CORBETT CONSTRUCTION CO dba Corbett Design Build

Management / Subcontractor issues: Company used 3 different proj mgrs of the course of the remodel, spanning less than 1 year?s time. These three PM?s were not employed by Corbett at the same time, and employment did not overlap, other than one short transition period. This repeated lack of continuity caused many issues, and communication gaps, some that still exist at the end of the project. Of note, one of these project managers was the owner?s son, who had intentions of assuming ownership of the company provides further insight to the ongoing management problems within the company. The PM's were stretched too thin, working on several projects at the same time, and this causes many delays in the completion of the remodel. This information was provided to me by one of the PM's This lack of attention by the PM forced me to personally check multiple times daily on the remodel progress, specifically during the subcontractors? working day, to ensure the proper steps were being completed. This process noted several issues, and was able to answer many of the subcontractor?s questions immediately, and avoided many other issues. The original planned duration time for completion was 120 days. The actual duration was 165 days, 45 additional days for the certification of occupancy from the city. Also, this does not include the completion of the final punch list, which took an additonal 8 months time to complete. During these 8 months, the builder did not communicate for a 9, 7 and 6 week stretches despite being informed of the open items to be completed. I recommend having a completion penalty clause in the contract, for any remodeler. There were several changes of subcontractors during the remodel. These include the painters, Trim installers, masons, and several workers of other subcontractors being removed due to poor performance. Financial / Contract Issues The financial / contract process was an onerous process to navigate. The contract was written vaguely, and this vagueness used by the owner to support the positions that he chose. In the negotiation period, the owner, used words like ?will do right by you? and ?want you to be delighted by the results? as his ploy to obtain customers. In hindsight, there is nothing like getting everything in writing, and there is never too much pre-investigation and education that can be done. There were seeral invoices received with overcharges, and attempts made to charge for items not needed, or not to be charged to the customer. These errors totaled in the thousands of dollars that I caught in the process. The owner was belligerent in his response to being questioned about these charges and reverted to belittling the customer in his responses. I strongly recommend keeping track of all charges, and requesting backup for all subcontractor charges.Invoice Concerns / Issues:Builder performed different methods of billing, based upon builders desire to collect money. (commencement vs completion) Contract was to bill at commencement. This practice was not followed by Corbett. There were invoices issued before completing work, as was his standard practice earlier in the project. until it appeared that he was running into cash flow problems.When the builder was informed as to his inconsistencies, builder accused customer of not having the cash to pay the bill, and threatened to stop work, vs trying to work through the situation. The cash / loans were previously secured, and there was no time that cash flow an issue for the customer. Would highly recommend that the invoice plan be altered to include a significant completion payment. This would help to provide a motivation to builder to eliminate the 34 weeks of absence noted above. Building / Invoice components: There are a five items to note in the category. Two items involved the hardwood floors, the need of drainage work, lessor grade of steps, and the allowance delta's.The first item dealt with the completion of the hardwood floors on the first floor of the remodel. The contract stated "the new hardwood flooring will be finished to match the existing hardwoods". By the letter of the contract, this was completed. However, in the process of matching the existing, the subcontractor created an off-color stain line where the he stopped the refinishing. Corbetts' response was that the homeowner had the opportunity to pay, as a change order, to complete the refinishing of all hardwoods on the first floor. This is true, however, the PM, during this discussion did not indicate the severity of the off color stain line, and the quotes provided by the sub (Designer Floor Fashions) where, at a minimum of 200% of going rate, and maximum, 460% of going rate. Corbett allowed / agreed to this estimate and forced the owner to make the decision to spend the greatly overpriced expenditure, to obtain satisfactiry results. Given his earlier statements of ' to provide an exceptional remodeling experience', and his statement that this situation (leaving the off-color stain line would never happen again, despite his 30+ years of experience for this company, Corbett is nothing to reticfy the error. The same sentiment was voiced by the owner of Designer Floor fashions, despite this being his full time occupation. Given the reported level of expertise from these individuals, this is a totally inexcusable situation, and their subsequent refusal to accept any level of culpability for the end results, is, in my opinion, negligent, and a highly troubling sign for future customers. that sets the Corbett Design Build team apart as a company. We cannot predict all potential problems, but we can guarantee that we will address the issues and work diligently with our clients to expeditiously make things right for the client'. In this situation, the quote above could not be farther from the truth. This situation was completely foreseeable, as it was noted before the hardwoods were completed, and, in the end, Corbett refused to 'make things right for the customer' after the damage was done. The second item also involved the hardwood floors. After the new hardwoods were installed next to the existing hardwoods, there was a noticeable bump / raised section that was evident. This involved about a 2 board width of hardwoods that went across the entire are where the old and new hardwoods were joined. This issue was raised to the PM after the raw hw's were installed, and weeks before the h were sanded and finished. The customer was reassured tby the PM hat the problem was noted, and that it would be fixed ? that the finished product would not have the problem. After the hardwoods were finished, the bump/ raised section was still present. Again, the customer raised the issue with the PM. He was in the process of resolution, working with the appropriate subs, when he was fired by Corbett. Subsequently, Corbett declared that the floor was within acceptable standards, and refused to accept any culpability for the situation, and denied / ignored any requests to address. These actions are in direct conflict with the quote above. Also, the quoted price to fix these two errors above was over $5000. The nextt item was Corbett?s recommendation to install two french drains and a sump pump in the work area below the new screened in porch. During construction, before the porch was completed, there often would be standing of water in the area, often being several inches of water. At this point, Corbett took the initiative to contract a water specialist to quote the two french drains and a sump pump. The quote was over $2500. Since the area was being used for storage, we (the homeowners) decided by pass on the additional expenditure. I was told but Corbett that I was going to be unhappy with the results (continual standing water). After a month later, it was discovered that the landscaping company used by Corbett has moved the excess cement against the outside of this masonry wall. The homeowner removed these cement chunks, and within a week, the water problem disappeared, and has not occurred again to date, despite periodic heavy rains. It is also an example of Corbett looking to cover themselves, at the homeowners expense, for not investigating the source of the water, while being the cause of the problem to start. There was a dumpser in the front of the house that the debris should have been dumped into. Corbett did it the cheap way, certainly not the right way.The next area of concern was the masonry steps. The original plans were to use the same stone that matched the existing front of the house. When it was determined that the cost of materials / labor to do this was high, he changed his mind, and installed a simple brick step. This is an example of the poor / vague contract, and the desire by Corbett to save money when it suit him.The last area of issues is the allowances that are provided for various elements of the remodel. The purpose of these allowances is to cover the cost to purchase each of the items, with the amount sufficient enough to procure items that are consistent with the current items already in the house. The results were: HVAC system was 38% over budget,and selected a lessor grade than existing Fireplace stone 350% over budget,and was for 20% of the orginal stone coverage Light fixtures 28% over budget, Cabinets / countertop 11% over budget, despite using a lower cost countertop provider Carpet 19% over budget, Tile backsplash / bath 44% over budget. The plumbing estimate was under budget, due to reuse or old fixtures.Overall, the problems listed above have shown the pervasive problems with Corbett Design Build, and, in my opinion, warrant future customers to look elsewhere, or be prepared to pay addl costs, receive poor customer service and abuse from the owner, and have the project completed late. Your choice!

I decided not to go with them because they did not want to listen to what I wanted. They probably would have worked with someone if you had no clue about what you wanted and would make the design or something for you.

The onsite construction supervisor has been excellent to work with and follow-up with our questions and follow-up. Our questions were considered valid, and we were not felt to be pressured to accept anything not to our satisfaction, as we have experience with other contractor. The addition of the separate field supervisor was an improvement from our experience in 1989. Barry worked with our designer to create the ultimate perfect layout for us. Corbett Construction was most accomodating in working with our designer and allowing us to substitute a couple of the subs and suppliers when it was better for us to do. We have another project to do some less extensive work, and we are asking Corbett Construction for their bid and will very seriously consider their proposal. (I always get bids on a larger project where I cannot easily compare the price when multiple crafts are involved in a detailed list of projects, even if I have to pay for it.)

After having our home severaly damaged on 9/6/1996 from Hurricane Fran, we looked for someone to fix it. A neighbor had used Barry Corbett (who lived in our subdivision) and was pleased with his services. We were happy to find someone quickly who lived closeby. Barry's workers quickly came to remove the huge tree that cut from the back of the house all the way through the house and into the front yard. They covered the gaping hole with a tarp within a couple of days. The honeymoon phase soon ended when I would get calls at 9pm to have a plan (electrical, closet design, bath cabinets, etc.) ready by the next morning. As we were living elsewhere in temporary quarters, there were several midnight meetings at our damaged home to resolve these issues on short notice. Barry rarely took notes. Therefore, the bathroom cabinets arrived with incorrect handles (even though a sample handle had been provided), they knocked a hole through a wall into the undamaged part of the house (not fixed to this day), our hall floor still creaks from a lack of support, the shower was not adequately insulated and caulked, so it leaks into the crawl space, his workers painted a room stark, glossy white, when all others were matte ivory, and possessions remaining in the house were outright stolen or used without permission (the boombox was used by the workers, covered in sawdust, and had to be replaced).The roof, which was less than a year old when the storm hit, was heavily damaged, partially from the storm and partially from the nails used to hold down the temporary tarp. It was in the contract that the entire roof would be replaced. We learned a year later when a leak developed that the roof was never replaced. Holes were caulked instead, yet we were charged for the replacement. I think Barry is a good man at the core, but he took on too many projects after Hurricane Fran swept through Raleigh. I was not impressed with his professionalism, his lack of pre-planning to avoid having us scurry around to provide him answers to essential questions with less than 12 hours notice, and the fact he never took notes drove us crazy. We learned to provide most of our requests in written form, which were apparently never reviewed by him or his workers. I could go on for another 30K words but will not. Based on our experience, I could never recommend Barry's company to anyone else.

It was very annoying working with them. Communication was really bad and I was never notified when they were not going to show up. I would go over to the house expecting them to show up for work and they would not ever come. They would sometimes go a week without doing any work. They told us the job would take 150 days and it took eight months. I was eight months pregnant at the time when they started the job and my baby had teeth and was almost walking when they finished. We researched different companies and their prices for over a year; they had one of the best prices, but it was not worth it in the long run.

This company did a good job with this project. There were some problems concerning the support beam but they came right back and corrected it for us. We were pleased with the overall cost of the project and the time that it took them to do it. The workers were personable and adhered to all of our requests. This is a good company.

WE WOULD RECOMMEND THAT THEY BE USED. OVERALL, WE WERE VERY HAPPY WITH THEIR RESPONSIVENESS AND PROFESSIONALISM. THEY COULD HAVE BEEN MORE PUNCTUAL AND TIMELY ON GETTING THE JOB DONE, THOUGH.