SUN DESIGN REMODELING SPECIALISTS INC

The service was excellent! They worked dependable, and always took care of the problem.

Project was ultimately completed well, but on a significantly delayed schedule due to Sun Design's incomplete upfront design details and errors by subcontractors. The Sun Design project manager was responsive to our concerns and assured the subcontractors corrected their errors. Before hiring again, we would want to see a revamped design-build process with improved subcontractor oversight. We do appreciate Sun Design's integrity in making good on problems; however, there were too many problems for a high end firm.

I must admit, we are probably not the easiest clients. While we acknowledge the concept, “you get what you pay for,” we prefer to do home projects ourselves as the quality of workmanship has never measured up to our standards, until now. We discussed a kitchen remodel for years, but never had the time to embark on such a project ourselves. Water damage that occurred from prior siding project (see what I mean about quality) forced us to take action sooner rather than later. We had one recommendation to work with Sun Design, with other recommendations of who to avoid. During our first couple meetings with Sun Design, Craig took the time to listen to our concerns, ideas, and needs for the space, and earned our trust. While we were initially looking to remodel the kitchen, Craig and our Designer helped us to rework the entire first floor, moving the kitchen, which allowed us to create an open space with our kitchen, sitting and dining rooms, to accommodate our growing family. Although our primary connections were with our Designer and Project Manger, the Team concept was always evident and the entire project transpired like a well-oiled machine, seamless through the entire project, finishing earlier than expected. There were a couple subcontractors that were used for flooring and paint. While our Project Manager helped to schedule and pass requirements, we realized even more how lucky we were to be working with Sun Design, as communication, expectations, and just consideration for our needs, wasn’t what we had become accustomed to during the main renovations with JR. Sun Design continues to remain in contact with us, and will come back out in three months to address any issues as the house settles and adjusts through temperature changes. Home remodels can be emotional roller coasters, but honestly, working with Sun Design there were only positive emotions. From beginning to end, they communicated with us, helped us through the many decisions, took the trust we placed in them seriously, and did an amazing job on all aspects of the project, definitely going above and beyond. Craig, our Designer & PM, and the entire Sun Design Team will always hold a special place in our hearts; they gave us a space our family can enjoy together for a long time.

We hired Sun Design to rework our master suite. We went from a tiny single sink bath "closet" to a spacious double sink / double shower spa-like room with separate water closet and heated floors. We used to hate that bathroom, now we can't wait to take a shower... From design to permitting to completion and post-completion warranty service, we have very happy with Sun Design and look forward to hiring them for our next project.

Love, love, love my new kitchen and laundry room! Sun Design remodels with professionalism. Their employees--from sales to designers to contractors--are a pleasure to work with. Selection process-- We interviewed 20 different remodeling companies, scoured websites and talked to friends for reviews, worked with designers from several of our top choices, and then decided upon Sun Design. No regrets. Since I relied heavily on website reviews, I will try to provide as much detail as possible on our choice for Sun Design. Sales--worked with Roger and we liked him right off the bat. Some of the higher end companies I interviewed treated us rudely because we had a budget that was considered too low for them. Others only told us about their company's policies and history and marketing--and very little of what they would do for our needs. On the other end, we also had companies that came and took measurements and drew up plans that we liked, but then did not respond to our emails when we asked for more details. Or their plans were a little off the wall for what we wanted. Roger was responsive, assured us that Sun Design was able to meet the needs of our vision, and convinced us his company could do the job within the time frame and budget. This was a costly renovation and we were nervous that hiring the wrong company would be fraught with problems if it was not done right or if there were delays, etc. Roger's patience in explaining how the project would work and his persistence in calling us ultimately tipped our choice towards Sun Design. Design--Jon Benson is a thoughtful and careful designer. We had originally wanted to bump out 10 feet, but Jon came up with a design that widened the kitchen into the family room and raised the floor of the family room--something none of the other companies had addressed. This clearly created the solution for the space we needed. His placement of the sink, the stove, counterspace, the island, windows, etc., were worked through carefully with Roger and us. Roger tried to keep us close to budget, and Jon came up with the design that now makes my kitchen a great working space. We did have some serious doubts when Jon wanted to include two posts on the kitchen island. We elected to pay additional money to install a steel beam instead, as well as square off the addition. These two changes and raising the family room floor made us go over our budget. But overall, Jon’s design expertise was exactly what we needed, and his idea to widen alone, was worth hiring Sun Design. Little ideas like the window sill measurements, placement of trash and dishwasher and dish drawers now make a huge difference in how I work. Maggie was our other designer for the cabinet, countertop, etc. selections. She presented some good options but at the end of the project, I was a little disappointed with her work. One, because I felt like I was presented with a limited number of choices—she would tell me to go and shop for my countertop, and I would come back with 30 different choices and she would try and convince me to select two choices that were not on my list of what I had looked at by myself. And two, when I was still undecided about my countertop choice, she said that I had already used up my hours with her and that she would charge me an hourly rate for additional time that she would spend with me. Had I known that beforehand, I would have not had her work with my selections until I had narrowed down my choices. In the end, I have a beautiful quartz countertop, but I do wish I had selected something from my own choices. Construction—Lots of kudos here to the carpenters who worked on our kitchen: Jason, Greg, Bryan, Gabe, J.P., and others! They were highly skilled, detailed and careful with their work. Protections were carefully placed all around the house. We had two zippered doors for dust prevention. The dumpster sat outside our house for about a week and a half. Jason and Gabe demolished our kitchen; I was very impressed with their cleanliness and orderliness with which they carried out that part of the project. I was expecting lots of loud noises and messiness but they tore out the kitchen with very little fanfare. They saved some cabinets that could be reused and Jason carefully removed the fireplace mantle so that it could be reused and saved me money from having to buy a new one. After Jason left the company, Bryan and Greg took over. I was nervous about the switch in management, but the handover worked seamlessly and construction continued without skipping a beat. When the dust got to be too much, I requested an air filter machine and Greg responded in a timely manner and had one running soon after the request. It made a huge difference and if your project is going to be dusty, I would highly recommend requesting one early on in the project. Trades-- Most of the trades were professional and expert at what they did. The drywall company was amazingly fast and efficient. Little things would pop up, such as a messy electrician or plumbers who did not install things quite as exactly as I liked, but Greg would have it fixed or cleaned up within a reasonable time. Probably the only major inconvenience was the staining of the wood floors. The floor company did not get it right the first time, and after being out of the house for half a week, it was an inconvenience to move out again for them to restain the floors. On the other hand, the fact that they agreed to restain the floors since I was unhappy about them is, to me, another mark of professionalism. They were willing to redo the job until I was completely satisfied. Similarly, the company that did the tile had to redo the backsplash because the tiles were not laid straight. But again, they worked on it until I was completely satisfied. I don’t expect a job like this to go without bumps or hitches, and I was very impressed with the courtesy, timeliness, and willingness to take care of things that would come up. Greg was highly responsive and made sure that things went as smoothly as possible. He was into the details of things that I didn’t even consider and consulted with us on workmanship, schedule, cleanliness, and expectations. Amazing! Finishing: Greg built beautiful trimming around my kitchen windows and he and J.P. did fantastic molding work around the cabinets. Every little detail was squared away. Timing: The project was finished in a timely manner. We had a set date when the kitchen needed to be finished because we had a large gathering scheduled right before Christmas. When it looked like they were running behind, Greg did a huge surge and brought in a large group of workers and they completed the kitchen in time for our event! We were very impressed with the company’s concern for our timeline. Cost: Yes, people tell us that we paid more than if we had for another company. Perhaps if we compared materials and labor, that might be true. But there is a lot to be said for a company that is reliable, courteous, professional, and whose employees have integrity and respect for the customer. Knowing that we would get quality work and that our project would be done on time and that we would work with professionals with expertise—all of that was worth the extra overhead. Follow-up: Sun Design has follow up visits after the remodel is finished. They come to fix whatever it is that needs adjusting or caulking, etc. Overall--great company and we recommend them with the highest commendation. The employees are what makes this a great company.

I don't think they know what an 8 hour work day is. I would be surprised if they ever worked more than 4 to 5 hours a day. The project was a 8 week project that took 16. Schedule was late the minute they gave it to us. The quality is awful! You are stuck with builder grade. You better design yoruself and you best count on error after error. Bricks laid the wrong direction. Outlets on the house that looked like they belonged on a barn. Lights mounted on blocks that did not match the design at all. They were careless. Used tools we had in the garage that disappeared. We had looked at this company for 2 years and they get written up in the Fairfax paper weekly but apparently it is family writing it because there was no service or communication no matter how many emails or calls. Truly worse mistake of our life. No inventive design...feel taken advantage of. Had to hire other contractors to finish and correct their errors.

It was a large project. They have had to come and do some warranty work, which is good because it shows that they stand behind their work. This was a big deal. We used them because of their design capabilities, we could have picked somebody else that did two projects for us, but we really needed somebody who had more design capability than the other firm that we like, and could use for other things. Their strength is their design capability. It as huge to us, and I have done some of their other work which is doing massive things in home. They bring out a crew of young people that do incredibly detailed architectural design of everything, so nobody has to come and ask what the measurement of something is. They have got it down to a science. I was impressed.

Excellent design work and help picking cabinets, lighting, flooring and wall materials and colors.  High quality installation work.  No surprises.  On budget and schedule.  Not cheap but for a high end home you get good value for the cost.

The remodeling went very well. They are extremely professional and got the job done on time. They are expensive, but the good news is that they really do take care of everything for you. The team working on our house was great to work with.

Eight years later, we've learned of a few quality problems such as cracked tile over the joint in the extension of our house and they did not leave us any extra tile to replace - now the tile is out of production.

We needed to improve the energy efficiency of our home to keep the main bedrooms warmer in winter, which meant replacing the original garage and front doors and improving the home's insulation.  While we were at it, we wanted to add a portico to improve curb appeal. We were very pleased with Sun Design.  The "design" part of the process took about 6 weeks and entailed meetings both at our home and at Sun Design's facilities.  We paid a deposit before the design work which was credited to us during the construction phase of the project.  Construction took about 5 weeks.  Our lead carpenter, Owen, and designer, Katie, were great.  They communicated throughout the process and managed all the details to complete our project before Christmas (our deadline). 

It was very good. If we weren't happy for the first time, we would never have them do 4 or 5 other projects.

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We had attended a couple of Sun Design events (seminar, open house on remodel) over the span of two years but we decided to take the plunge with finishing our approximately 1550+ sq ft basement when my mother agreed to stay with us to help out with the little ones. We had three companies bid on this project. The first was the cheapest but looked like it would be pretty bare bones. The second was in the middle and would likely have turned out fine but without the special touches to make the space nice for the grandparents. Sun Design was twice the amount of the second company, but now that it is completed, we feel it was totally worth it. It is difficult to hand over such a large amount of money, especially with all the horror stories you hear about the bad contractors. In our case, we really got what we paid for. The process began with a free consultation with Mindy who proved to be a fair and honest business woman. We then paid the design fee which in the end seemed like a bargain as our very talented and unflappable designer Liz worked tirelessly to accommodate everything we wanted in a space that would be multifunctional, contemporary, and have the feel of a lower level rather than a basement. Patient Hope helped us with the numerous selections and paint colors. We especially loved JR, our lead carpenter, who was meticulous and could match perfectionistic traits of my husband. He was attached to his smart phone and gave us updates and schedules with various trades and process throughout the project. Minor glitches came up but were addressed promptly. He was always responsive to our questions and we met at least weekly to go over details. He was very efficient and finished the basement one month ahead of schedule. We love the space, and my mom moved in the day it was completed. The space had recently been featured in their holiday open house tour which told us they were also proud of their work.
Everyone was very nice to work with, and we could see how the company tries to make sure everyone is happy, their clients and their employees. We would hire them again in a heartbeat.

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I contracted with Sun Design to remodel my basement because they had done a great job building a sun room off my dining room in 2001.
I signed a design agreement in September 2007 and met with Sun Design several times to plan the project. They provided several options, including one to create a home office out of part of the very large family room and another to upgrade the basement bathroom. I accepted both options. Rob Moss was Project Manager and carpenter for the project, and he did a great job. He was always responsive to my questions and requests. We met once a week to discuss progress and what to expect next. A few years after the project, two of the interior windows in the home office developed cracks. I contacted Sun Design, and they immediately sent someone to replace the cracked windows. The windows have been fine since then, and it's a credit to Sun Design that they stand behind their work even several years later. In fact, when we talked about remodeling my kitchen last year, I pointed out a flaw in the HVAC system in the basement, and Sun Design provided a new return vent without charge -- this was over 5 years since the basement was renovated. Again, it shows how they care about and stand behind their work even years later when it is out of warranty.
The remodeled basement provides a very nice expansion of my rambler.

Construction began in mid-October and ended in mid-December, although there were a few small tweaks in January. Virtually every work day I saw Rob, the project manager, and Tito the highly skilled carpenter. Rob assisted Tito on some of the carpentry work and he supervised the other trades. Tito arrived each morning at 7 am, as we had pre-arranged, and worked until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Rob always kept me informed as to which craftsman -- plumber, electrician, HVAC, drywall, etc.-- was coming to the house each day. I appreciated his close oversight of the job and his frequent communication in person, email, or telephone. We met every Monday afternoon to talk over the progress and what would happen next.
Sun Design took great care not to let dust get into the rest of the house. They put up plastic doors to block off the three doors that go to the kitchen.
Sun Design also made it possible for me to have a substitute kitchen in the dining room. They moved the old refrigerator to the dining room where I set up a microwave and fry pan. This worked ok, but I sure was glad to be able to move into the new kitchen in mid-December.
Kim, Mindy, and I communicated frequently along the way about the cabinets, countertop, and other choices. At one point, I decided I would prefer a quartz rather than granite countertop. Kim quickly sent me several samples of quartz, and helped me choose the quartz that would work best.
The only design flaw was the spice shelf, which after installation was too close to the range hood for easy access. Kim worked to find an alternative spice shelf configuration, and it works beautifully.
All of the Sun Design staff were a joy to work with -- they listened, advised, and implemented very effectively. Mindy came over towards the end of construction to advise me on where to put back all my stuff. Her ideas were right on the mark and saved me some trial and error. I finally have a kitchen that has a place for everything. (Before, I had to store stuff in the office room shelves next door or in the basement.) I love the pull out shelves which make access to things so easy. I no longer lose things in the back of cabinets.
I moved into my new kitchen in two months, and before Christmas, just as Sun Design promised.
The resulting kitchen is beautiful and elegant. All my friends and neighbors have complimented it.

We first discovered Sun Design at a home and Garden Show. We were impressed by their workmanship and guarantee, so when we finally decided it was time to remodel our 1981 kitchen, we contacted them. (We had another company come out, but all they wanted to do was replace cabinet fronts and countertops, and we really felt we would benefit from a design and build firm).
We were really shocked when Dave P. told us that the project would cost $80 -100K, not including appliances or painting! The total value of our home was approximately 400K, and 25% of the value seemed disproportionate. But, again, we had been impressed with their display at the home show, and we finally decided to press on with the project. We paid the design fee, met with the designers, and, a couple weeks later, went in for the contract signing. That was when we discovered that they wanted $96K for the kitchen they designed, which DID NOT INCLUDE things basic to the design like the island, counter between the kitchen and the adjoining room, or a stove hood! Those and quot;extras,and quot; which were in the design we approved, would have cost another $20-25K, so we asked them to give us a price within their original estimate that included all of the design elements that we discussed. They did get the price down, but several things had to be sacrificed. We got lesser quality cabinets (still very nice, though), without soft close mechanisms on the doors. The glass in the built-in hutch was plain instead of decorative. Several cabinets were made smaller. In the end, we had to pay extra for the stove hood, pull out spice rack, tile selection, upgraded cabinetry to match existing decor in the game room, framing for the doorway into the dining room, and several other and quot;options.and quot;
After several frustrating go arounds with the design and pricing team (we were supposed to sign things that we hadn't seen in advance), construction finally commenced. In addition to new cabinets, granite countertops, and porcelain tile floors, they also brought in a gas line for the cooktop, replaced the overhead flourescent lights with recessed and pendant lights, and moved the coat closet in order to accomodate the pantry. The workers were professional and courteous, and the workmanship top-notch. They completed our project in the time frame allotted -- but we were still without a kitchen for about 10 weeks. We had some issues once everything was complete, but Brian came out and fixed everything we asked him to.
We've used the kitchen for two months now, and it seems very functional (which was more important to me than having an impractical but showy kitchen!) There are a lot of things that I love, and some that I don't. We spent about $120K, plus $11K for high end appliances and $1900 for painting.
Overall, I'm happy with the new space, but I really expected more WOW! factor, which we might have had if we had given the designers more freedom and funds. I don't think Sun Design even took a picture of the finished kitchen for their portfolio.

Overall, it went well. There were some issues in design. The printed plan doesn't always translate to the actual room. But, it was very minor things that were resolved quickly. We would not contract with them repeatedly if we weren't satisfied.

Their service is never as fast as you would like. While doing the work, they remodeled three bathrooms at once, but were good about keeping one functional. I also thought they had good communication.

The start of our project was a bit rocky because we had originally contacted EncompassDesignBuild to do the work, but we took a long time to make a decision, and the day before we started, Encompass was bought by Sun Design. This meant we were dealing with new people, and our estimate of the work was from a different company (Encompass) than would actually be performing the work. The project did increase in cost, but Sun Design was also sensitive to this and helped us hire our own sub for the patio and roof work, which saved us money on that end.

Every day, the SunDesign team showed up on time and ready to work. I have two small children and SunDesign did an excellent job of keeping the work site safe and clean when they left each night, so I didn't have to worry about my kids getting into things. When minor issues arose (a light was hung upside down, beneath the deck was left messy), SunDesign immediately fixed them. I'm confident that if a problem arose to this day (a year later) I could call them and have it fixed.

Sun Design was clear about the trade-offs with various materials, and ultimately we are very pleased with the project.

Their work is wonderful. They are organized and neat.

When I first bought my house in 1997 I had my kitchen remodeled, but it was very quick and cheap. I was always going to add a tile back splash and redo the floor, but I never got to it. After my neighbors used Sun Design to put an addition on their house and were very happy I decided to remodel my kitchen and remove a wall between the dining room and kitchen as well as update those things I had never gotten to. I had had a number of bad experiences with terrible contractors over the years and thus was a bit concerned about how this would all turn out. Since one of my main goals was to make my kitchen more efficient and gain more counter top space, I spent a lot of time researching various ways of improving the layout of my kitchen and also spent time talking to Sun Design. After many months we finally agreed on a contract and the start date of November 1, 2010. Jimmy Jennings was assigned as the lead carpenter. Sun Design had told me up front it was very unlikely that they would be finished by Thanksgiving. But Jimmy not only worked the schedule to complete the job by Thanksgiving - he and all the subcontractors did a terrific job! Jimmy seems to be a perfectionist and the work he completed showed it. And Jimmy was terrific in solving problems which arose during the process. At one point when he showed me my future kitchen sink it turned out to be the wrong one. We worked together that day to find another one which would work, but the next day he arrived with another one which we both agreed would work even better. It seems to me one of the main reasons to hire a general contractor like Sun Design is they spend all the time and effort (so you don't have to) to find the best specialists such as hardwood floor experts, dry wall experts, plumbers and tile experts. I found this to be very true with Sun Design. The dry wall experts were especially good since they had to match new dry wall to old plaster walls which is no easy task (They also fixed all the old holes left by the first remodelers!). So ultimately all the promises which Sun Design made to me did indeed turn out to be true. And all those Holmes on Homes programs I watched on HGTV which told of contractor disasters happened to other people and not me. Everyone warned me that kitchen remodels take longer than they say and cost more than they say. But in this case that wasn't true. The job was completed in 3 1/2 weeks when I was told about 5 weeks up front and although there was some additional costs - most were transparent up front or changes that I decided to make during the remodeling process (such as add a water filtration system). I think Sun Design is very lucky to have Jimmy working for them, but I'm sure the rest of the team helps to make sure he's able to do his job so well. I've now had a chance to use my remodeled kitchen for over a month and it has met all my goals and exceeded my expectations. Thanks Sun Design - when I'm ready to have my bathroom done - I'll be calling you.

I like them a lot. They did a great job with the design. They're a little bit expensive, but they are expensive because they do great quality work. They were a little bit behind schedule, but I would definitely hire them again.