Studio Rebus Inc/Rebus Design Group

***WARNING - IF YOU CONSIDER YOUR TIME TO BE PRECIOUS OR IF YOU HAVE SMALLER JOBS BEWARE.*** Spent considerable time communicating with Kel the first couple weeks of May 2023 and he came out in person on Monday, 05/15/23 to provide an estimate. We were able to be flexible with his schedule since the weekend of Mother’s Day I was out of town and my better half had Mothers Day plans over the weekend. He messaged with short notice and stated he would be available in the morning of Monday, 05/15 and that he would be free since he was in Burnsville, but if that wouldn’t work he wouldn’t be able until the following week. Accommodated his schedule and made arrangements to be at the house for his visit. The inspection of the project went well and he seemed incredibly knowledgeable and advised he was willing to do the work and would follow-up with an estimate. I messaged him the following day on Tuesday, 05/16/23 to check on the status of the estimate for which he was going to be compensated $107. My message read as follows: “Good morning Kel! I just wanted to send a friendly follow-up on the estimate. Thank you very much!”. He replies by stating, “Hello Schawn, I am max’d this week. Doubtful if i complete your estimate this week. Definitely this coming week.” I then wait five days and then send a brief follow-up text on Sunday, 05/21/23 to say, “Hello! Looking forward to receipt of the estimate soon. Thank you very much!”. He calls me almost immediately to state he cannot “meet the level of service I expect” and “will be bowing out.” His tone was such that he was very put upon and annoyed with a follow-up message and stated that “he doesn’t need this.” If you read through his reviews on Thumbtack he comes across as very, very condescending to poor reviews and speaks down to folks. He will not be forthcoming with you in the beginning that he “does these jobs in between larger jobs as he’s able and if a larger job comes up he will have to reschedule yours.” So, basically after nothing is left to lose and he has told me he’s canceling with me he now states that essentially home owners with smaller projects will be at the bottom of the barrel and are unimportant. This is how he came across with his dismissive attitude. I stated he should post that on Thumbtack that he doesn’t have patience for home owners and their timelines. He claims that his reviews speak of his professionalism, however a good professional is able to compromise and be accommodating to their customers. Kel is not, at least unless it seems you’re a very, very big meal ticket. He came across as very stuck-up and rude. I don’t suggest you waste your time reaching out if you have a smaller job. You’ll only be spinning your wheels with this guy. This is my opinion.

It went well. He was very prompt. He was very straightforward with us. We decided to go with another company because we liked their design better.

Studio Rebus had the attic insulation done before the main roof was torn off and replaced, causing insulation to fly out as the new roof was being replaced, significantly lowering the insulation in certain areas on the roof, as evidenced by melting snow at those points during the winter. Studio Rebus also had the contractor doing the attic insulation blow 18 inches of insulation on top the ceiling of a nearly 100 year old home, instead of putting a substrate down on the rafters to hold the insulation above the ceiling, which has caused cracking on the interior ceilings of the rooms upstairs under the attic. The Shaker porch roof that Studio Rebus re-built over the back porch has leaked rain into the back porch since it was built. The facia along the foundation that was replaced covered up rot that Studio Rebus was paid to remove. On the main roof replacement Studio Rebus was paid to over see the work and to check it, yet, the homeowner had to crawl onto the roof and call back the roofing contractor to fix flashing that had not been done properly. Basement windows were also replaced by Studio Rebus, yet, only foam insulation was sprayed along the bottom gaps between the new windows and the concrete foundation, which has allowed ants and dirt to migrate into the basement. Please note that the contractors chosen to do the insulation, the chimney repair and the main roof replacement are not part of this complaint and were all excellent. This complaint is solely relating to Studio Rebus/Rebus Design Group and the work they did.

A new roof was put on, but it was not properly flashed. As a result, the roof is still leaking. The insulation was put in the attic before the roof was replaced. When the roof was replaced some of the insulation flew off and was lost. The exterior pillars were also rotted. Rather than being replaced, the exterior corners were just deliberately covered up.

I hired Kel because he had done an excellent job on previous work and because he's creative and meticulous. The Shoji screens, which he hand build are exquisite. They roll well in the tracks. They are the focal point of the room. He also did a meticulous job on the alcove and on the skylight installation. The job did take longer than anticipated. Fortunately we were both patient. Kel is easy to have around the house, minimizes the homeowner's inconvenience and cleans up after every day of work.

Fine - Kel is careful, thorough and applies all of his myriad skills, whatever the job is. The roof looks great!

Studio Rebus again did wonderful work. The mail slot/opening on our house lead right into the front porch and was allowing the cold air to rush in in the winter. Studio Rebus again suggested a simple solution for a potentially expensive problem. A small wooden box that was sealed and would hold the mail. On time, budget and the care Studio Rebus shows on small items like this tells me that any larger projects would be done with as much care and attention to detail as this.

The work was amazing and the attention to detail was refreshing. Studio Rebus performed the work on budget and schedule. The fact that Studio Rebus was able to repair/replace the sill rather then the other options that were presented by other contractors (replace the whole window / replace all of the windows in the house / etc) shows that they care

Again from previous experience and the work performed with Studio Rebus, when my wife and I decided to sell our house and purchase a new home we enlisted the assistance of Studio Rebus. Kel Heyl (Studio Rebus). We asked Kel to review our current home and give us advice on what needed to be done before selling it. We located our new home and again asked Kel to give us advice and some basic ideas on the cost to make the improvements we talked about. Again Kel was helpful and was able to help us narrow down the options, work on a priority list and offer a 3rd party insight into the new home. When we are ready to do the improvements to the new house Studio Rebus is at the top of the list.

Although the work took a bit longer than estimated, it was professionally done, and the time was undoubtedly extended by careful adherence to the new lead abatement rules.

The person who was in charge of the job was very responsive and a perfectionist. The work was good and he was very creative. I would highly recommend them.

This was a great experience. Kel's design work was exceptional. The basement was cleaned up each night after work was completed. The dust was mostly contained to the basement. He recommended product selections for lighting and bath fixtures but did not push anything on us. He listened to our requests and ideas throughout the design process. After the job was completed he followed up to ensure all construction and finishing work was completed to our satisfaction and responded promptly to post construction requests.

I LEFT A VOICE MAIL AND KEL HEYL RETURNED MY CALL WITHIN A COUPLE HOURS. WHEN I EXPLAINED THAT I WAS NOT GETTING A GOOD RESPONSE FROM OTHER CONTRACTORS AND WAITING FOR BIDS, HE THEN EXPLAINED THAT HE DID NOT WANT TO DEAL WITH A SITUATION LIKE THAT AND THAT IF THE OTHER CONTRACTORS DID NOT CONTACT US, THEN HE WOULD LOOK AT THE JOB. I INTERPRETED THAT AS HE WOULD LIKE TO BE THE ONLY BID ON A JOB AND DOES NOT LIKE COMPETITION.

HE WAS A LITTLE SLOW RETURNING CALLS. HIS STRENGTH IS HIS DESIGN CONCEPTS. HE PAYS A LOT OF ATTENTION TO DESIGN CONCEPTS AND IS VERY EXCITED ABOUT THAT. WE DID NOT GO WITH HIM BECAUSE OF SCHEDULING CONCERNS.

AT THE OUTSET, I HAD NO REAL VISION OF WHAT I WANTED BEYOND A SCREENED PORCH. KEL'S DESIGN IDEAS WERE INTERESTING AND OUT OF THE ORDINARY. THE VARIETY OF MATERIALS HE PROPOSED GAVE ME LOTS OF OPTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM. I WAS ENORMOUSLY IMPRESSED BY HOW HARD-WORKING REBUS WAS. THEY WERE ALWAYS AVAILABLE IF I HAD AN IDEA OR A QUESTION, AND THEY WORKED THROUGH ALL KINDS OF WEATHER. THEY KEPT ME UP TO DATE THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS, WHICH WAS IMPORTANT TO ME, AND (A BIG PLUS), THEY ARE REMARKABLY PLEASANT PEOPLE TO WORK WITH. IT'S OBVIOUS THAT THEY LOVE WHAT THEY DO. THE PORCH'S LINES AND PROPORTIONS ARE JUST RIGHT FOR THE HOUSE. PEOPLE PASSING BY COMMENT ON HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS. IT'S NOT MERELY FUNCTIONAL AND STURDILY BUILT, BUT THANKS TO KEL'S DESIGN AND AARON'S CREATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION, I GOT MORE THAN A PORCH - I GOT A WORK OF ART.

I AM MOST IMPRESSED WITH HIS PROMPTNESS, PROFESSIONALISM AND THE WAY HE KEPT IN TOUCH WITH ME. KEL HILE WAS THE ONE THAT CAME OUT. ALSO, HE CALLED ME BACK THE DAY AFTER MY CALL. HE ALSO SEEMED VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE AND KNEW WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT.

THE FINISHED FLOOR EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATIONS. IT'S PERFECT! KEL & AARON DID AN EXCELLENT JOB OF KEEPING ALL DUST OUT OF THE UPPER FLOORS WHILE BRINGING THE BASEMENT BACK TO A 'NEW' CONDITION. REBUS DESIGN OFFERED TOP QUALITY, COMPETITIVELY PRICED WORK AND EXCELLENT SERVICE. I HOPE TO USE THEM TO DO MORE WORK IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

REBUS DESIGN GROUP DESIGNED AND BUILT A COMPLETE FINNISH SAUNA IN THE BASEMENT. KEL TOOK MY CONCEPT AND DESIGNED A COMPLETE SAUNA INCLUDING A SHOWER INSIDE THE SAUNA SPACE AND A SMALL DRESSING ROOM. THE CARPENTRY WAS DONE WITH CLEAR CEDAR, HAS MANY EXTRA DESIGN FEATURES INCLUDING CUSTOMIZED HAND RAILS AND DOOR, AND WAS BEAUTIFULLY COMPLETED. WHILE THE PROJECT TOOK SOMEWHAT LONGER THAN PLANNED, KEL KEPT ME UP TO DATE ON EVERY STEP OF THE PROGRESS - I ALWAYS KNEW WHEN ANY SUBCONTRACTOR WOULD BE WORKING OR WHEN KEL WOULD BE THERE. THE CONTRACT WAS VERY COMPLETE AND CLEAR SO THERE WERE NO DISPUTES. OVERALL, I''M VERY IMPRESSED WITH REBUS DESIGN GROUP AND HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM FOR ANY REMODELING PROJECT. (IN FACT, I PLAN TO USE THEM WHEN I REDO MY KITCHEN.)