Danconia Interiors

Awesome renovation of my studio apartment! The team gave great attention to detail, and they were very communicative - which made the process so much easier for me. My questions were all answered, and they provided creative and chic style options. My favorite aspect of the renovation was the tile work in the bathroom - super fun! I couldn't be happier with the customer service and the outcome of the project - I definitely recommend this company!

They showed up on the initial walkthrough with a talented designer who guided us through decisions at critical points in the process, and ensured that our job proceeded along quickly and efficiently. All of the team members and subcontractor we worked with brought strong expertise and were extremely responsive and hard-working. The tiling in our bathroom was especially well done. We were particularly pleased that Danconia was sensitive to our budget throughout the process and offered good advice on how to allocate our resources for the best results. We love the final product!

We recently needed to hire a general contractor for the renovation of our kitchen in our Co-op apartment. Out of all the contractors we interviewed Danconia Interiors was the most professional and their proposal most matched our expectations. Within a few weeks of the initial walkthrough we were able to begin work. The work proceeded without too many issues, and when issues did come up Danconia offered options that fit our budget and needs.
We decided to do custom cabinets to eke out every inch of space from our tight kitchen. Though the custom cabinets did take longer to install than off-the shelf ones, we are very happy with the final product and would choose custom again if we had the choice. Danconia took special care in installing a set of penny tiles on our backsplash, which came out wonderfully. 

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The work Danconia Interiors did on my floors was exceptional.  Originally, I had another reputable floor company do the floors, but the work was not acceptable.  Then I hired Danconia Interiors, and the difference was like night and day.  I was very short on time, as the previous company had taken most of it.  Danconia was extremely responsive, through phone and email, which is a huge plus for me.  Danconia came to the unit and assessed the situation shortly after contacting them.  I was very impressed by the professionalism and expertise of the foreman who came to the unit that day.  I received an estimate and contract hours later, and the work started the following day.  The contractor who came to do the work the following day was also extremely knowledgeable, and was able to explain in detail what went wrong previously, and how it would be done differently using Danconia Interiors.  He was able to accurately estimate the completion time.  When the work was done and I saw the floors, a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders.  I am looking forward to hiring them again in the near future.

Overall, our experience was very good.  The work that was completed is excellent even a couple months later, after we've had time to find any concerns arise.  We are very happy with our end product.
Pros:  
They were extremely responsive to our concerns throughout the project.  Our project manager was easy to reach and very communicative.  He regularly did walkthroughs of the site.
Custom built vanity is great - they worked with us to get exactly what we needed and even better than what I had envisioned.  It optimizes storage while looking timeless.
Worked within our budget, and were very clear about any additional costs that arose (such as boards needing to be replaced in the flooring rather than just refinished).
They suggested great vendors that worked with us to find great materials and fixtures within our budget.
Generally, they were clean and polite.  Always trustworthy - I had no concern for my valuables.
When I had concerns about how something was working (a running toilet for instance), they were always willing to come back a fix it.  They were also understanding about such repairs from a cost liability perspective.
Cons:
While they just about finished the work on time (within a week of projected timeline, which is pretty good), most of the that work was done in the last 4 weeks of an 11 week job.  We were without a shower for 7 weeks, which we found unacceptable.  We were away traveling for 2-3 weeks in the beginning of the project, but very little seemed to be done while we were away.  To sum up, their timing with respect to our convenience was cavalier.
They had no choice but to cut the tile inside the apartment; unfortunately they did nothing to keep the dust from permeating the entire living space.  This was a rather large exception to their general neatness.
They did not reliably check shipments promptly to make sure they were in tact or that the fixture would fit in the space.
While we had an initial meeting to talk through ideas and budget, I would have liked a little more guidance on my design choices.  I was not the most confident about bringing all the pieces together, and I would have liked someone to provide feedback on how my fixture, tile, and color choices would all work together.  I suppose I could have asked, but I didn't think I should have had to.

The job was executed well overall.  Danconia was very responsive the entire time - I worked with Bilal and Ethel on the design and layout of the bathroom.  The contracting work was done by Tony and his crew.  The job took approximately 3 weeks to complete, which included a complete gut renovation of the bathroom.  Demolition was done down to the studs and the wooden floor, then everything was built up again.  We haven't had any problems since (6 months later).  
Tony and his crew were very professional - it was normally the same 2 or 3 guys who did the entire job day after day.  The tile work was done well, everything looks straight on the wall and floor.  The shower glass door was installed well and all the shower fixtures (rain showerhead, wand, and temperature controls installed well on the walls - they all look nice.  The vanity was designed based on pictures we had provided and it was completed satisfactorily.   
The experience of working with Tony was nice - he asked a lot of questions to make sure we were doing the right things.  Part of our renovation was done while we were away on vacation, and everything turned out well even though we weren't there helping to make sure everything was getting done correctly.  
I would definitely recommend using Danconia for a similar job.

I've been involved in my fair share of remodels and renovations-- both personally and professionally.  And I have to say that Danconia is the most creative, cost-effective and professional company I have worked with.  They met every deadline, beat our budget by an reasonable percentage and left us with a finished product which I never could have anticipated beforehand. We purchased an unrenovated unit in a luxury high-rise, with the intention of renovating it ourselves and then flipping it before the sponsor had time to finish its round of renovations.  We believed we could achieve our goals with a budget of $175,000.  Danconia came in with a budget of $150,000.  Given everything they wanted to accomplish, we did not believe it was possible.  They created a unit that destroyed the sponsor-renovated units in terms of beauty, uniqueness and appeal.  They were such a pleasure to deal with.  They were always on call and returned any messages within minutes. In the end, we were able to sell our finished unit in a shorter time than we anticipated.  And we were able to do so at a premium to the price we had hoped.  We plan on using Danconia on all future remodels.

Reasons why we chose Danconia
1) We worked with an architect, a contractor, and a researcher on their team.
2) We were able to see their craftsmanship at other apartments.
3) When we picked out certain materials they came with us to make sure they would work in our apartment.
4) We were informed of certain stores to buy our electrical fixtures, bathroom and kitchen faucets, and bathroom vanity.
5) We were in contact with them many times during the project and they were always there for us.
6) They provided wonderful ideas.
7) Their work was impeccable.
8) After signing contract, all materials should be ordered before work begins.

I started talking with Danconia the week of  Thanksgiving and hired them the second week of December.  Though the scope of work was not enormous, there were plenty of hurdles due to the fact that it was the holiday season, we have two small children and my husband works from home.  Communication was key in order to prevent problems.  The good news is that Danconia was extremely communicative so we could work our schedules around the tasks being completed for the day.  We also have a  notoriously difficult co-op board that Danconia was able to appease by sending in all the paperwork promptly and following their very strict guidelines.  As a pleasant surprise our work was done two and a half weeks ahead of schedule and absolutely on budget!

We interviewed multiple contractors including references and friends, and big famous name companies. We could not come up with the right solution for our apartment and when we interviewed Danconia were much more satisfied with the intelligence and time expenditure that they were willing to spend our our project. They combine design with contracting, draw great 3D computer models, and have an approach where they work personally with the client, and do not balk at visiting the apartment and communicating extensively. They are different from other contractors in being more educated and impressive in the way they approach the project. They had good, creative ideas on how to change our apartment. They were also rigorous and educated about what would need to be done to achieve the options we were looking at. Their estimated timing for the project was actually correct- they did not exceed it.
Danconia's solution of combining part of our dining area with our bedroom really changed the way we use our space and has improved the way it looks. They hire hard-working, good guys whom we were satisfied with. The kitchen and bathroom work was done in a stellar way.  The custom cabinets were good quality and have a great modern style. The kitchen looks like it is from an expensive high end magazine though its cost for us was lower. The tile work in the bathroom and kitchen took them a while, they were very detailed, but it was immaculately done. We love our new shower.
The apartment looks a lot better with the ceiling higher (minimized soffits, no recessed lights, etc)- This was Danconia's suggestion to expand the space, and it really worked. The new wood floor is a great improvement to the main living room area.  
Their custom pieces were built with a great style and look beautiful.
What was irritating is that the tile that we ordered- it came in 2 weeks late and delayed some of the work. We ordered it (not Danconia). I also regret the under-counter fridge versus just a regular fridge. We wanted to conserve on space but the under-counter fridge is really insufficient. Danconia had told us that the under-counter option would be smaller. We also wish we actually made the custom built pieces of slightly different dimensions, to fit some different things. The custom closets are very useful, but we could have chosen a different layout out of those Danconia was offering- we have now realized that we actually need more shoe-space than we had built. However overall we are happy with the renovation and realize these are minor issues.
We recommend this company because they are good to work with (pleasant people), you can trust them to be very concerned and involved in the project throughout, they have good design ideas, are fast in their response, and their work is high-end quality.