Blackdog Design Build Remodel

unknown

Kitchen remodeling was five years ago.  It went fine as I can remember.  We used Blackdog Design/Build/Remodel.  They are pretty close to me.  They were out 5 years ago.  They were a little lacking on the follow up.  Example: he wanted to take the replacement of the light switches, the light switches were not placed where we had agreed upon but by the time, you know we all figured it out, everything was dry walled and it would have cost more to change it, so things like that happened.  All the subcontractors were experienced and professional.  I would tell friend or family that they were great to use, I think with our experience we should have got several different design plans but they were very easy to use. 

They're very prompt. If there's a problem, they'll let you know that there's a problem. You're not sitting around waiting and wondering where the heck they are. They did exquisite tile work in my bathroom. They had a master carpenter who was great. You didn't have to tell him anything, because he knew.

The overall job went very well.  They did superb.  Their work is extremely good.  Their price was okay because you get what you pay for.  They do design and they build which was nice having it all under one company.  They hire extremely good people like electrician and painters.
I live in a condominium now and I don?t plan to live in a house any more, that is why I will not use them anymore.  Their price is also quite expensive but the value is very good.  

I contacted the owner in February of 2012 through word of mouth around the neighborhood.  Specifically, we talked with someone who had used them twice, which is always a positive sign.  The owner was happy to give me a rough estimate range.  From there we scheduled time for him to come to the house to further evaluate.  He sold me on their internal designer.  An architect for our type of project would cost somewhere in the $5,000 range.  Using the internal designer was $1,500, and we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted.  The internal designer ended up being a terrific value, as he came up with a great design.  I was very pleased with how the owner truly listened to our preferences and dislikes and challenged the designer to come up with a winner.  We were pretty much sold on the first design, with just some tweaks to the kitchen layout.  Once the design and final estimate were complete, we realized that we were spending quite a bit more that we had originally planned, since we had increased the scope a bit.  We decided to pursue a competitive design and bid from another very highly regarded local builder.  During the process, Blackdog was very professional and extremely responsive, to the point that it became clear that we felt much more comfortable with Blackdog and felt that they would deliver exactly what they promised at the price they promised.  You will not find a more responsive and professional owner in this field, and he demands that same level of professionalism from his entire workforce.
Weather looked a little iffy for the start week, but they decided to kick off the project since they had a lot of experience dealing with weather.  The roof was completely removed on day one.  Day two was the removal of the entire roof frame.  Then, wouldn't you know, the heavy rains came.  The house was completely tarped and sealed up, since the rain was in the forecast.  During the storm that night, we noticed water coming into the house in a few spots.  We called the emergency number provided, and one of the carpenters was there within 20 minutes to fix the issue (poor guy.... thanks, Rich:)  The next day, Blackdog surveyed the areas breached and reassured us that they would remedy any damage.  I had the insurance company come just to ensure an independent assessment.  All issues related to the water were resolved.  As the project progressed, it was clear that we were dealing with a very professional group of workers onsite.  They showed up every single day like clockwork, always kept us well informed, and worked hard to keep our house clean.  As they progressed their way through the project and room-to-room, we made our way into the finished basement where we were able to live for almost the entire project.  
When it came time to do the tile work for all the bathrooms and master shower, we realized that we would not be satisfied with the materials in the estimate.  A clear lesson learned for us was to spend more time figuring out product and material preferences and to not leave any TBDs in the contract.  Turns out marble is much more labor intensive!  There was a bit of sticker shock with the tile work, but we were able to get that refunded and bring in another party to do the tile work at a lower cost.  That transition was handled very professionally, even when the two parties were required to coordinate with each other. 
We made several other upgrades along the way (added a porch slider door, upgraded hardware, upgraded to solid core doors, etc.) and had one surprise when we tore away the porch siding and discovered rot.  That ended up being the only "unforeseen" expense, which in fixed contract terms means, the homeowner pays instead of the builder eating it.  Very lucky for us that this was the only surprise.  I think there is a misconception that Blackdog is "expensive".  The project ran into a few delays and there were perhaps some productivity ups and downs, even with everyone showing up every day as planned.  In the end, this large project finished 6-8 weeks later than planned, but their fixed price bid came in at only 1.2% over.  How confident are you that your best estimate can do that?  There's an old adage that says....... on time, on spec, on budget...... pick two.  Well, for us, we got on spec and on budget.  Isn't that what you would prefer?  At the end of the day, it's not about making sure nothing goes wrong.  That's almost impossible on large projects with subcontractors, weather, product delays, and all the moving parts.  It's about how you respond when things go wrong. 
 
If you're an Angie's List member, it's probably because you've had bad experiences or heard horror stories.  Unfortunately, most people are only motivated to write reviews when they have an axe to grind.  These guys deserve the absolute highest praise and I would gladly hire Blackdog again, and knowing that good companies like this do exist, I would feel confident buying a house needing work and bringing them into a renovation!

They were excellent overall!  They always showed up when they said they were, showed up on time, and always made sure all the small details were completed. They also cleaned up after themselves, even sweeping up. They did a great job!

Overall, the design was good and they did come back many times to fix leaking skylights and some other things.  I did not appreciate the owner turning it around to look like I was the one at fault and the bad dog connotation was definitely not appreciated.
When someone gives you their references, realize that they are only going to give you the positive references.

Their work turned out very well. Joe, one of their carpenters, is a true craftsman. I was really impressed by the quality of his work

They did a superb job, and were very good at adapting to challenges. The only drawback was that they were expensive.

I really appreciated the fact that they handled 90% of the work. The only thing I had to do was pick out and purchase the tiles. The contract they provided was very detailed so I knew exactly what to expect. The whole project was run in a very professional manner, and I feel that I got great value for my money.

Black Dog was the low bidder on this project.  The client was on a tight schedule to get the work completed so the family could move back in before the start of the school year.  The work included new dormers that had some complex structural improvements that Black Dog was able to complete satisfactorily after an initial misstep.  They notified us when they ran into trouble, and we were able to bring the engineer on site to review the work and design a fix.  The family is happy with the quality of the finished work, and it was completed on time.

It did not go well and for legal reasons, I can not comment further.  I would not recommend for Blackdog to do work and I would certainly not sign a contract with them.

I think I could have probably got a better price if we had done all by ourselves but they are all in one company who do design, build and do all the contract work including the electricians and plumbers. They were nice and I think the price was okay for the complete service they did. They were well organized. They gave us a binder for communication and for plans like what was going to happen next with time on it and calendar. They put up a white board with a calendar in the kitchen with the projected dates the work was done and incase we had any notes we could put that up there so that they could do that the next morning. Incase if we had to choose a different tile that was not included in the invoice then they would do a separate invoice for whatever we chose to do extra. There were no confusions about things and we got separate invoices and that was really very nice. The carpenter was so respectful, kind and clean and his work reflects his personality. They were so well organized that I didn’t mind spending extra money. I would rate them high overall. I would use them again in the future.

The responsiveness was okay, but it seemed to be because we had some problems and they knew they had to fix them. I would not use them again and would not recommend them.

I have hired them in the past to do other projects. They provide top quality custom work at a reasonable rate. Their clean-up is superb and the work they do is meticulous. Their workmanship is outstanding. The staff and crew is courteous.

Fantastic. Blackdog was not the cheapest bid we received, but they were a dream to work with. They are designed/built, so we teamed with their kitchen designer who helped us plan out every aspect of the new kitchen, tweaking the details until we felt it was right. They then assigned a lead carpenter to the project who supervised the work at every stage. They have their own plumber, but sub out electric and (I believe) paint, but that process was seamless, and they take full accountability for everything. The work quality is excellent, with great attention to detail (they preserved old molding in the dining room so that they could re-install it above the new header, they re-cased the kitchen windows so that they exactly matched the rest of the house, etc.) and most importantly they have excellent planning and communication. From the moment they began, we knew exactly how long everything was going to take, and they hit their dates.

WE WORKED WITH 4 PROFESSIONALS DURING THE COURSE OF THE PROJECT. THE MAN WHO DID THE UP FRONT CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT DID A VERY GOOD JOB PROVIDING AN ACCURATE ESTIMATE. THE MAN WHO DID THE CONSTRUCTION (LEAD CARPENTER) WAS OUTSTANDING. HE TOOK GREAT PRIDE IN HIS WORK AND DID AN OUTSTANDING JOB. THE DESIGNER WAS COMPETENT AND PROFESSIONAL BUT, NOT CREATIVELY STRONG. THE CREATIVE ELEMENTS IN THE KITCHEN CAME FROM ME. SHE ALSO DID NOT APPEAR TO KNOW WHERE TO GET SOME OF THE UNIQUE MATERIALS THAT I ASKED FOR (E.G. STAINLESS BACKSPLASH, TEXTURED GLASS PANELS FOR CABINETS). IT'S AS THOUGH SHE WAS NOT ''KEEPING UP'' WITH DESIGN TRENDS. THE PROJECT MANAGER WAS NOT THE BEST. HE DID NOT PROACTIVELY CALL ME WHEN PLANS CHANGED AND INSTEAD, LEFT ME WONDERING WHY AN EXPECTED EVENT DID NOT HAPPEN. I LOVE MY KITCHEN AND WOULD HIRE THEM AGAIN, BUT I WOULD ASK FOR A DIFFERENT PROJECT MANAGER NEXT TIME. EXPENSIVE BUT THEY PROVIDE A 3-YEAR WARRANTY ON LABOR AND MATERIALS - THEY STAND BY THEIR WO

THEY ARE VERY COURTEOUS AND CALLED BACK EVERY TIME I CALLED THEM, BUT THERE WAS NO RESOLUTION. THEY LEFT SUPPLIES EVERYWHERE, A LARGE DUMPSTER IN MY DRIVE FOR MONTHS, A LOAD OF LOOM ON MY FRONT LAWN FOR WEEKS ON END. I HAD UNEXPECTED MEDICAL ISSUES TO DEAL WITH AND FRANKLY, HOUNDING THEM WAS THE LAST THING ON MY MIND. ....AND THEY REALLY TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THAT FACT. THEY ARE JUST ANOTHER IRRESPONSIBLE BUILDING CONTRACTOR, BUT ONE WITH VERY PROFESSIONAL PACKAGING - FOR WHICH YOU PAY DEARLY BUT DO NOT GET A PROPORTIONATE VALUE IN RETURN.