OTOGAWA-ANSCHEL DESIGN-BUILD LLC

One of the best service providers-possibly the best- I've had in years. Its been a couple of years since this work was done, but the end result, professionalism and attention to detail still make an impression. Highly recommend..

Otogawa designers were highly creative and saw possibilities we never saw, and the final result is a brighter, more colorful, more livable house -- a great investment.

This 1907 house has amazing woodwork, and Otogawa's carpenter matched its color and structure perfectly -- true to Old World sensibilities -- even replacing wood that has been missing for 20 years.

The construction phase was a pain -- we used our porch as our kitchen for two months -- and construction and debris removal took longer than we expected.

All the work was high quality -- or was corrected when it wasn't.  The most valuable part was the design sense -- the vision that the kitchen could be "expanded" without moving walls -- and the new light brought into the rest of the house.  The project wasn't cheap, but overall definitely worth the price.  Unfortunately our assessed value increased along with taxes, and we don't have any plans to move.

We had a very mixed experience with Otogawa Anschel, best summarized as:  
We found Michael Anschel to be outstanding in design, color consultation and fixture choice.  We are delighted with the indoor appearance of our addition.   We found the company weak in structural work. 

There was one issue during construction, and two issues since, that have required extra vigilance and repair.   

1) Leaky roof.  We had a metal roof installed over the entire house as part of our contract with OA.  During construction, we had problems with leaking (significantly into our porch as well as entering the basement below the porch) after the ice and watershield was applied, but before the metal roof went on. We immediately notified OA of the problem, and were assured that these leaks in the ice and watershield would be repaired before the metal roof went on.   After the metal roof went on, and after the project was completed, we continued to have problems with a leaky roof.  In April of 2009, we noticed water leaking from the bathroom ceiling, and in January of 2010 we noticed water leaking into the porch.  We called OA after each of the instances, and their roofer came out to repair the leak each time.  

In the summer of 2011, we could tell by smell that we had a mold problem in our second level. To fully evaluate the problems of mold and a leaky roof, we hired a new contractor (not with OA) to gut the second level, and do water testing of the roof.  To our dismay, we found three additional areas of leakage for a total of five areas of leakage. We contacted OA with this information.  Conversations, meetings and e-mails with the OA project manager, our contractor, and the owner of the roofing company led us all to the agreement that their roofer would repair the problems, with our new contractor present to review the work. Since their roofers had been out to our home at least twice since completion to repair leaks, and the leaks persisted, we did not feel comfortable trusting repairs to them without review of their work.  

Then came three agonizing weeks in which their roofer made, then broke, three promised dates to repair the roof.  Their roofer did not return multiple phone calls or e-mails from OA, nor from the contractor we hired.  Our contractor held his schedule to be present for their roofer.   When their roofer did not show up on November 14 as promised (yet again), and did not make any contact with OA or our contractor, we called off the job with OA.  

On November 18, OA told us their roofer would be out the next day. This was the fourth time we had been told a date that their roofer would be present. Our contractor could not be available on less than 24 hours notice, and had already lost $2000 worth of business holding his schedule to be present when OA said their roofer would be present.  We informed Michael Anschel that we were done with OA, even though this meant we would incur the costs for repair of the roof.  

Through this entire process, OA maintained that their roofer they contract with is a "careful conscientious individual who cares about his work." With such profound differences about what constitutes "a careful, conscientious individual who cares about his work" plus the problems described above we realized we could no longer work with OA.   

Addendun:  Attached are photos taken during the repair of our roof which highlight the poor workmanship of the roofers subcontracted by Otogawa-Anschel.  In short, flashings were inadequate,  there were HUGE gaps in the rigid foam insulation and abundant mold on both the inner and outer surfaces of the rigid foam (developed in the three years since installation due to exterior leaks and inadequate ventilation).

2)  The initial design and construction of a cantilevered kitchen bump out did not have any external support.  Once roughed in, we questioned this, concerned about the weight of a refrigerator and cabinetry in this space. We asked Michael about this, and he assured us that no external support was needed.  We were not reassured, and hired a structural engineer for a second opinion.  He (structural engineer) recommended external support support.  OA ultimately did place two posts to support this bump-out, so all did end well.   

3)  Musty smells and high radon levels in basement since completion of project.  We particularly noticed this in the summer of 2011, and learned from a consultant that the vapor barrier installed in the crawl space under the new addition was ineffective due to punctures in the sheeting, and termination of the sheeting short of the perimeter wall. (We had not been in the crawlspace since construction.) Radon levels in the basement were 5-6 pCi/liter (should be less than 4).  We had the vapor barrier replaced and reinforced, and radon levels have subsequently dropped to 0.5-1.5 pCi/liter. We did not ask OA to fix this problem for us.

THEY DID QUALITY WORK.

WE WERE VERY IMPRESSED BY MICHAEL'S DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED IN THE BUILD PROCESS. OUR PROJECT MANAGER LEFT THE COMPANY DURING THE PROCESS AND MANY DETAILS WERE MISSED WHICH EXTENDED THE PROJECT FROM AN ESTIMATED TWO-THREE WEEKS TO OVER FOUR MONTHS. WE WERE NOT TOLD ABOUT THE PROJECT MANAGER LEAVING UNTIL THE NEW ONE CALLED US (WEEKS LATER). WE HAD TO GO OVER ALL THE BUILD DETAILS WITH THE NEW MANAGER WHO THEN HAD TO FOLLOW UP ON ALL THE ITEMS MISSED DURING THE PROCESS. WE WERE DISAPPOINTED THAT MICHAEL NEVER CALLED US DIRECTLY DURING THIS TIME TO DISCUSS ANY OF THE ISSUES. ALL ASPECTS OF THE BUILD WERE FINISHED LATER THAN QUOTED AND MANY ITEMS HAD TO BE FIXED OR RE-DONE BECAUSE OF MISSED DETAILS. ONE BRIGHT SIDE IS THAT THE CUSTOM CABINETS WERE BEAUTIFULLY MATCHED TO OUR EXISTING CABINETS. MIGHT HIRE AGAIN IF BUILD WAS IMPROVED.

THE PROJECT (REDESIGN OF MASTER BEDROOM SPACE TO CREATE A 3/4 BATH IN A 50-SQ. FT. AREA) TOOK LONGER THAN WE EXPECTED, AS IS OFTEN THE CASE WITH REMODELING JOBS. ALSO, OUR CONTRACT SPECIFIED THE INSTALLATION OF A VANITY IN THE BATHROOM, BUT THEY FORGOT TO INSTALL ONE, LEAVING US TO PUT UP A FLAT MIRROR ON OUR OWN. FOR THE PRICE, THOUGH, THE REMODEL WAS VERY CREATIVE AND WELL WORTH IT. ALSO, THE OWNER WAS EXTREMELY PROFESSIONAL, CREATIVE AND PERSONABLE, AND RETURNED CALLS OR E-MAILS VERY PROMPTLY.