Pittsburgh Remodeling Co

I wasn't planning on writing a review about our experience with PRC, but after finding more examples of poor workmanship on a project that was supposed be completed 10 months ago, I've changed my mind. This post is not motivated by malice, but we are very disappointed. PRC came highly recommend, and we knew we'd be paying a premium for a good company. We expected a lot more on a job that nearly totaled 40K. Our entire project was not terrible, and there were areas where PRC excelled. First the Good: PRC was organized and prompt every day that they came to work. They respected our home, and did their best to make sure the rest of the house remained clean. They stuck to the contract. They were always patient with us and answered our questions. Their design assistance was great, and we love the aesthetics that were chosen for hour kitchen project. They definitely listened and tried to address our concerns (but they fell short). The Bad: This is just my theory, but I feel as though our project was considered insignificant compared to more complicated work that I know PRC does. We are going to have to replace the new floor in our kitchen/dining room that is not 12 months old because PRC failed to install it properly. We will now be forced to spend another 3-4 K on the replacement. To be fair, PRC returned most of our money we paid them for the floor. I appreciate this greatly, but it is going to cost us money we didn't plan on spending on getting it right. The floor co. we are using now took one look at the floor and explained all the areas that were done incorrectly. They are going to use our floor as an example of poor installation to future clients. They will also photograph the new floor to present a before and after example. The plumbing under our sink came undone after maybe 2 months. This was repaired promptly, but I worry about its longevity. Switch plates and the new heat register were installed crooked. Again, this was fixed, but why not install it right the first time? The issue that is forcing me to write this review, the paint. I believe this was a 1200 item on our work order. They came multiple times in order to get it right. It still isn't. There are areas that are not covered, blotchy, and simply not painted at all. As I was cleaning a portion of the wall yesterday, I noticed that there are entire sections of wall that are not painted. It is just bare wall compound. We did not receive a refund for the paint, but I did not ask for one. My mistake. It should not take multiple visits to paint one room properly. However, this is another example of how I will be spending more time and money for something that I already paid for. There are more issues, but these are the most significant. Again, we are so disappointed. We wanted to work with PRC on future projects, but that is impossible now. We actually don't even want to get involved in any more home projects after this experience. I think PRC has the ability to deliver quality work, but for some reason they fell quite short with our home. We have currently tried to contact PRC about the additional problems we have found, and have been ignored. Proceed with caution!

My wife and I are very pleased with the very successful and timely remodeling of our medium size kitchen by the Pittsburgh Remodeling Company (PRC). Rob, Nate, Sophia, Chris W., Heidi, Chris S., and Jeremy coordinated with us and with Allegheny Millwork, Inc., Don's Appliances, Best Tile, The Tile Shop and Cambria, Inc. and in the design, purchase and installation of all the necessary components to achieve totally new, beautiful and very functional interior space. We had used PRC previously in a successful, timely and complete remodeling of our kids' bathroom; thus, we were familiar with their workmanship and style of interaction and coordination with the homeowners. However, we did seek three bids for the kitchen project. All bids were within 10% of each other. PRC had the most experience with timely remodeling of kitchens and excellent reviews of their craftsmanship and creativity in surmounting unforeseen obstacles during the reconstruction. We were always informed as to the dates and times that the renovation team members were coming to the home. At the outset, they were very careful to cover all walking paths and steps as well as a large area of our dining room with a special cardboard and tape on which we reestablished the refrigerator and a camp-style temporary kitchen. All debris was collected each day and moved to a dumpster near the home. All products from all vendors were delivered on time and coordinated through PRC to speed the installation. Moreover, the flow of ideas, suggestions for changes to improve functionality and appearance and running costs were essentially continuous between the PRC team members on site and my wife and me. When either we or a team member on site needed something altered or purchased, it was discussed and achieved. The result was, as noted, a beautiful, functional kitchen that is admired by all that see it. As such, my wife and I highly recommend Pittsburgh Remodeling Company for your next kitchen and/or bath renovation.

I love my new kitchen. I have been using it for a few months now and I am still amazed at the incredible job that Pittsburgh Remodeling Company did. I added pictures of the before, during, and after. I think they convey more than I can possibly describe in words. I mainly interacted with Sophia, who designed a beautiful kitchen, and helped me all the way to choose the right cabinets, countertops, and every other detail, and with Tom, the lead carpenter, who worked at my house for a couple of months. He made the construction experience as painless as possible, was extremely helpful and considerate, and always replied immediately whenever I needed anything. It was great interacting with both of them. As you see from the price the job was not cheap, but I think it was worth every penny. There was a small hiccup at the very end concerning a radiator that took forever to arrive and then arrived damaged. I thought it could have been handled a bit better by the project manager, but overall this was a very small thing and as I said the company did an amazing job. I highly recommend them. I would definitely hire them again if I have have another interior renovation.

Excellent..Dale was A+++ in terms of all areas..

I reached out to Pittsburgh Remodeling -- three times -- because they came recommended by a colleague. They now told me that my remodeling/addition project is too large for them ("too large and not what we are good at."), but they did not bother to respond to my call or email. I had to call the third time to be informed. VERY poor customer service to have to chase down a no! How do they treat someone who says yes? Now have heard from several other colleagues who had poor experiences with their service and quality while using them. Very happy my project of a remodel/addition was "too large and not what we are good at." Dodged a proverbial bullet with this one. Beware.

It was excellent in every regard.

Our project took 7 months instead of 3 and cost us $33k more than the initial estimate (nearly twice the estimate of $35k), primarily (and admittedly!) because there was essentially no project management provided by PRC. Toward the end of the project, Rob, the owner of the company, acknowledged that the problem was due to the fact that the company was overcommitted at the time and offered his sincerest apologies, but refused to refund any of the money, and was obviously unable to do anything about the extreme inconvenience of the excessive time delay. Not only did the work take far more time and money than expected, but some of the work done was clearly inadequate despite assurances by Rob that it was up to PRC’s standards. Thus we would not hire them again even if we were certain that the management issues had been addressed. When we initially met with Rob, he talked a good game and seemed to understand our goals of having high quality work done that would fit in with and preserve the character of our 100-year-old home, and he made claims about specific details that would be improved by the work. In the end the work fell far short of those promises. They hired an obviously incompetent subcontractor to do our electrical work, and insisted his work was fine each time we identified a problem until finally one of his many mistakes destroyed our dishwasher. They had a very junior carpenter do work on our floor who made holes for no reason and tore up boards that did not need replacing. When we saw the work in progress and asked that it be stopped before the floor was further damaged, the project manager simply told the same junior carpenter to fix it, despite the fact that he did not have the necessary skills and was proposing ham-fisted solutions (my father is a carpenter and was appalled at both the work and the suggested fixes). We ultimately just put new flooring on top of the original floor which did not make us happy. At the beginning of the project we asked the project manager to make a plan for venting our range hood before the interior walls went up. He refused to give it any thought until after the cabinets and counters were installed, when the laborers noticed the stove had been placed such that it was not possible to use a straight duct for the vent. At that point (with the manager long MIA) the vent hood was installed with a gap between the hood and the exterior vent that they filled with duct tape on the brick and studs of the wall, leading to a loud oscillation when the fan was used, and also a potential fire hazard since the wall was essentially hollow all the way up to the attic. Informed that this was an inadequate solution, Rob told us that we were “being humored” when he agreed to redo the ductwork properly. We were also told that the problem was our fault because we chose the vent hood. But not only was the choice not relevant to the problem they created, but we chose it after our requests for recommendations and approval from our project manager (for the vent hood as well as for many other elements of the project) were ignored. These examples are just a few among many of work that reflected a lack of foresight and management, inadequate problem-solving abilities and inappropriate allocation of skilled and less skilled professionals. Problems like these should not, by rights, have added anything to the cost of the project, since we should not have had to pay for redoing bungled work. But the invoicing was so vague that we could not always tell what was billed for what task or material, and we were somewhat trusting first-time remodelers, so we ended up paying for the extra work most of the time. We did catch several (sometimes very significant) accounting errors, which were corrected, but made us wonder whether there were systematic billing “mistakes” that we didn’t catch. I would definitely encourage you to look elsewhere for your remodelling needs, particularly if they involve an older structure whose original elements you would like to preserve where possible. Despite their initial claims and assurances, both the management and the crafts-people of PRC did not seem to respect or be capable of achieving this goal.

We performed due diligence in searching for a contractor and, after interviewing another contractor, chose Pittsburgh Remodeling Co. The owner, Rob Schwerdt, worked personally with us during the design process, then turned the project over to his amazing team for the work. Tom was the lead contractor and his knowledge of his craft and attention to detail are unparalleled. From diligently explaining why our 60-year-old electrical panel needed told be replaced, to guiding us through best options for plumbing updates, Tom never grew tired of our questions. And every text, email, and phone call was returned in a timely manner. I additionally liked that Rob has women on his team, and isn't afraid to use their expertise and strength. The pictures attached do not show the majority of the cost of the project: moving walls, updating electrical, adding plumbing through the basement, lights added and installed throughout the house, blowing out a brick wall to add A/C, etc.

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I contacted Pittsburgh Remodeling Company for a complete master bath remodel. My house was built in 1998 and I wanted to remove the tub and put in a full glass wall shower, as well as update everything else in the bathroom (floors, vanity, walls, closet, etc.).  I received a response to my inquiry within 24 hours and they were at my house to give an estimate in less than a week.  Everything about this company is prompt, courteous, and professional. The process was incredibly painless and efficient. We had a project manager and a design expert assigned to us, and they made fantastic recommendations. The communication at all levels of the company was fantastic.  I never had to wait more than 24 hours for an answer to any of my questions.  At one point, I emailed a question at 5:41pm on a Sunday evening, expecting an answer sometime within the next day, and I had an answer by 5:48pm.  They protected all of the floors from daily foot traffic, and sealed off the work area at the end of each workday.  My house was never dusty or dirty from the remodel.  The bathroom looks phenomenal.  Our main contractor, Nate, entertained countless, "why are you doing that?" questions from our 2 and 4 year old children, and he even took his lunch breaks with our otherwise very territorial dog laying at his feet.  They have even impressed our neighbors- one in particular, who continues to comment how polite everyone was, and how this company will be her first call as soon as she has a project.  You will not be disappointed with this contractor.  They have set the bar very high for other contractors in the area.  I am already thinking about my next project for them.  Thank you Pittsburgh Remodeling Company!

I ordered an Angie's List promotional 3D kitchen rendering several weeks ago. The company has not contacted me to do the work.

This provider had excellent reviews and I don't know what went wrong this time.  I was very dismayed that the provider did not call me back when messages were left.

Pittsburgh Remodeling Company did a fabulous job on my bathrooms.  The quality of their work is outstanding.  They did what they said they would do and consistently communicated with me during the project.  Their employees are trustworthy, dependable, friendly, and professional.

Overall the process was fantastic.  Rob at Pittsburgh Remodeling (PR) worked with our preliminary design, helped us select materials, fixtures, etc.  He has a very good eye which made the selections very easy.  We had them install a new full bathroom with a glass shower, granite vanity top and bench, ceramic tile everywhere, and custom cabinets.  We have a 1920 house and we wanted the bathroom to match the style which their design did perfectly.  
PR's workers were very professional and did an excellent job.  They sent us weekly updates on budget and progress.  There were some minor glitches, but PR took care of them and we were very happy with the results.   
We would definitely use them again for our next remodeling project.

They did great. Very professional and responsive to questions, very clean (not only did they clean up every day, they put some thick cardboard-type boards down on the floor and left them there throughout the project to prevent damage in the first place), very detailed estimate that ended up being almost exactly right, and above all, a beautiful little laundry room with some details that we would not have thought of.

From start to finish we had a great experience with PRC. Rob gave a very detailed estimate for the work (the final number was very close to the estimate). Justin was the lead on our job, but all the workers were great and completed quality work. Communication was detailed and all work was explained thoroughly. We love the work that was completed and are going to use PRC again this spring for our master bath remodel. We wanted a contractor that would work with us and let us complete some of the work (painting, demo, toilet and vanity installation). We cannot wait to work with PRC in the future.

From our first meeting with Rob, we could tell that PRC would provide us with a high quality product that would serve us well for many years to come.   Rob spent time with us planning prior to the start of the project.  He has a great computer program that allows him to create images of the space, even with the materials we chose.  This was so helpful to me, as I am very visual.  We were also very pleased with the places he recommended for tile, fixtures, etc.  He also took the time to get to know our style.  It made us confident that he truly wanted to give us a product that fit our style and the style of our home.
It was evident that Rob leads a crew that is well trained and thorough. The crew took the time to put up protective barriers and padding, with the goal of keeping as much of the construction mess away from the rest of the home.  They did a great job keeping a clean and organized work space throughout the duration of the project, which was comforting to me, as we have small children in the house.  They were also great with their communication.  We felt that we had a good grasp of what was happening during our project, which was very comforting ---and they were very open to us asking questions.
All in all, we are beyond pleased with our experience with Rob and all of the PRC staff that we worked with.  After the project was complete, Rob asked us "If you could start all over again, what would you change or do differently?"  We have been living with our new bathroom for a good month and we still cannot answer that question.  Great experience, great product!

Overall it went very well. The quality of the finished work is amazing. We did have a bit of a problem with the backsplash. For several reasons it was installed incorrectly. However, Jeff came by right away to take a look and agreed with us right off the bat. We did have to wait for a couple weeks to get the new tile in, but they payed for the new material and did not charge to remove the first tile and put up the replacement tile. I was very impressed with the way they handled the situation. The final price was quite a bit above the originally quoted price, but I'm sure this always happens. Part of that was my fault for buying more expensive items than were quoted. Also, we did time and material instead of just going with the bid. I am glad I went with that type of billing but the amount we paid for the labor ended up being more than expected because the average pay rate that we were given ended up not really being the average. The highest paid guy ended up doing most of the work instead of having the lower paid people do most of the easy stuff. Of course, there were a couple small, unexpected things that came up that made the price go up as well. All of that said, I really liked the way the job was executed. We had one guy that was at our house the whole time and then they brought in other people from the company as needed. Our lead guy was Justin. He was great to have around the house and did an awesome job on all of the work. The other people that worked here were just as friendly and I didn't feel weird about having any of them in my house. This is especially nice since they were in my house for almost 4 months. I also liked that they didn't sub out all of the work like some contractors do. There was a subcontractor guy that came in to upgrade the electrical panel and he was also very polite and did a good job. We did have a little trouble with their cabinet guy. Nothing crazy. He just needed someone to light a fire under his butt to get anything done. Everything he did came out very nice in the end, though. It's been just over a month since the work was finished and there hasn't been a day that's gone by without one of us saying how great it is to have the new kitchen/main floor and that it was worth the inconvenience and money. We will definitely be having PRC do the rest of the work in our house. We still have a basement remodel to do along with the main bath upstairs and a new deck. I'm sure you could find someone to do your job for less that PRC, but I believe that you get what you pay for.

We did not use them. It was very good. They were very helpful and on time.

Very thorough and professional. Provided us with an itemized estimate, with a few different possibilities that were all sensitive to our budget. We decided to hold off on the project for now, but will likely contact them when we decide to move forward.

I asked them about 2 jobs and they said I needed somebody else for the other job because it wasn't within the range of what they did. Their price was reasonable and they did a good job. I haven't had any problems since. It was a small job. I was happy with the guy and I liked him. They were quick.

PRC was always timely and professional.  The work space was kept very neat.  Communication was good.  The project was completed within the estimated time and we thrilled with the final product.  We definitely recommend PRC for a project this type.