Kitchen Design Studio

Per my prior review, we hired Giovanni to remodel our bathroom in Feb, '21. I FIRED HIM in Aug '22 as after a year and a half he was unable to complete the job...I had to hire another contractor to finish the work. Even now I need to repair the sub-floor (it's an upstairs bathroom) because when the floor was cut to work on the plumbing it was left inadequately supported allowing water to leak into the kitchen below. I addressed the problem to Giovanni and he handed me off to one of the many team chiefs that worked this job, who then handed the problem off to a new team chief...who never followed up on it. Giovanni shows no hint of work ethic (no matter how much he touts his Marine Corps values) has no quality control measures and poor customer service. He told me he'd refund fees I paid for material disposal because his people never disposed of any material...I had to do it myself after the pile of debris killed off part of my yard...there's been no refund.

We started our bathroom remodeling adventure with Giovanni in Feb this year. I personally demo'd the bathroom so it was ready when they started remodeling, 1 Apr. Much of their time is spent correcting errors in their workmanship, quite often nobody shows up to work. After going through 2 project managers over the course of the project, Giovanni is overseeing the scheduling...he's never been to the project site...this small bathroom is still not complete 7 months in... The room is approx 8’ x 12’, 1 tub, 1 shower, commode and a vanity…nothing out of the ordinary. I was told by the salesman Marcello it would be a 4-5 week job…I had never met Giovanni. That time frame was good since my workcenter currently has an accommodating tele-work policy; between that & personal time I could be home for the workers. For the entire span of this project it’s been hit or miss on workmen showing up. There were good days, but there were weeks nothing was done, or workmen would show up late in the morning and stay only an hour or two. Scheduling seemed completely random; I had to start pumping the project managers for their schedules, trying to find who was coming when so I’d know when I needed to be home and when to not waste my time. It’s now Aug, 7 months into the project…I had to be on the road for 2 weeks mid month and I let the Giovanni team know I wouldn’t be home. This is when I was notified the 2nd project mgr was removed from the project and Giovanni was now in charge…nobody contacted me, I found out when I made the call. That first week of Aug nobody showed, nothing was done. When I returned, that Monday, the glass shower door installer showed. He had to “grind” a tile to accommodate the door…aside from being unsightly he damaged 2 adjacent tiles. The next day the tile guy replaced all 3 damaged tiles along with associated tile work. For the month of Aug, 2021 only 2 days of work were accomplished, one of those days was partially spent fixing poor work from the day before…and we’re going into Sep, month 8…

Entire 5 day job took 5 1/2 months. The worst was that he charged me for a new soap dispenser and found out that a rusty one was installed which lasted 3 months. The information below was sent to Giovanni without a response. He kept telling the project manager he would call me and never did. 1. Given August 1st deadline. Even if September 1st was the deadline, the time line is now 4 1/2 month and counting for a “5 day project”. 2, Countertop installed with 2 major cracks on both sides of sink. Scratched easily and developed a film. Also after 4 weeks developed area by corner that did not have shiny finish. Cracks developed on island and on right side of bar. 3. Giovanni was told by Mark not to use the countertop in the kitchen. (Was told this by the installers of the second counter top.) 4. On first installation, Mark and his crew left cigarette butts in driveway. 5. Mark told me the countertop job and seam as good as it gets. Was aware of cracks. 6. Garbage disposal was installed and faulty (loud). Was told that it was ok and 5 minutes later they told Fiona they would fix it. 7. Hot water dispenser “purged” and the solution was to turn down the temperature which did not make it a hot water dispenser any more. 8. Oven was installed not level nor flush with cabinet. Had to be re-installed. Don’t even want to know if level because Jeremiah did not put any thing in cabinet to correct. 9. Up-lighting installation - messed up the tape and float job by cabinet right of entry. 10. Electrical outlet box not secure above cabinet where the tape and float was knocked out. My painters discovered that. 11. Did not go over original invoice and draw schedule. When Josef said I needed to pay a draw, I told him I had not seen an invoice or draw scheduled. He got one for me and said I needed to pay current draw and last weeks draw. I said I would not pay anything until I had a chance to look at the invoice. Josef said he was told by Giovanni to walk off the job if customer would not pay. Told him to take his one person on the job (the painter) walk and he said he was “just a puppet”. 12. Kitchen faucet had “gradu” on it and had to be replaced. Cory was going to fix prior to the second countertop being installed and did not address. Faucet had to be replaced. 13. Corey did not like talking on phone and said his preferred method of communication was texting. Was short tempered and frustrated. Quit October 27th. 14. After 9/2/16 meeting with Giovanni, Cory and Fiona, never heard from Giovanni again. Asked at that time for a corrected invoice. I finally had to ask Anna three weeks later. Received a wrong invoice for which I e-mailed back with questions and corrections. To date have not received a reply. 15. Floor whitewash messed up in kitchen when ceiling taped and floated. Also area in entry way between kitchen door and half bath door. 16. When installed 2nd countertop, messed up the wood between the dishwasher and refrigerator. 17. Canned lights did not fit correctly. Was told that chalk and touch up paint would work. That’s not correct - never be able to keep the metal from showing or be flush with the ceiling. Also, would need to paint whole ceiling to make paint blend in. Was told by my painter and electrician that chalk and paint was wrong and that the LED lights were cheap. 18. Throughout project, was not kept informed of when people were coming, times people were coming. My schedule was seldom considered when arranging for subcontractors to come to the house. 19. For almost every job that was done, something went wrong and another thing had to be fixed -ie floors, oven, wood between dishwasher & refrig, etc. etc. etc. The list goes on. 20. No response from Giovanni with regards to invoice being wrong. 21. No return call from Fiona when Cory quit nor when the painter walked out. I called cellphone and office number. Would e-mail or text, but nothing verbally. Even Cory e-mailed when he quit and would not call me. 22. Kitchen counter uneven - measures 34 3/4” at Microwave and Seam. Measures 34 1/2” by corner. The island and bar area are level. While 1/4” is not much - in construction terms, that a pretty big difference. 23. Corey quit. Fiona did not return phone calls and only would respond to text messages and e-mails. She called prior to going on vacation and left a message which I did not return. 24. Jessie called me on November 17 (Thursday) about schedule having the seal put on the countertops. He was aiming for Friday or Monday. I told him he had the garage code to do when he could. I called him after Thanksgiving. He said he had left me a message, but I did not have a voicemail (deleted or otherwise) or text message from him. He asked if he could come Friday. I said Monday was better. He said the guy was coming special for my counter and he could be there if I needed him to be. Told if he could come at 1:00, I could be here. Jessie called at 12:10 and said at my house. I had to turn off alarm and give garage code. Said they were running early. He left by 12:40 before I even to home. Once again, my time and schedule was not considered. The 1:00 agreed upon time was disrespected and not important. 25. Charged for 2 USB electrical outlets that I provided. 26. Charged for installing USB electrical outlet that was part of original invoice. 27. No return phone call from Fiona when painter showed up and quit. Did respond to text messages. 28. Billed for more LED canned lights than what I have in my house. Also, charged for 6 LED canned kitchen lights that should have been in original invoice. 29. Cigarette butt found above kitchen cabinet by my painter. Could have been old, but shows that Speedy did not bother to clean up after his work. 30. Was told I should live with bad oven installation and that I should not make that an issue. 31. Corey’s solution for bad paint job was to just fix the area between the bar with molding. 32. Cut in for paint unprofessional and sloppy. Paint on grout substandard. and messy it was the best he could do. 33. Countertops not level in corner. Island and bar area are level. Made tile installation a challenge. 34. Wiring from under-island lighting cut and left in place. 35. On December 2, Jessie said he would send me info on care of countertop when he got to the office. He forgot. When I reminded him a week later, he called me back and said soap and water. Did not address heat, stains, scratches, etc. Worked better for me to google. 36. Scheduled tile guy for Tuesday, December 13th. Jessie said he could be here if I could not. Called Tuesday am and asked if Tile guy could come now. Jessie did not come with him. 37. Overall disregard for home and scheduling workers to come whenever.

Extreme disappointment and huge misrepresentation. Kitchen design studio (kitchen designs by Giovanni, Marotta Enterprises Inc.) Do NOT be misled by the fancy website, showroom, or the laughable ""10 step cadence" process. The only "dream " job you will get is a "nightmare". In over 25 years of property management and real estate investing, rehabbing both residential and commercial properties; I have never encountered such a lack of professionalism,  customer no-service, lack of trade knowledge and poor quality execution. In my opinion Giovanni is not qualified to build a dog house, with  business ethics lower than a Texas rattlesnake belly. They do not listen to customer instructions,  will not return texts, calls, email, or letters. For the $700 "design fee" we received two incorrect computer drawings. measuring 4 3/4" x 6 1/4".
We never received a written contract. He used poorly trained subs that have limited knowledge of construction.
After two months,  Giovanni was fired and a refund requested. After deducting what he did do correctly (2 items)  I am still waiting for my complete refund.
Just a few of the problems to highlight his incompetence and what you can expect:
--Improperly built deck mud shower base that would have been a haven for mold and leaks.
--Poor supervision of job, (new hire) not listening to customer and complaining of what job will cost to correct deficiencies
--Improper cement backer board installation
--Water supply lines not per customer request
--Shower curb not as customer requested
--Shower drain not as customer requested
--No written contracts
--Not picking up jobsite daily, screws left on driveway, trash and cigarette butts left, Cars/trucks leaking oil on driveway
--Improper vapor barrier installation
--Incorrect cement used in leveling floor
--Rebar not tied underslab
--loose shower drain pipe
--Poor quality of plumbing installation resulting in destruction of new framing and breaking up concrete floor 2 x.
--Not following best industry practices or mfg directions
--No shower wall blocking between wall studs.
--Incorrect shower liner installation
--Using customer furniture as sawhorses and damaged table by grinding on it.. ( I am not making this stuff  up!) 
--Ignoring customer refund requests
--No thinset used on backerboard.
--Incorrect shower niches installations
You can expect your phone calls, texts, and letters to go unanswered.
Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere for a quailty contractor, or you too will be waiting months for your refund, frustrated, and your dreams will be dashed.

I had a contract to do the above remodel with demo costs, moving water lines in the shower, tile,materials, shower pan, shower glass and texture repair/baseboard repair.  I supplied the paint to match my existing color in the house.  The first day, the workers showed up at 10:00 am and left at 3:00 pm.  I was told that their time started from the time they left the city to come to my house, which is outside of town by 30 miles.   The second day, I was presented with a new contract stating I had to pay an additional amount of money for tile costs overruns and the plumbing fixtures for the shower.   I immediately asked for a cost break down on the tile and with my budget limit, I wanted to replace the floor tile I originally selected with something less expensive.   I repeatedly asked for the tile breakdown costs through texts to the owner and emails to his assistant.  No results.  
I dealt with a broken front door lock, 3 of my personal air cleaners having to be replaced due to construction dust and lack of adequate preparation from the employees with plastic to cover doorways, paper covering for my carpet in the bedroom and plastic covers for the existing vanity and linen closet.   I came home to construction dust in my garbage can one time, water in the garage, and construction debris, though tiny pieces, in my front lawn.   My continued repeated requests for tile cost breakdown were not answered.
I contacted the company and told them I did not want them working on my hall bath to replace that floor.  I had dealt with my share of construction dust and supplied my own plastic and covered my vanity, linen closet and furniture in the bedroom.  I did not feel that adequate preparatory work would be done on the hall bath work area either.   The master bath work finally finished 6 1/2 weeks after the initial start date.  
I asked for the money to be refunded that I had originally paid for the hall bath floor replacement.  I have repeatedly emailed the owner but no refund has come.   One time, I heard from his assistant that since the tile costs were more than budgeted and some had to be returned and with a restocking fee that that entailed, I had less money coming.  I do not agree with this.  I am entitled to the full refund for work not done to the floor of the hall bath.  I have yet to hear from the company to this day.

We had some problems with scheduling and materials.
Every single employee of Giovanni is friendly and trustworthy.  I think my job may have gotten started at a hectic time for him.

Giovanni has assembled a good crew of professional staff to include a designer, project manager, carpenter, electrician, and plumber and their assistants. Workers always arrived on time and always cleaned up thoroughly at the end of each day. For the most part all phases of the renovation went well. Services included the following; Demolition and hauled away debris, Raised the ceiling to its original height; Installed 3 levels of lighting including can ceiling lights, puck lights throughout and under the cabinets and granite pendant lights; Installed all new taller upper cabinets, some with glass fronts, drawers instead of lower cabinets; Installed granite countertops; Installed glass and stone backsplash; Installed granite double sink and gooseneck faucet. A new dishwasher and garbage disposal were also installed by the plumber. Crown molding was installed above the upper cabinets. With the help of the cabinet designer a table / island was created with a 2 drawer cabinet base at one end and a granite top. There were some problems throughout the project and what should have been a 2 week renovation turned into over 5 months. There were delays with the cabinets; my fault for requesting another cabinet after the original order was submitted. Light rails were never mentioned in the planning phase and when the lights were installed under the cabinets it was obvious something was missing. The rails were ordered and when they finally arrived weeks later,  they were not what I had asked for but felt obligated to keep them.  Also, I had asked for a small door to be constructed for a built-in cabinet but they were not able to create that door for me. I also had a problem with some of the contractor's pricey choices, i.e. the granite sink and the granite pendant lights. Those issues are still unresolved. Overall I'm pleased with the finished product. The room seems lighter, brighter and as one visitor says every time she's here...it's a cheery, inviting room. We went from dull '70's wood cabinets to white cabinets and beautiful granite countertops.

We decided to get 2nd opinion on the project.   Once we told them our decision it took 2 phone calls and an email to recieve computer sketches with revisions.  We did not get detailed list, 3D plans or to meet with a designer.  What we have for $500.00 are several black and white computer sketches of the kitchen. 
 
The owner and staff are very personable.  The invoice we received reflects exactly what we paid for (several black and white computer sketches) and sadly nothing that was promised to us verbally was listed on that invoice.  You don't get the detailed invoice at the time of agreeing to and paying for the design service.  We would have only gotten to meet with the designer once we paid $1200.00 down payment toward the cabinets.  Believe me, if I knew we were not going to walk away with complete detailed color plans and time with a designer to pick out tile, granite, sink, faucet, lights, etc, I would never have paid the $500.00.

From start to finish, each person was easy to work with,knowledgeable , and professional.  Their price was higher than other bids I got but I am pleased with the outcome.

Giovanni was very knowledge about kitchen design.  He worked within our budget and he would let us know if and when we would stray away from our budget.  His workers were outstanding.  Every day they finished for the day they would clean the whole area.  They never left anything behind.  If it wasn't for the kitchen being without cabinets and sink, you wouldn't know they were there.  Giovanni was there every day to make sure everyone was on schedule.  A true professional

Chose not to move forward at this time

The water from my upstairs shower leaked into the downstairs walk-in pantry.  My insurance company did not pay for the leak since it was a water pan issue, so I decided to obtain several bids and settled on Kitchen Design Studio.  After speaking with 6 different contractors, I was impressed by the hands on approach Giovanni (owner) takes with his customers.  He indicated he would come by the house during the demolition and remodel to be sure all was going well.  He checked on the demo & remodel progress often and even though this was during a busy season he was quite responsive whenever I had questions.
It is important to note that I requested additional work from Giovanni.  I think what prompted me to add work was that Giovanni proved to have clear accountability and would respond quickly whenever I had a question or concern.  I work from my home and this became an extensive project, so it was critical that the demolition and construction portions move as scheduled and that I had a "go to" person in the event there was a concern.  The on-site lead was Andre and he and the rest of the team were always efficient, polite and cleaned up after each day.  All workers were were great with my animals (may not be important to others, but I have 2 big dogs and 3 cats and a 6+week project means the construction team must be OK working around this menagerie).
There were a few minor delays, but this was primarily due to specialty materials (pendant light, square sink) having to be replaced due to shipping damage.  I will be using this contractor for cabinet work in the future.

The entire job went very well. Before any work was done I was given an estimate and there were no up-charges except those we added. We were asked for a small down payment and intermediate payments per the estimate.  They were on time, professional and cleaned up each day before they left. There was only one crew for the entire job with the exception of plumbing and back splash and everyone was polite and attentive to our wishes

During the initial visit to discuss our project, Giovanni provided examples of work he had done in the past. On the second visit, he had computer-generated drawings of what the completed room would look like and a detailed explanation of all expenses included in his bid. We made design changes based upon the computer-generated drawings, which were a key to this project's success.

He helped us select the cabinets, granite, and tile and was personally involved throughout the project. There were a few issues along the way, which is to be expected, but he resolved them to our satisfaction.

It went great.  They are very detailed.  The tile person was very meticulous about the grout lines, for example.