Dasa Design Build LLC

It went great, done well, timely, looks great.

Data Design Build were a great, professional and clean company to work with. They are able to meet my needs and wants and get it all into a limited space due to living in a Townhouse. I will be using them again when I am ready to do my 2 bathroom renovations

I was very glad that I hired Dasa Design to replace the roof of my house. The owner, Danny, was very courteous, professional and reasonable. The job was completed as promised on time and the area was left clean and neat. I would definitely recommend Dasa Design.

In both renovations we broke down walls which was a very scary process. The second one also involved vaulting ceilings so much more scary. Danny and his team were great. The second time around was even better because we knew the team and had a level of comfort. They were on schedule and any delays were due to external influences. Our cabinets in both homes were bought at a great price and are simply beautiful.The kitchen in the old house was a what got my old house sold in one weekend and the new kitchen in the new house has definitely elevated the value of the new house. What we most valued from Danny and his team was their input into the design of both houses. It was Danny who suggested vaulting the ceiling...we would never have thought to do this and are thrilled with the result. I would not hesitate to recommend Dasa Design for a renovation.

Good- DASA did a nice job

My experience with DASA Design was quite disappointing. I had originally selected DASA based on a recommendation from a salesperson at Ferguson. My initial experience was positive but things did not go very well once the work began. I provided DASA with around 60% of the the cost but ended up having to hire another contractor to finish the work because I was tired of the delays and empty promises. DASA started the work on 7/25 and it is 11/3 and I still do not have a finished bathroom. I was very reluctant to write this review and wanted to chalk it up to a bad experience, however, this latest issue has prompted me to provide feedback. Since they left the bathroom paint is peeling because they did not prime the walls before painting and when the new contractor came to pull up the tiles the mortar bed is not firm enough and is flaking. They cut too many corners and was too sloppy. In addition, there is a major communication issue. While I understand that some follow up may be needed, i should not have had to project manage my bathroom renovation. In addition, DASA Design made a HUGE error with my renovation and should have taken more care in communicating with me. They used a person that was not vetted properly that cost me and DASA time and money. Danny was not quick to resolve the issue with his employee until 3 weeks after the initial "red flag". I had expressed on multiple occasions that communication was extremely important to me and I did not want to feel as if I was chasing them the whole time. In addition, when I pointed out blatant sloppiness and incorrect construction I was told that i was being too picky and that they could not do any better and I should find someone else to fix my floor. While DASA said they would fix the issues I pointed out, except the floor, I wasn't sure why they had done such a bad job to begin with. When I solicited other contractors to get a quote for the floor retile, the contractors were surprised at how many corners were cut and how sloppy the work was. I would have allowed DASA to finish up the remaining work, less the retiling of the floors but the last straw came when I asked him to return my keys. He communicated that he would come by around 12pm on Friday, but may be a bit late because he was waiting for permits. To me that means no later than 2 hours, and I think I was being generous. However, at 5pm he still had not arrived and when I texted him he apologized and said he got caught up and was not able to make it that day. He might come the next day or 2 days later. Now, I don't know if this is ok with other clients but this lack of courtesy made me want to cut all ties with him. In addition, because I no longer felt safe, I had to incur the cost of changing my locks. Maybe this was an anomaly but there were too many mistakes: sloppy construction, bad communication, too many excuses, trying to place blame on the client, slow to take action.

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The owner/management was lazy, cheap, sloppy, and disrespectful.  I did more "design" work than Mr. Dasa did.  He did not help me with quantities to order (almost everything was contractually "to be provided by customer" but I thought I would at least get advice on what and how much to provide).  I spent hours and hours at the tile store getting the salesman to help me with the measurements, and more hours and hours at the plumbing supply store.  When it came time to measure to place the tiles, the foreman couldn't plan ahead far enough to ensure that the tiles would be aesthetically placed above/around the gorgeous Carrera marbletop vanity, so they filled the remaining ridiculously thick and ugly seams with calk to make up for their inability to plan/measure properly. The final result looks horrendous.

The company did not adhere to the "Precautions to be taken to seal bathroom to limit dust getting into the rest of the house" clause.  In fact, after the crew left, I had to pay another crew ~$6000 to replace all the existing duct work below the bathroom because my duct was used as a chute down which demolition debris was disposed (filth dating back to 1949) which sprayed all over my house for months until I could locate a service to remediate it. Debris was also left atop pipes and ducts, behind my clean heating unit and brand new shiny water filtration/softening system, that I ended up having to climb up a ladder and crawl on the floor to clean my self (about 3 times until most of the dirt that fell through to the basement outside the ducts was gotten up).  It was an undeniable health hazard.

The owner pushed back on every reasonable request I made.  He charged me extra for a flat floor (which as far as I could tell, was covered by the contract).  He wasn't able to provide a flat wall for the installation of the tile (so one wall remains uneven). I hired another contractor to install the insulation the way I wanted (or else get charged another exorbitant fee).  And, I had to hire another contractor to straighten out the mess he made of the feet on my vanity.  (I generously split that cost with him.) Within a few months the dripping sink has already corroded the very expensive new fixture.  In the end, the putty and calk were not even smoothly applied.  They look like they were applied by a 4-year-old.  When I turn on my new lighting fixture, it blinks like a strobe light.  I spent hours researching the reason, which is that the dimmer is incompatible with the type of light bulbs the new fixture uses. Shouldn't a professional electrician know that?  This electrician insisted there's something wrong with the light bulbs, which I replaced (at my expense) to find no improvement/change.

The job was to be completed in 30 to 45 business days, but I had 5 rag-tag workmen camped out in my house for about 6 months (during which time the owner took 3 or 4 full weeks of vacation and during which time I could not entertain at my home for Thanksgiving or Christmas).  If management had paid the men for all the time they spent sitting around my house waiting to get picked up at the end of each shift, I believe they would have had time to polish up on the finishing touches.  The poor fellow who had to cut and install the tile was forced to work so fast, I feared he would cut off his hand on the circular saw.

The painter did an excellent and very neat job. But, when the tiles were sealed, drips of what looks like grout were permanently sealed in.

The company offers a written 5-year warranty, but so far has declined to honor it.

Don't be fooled by the "Veteran Owned Business" seal. I feel Mr. Dasa dishonors veterans who exemplify qualities such as honesty and integrity, and shows no sign of understanding what it means to serve. 

One final thought.  If you do decide to go with this company, you should offer the foreman not only your clean towels but also hand lotion, or you will hear the story about the lovely client named Marilyn who does.

When we were first planning to tackle this project, we were looking for someone who'd be willing to accommodate our preferences, instead of going the cookie cutter route with plans and materials. Specifically, we were interested in the following:
1) what different contractors could offer as a solution to the height limit we faced on the new addition (the room we wanted to build would be attached to a wall that had a window on the second floor, so the roof over the new room could go no higher than the bottom of that window)
2) we wanted the new room to be 3 feet longer than the enclosed porch that we were removing and were not sure whether that would be within our town's zoning ordinance limits or we would need to apply for a variance. So we were looking for a contractor who would be willing to work with us, even if we had to go through the variance process.
3) our house has old asbestos-cement siding that is best left untouched, so we were looking for alternatives to the vinyl siding, because we didn't want to change siding on all of the house, but rather find something for the addition that would go well with the siding on the rest of the house.
4) most contractors offered and promoted modern aluminum baseboard heating units, but we wanted to have a cast iron heater instead.
We interviewed several contractors and their estimates (with one exception) were roughly in the same ballpark as Dasa's, but what absolutely set Dasa apart, is Danny's willingness to work with us on all of the above issues. Other contractors either told us that the 3-foot increase that we wanted would definitely require a variance (which was not true) and would be next to impossible to obtain, or that going with non-vinyl siding or cast iron radiator would be ill-advised (we beg to differ). In short, it seemed that other contractors we spoke with were really insisting on building everything their way. Either they were looking to use up some materials they already had on hand, or didn't want to slow down for a custom job, but whatever the reason, we didn't feel we were being heard until we spoke to Danny. He not only promised to build everything to our liking, he provided thoughtful ideas that helped us make some of our decisions. Also, he was the only contractor who looked not only at the specific site that would be under construction, but asked to check the electrical panel in the basement (to see if it would accommodate extra circuits) and to look at the room on the second floor (to see ways an a/c duct could potentially be routed to connect the new room to the existing central air system). We could tell Danny was interested in the project and had attention to detail.
Another important factor that tipped the scale in Dasa's favor was their reasonable payment schedule. Other contractors were asking for 40% upfront, before any work was even started, then 40% at midpoint of the project, and 20%  at the end. But giving about $15K to someone before they even started working seemed unreasonable and risky. We were relieved to find out that Danny's payment schedule closely followed the project schedule. For example, payment for the foundation would be required only after the foundation is built and only if it passed the inspection, and so on for every stage of the project.
For all of the above reasons, we decided to sign the contract with Dasa and didn't regret that decision. Danny and his
team delivered on every promise and truly built the room that we had envisioned. Here are the points I would like to highlight:
- Danny's employees are very courteous, quiet and respectful, as well as skilled and experienced. Danny doesn't subcontract just to anyone, he is selective about whom he entrusts to work with his clients, and we couldn't be happier with his staff. Our neighbors even commented (happily) that they hardly ever heard the workers - no loud music, no yelling, etc.
- Danny is very good about scheduling inspections and handling permit paperwork. I have heard stories about projects coming to a halt and not moving for weeks because of inspection delays. Thankfully, we never experienced that, because inspections happened when they needed to happen and passed with flying colors.
- Danny is always available both by phone and e-mail and ready to address any questions or concerns. Even though he wasn't  present on site every day, he did drop by several times a week, and any time upon our request.
- Danny didn't resist any of our custom requests, but approached the project with an open mind and flexibility to accommodate our individual preferences. As a contractor, he did have recommendations for certain materials which quality he came to trust through years of experience, but he didn't insist that we go with his choices and was ready to work with what we chose instead. His workers' skills proved versatile enough to support that.

- Danny and his employees were very resourceful. When the project handed us surprises (as many projects do), they were quick to come up with good creative solutions for every problem, so we weren't set back in time or price very much.
- The clean-up was complete and very thorough. And in general, everyone who worked on our project took care not to let the construction disrupt our lives any more than absolutely necessary. 
All in all, we were pleased with our experience hiring Dasa and working with Danny and his team. We are fully satisfied with the end result and look forward to hiring this company for any projects we may have in the future.

Danny was selected based on presentation and price (we interviewed 4 contractors).  Final cost matched estimate except for changes we required.   His team works together knowing/respecting each others responsibility/expertise.  They are organized, professional and easy to communicate with.  Their work standards are excellent with attention to detail equaling our own.  They did not rush the details and did not leave until all was completed including setting the water temperature in shower to my wife?s liking.

Would definitely use Danny again.  We recommend him highly.  

They came in and demolished the old closet. Replaced and installed new insulation and sheetrock. Got nice LED lights and extra outlets. They framed out a new 9'4"  double door closet. From start to finish it was completed within a 2 week time frame.
The space I had before was wasted and impractical. The new closet has awarded me with great storage and functionality.
I am a repeat customer of Dasa and will not hesitate to hire again.

Long story short, DASA is not ready for prime-time.   The company is more of a niche bathroom/kitchen remodeling service rather than a full-service Design/Build provider.  At the end of our dealings with Danny/DASA, only strongly worded emails/texts and the threat of a lawsuit produced the agreed-to work product. Thankfully, we had a written contract with Danny to leverage.
Read on for details:
We had high hopes when Danny came out to bid on our whole-house demo and renovation.  He spent a few hours with my wife and I touring the existing house and listening to our ideas, and even providing some of his own.  When we were hesitant to proceed with him given the lack of large projects in his portfolio, he suggested that we try him out by utilizing him as the designer.  He would manage the design portion of the project, providing contractor guidance and the architectural services themselves for a flat fee of $3,000.  We thought this would be a less risky than giving him the $300,000 project outright.  This turned out to be a wise move. 
The issues with the design phase started almost immediately.  The Project Manager (working for Danny on behalf of a licensed architect) came out to the house and measured every room and every detail.  When we received the first set of ?existing? drawings, we were shocked at the number of errors and omissions:  rooms without doors, missing windows, non-rectangular rooms, etc.  Given the number of mistakes, another measuring session was required.  This was no small task since we did not yet own the home (under contract) at the time and getting into the house was difficult to say the least.  It took two weeks to get an accurate plan of the existing house drawn.
Once the existing drawings were in hand, we sat down with Danny and planned the new layout.  This experience was pleasant and Danny had some great ideas that appeared borne of experience.  This reaffirmed our faith in moving forward with him.  That optimism quickly faded as we moved forward with layouts and mechanical (plumbing, electrical, HVAC, etc.) plans.  Each layout required numerous iterations to correct basic mistakes which grew in number as time went on.  Danny neglected to review any of the iterations and so it was left to us to catch every mistake and deal directly with the project manager.  The more time went on, the less involved and interested Danny became.  Danny did not even bother to show up to the final meeting with the Project Manager.  This was the final meeting where the PM handed over the signed/sealed architectural plans.  After two months of working with the PM, he requested that we meet in the parking lot of a local Mall.  It felt more like a drug deal than business transaction.  Needless to say, we did not go with Danny for the actual renovation.  In fact, he never contacted us after the plans were handed over by the PM.
A few instances in particular stand out when it comes to our rating of Danny and DASA:
 -The Project Manager needed all the walls and ceilings opened up to determine the orientation of the joists in the house.  We assumed that Danny would send one of his guys to the house to tear portions of the walls/ceilings.  When asked, Danny stated that all his workers were ?busy? and that I should ?just take a drywall knife and cut the holes [the project manager] needs?.  This was a ridiculous response since he knew that the interior was mostly plaster.  He also knew that determining the orientation of the joists was vital to completing the design phase.  I ended up spending the entirety of a weekend knocking large holes in every ceiling and wall in the 2,600 sqft house. In subsequent conversations, Danny had the nerve to comment on the inadequacy of the protective equipment I wore during my hole-punching undertaking.
-Inexperience:  Danny did not seem well-versed in anything other than the design and layouts of kitchens/baths.  Any questions regarding mechanicals such as what type of piping to use, or electrical panel sizing drew blank stares.  He mentioned on several occasions that he had his own in-house plumber.  Since we had already retained him for this design phase and had (initially) intended to use DASA for the build phase, I asked for his plumber to determine whether the gas service for the house was adequate given that we were planning to install a larger gas appliances (furnace and generator).  I even provided Danny with a form from our Gas supplier that stated all of the technical specs for our gas supply line and meter.  I would ask Danny about this calculation at every meeting we held.  I never did receive anything from his plumber. The same repeated for HVAC questions, except that the HVAC guy was always on ?vacation".
If you have a small bathroom or kitchen that needs renovation, from what we've seen and heard from his references, Danny/DASA can do good work.  Anything above and beyond, you'd be advised to steer clear.

First of all, Danny is a great guy to work with; he spent a lot of time with us explaining his work approach.
We had multiple contractors to provide estimates and Danny gave us best price and subsequently the best quality.
His team is small and each person is dedicated to a specific part of job where his specialty is.
I was at the site during the entire project and saw the quality of work - excellent.
I saw entire team together only once - during demolition. It was very loud and in 4 hours there was no bathroom, only the studs and pipes.
During the work the guys asked for input or, if necessary, provided their recommendations.
The project scope was defined precisely and complete, including the time frame.
Even though the project started 2 week later than originally discussed, it completed on time without impact on quality. It was due to the building management and paperwork headache ...usual stuff if you live in condo.
Danny prepared for and requested all building inspections in advance so there was minimal wasted time.
The design was entirely ours, with all the parts waiting to be installed. That made the project flow without showstoppers.
So, when DASA completed the project, the bathroom looked so good that I had a sad feeling when we had to leave the apartment for renters and move to a bigger place. 
As a side note, once we bought a new place, we asked Danny for an emergency work to be completed before we move in. Literally asked today to work tomorrow. He and his team helped us out big time! I'd have to spend another 2 weeks painting when it took only 2 days for them :)
I highly recommend DASA Design for renovation projects (at least bathroom).

Photos: https://www.a1metrics.com/dasa
DASA team:
- All team members wear uniforms or logo'd clothing
- Vehicles are company labelled / custom graphics
- All have criminal background checks
- Polite, friendly, comfortable to have in house and around children
- Highly skilled even at working with very old houses
- Clean and presentable
- Extremely detail oriented
- Flexible
- Willing to go above and beyond to ensure perfection including additional work or redos if design was incorrect
 
Work:
- Contract was done digitally by email
- Payments by credit card
- All work was done to perfection even if a redo was required due to incorrect design
- Excellent knowledge and craft working on a 100 year old Montclair house
- Caught and fixed errors by designer
- Able to spec and acquire best materials or rare materials required by old house
- They worked in an extremely clean manner vacuuming up every day and leaving all materials neatly organized
- Were willing to pick up materials even if they didn't procure them i.e. tile which was too heavy for us to get
- Recommended the best partner vendor specialists i.e. glass
I highly recommend DASA. We are exacting perfectionists with a lot of experience handling negotiations and vendor management and DASA was willing to work with our perfectionist style with a smile at all times.
We interviewed four contractors - even one with top ratings refused to do anything but paper based contracts, wanted 50% up front, only took cash etc... Then we found DASA. They work in a modern fashion via email, take credit cards, were willing to rework Microsoft Word contract until everyone was in agreement, and communicate with texting and with email. It was a pleasure to work with contractors who operate in the modern digital are, are friendly, polite, clean, and a pleasure to have in our house.
I highly recommend DASA.

It was a wonderful experience to work with Danny and his whole team from the get go. From the very first meeting to get an estimate to the very last finishing details, he and his team were marvelous. 
He was patient, responsive, cooperative & accommodating, listened carefully to what we were wanting and gave a lot of time in explaining us things involved in a bath remodel. Once we signed the contract, the work moved wonderfully, the team was always punctual, kept us updated, worked in a meticulous manner and were very responsive. It was always easy to reach Danny whenever required, he came almost everyday to check on the progress of work and explain the next steps. The team was careful when working around the house and were always courteous. 
It was a great experience in working with Danny who always was brimming with ideas and is very detail oriented. We would definitely work with him in future. And we would strongly recommend Dasa Design Build. 
Thank you Danny, Roberto, Enrique and Sergio for wonderful bathrooms. 
Looking forward to work with you again.

Everybody did an excellent job--from tile to electrician and plumbing and demo. They were also super nice and went out of their way to make everything as perfect as possible. Danny was pretty responsive and helpful. Our bathroom was a mess before and now it's beautiful! Would definitely hire again.

Danny and his crew of Sergio, Enrique and Javier were the perfect bunch to help me as a first time homeowner tackle initial renovations necessary due to an unexpected plumbing situation. I procured four bids for the work that needed to be done, and while he wasn't the highest nor the lowest, I feel we made the right decision going with Danny. Unlike some of the knuckleheads that came in to give estimates, Danny was very clear and calm from the outset with drafting a contract, setting payment milestones and making specific suggestions regarding workflow and design. He and his crew were also super patient with me and my admittedly very anxious nature throughout the process!  It wasn't long before I realized these guys really care about their work, are very knowledgeable about materials and the overall quality which put me at ease.
I can't say enough nice things about Danny and his crew and I am afraid that by writing this review I won't be able to book them for more work when the time comes! However, I know they will be doing great work for someone else and we would patiently wait until all schedules permitted to have them on board for the next renovation - without question. All I can say is thank you x100 to Danny et al for your patience and guidance. Until next time!

Danny estimated a completion time of 6-8 weeks. We weren't able to start work until late October. The roof was off and and the bedroom framed out within the first week and we seemed to be ahead of schedule. The second floor was completely tarped for what we thought would be a few days until the roof was was done but the freeze temperatures, ice and snow kicked in and we were left with tarps and an open roof for several weeks. Three times the tarp blew off but the crew showed up each time to fix it.  Delays in inspections threw the schedule off made us fall behind.  Once we had our framing and electrical inspection the drywall was installed and painted relatively quickly. By New Year's eve the only thing left was installation of our mirrored sliding closet doors which had to wait until the carpets were in. One carpet was on backorder for weeks and there was nothing we could do. The work wasn't officially completed until March but again, there were so many unexpected and unavoidable delays that Danny had no control over. The work,however, was wonderful!  The house looks beautiful outside our bedroom are fabulous. Danny's suggestion for the vinyl siding was spot on. There were a few extras costs ( the siding, solid wood doors as opposed to hollow, mirrored closet doors as opposed to bi-fold) but that was only because we didn't know some prices until we chose the material.
Jesus and his crew are very hard workers and take great pride in the work they do.  
We have already recommended Dasa Design to two other people.  We would use him again.

Danny from Dasa was very professional from start to finish. He provided many recommendations on the designing and installing aspect. He will go through every little detail with you to make your home functional and look good in appearance. 
Kitchen. Had it completely demolished from being a closed kitchen to an open kitchen. Expanded one window and closed another to accommodate the range and hood. The large window gives the kitchen a lot more light and came out great. He recommended heated floor for the kitchen because there was no radiator there, which was good because it does get cold in that corner, separate thermostat so turn it on only when needed. 
Bathrooms. All the bathrooms were very old to the point of unusable. They were all torn down and rebuilt. Even took down 2 closets by the powder room and master bath to give it more space. All the old piping issues were taken care of, any rotted studs were replaced and all fixtures and plumbing were installed how we wanted.  If there was an issue Danny will get with you and provide option to correct the issue, and he is very reachable. Highly recommended. Will use for future projects.

My old house came with an old slate roof which not many out there handle it. I found a roofer who actually handles this but the repair cost 1/2 of what it would cost me to install a new shingle roof. As a result, I went with Dasa who was already doing work on my house. The project took them a day, which was incredible. Danny took the time to walk me through the whole process and explained to me the material, areas that needs attention, and recommendations. The new roof came out looking great, it matches the old colonial look of the house and it has a 30 yr warranty.

Had major water issue in my basement. The water was coming in from the walls and underground causing the basement to accumulate water. The walls were all old wood paneling which started to rot and mold. Danny sent his crew in to rip out all the old wall panels in a day then install drainage system underground along with two sump pumps. Had the walls painted with dry-lock. He walked me through the process and what's involved. Have not seen a single drop of water in the basement since.

Danny came on time to give me an estimate and was the only person to suggest different ideas for the details, I was not changing the layout of the floor plan. I got four estimates for this job.  He was not the cheapest or the most exspensive, I liked his friendly manner and he didn't give me the impression he was all about making fast money, he genuinely cares about doing the job right the first time, his reputation is VERY important to him. The crew of two fellas turned up and gutted the room in two days, David and his helper both really nice chaps were a bit scared of my dogs. There were a few snaffoo's (not everything goes according to plan on ANY building project), every time there was a change of plan the lads would tell me and we would sort it out or I would call Danny and he got it sorted. Their punctuality was not the best, David would tell me 8.00/8.30am and they would turn up at 9am or 9.45am, not a big deal but I am a stickler for punctuality it's one of my pet peeves.  The bloke that did the tiling and little plumbing jobs came on time and was really nice, efficient and told me all the details on what he was doing.  The electrician was very polite and explained the reason why the job needed to be done, he did it all in two visits. Danny would ALLWAYS answer the phone, I only had to leave a message once as it was after 9pm. I will hire these fellas again for future jobs I need doing around the house and garden. I highly recommend them.

Danny and his crew ( William, Johnny and Javier)  transformed my formally , unusable 2nd floor  into a beautiful, livable space.  They created 2 bedrooms with closets, new windows, baseboard heating and updated electrical , including hardwired smoke detectors . They Installed hardwood floors, painted immaculately and did so in a neat , clean and professional way. They had great  design and color ideas.  And stayed within the budget that was initially discussed !  I will use them again for my future renovations.

Danny and his team were very responsive.  We needed the job done pretty quickly as we had a short time frame between the time we closed on our new place and when we had to move in.  Danny's team tried hard to get the job done as quickly as possible but there were some delays so not everything was completed by the time we moved in but we had a working bathroom so it wasn't too bad.  They also weren't completely done by the estimated timeframe within the contract but he kept us informed of the delays and explained the situation so I definitely appreciated the constant communication.  He was also thorough in his explanations of the entire process which we appreciated since it was the first remodelling job we have ever done.  He helped us pick out the design for the bathrooms as well.  Danny's team cleaned up each day before they left and tried to keep the place neat.  Danny was also able to go shopping for the supplies we needed, obtained the necessary permits and came with us to pick out the stuff we were responsible for and any extras, we were able to return back to the store.  Overall, it was a pretty good experience.  His team performed the job well, offered suggestions on how to save money, were very responsive to my concerns or issues noted and made the whole process easier on us.  We will definitely use his team again for other projects that come up!