GARDNER/FOX ASSOCIATES

Horrible experience...their plumber didn’t hook up the dishwasher properly and went home during the test run which subsequently flooded our unit and the two units below us which added 3 more months of renovation before we could move back into the unit. Major wiring issues discovered after we moved in with Gardner/Fox refusing to take any responsibility.

A home remodeling project is about as stressful as it gets for a homeowner, but our experience with Gardner Fox Associates was about as seamless as one could hope for. My wife and I had done our homework and scoured the internet evaluating numerous contractors, designers, etc. We met Lance at the Philadelphia home show and he explained the advantages of using a design/build firm like GFA. Our project was complicated by the fact that my wife was 3.5 months pregnant and we wanted our project completed prior to the arrival of our baby. The entire GFA team understood our anxiety about completing the project on time, and pushed vendors and subcontractors to remain on schedule and complete the project before the birth of our baby. Lance came out to our home for the initial site visit and was confident and excited about the scope of our project. He took the time to walk us through what to expect and assured us that our project could be completed on time and within our budget. We initially were planning on a master bedroom/bathroom remodel, which like most projects evolved into more as we went along. The professionalism of GFA from beginning to end was unbelievable. A close family member of ours was doing a kitchen remodel with another company, and the discrepancies in our experiences were significant. This family member had envy about the organization and professionalism of GFA. Once we met with Jeff who completed the drawings for the project and signed off on the project we were full steam ahead to get the project completed as quickly as possible without compromising on quality. Within a week they had all the subcontractors to our house to submit bids for the project and construction began the first week in April. We worked very closely with Susan the interior designer throughout the entire project. She initially came to our home and immediately got a sense of our style and what we were trying to accomplish with our project. Our kick off meeting happened at the end of March and we met Bruce and Ellen who would be our project managers. They sent us a detailed schedule of what would be completed and who to expect at our house each day. Bruce and Ellen were easily available and would promptly respond to any issues as they would arrive. They estimated completing the project by June 7th and we were fully moved into to our brand new bedroom, closet, bathroom by the 2nd week in June and could not be more satisfied with our project. I would highly recommend GFA to anyone considering a home remodeling project.

We contacted Gardner/Fox in June 2015 to design a 3-season room addition.  We had some ideas; Mark Fox listened to our intentions and requests for the room and proposed 3 different designs, at three different costs, leaving us with many design and financial options.  The design process took about  3 months. We were very pleased with this process and with the final design.
Once we approved the design, getting permits took another 3 months.  Construction took 3 months more.  Throughout the design and construction processes everyone from Gardner/Fox was very professional, courteous and respectful.  During construction, all of the subcontractors were also professional, very courteous and respectful.  Each day the site was cleaned up by whomever had worked that day.  
The whole process was very organized.  There was excellent supervision of the work being done, with someone from Gardner/Fox checking in almost daily.  Weekly meetings were set to review progress and anticipate upcoming work.  The supervisors were very responsive to any concerns we had and paid attention to many details. They offered very helpful suggestions during construction when we requested input.  
We have rated the quality based on 3 components: design (excellent), construction (first class), and finish.  The finish, such as trim work, was not as high in quality.  After several days of rework, the end result is satisfactory.  If we were given the choice, we would have assigned a rating of A- for quality.
Overall this was both an excellent experience and excellent result.  We recommend Gardner/Fox to others.

unknown

Outstanding work by a first-class contractor!
Project Manager (PM) Jim Ingram visited our home, estimated the job and quickly sent us a proposal. The proposal price was above my budget and Jim worked with us to find a way to complete all the work under budget.
We scheduled the work but due to me being called for jury duty we had to delay the start by several days. Gardner/Fox accommodated the schedule slip without an increase in price.
They kept to their original estimate for the original work but additional damage to the structure of my deck was found after project start and we agreed to time and materials above the estimate. Fortunately that turned out to be only a small increase.
The crew was very professional and cleaned up the work site every day before they left. The PM inspected the work almost daily to ensure the project was on track and the work being done correctly.

• Updated review: 5/6/14:

• We contracted with Gardner /Fox (GF) for designs for kitchen, bathroom and basement renovations in March 2013 and shared that we hoped to have construction commence during the summer.

• Our initial meeting was on 3/13. A survey of the house was done on 3/21 and we reviewed the design plans and budget with GF on 4/10. The budget presented had a range (lower and upper) in which the construction cost was constant with variation dependent on our choices of appliances, countertops, flooring, etc. Due to budget, we immediately took the basement off the table and selected one of three designs for the kitchen. We were given a design plan for the bath that changed the footprint of the room by bumping into an adjacent bedroom which was not what we asked for, however, did consider. We met again on 5/2 with the intent to proceed with construction of the kitchen and bath. After not hearing anything after the 5/2 meeting, I emailed GF towards the end of May to inquire what our next steps were. I was told they were getting together a list of vendors for us and that the designer would be in touch to set up a meeting. After not hearing anything more, I emailed again on June 6th reiterating our desired time frame for construction and to please let me know if GF was not able to take the job. They responded saying that we could still start in July and they thought it would be a two month project. They then scheduled a subcontractor walk through on 6/14. A meeting was scheduled for 6/27 to review the final estimate after the subcontractor walk through. GF cancelled the meeting on the day of and emailed to us the estimate. The estimate was 10% higher across the board than then top end of the range that was presented on 4/10. I emailed GF on 6/30 to say that we would be asking other contractors to bid. GF replied the next day proactively stating they would look at the numbers (I did not request this). GF emailed me on 7/26 to ask me and quot;where we stoodand quot; and said they were still looking at numbers. They emailed me again on 8/21 to again see and quot;where we stoodand quot; at which point I told GF we decided to go with another contractor. GF asked if there was a and quot;substantial difference in costand quot; -- there was. The contractor we ended up going with was more than $25,000 less than GF; the work is now complete and is absolutely beautiful.

• I emailed GF at the end of September to share my disappointment with the experience. If they hadn't wanted to job, I wish they would have said so from the outset so we didn't lose so much time.

Two weeks ago I received a call from GF regarding this review as they reference in their response below. They expressed shock at the review and the scores. I reminded them of the prolonged intervals between meetings, the requests I had to repeatedly send to move forward, and the final bid being 10% higher than the upper end of the initial estimate despite the scope of the kitchen not changing and the scope of the bath being scaled back. During the call, GF was pretty aggressive and kept telling me what a terrific deal I got from them (which they reference below). When we contracted with them for design plans in March we were told the fee was $2,250 and readily signed the contract. I have no idea if the fee is and quot;standardand quot; or not. Assuming it is, simple math tells me that the higher your construction cost, the lower the percent of construction costs your design fee would be. They reference below that the construction cost they presented is and quot;irrelevantand quot; to the review. I disagree as we proceeded with them based on an estimate they gave us for the work on 4/10 only to find at the end of June that the 4/10 estimate was apparently and quot;irrelevant.and quot; That we lost almost three months thinking the estimate was meaningful, is totally relevant to me.

As for the scores, C is average and our overall experience with GF was below average, thus the D. Given that we stated our desired timeline in the first meeting in March, and that GF did not deliver their bid until the end of June, I think a C is more than fair for punctuality. I re-scored the quality category to a C as the kitchen plans were good, the plans for the basement (which we cut from the scope immediately) were very good, but we never really got there on the bath plan. I stand by the F on price as the original estimate did not reflect the true cost. And, I still think it is odd that the final estimate was outside the upper end of the initial range. I have never heard of anyone doing that if they actually wanted a job. As for professionalism, GF was always very cordial during the process, as were we. That said, the phone call and condescending lecture I received relative to this review gives me pause...

We hired Gardner Fox on the strength of our realtor's recommendation, since we were new to the area. We asked for plans to remodel our kitchen and enclose a back porch to make an all-season room. About a week after we asked for this estimate, they called to say that they were a bit busy and couldn't get the plans/estimate to us for another 10 days. I said no problem, but we have decided not to go with the porch remodel. That afternoon, Mark Fox came over in person with a sloppy drawing of the porch, saying that he would have to charge us $1500 for the plan because he had already executed it when I said we had reconsidered. The plan was so slapdash--it was obvious that he had thrown it together in an hour or so, so that he could charge us. For example, he had said during the preliminary process that this porch was and quot;crying outand quot; for a huge set of windows overlooking our yard, yet the plan featured a big fireplace that took up half of that wall. That didn't sit well with us, but we proceeded. The first day of work, they put a sign on our lawn that said, and quot;Gardner Fox--Small Projects Division.and quot; They proceeded to hire terrible subcontractors, including the tiler who did our floor and backsplash. Finishes were not spiffy, and change orders because routine. and quot;Since we're moving the stove, we'll have to write a change order because we're going to have to move the gas line.and quot; Yet they knew from the start that it was a gas stove, and the original plan called for moving it. The original order called for a corian countertop, which I switched to a granite top during the remodel. Even though the cost of the Corian was included in the original charges, they tried to charge me $6000 for the granite, which was actually less than the Corian! They also tried to pass through other bills from suppliers whose products were included in the original estimate. It was a good thing I looked over all the bills carefully, or we would have been cheated out of many thousands of dollars. Since then we have worked on several remodeling projects with a wonderful contractor who is honest and has high standards. Now we refer to our status at Gardner Fox as and quot;Small Potatoes Division.and quot; They obviously weren't looking for repeat business.

They gave us a time frame and stuck too it. Their quote was accurate there were no surprises financially speaking. We were able to live in the house throughout the 10 week project.

Gardner/Fox met with us last spring to start a remodeling project of our kitchen. They worked with us on every aspect of the process, from the beginning design right through to completion. Everything was done for us - we only had to consult with the person who was heading the project at that time. I cannot say enough about how easy the company made the entire process.
We began with the architect, Jeff Brinton. He met with us to determine what we wanted in the kitchen and then showed us several possibilities. Once we chose a plan, we met with a whole team of people, who estimated the scope of the project, the costs and the timeline. When that proved too much for us, Gardener/Fox revised the plans to be within the timing we wanted and the budget we could afford. We met with their project manager and their in-house interior designer, Susan Gracki. Susan was invaluable in helping us make the choices for the interior design, including providing advice about adjusting the other spaces of our home to fit with the new kitchen.
Ken Brown, Gardner/Fox project manager, and Bruce McKeon, Gardner/Fox field project manager, headed the team who did the actual construction. Most of the construction went very smoothly. When there were some issues, Ken and Bruce responded quickly and met our needs right away. The part of the house where the people were working was always neat and protected. They had told us that it would be messy and dusty, but we did not experience that at all.
Did I mention that Gardner/Fox completed the work before their predicted end date? The original time estimate took us too close to Thanksgiving for our comfort. Gardner/Fox worked hard to complete the work before their estimate. It was completed on my time schedule, rather than their original estimate, despite a setback because of an issue with the counter-tops from the supplier.
The kitchen is beautiful and very workable. Gardener/Fox warranties their work, and has already fixed the few small glitches that have come up. I recommend them whole-heartedly and will use them again when I have another project.

The construction process was fine. The workmanship has not held up and systems have had to be replaced/repaired with a few years. Overall quality and value of finished product way below expecatation.

They were supposed to be done in 4 months. It took 8 months. They did not support the second floor properly, and the ceiling buckled. We had two floods while they were working. The tarp was not properly applied and the rain came in the house they put trash cans to catch the water. Two sinks in the master bedroom. One doesn't drain properly, the second flood came when one of the worker hit a pipe causing water build up on the ceiling and it eventual destroyed the ceiling.

This project was almost a total disaster.We fired them about halfway through the project. We still don't understand why we were treated so poorly by the construction staff. Many contractual items were simply ignored. This fact really surprised us. Work site was a garbage dump. From the start, we noticed surprisingly poor craftsmanship and coordination. The crews were always in a major rush. A code official and my own engineer indicated that the foundation and overall framing were not completed to the design specs that G/F itself drew up. When we asked questions we were treated poorly. In the end, Mark Fox was fair and we believe as frustrated as we were regarding this project. He allowed us out of our contract as we no longer had any confidence in his staff. The cost to finish the project was much less than we would have paid with G/F and the quality of work superior to anything G/F's contractors did. In fact we had to tear down some of their work and rebuild to pass code.

Everyone at Gardner/Fox has been great. We would definitely do business with them again. They performed the work competently.

Very professional job and Bruce, the on-site manager, was great to work with. We ran into structural problems that slowed things down considerably, but they were addressed within a reasonable time. The finished project is fabulous. It was very expensive, but it's true that you get what you pay for.

GENERAL CONTRACTOR AND SUBCONTRACTORS ALL DID AN OVERALL GREAT JOB. SOME BUMPS BUT NOT SIGNIFICANT. ALL SHOWED UP AND DID AND FINISHED WORK. INTERIOR DESIGN PORTION OF G/F CONTRACT, POORLY EXECUTED - BASICALLY USELESS (MY ONLY REAL COMPLAINT).