windows. All of the structural preparation for the new windows was completed while still leaving some sort of waterproof membrane intact across the exterior of the opening – important in the winter! The windows themselves were installed in one day; subsequent dry wall and interior trim work and exterior finishing took a few more days; all total, the job took less than 2 weeks from start to finish. The two members of Baywood's team who were involved with the construction (Eric and Will) were courteous, took care to minimize the disruption to our household, and left the job site picked up and vacuumed each evening. I was especially pleased with the thought that Brett gave to the interior trim work, stopping by specifically to see how it looked initially, revising the design on-site, and continuing to tweak it until he was satisfied; the completed design uses a series of layered mouldings to unify the three windows and integrates them seamlessly into the style of the existing house, giving us a beautiful “wall of windows.” This project was more than just a simple window replacement and I would not have felt comfortable entrusting the job to a window installation company; I knew Baywood would do a good job and that I would not need to worry that they might somehow compromise the structural integrity of our home. Now, a year later, we have not had any problems with the windows, and they continue to look as stunning as the day they were installed. Working with Brett and Baywood on this project was a pleasant experience and I can highly recommend the Baywood Design-Build Group.

They did a terrific job. We got a beautiful kitchen and are extremely pleased. I felt very comfortable and felt they were trustworthy. They were on time and very pleasant people to work with. Also, they were very concerned with doing all the work perfectly. They had great suggestions that I wouldn't have thought of.

The job went well. First Brett drew the architectural plans and then he helped me pick out the granite, fixtues and tile. Eric Bell coordinated the carpenters, electricians, painter, plumbers, delivery of materials etc. He put a combination lock (like people in real estate use) on my door with my house key in it so that he could come in without disturbing me. All the contractors did a professional job and Eric made sure that everything was cleaned up at the end. He always called ahead of time to let me know when the workers would arrive the next day.

Brett was on time and he came when he said he would. The workmen were all punctual and very nice. The work was beautifully done. We were very satisfied. I also thought their prices were very right. They were very good about cleaning up everything in a timely fashion.

Design is a real strong point with this company. Unlike many design-builds I have contacted, the owner is a talented designer who cares about what the project will look like, and really sees the potential opportunities your home offers for a quality addition, and knows how to do just about anything well. I had a very skilled and intelligent project manager who took input well, added to the job with good ideas during the process, and was very good to work with througout the process. Subs were also impressive. Electrician was outstanding. Concrete guy very professional. This company does not race through jobs and this job involved a lot of coordination with utilities (post-derecho) which slowed things down, but overall, project went well and result is exceptional and worth some extra time.

We are so happy to share out experience with Baywood Design/Build Group, Inc.! We stumbled through our first remodeling experience, (bathrooms), but now, on our kitchen/dining room, (and any future work!), will be with Baywood! We began with a call to the office to schedule an estimate. The reply from the designer, Brett Schoolnick, was prompt and professional, but also personal. Brett came to the house to talk with us about what we wanted and returned with a wonderful design for both projects we want to have done, (the kitchen/dining room and an addition). He came back several times to help us develop a contract that would get us the best products at prices we could work with. He helped us plan the order of the projects and made great suggestions that helped us understand the processes and how they would effect our household. The project supervisor, Lee, was very pleasant, easy to work with, and comfortable to have around. That is very important when you go from gutting two rooms to the finished product! The heart of our home has been recreated - bigger and better than ever! We now have a spacious, beautiful, and much more functional kitchen! We spend more time cooking and just hanging out together there...All seven of us! It's made such a change in the entire atmosphere of our home! We wholeheartedly recommend Baywood Design/Build Group, Inc. and we won't hesitate to call them again!

I liked the quality of their work though I was a little disappointed in the design process. We didn’t have as much input into the design process as I would have liked. We had to fight for any changes that we wanted because the designer came up with his own design and he was wedded to it.

Everything turned out really well. My husband was ill at the time so time was of the essence as we were in a two story home. They actually pulled people off of other jobs in order to get the project done for us as quickly as possible. They were on the expensive side, but the quality of the work was very high. We were very pleased with them. I would certainly consider using them again.