MAC Design & Build

When seeking a design firm to remodel our large outdated kitchen, we searched for a company that would create a unique and dramatic outcome. The design was complicated and required sophisticated and experienced designers, engineers and procurement crews. MAC design listened to all our wish list items, incorporated almost all of them, but offered their own dramatic design inputs and ways to achieve our goals in more cost effective ways - they took our dreams and brought them to life. Many companies we spoke with said they could do anything we wanted. But from the beginning, MAC took the time and effort to develop the true feel for what we wanted, and then meshed that with their own design skills to create a contemporary AND practical kitchen - not simply executing whatever we thought might work or be interesting. We certainly were prepared to pay what it takes to achieve our goals, but MAC inserted reality into the process, often proposing solutions that saved us considerable sums in various areas. All members of the MAC team were dedicated to their tasks, often going the extra mile to get an aspect just right vs. adopting an easy, off the shelf solution. With their experience and contacts, they were even able to have custom items fabricated that were more cost effective than off the shelf. It was touches like these that took the project from nice to over the top and grand!

It was fantastic. They were awesome and very highly recommended. They were accurate, fast, efficient and it was cost-effective.

The results were life changing. They had great ideas. They had a great installers. They met their goals.

Complete failure. Entire project needs to be re-done and MAC Design Build and Derek Leiter are now hiding behind a lawyer.. MAC refuses to honor their contract or stand by their work (such as it is). This has been a terrible, nightmare experience for us. If Derek Leiter is talking to you, turn away. He'll promise you anything and send over "subcontractor" picked up from the front of a 7-11 to do your work. I could write pages on how awful our experience was. Do not work with this company. Completion date is irrelevant since nothing has been completed to any level of competence. Email me for details tkreber@me.com.

We were really happy with the design assistance they provided. There are so many choices to make, and their expertise really helped us narrow down our selections. They installed a Tray Ceiling which our neighbors always comment on in a favorable way. They worked clean and provided regular updates on project progress.

The kitchen is a total Show Stopper. Our neighbors comment on the unique design features and quality of the finishes. One notable feature is a coffered ceiling that really makes the kitchen stand out. They worked clean and finished on time and on budget.

MAC did a great job with the basement and floors. I thought that the quality of the project was exceptional and Dave or Derek were in constant contact with me. I love how the stairs came out and I also liked how I knew all of the crews that came in. I was introduced to everyone and made aware of what everyone was working on so that I didn't have random strangers in my house. At times, they would say that they would be at my house at a certain time and show up maybe 15-20 mins later but I think that was because I was about an hour from their main office. I did do some shopping around with other builders but I found MAC to be the most "bang for my buck". I felt like they weren't trying to give me all of these add-ons to jack my contract price up. Instead Dave constantly tried to work the project so that I could get good quality for a cheaper price. The project did go a week longer than expected which was unfortunate but that was because the flooring that I chose was on back order. I think overall there was good communication and I constantly got schedules of end time projection so there were no surprises. I knew of any big changes or issues.

Not worth the hassle and headaches, what a disappointing experience. Poor project management (changed between 4 project managers through out the project) and terrible communication. Our 6-8 week estimated project took over 20 weeks. The only thing they seemed to do on time was pick up their check. When I started pointing out issues I saw in hopes of keeping our project on track (ex. the wrong materials being ordered) and being happy with the quality of work we paid for, I was given a hard time for being an on site inspector. Some of our issues were: Footers poured when the ground was saturated (resulted in some being so soft you dig into them with a shovel), additional footers poured on top (hopefully it's structurally sound), major structural changes that were not communicated to us (later told that the e-mail was in his drafts), concrete columns were poured in the wrong locations and later poured unevenly and crooked, we paid for premium windows/doors and got builders grade, we had to tell them our final punch list at least 3 times and it took about a month to finish. Most of the time we had no idea what was going on for the week, even though we were suppose to get weekly e-mail updates. Several times we asked questions and got no response. We brought this issue up several times with no change. All of the work was done by sub-contractors and MAC rarely came by to check on their work.

From the beginning, to the end of the job, communication was excellent. The contractor sent Nathan to speak to us and go over the job specs, he was very professional and easy to ask questions with. The crew were on time and very professional, they cleaned up well and worked hard completing the job in the time frame given to us. The staff, especially Anita, at the office provides unheard of customer service. She handles your needs in a timely matter and will get back to you as promised. She really is a shining example of customer service! I highly recommend this company for your construction needs.

Two nice people showed up for a home estimate. After a long evaluation, they decided it is too much work for them to provide a good estimate of the cost of the project. They threw few numbers ($ per SF) and left. Just like few other contractors, they insisted on having you sign contract first and pay few thousand dollars for and quot;discounted desgin feesand quot;. That design BTW is owned by them, and if you don't end up going with them, your money is gone! To be fair, this approach is not unique to MAC. I called the county to get some more information about zoning etc, then contacted MAC again with questions and for follow up. Never heard back from them. I believe this company is too busy for me.

Mid Atlantic Construction Enterprises was the sub-contractor (through Disaster Response) that rebuilt our deck and performed some other repairs due to damage from two tree falling on our house during last year's Derecho. In addition to re-building our deck we took the opportunity to additionally enclose part of the deck and make an enclosed porch. Derek Leiter was in general very responsive to emails or phone calls, which was appreciated. It was not a completely pain-free experience due to various problems initially. Some of these problems I suspect were due to miscommunication between main and sub-contracting company. Things went much better once John LeVan (Disaster Response) stepped in. Ultimately the porch and deck turned out very well and look beautiful.

Two enormous trees toppled on our one level ranch home during a wind event in October 2011. Much of the roof line in the middle of our house was crushed with structural damage to our roof, brick chimney and yard. After the trees were removed and future damage mitigated, we consulted with Tom Mitchel of Disaster Response, Inc and we decided to take the opportunity to remodel as well as repair. David Stone was called in to do quite a bit of the heavy structural repair for the remodel and he worked with both the general contractor, David Loos and our architectural firm to deal with our nightmare and to make our dream remodel a reality. Six months and one week later we moved back into our new and improved home!.