DAVIS & DAVIS DESIGN BUILD

We reached out to Davis &Davis after seeing several of their projects on the Mpls-ST Paul Home Tour.  Ms Davis (Architect) was quick to respond and setup time to come to our house.  We wanted to have architectural  drawings to add a bath in our half story and for a kitchen remodel so we could then get quotes for this work from various contractors for the same scope of work, including Davis & Davis. We also wanted to work with a contactor/architect familiar with working on older Minneapolis homes to ensure that the project would meet Minneapolis city standards & regulations. 

Both Davis? came to the meeting and Mr. Davis offered great space utilization ideas for the projects.  Ms. Davis produced drawings and incorporated our feedback timely.  She billed us promptly for the architecture work and we paid for those services.

The challenges came when requesting a quote for the build work.  They indicated that Joe was backed up with projects so would be delayed a bit, which was fine initially, as we were not in a rush for the quote.  However, after months of waiting and following up, it became clear that they weren?t interested in our business.  After about 3 months & multiple follow up requests, we finally did receive a quote for the work.  Mr Davis went through the estimates in detail and when we asked for some changes/updates based on that discussion, he said he would get back to us with the updates.  We never heard from him again.

Furthermore, once we did receive estimates from other builders on the project and moved forward with another builder, they looked at the plans and noted that the bathroom plans didn?t meet city code, so we had to pay another designer to draw up new plans for a bathroom in another location that did meet city code.  We spent over $1800 for architecture plans that didn?t even meet city codes ? it ended up to be a complete waste  time & money!

It went well. Very happy with the results.

The quality is excellent. They take pride in their work. Beyond our expectations. We were wedged between jobs, and it took longer for them to complete the project. Nevertheless, fantastic job. We are very happy with their work.

Working with Davis and Davis was a real pleasure, especially as compared with a previous project done by another (inexplicably award-winning) design/build company. We began the project with our own ideas/sketches of what we wanted to do, and they had many very thoughtful suggestions as to how to accomplish and improve upon our 'design.' Joe Davis has an amazing breadth of knowledge across all areas of remodeling - even those areas for which he hires subs to do most of the work (which helps him to properly monitor the work done by subs). It was particularly helpful that the very talented lead carpenter (Joe) was also the contractor, which meant that, for much of the project, the contractor was on site every day - so that our questions or concerns were addressed by him directly and immediately. Mother and young daughter were very comfortable being at home with the Davis and Davis team and all of their subs - they were all good guys and took care of our home as if it were their own. Any question or concern we had with work done by subs was addressed immediately with them by Davis and Davis. There were no 'surprise' change orders or additional costs - any possible change was discussed with us before the work was done. Joe seemed to have respectful, positive relationships with the inspectors for each area, filed all permit paperwork on time and took seriously any issues raised by the inspectors. The final plan was really a collaborative effort, between ourselves and the Davis and Davis team, and we love how it all ended up looking and functioning. Jane Davis, an architect, did not formally work on our project, but did offer some helpful input. We have seen her work, done for several neighbors, and have been very impressed by her thorough and thoughtful designs. We would not hesitate to recommend Davis and Davis to our friends and family and hope to work with them again, in the future.

The project went very well. Joe provided creative design ideas and helped us design a space that met our needs and budget. The project went very quickly. I was amazed at how well he coordinated his subs - there was very little down time on the job (except at one point where he had over-scheduled himself - for which he apologized numerous times). His carpentry is nicely done and he pays attention to finishing details. His crew was also very family friendly, as were some of his subs.

Joe was on schedule (started on time, ended 1 week late due to scope changes) and on budget (excepting scope changes). He was very flexible, creative, and professional. We had to make some decisions and changes along the way and Joe always came up with several options - they were always creative and went with the character of our home. The addition far exceeded our expectations and we couldn't be happier. We will definitely use them again for our next remodel project.

Joe Davis is the general contractor/carpenter. His wife, Jane, is an architect. We had pretty detailed plans for what we hoped to accomplish, but of course, in the end things changed considerably. Joe and the other carpenter, Tim, were on site almost every day, working and supervising subcontractors. The subs with whom we worked were mostly recommended by Joe, and we were generally happy with them all. When there were issues, Joe was our advocate and made sure things were resolved to our satisfaction. There was a great advantage in having the general contractor on site most of the time - when issues arose (or we changed our minds about what we wanted to do) he was there and willing to work with us to come up with solutions or rework the plan, to make sure that we were happy with the final result. Joe also created a beautiful built-in toy box for our toddler. Both Joe and Tim were also pleasant to have around - which is important when they're around for a couple of months!