mackmiller design+build
About us
houzz.com/pro/mackmiller mackmiller.com mackmiller design+build is an award winning, family owned design/build and full service interior design firm in the Twin Cities. We manage sales, design, project management and construction of distinctive residential remodeling projects such as lower level buildouts, kitchen and bath remodels, additions, and total home makeovers. What this means to you is that we can provide one-stop design and construction services for you and your home. We work within your budget to provide you a great value for your money. Competitively priced and client focused, we are a lean company with highly qualified trade partners. This keeps our overhead low, giving you a great value for your project. We are capable of handling 4-5 major projects at any one time. Owner Mark Mackmiller has over 17 years in the remodeling business and Mary Mackmiller is a degreed interior designer with over 13 years in the design field. Our Minnesota contractor's license is BC428435. We are an EPA Lead Safe Certified Firm - #NAT-31943-1, which means we are certified to conduct Lead Renovation, Repair, and Painting in pre-1978 housing. This law also known as the Lead Law requires any company working in a pre-1978 home to use lead safe practices to ensure the homeowner and those working on the home be protected from the extremely hazardous effects of lead. Failure to use lead safe practices can result in $37,500 fines/day to the offending company. We have been featured in Mpls-St Paul Magazine, Eden Prairie Magazine, Southwest Metro Magazine, Spaces Magazine, Qualified Remodeler, Remodeling Today, Southwest Journal, and HGTV’s Bang for Your Buck, Fine Homebuilding, Money Magazine online, Consumer Reports and numerous other print publications and websites. mackmiller design+build have had the honor of receiving 35 national, regional and local design awards. We were voted Southwest Metro Magazine's Best Builder/Remodeler for 2011, 2012 2013, 2014 and 2015. We are members of several professional remodeling industry organizations: NARI, BATC, BAM, and NAHB. We take our profession seriously by not only satisfying our annual continue education requirements, but we go beyond that with additional training and education. Mark is a Certified Remodeler (CR), Certified Kitchen and Bath Remodeler (CKBR) and Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS). Our initial consultation is free, giving you an opportunity to see get to know us and see if there is a fit. We support our community by providing silent auction donations for many civic, health, human services and arts organizations. Please visit us on Houzz at houzz.com/pro/mackmiller and mackmiller.com.
Business highlights
Services we offer
BAM and BATC., Contact us now for a free initial consultation. See how we can make your home more beautiful and more functional. We offer a low-key approach to remodeling. We listen, NAHB, and we design and deliver your dream the way YOU want it. Visit us on Houzz at houzz.com/pro/mackmiller and mackmiller.com to see what we've done for your neighbors. We are an award winning remodeling company. Contact us to see what we can do for you! Member of NARI, we provide options
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"Thank you so much for taking the time to provide us with your valuable feedback. Our goal is to always provide a positive experience to each person we have the pleasure of meeting. We wish you the best on your current project and are grateful you will consider us for future work. Happy holidays! -Mary and Mark"
"Thank you, [Member Name Removed] for your thoughtful review. It was our pleasure to complete the updates for you and we are thrilled that you are pleased with the outcome. Enjoy! Best, Mary Mackmiller"
We met with Mark and Gail to let them know what we wanted to do--combine two rooms into one room and replace all of our upstairs windows and back door. MD +B turned around with a design and a comprehensive contract that explictily stated the work that would be done and the costs associated with each phase of the project. The contract let us know what to expect from MD +B, what they expected of themselves, and what they expected of us. For example, before any work was done, Mark and Andy put protective paper and plastic on our floors and carpet where contractors accessed the project in the work area and installed a zipper door to the work area to limit the amount of dust that escaped to the rest of the house. We knew exactly what we owed MD +B and when we were expected to pay it. The contract also provided a rough timeline for finishing the work.
MD +B follows city ordinances and the building code. Before any demolition work was done, our house (which is over 100 years old) was tested for lead and a certified lead abatement team cam e to remove the lead paint. City inspectors came to check on the project as required.
Andy, MD +B's project manager does an excellent job of communicating with subcontractors so the subs show up knowing where to go and what to do. The subcontractors were all really good at what they did and respectful of our home. There were a few things that did not go as planned, but Mark showed up and fixed the work himself: The insulation subcontractor accidentally fell off the exposed floor joists and put his foot through the floor--which happened to also be the ceiling in our kitchen. Mark patched the hole and MD +B paid to have our ceiling repainted. In another instance, the drywall installed was 1/4" short of the necessary thickness. Mark showed up at 3:00 pm and worked without a break until 10:00 pm to add extra drywall because the painters were scheduled to be there the next day. A couple times the lumber company showed up with the incorrect materials. Andy worked with them to exchange the materials so that the project's schedule was hardly affected.
Other things that are great about MD +B:
1. Mary and Gail have an eye for decoration, color, storage, and room composition. If you ask MD +B to help with a remodel, you get Mary and Gail's expertise too. Mary and Gail helped us choose fans, lights, paint color, and furniture.
2. I know I already talked about the subcontractors, but their painters are absolutely wonderful. As part of the remodel, we had a window removed from our bathroom that "looked out into" the new room. This required that one wall of the bathroom be repainted. My husband and I had repainted our bathroom two years ago and were proud of our work. The painters did such a good job of just painting the wall, that we noticed the difference between their work and our work right away. We had new molding and trim in the room that had to be painted. The painters used a sprayer to paint the molding and trim and it looks amazing. There are no imperfections or brush strokes to be found. Subcontractors finishing things up in our new room made small dings in the new paint job, and the painters came back to fix the dings.
3. MD +B promises that they will leave the job in a "move in ready" state. This is true. Andy spent an afternoon cleaning the area of our house affected by the construction. MD +B hired window washers to wash all of our new windows! MD +B did not leave ANY of their equipment behind.
4. If we had any concerns about how things looked or how the job was being done--which was not often--we talked with Andy. He took care of our questions and concerns without judgement.
"Thank you for your kind words, we are pleased to hear you are happy with our work. It was our pleasure to transform your spaces. Enjoy!"
My wife and I used them to update our lower level three years ago and have recommended them to friends. We love them ... and their work.
They showed up on time, cleaned up, fixed any thing that needed right away. Great work.
We were very clear about our budget at our first meeting and were told that the job we were asking for was in the range of $20,000. The final estimate for the work was more than twice this initial estimate. While Gail prepared two estimates for us, they were both well above our budget. While they were both very nice, they were unable to find a way to work within our budget, so we are not moving forward with the project.
"We met with [member name removed] and we looked at their space. They had a $20K budget. We could definitely remodel the space for that amount of money. Our process is to design the space to the best it could be for the uses that the homeowner desires. This way the homeowner gets the most ideas possible and can choose what they are comfortable with. This approach stops the expensive process of redoing things as the homeowner discovers unexplored ideas once the project has started. We tell the homeowner up front that if the design is more than they budgeted or might reconsider based on the design, that we will simplify the scope, keeping as many of the features they love and get as close to their budget as possible. It is an iterative process that we are happy to continue until the homeowner is satisfied. In this case the homeowner expectation was not in line with the cost of what they wanted. [member name removed] might get what they want if they take on the general contracting role and/or hire an unlicensed guy in a pickup truck that doesn’t pull permits. Our pricing is in the upper 2/3s of remodelers. We are licensed, pull permits, provide space planning and interior design services, protect the home from dust, use quality craftsmen and materials, and provide professional cleaning at the end of the project. We provide a very good value for the level of work we do. I hope [member name removed] are successful in finding a way to get their project done."
I was pleased that there was a site manager throughout the project, and Mark often visited during the extensive project to problem solve and to work. We talked out solutions and details. I had these two people to respond to my ideas, questions, and requests.
I found Mark to be ethical, creative, and fun while tremendously hard working. My concerns were seriously considered and addressed. Problem-solving, always present in remodeling a 1960's home, was creative and fun. With Mary's designer eye, I was able to pick tile for the bathrooms and granite for all counters. The tiler was an artist, and the bathrooms and front entry are stunning. Mary continued to help with wood floor stain; the wall, cabinet, and trim colors; and with the portico and exterior house colors. To this day if I have a concern, it is heard and addressed appropriately. I really enjoyed working with the Mackmillers. Their enthusiasm, experience, creativity, and respect made this a wonderful experience with a gorgeous outcome, so much so that the house was on the Remodeler's Spring Open House Tour.
I am pleased with the new windows and sliding French doors that look out over the water, providing a nose-to-nose view of birds and mammals. I love the light, the island between the kitchen and living room and its mirroring soffit, the enlarged granite counter space, the beautiful floors, and the two full baths.
I will work with the Mackmillers again, and continue to work with Mary on completing the decorating. I hope to tackle the downstairs part of the house with their help.
Licensing
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