Graves Design & Remodeling Inc

The team at Graves Design and Remodeling was outstanding. We had a basic idea of what we wanted with our kitchen renovation/expansion. Caroline did a great job adding design elements - both functional and aesthetic - that really improved our basic idea. Chris and his team were fantastic with the demolition and reconstruction. They had really good attention to detail and craftsmanship. They gave good advice when there was a decision to be made that I wasn't sure of. They were also really good about handling small changes in the project without nickel and diming for every little change. Even during COVID, they were good about keeping close to schedule. They've been attentive to the small punch-list items at the end of every project. At least one of our neighbors has already done a project with them, after asking us who our contractor was. We will hire them again for our next project.

The actual quality of work by Graves was generally very good. Particularly the work they did on the bathroom floors and countertops. The staff who helped with the selection process was also kind, helpful, and responsiveness as was the actual work crew. The communication, particularly with the primary project manager, was painful. It's why we would not hire them again despite the above. The main point of contact was so patronizing, failed to notify us of delays, and would take 30 minutes on even the smallest point of conversation just to tell all of the reasons why something was difficult or how we didn't really understand. If you don't have a good amount of time to invest in PMing the project yourself I would not recommend. Additionally, for the cost of two small bathrooms approaching $40k, I would have expected a very good attention to detail. There were several things that came out not quite right like the windowsill in the bathroom not being angled or the hardware being mixed up between the bathrooms so that there's a mismatch between the sink hardware and the other bathroom accessories. Lastly, it was early on during the pandemic, but it wasn't a great look to have all of the workers including the project manager come into the house without masks when they had told us verbally that all crews would be in N95s.

Graves Design was great to work with! They were responsive, professional, and detail oriented. We are already planning on hiring them again for more work on other areas of the house. I would highly recommend them!

My wife and I are extremely satisfied with the work completed by Graves Design and Remodeling. We offer our strongest recommendation that you consider Graves for your future home projects. We hired Graves to complete a master suite remodel, which included a full bathroom renovation, and annexing a bedroom to create a spacious walk-in closet and home office space. From the first conversation we had with Graves to the last day of the job (and beyond), we were treated like family. I cannot emphasize enough how important that is when dealing with a design and build firm. My wife and I had never hired a design and build firm before, or undertaken a remodel on this scale. The Graves team was patient, efficient, neat, respectful, trustworthy, and fair. The work product was catalogue worthy. Our project commenced at the outset of the Covid19 pandemic. The Graves team responded by taking extreme precautions to protect everyone’s health and safety. Despite some pandemic-caused supply delays, our project finished ahead of the estimated completion date. Towards the end of our master suite remodel project (but unrelated to it) we experienced other homeowner issues which required soffit and gutter work. I didn’t think twice about what to do in that situation: I immediately called Graves, who promptly scheduled the work to be completed. Their responsiveness is unmatched. If you are so lucky to be able to work with Graves, you should look forward to Caroline’s beautiful design work, Chris. M’s customer-first attitude as a project manager, and Doug’s masterful experience as a general contractor. As a team, they are remarkable. We look forward to working with Graves again and again.

The project went very well, from start to finish. It stayed within budget, and the team was responsive and pleasant to work with. The work was extensive - they excavated and installed a new egress window, installed new lighting, switches, and outlets, built in a closet, installed and painted new drywall, installed new padding and carpet on the floor. The attention to detail and commitment to the project exceeded our expectations. I would highly recommend Graves Design and Remodeling to anyone looking for a home improvement contractor.

Fantastic work done by Graves. They remodeled our hall bathroom and expanded our master into a walk in closet. The design process was easy and Caroline gave us great recommendations for everything. The whole process took 6 weeks and they kept on schedule even with a few surprises. When they found an issue, they worked hard to resolve it quickly and keep moving. The work was done at the end of may and beginning of June during the coronavirus, and all the workers wore masks when they were within 6 feet which we really appreciated. The project finished on time and only a couple thousand over what they quoted at the beginning because of the unexpected plumbing issue and a window replacement that we requested. Working with them was pleasant from beginning to end. Whenever we had questions, they would get back to us immediately. I would work with them again!

The team was friendly and professional. The work done is high quality and looks great. Graves did part of the work while we were out of town and during that time we had an unrelated flood of our basement. Since we were in another state we asked Graves if they could handle it and they did fixing the problem (old plumbing failing) and minimizing the damage. We did have several communication issues but when we got them ironed out Graves came through for us.

We are very happy in our renovated house! The crew was hard-working, punctual, responsive to my comments and suggestions, and very good at paying attention to detail. The woodwork was especially fine. Since it was such a complicated job, we had some scheduling back and forth, but my calls were always acknowledged. I felt I was in capable, trustworthy hands throughout. Doug was forthright about the gas lines in my 80+-year-old home and we compromised with gas fires and wood-burning stoves in fireplaces, that look very nice. I feel this is a company that stands by its work and its word. We were all so pleased with the kitchen that Caroline, the designer, had it professionally photographed for the Graves website.

I can not say enough great things about Doug Graves and his team. They are personable, professional and do a wonderful job, down to every last detail. Highly recommend them!

The bathroom remodel looks great. High-quality work and materials. Caroline helped with choosing the tiles and colors. Her material and color advice was solid. During construction, I would advise reviewing the contract and progress each day. We had a couple small things we needed to adjust. Doug will work with you to ensure your project meets your expectations, but you will have to initiate the conversation(s). Don't be shy. Finally, while you don't need to be present each day, the workers asked me where hang a mirror, towel rack and where the cabinet handles need to go (top or middle of the drawer). It's clear to me that GDR remodels a lot of bathrooms and they know what they're doing. The only suggestion I have is that if the project timeline slips, advise the client what the new timeline is. We had to email and ask.

Graves completely overhauled our home, turning our post-WWII chopped up Falls Church Cape Cod into open living luxury. Over the course of 7 months, Graves remodeled nearly 80% of our home. The biggest change was rotating our stacked staircase 90 degrees to allow our first floor to be completely open. This enabled us to move and expand our kitchen, build an entryway onto the house and really make our space more usable. Prior to this change, we had whole rooms we weren’t using and would fight for counter space in our small galley kitchen. We now have a semi-custom kitchen with large island perfect for cooking and entertaining. Upstairs we popped up the back half of the roof (shed roof) so that we would no longer hit our heads on the sloped ceiling, upgraded HVAC/insulation, built a walk-in closet, added a double-vanity master bathroom with large shower and WC - overall creating a second floor master suite. In the basement, we finished off the space, so we’d have an exercise room and tv area - plus replaced some features that needed it (new sump pump, drainage). Outside we got a brand new driveway complete with appropriate drainage to pull water away from the house. To say that we’re pleased with the changes is an understatement. We looked at multiple companies before making the decision on who to use. Graves was the only company to really listen to our concerns with the current space and offer a solution in which we could envision living. All other contractors offered the “easy” (and uncreative) solution of building a big addition on the back of the house. This wouldn’t have tackled our problem with unusable space. Graves prices were reasonable and actually came in a bit lower than some of the bigger names. The contract was set up in such a way that we didn’t have to worry about being nickel and dimed as issues popped up. Early on in the process, we did have a budget. We could have stuck pretty close to it… but as we started to pull things apart and think critically about finishes and features, we realized that we didn’t want to go through a future renovation. As a result, we changed scope, schedule and our budget increased. We were under no pressure from Graves for this to happen and made this decision on our own. We’re super glad we did. As is the case with most contractors, time estimation and scheduling could have been better. Sometimes we would hear that something would be done the next day but in reality would be done within the next week or two. There were usually reasons for the wait and communication could have improved. We found some of the contractors were more respectful of our space than others. We had most of our items in storage, but the crew still managed to damage a few items we left behind. With such a large project there were bound to be a couple accidents and each time there was we spoke with the owner Doug and he promptly corrected the situation. The best feature by far of using Graves was that they take pride in their work. Anytime Doug came by, he would inspect the work of the team and make them start over if it wasn’t perfect. Even a few months after the job was finished, he had his team ready to address any questions or concerns we had. We even accidentally scratched up our hardwoods moving our furniture back in and he kindly had the crew come fix the issue at no charge. All projects have challenges, but Graves will work with you to make it right. It’s for this reason that we would wholeheartedly recommend working with them. We’d certainly do it again.

We were very satisfied with our experience working with Graves design. We decided to go with them after receiving what believed to be a fair estimate for our bath remodel, involving the complete gutting of a 50-year old traditional hall bath and design/rebuild of a modern guest bath with special modifications for wheelchair and space requirements. This included a sliding/pocket door, a hidden toilet tank, extra grab-bars and open space below the sink. Their design expert, Caroline, was very helpful with frank and honest suggestions regarding materials and fixtures and spent a good deal of time with us at the tile and marble outlets, staying with us until actual decisions were made and materials ordered. There were glitches and delays when unexpected challenges were encountered (not surprising, in a 50-year old house), but I very much appreciated the fact that they adjusted to the changes with no increase in price – something that we had not encountered during a previous bathroom remodel done by another company, when additional charges were levied for both unexpected work and for design changes. A cautionary note: the initial estimate of time needed for job was much understated. What we were told would likely be a 3-week job turned out to be in excess of 5 weeks. The normal time needed, for instance, between measurements taken for the sink countertop (which could only be taken at the end of construction) and actual installation was about 5 days, during which time very little work was done, since it the counter installation came at the end of construction. It would have been good for Graves to include that down time in their estimate of time needed to complete the job, and we recommend that such unavoidable delays be advised upfront. A special note of thanks goes to the plumbing and tile experts who did most of the work and were in our house much more than any of the other workers involved. They did their level best to minimize dirt, dust and disruption, and cleaned up after themselves completely at the end of each day’s work, including removal of materials and drop cloths. They were courteous and tried to be helpful in other ways, including such small things as re-hanging pictures that had to be removed during the renovation and replacing heavy furniture that had to be moved. All in all, we had a very positive experience with Graves Design and would gladly recommend them for similar jobs elsewhere.

Graves Design & Remodeling just completed a major renovation of our master bathroom/sitting room and a total update to our kids’ bathroom and we are thrilled with the result! We absolutely recommend them if you are considering any size of remodel to your home!! We got three bids from highly recommended local contractors and Graves came in with a terrific design at a reasonable price. We decided to go with them because we felt as if they were as invested in our project as we were! This was our first construction project ever and we did not really know anything about what would be involved. Chris, Caroline, & Doug helped us from beginning to end with all the choices, big and small, we needed to make. They have a wonderful line of reasonably priced, high-quality products and have made strong connections within the community so when we went to stores to look at products, we felt welcomed as soon as we mentioned their names. The crew who worked on our project were consummate professionals! They were respectful of our living spaces while working and each day they cleaned up after themselves so we never felt as if we were living in a construction zone. Each day they laid down a drop cloth and each day they swept, wiped, and otherwise cleaned up. They were friendly and answered our questions. They seemed to really enjoy their job and the craftsmanship shows. There were problems with our home that no one could have known about (maybe the original builder of 40 years ago?), that needed to be fixed. While that was above the cost of the project, their prices to fix the issues were very competitive and we knew the work would be done right! We came in about at our budget for the original project, only going over because of poor original construction and additions we wanted as we moved forward. Most importantly, our remodel was completed within the window of time they said! Each inspection and our final walk through were a breeze because of the high quality of work. Nothing needed to be changed to pass inspection, which made our projects move quickly forward. We highly recommend Graves Design and Remodeling. They had great design options, they came in at about cost for the original design we approved, their construction crew are top-notch professionals, they kept our living quarters clean while they were working, they completed the work within the time they said they would, and most of all because we felt as if they were as invested in our project as we were!

I am a very satisfied customer from a large remodeling project completed by Graves Remodeling last year. However, during a recent storm a neighbor's tree branch fell onto my new addition and punch several holes in the roof. With rainstorms approaching and most roofing companies already filled with work, I called Graves to see if I could get a recommendation. Doug immediately sent a member of his crew out to temporarily patch the roof and prevent any further damage. While this is not the type of work that this company usually does, it is the type of customer service provided by Doug and his family. I can't recommend them enough for both the quality of their design and construction as well as personal touches and kindness.

Went really well! They gave us a very detailed description and rendering of the work before starting, and made sure we were comfortable with it before starting. Caroline and Doug were a pleasure to work with, and were able to give me a design that is out of this world. Beautiful cabinets, granite countertops, and everything flows together! The foreman and work team did an outstanding job.

We chose Graves because the estimate Tom provided was much more detailed and thorough than any other we received. Also, Tom came up with some innovated ideas that we had not thought of. The design ideas by Caroline were awesome and turned out great. Throughout the process, the communication with Graves was always easy and straightforward. There were no hidden fees or extra costs. The price they quoted was the price we paid. Doug Graves was on the job site daily and he took over some of the most detailed aspects of the project and completed them himself. They came back and completed all of the follow up items quickly and within the projected timeline. They are true professionals.

We looked at multiple contractors to add a master suite on top of an existing family room addition. Graves was price-competitive, started and finished on time, and did excellent work. We are very pleased with our addition, and are already planning to use Graves for future projects.

We looked at four contractors to add a master suite on top of an existing family room addition, plus replace the HVAC system and roof. Graves came in competitive on price with two other contractors, but their reviews were positive and the time estimate was less than other competitors. We were skeptical they could complete the work in the time frame provided, but they started and finished on time, and we are very pleased with the work quality. We're already planning to use them again for an anticipated kitchen addition.

Received a quick response and was able to set up an appointment for an estimate. Received good feedback about options for the design and remodeling job, and received a proposal in a short amount of time. Seemed very knowledgeable about the logistics of the project. I will reach out to them in the future for other bigger projects (like kitchen).

In 2001Doug Graves and his team updated three bathrooms in our home. So when we were looking for someone to renovate two bathrooms in our newer home we went back to Graves for an estimate. The Graves team first worked with us to develop a plan within our budget, setting a construction timeline around our family needs, working with us to complete the work just a day before we expected company. Along the way the team helped with some other small jobs that we needed at no additional expense. When we contacted them three months later with a concern they came back and made the minor corrections needed. We are pleased with the quality of our new bathrooms.

This review content is a revised update. The renovation services were performed October, 2015, and since creating the original review I have spoken with the company which warranted an update. I was contacted by Chris from Grave's who has impressed upon me that my project experience is not reflective of the small business employees they are today, nor the quality of service they provide, and offered recompense for our issues. Chris has provided examples of how several of the problem areas and people have been addressed since he joined several months after my project was completed and so I am redacting my old review and updating the score.

We love our new home. It was built in 1882 and when we found it, it had been neglected for well over 50 years and was in need of a full gut and renovation. We reached out to about 7 local design-build contractors and were very concerned about making our budget after all of the prices came in. Doug came and met with us at the house, walked it and talked about the scope and where he thought the biggest costs were. After a few calls and meetings we were able to get as close to our budget as possible and we signed on with Graves. Our renovation included: - Full demolition down to the structure, including removal of and interior chimney and all interior walls - Excavation & new basement slab - Structural Framing at basement perimeter (the old brick foundation walls were failing) - Structural upgrades at roof, around old chimney and support for new upstairs bath/shower - Completely New Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing systems - 2 Full Bathrooms (1 master, 1 basement) and 1 Half Bath (main level) - 3 new bedrooms plus walk-in master closet - New Kitchen - Built-in bookshelves and Fireplace - New Exterior Basement Doors We already knew how we wanted the house laid out, but with Caroline's help, we created a really unique master bathroom layout with a walk-in shower, double vanity and soaking tub, with room for an added credenza down the road. Doug's team helped us develop color schemes and ideas for tiles, accessories and counter-tops and developed our lighting plan for both current and future fixtures. The house looks incredible and although the project took longer than we would have liked, we are thrilled with the results.

I would gladly recommend Graves Design and Remodeling for home renovation and remodeling projects. We used them in the summer of 2017 to complete an addition/remodel that included expansion and remodeling of the kitchen/dining room and the addition of a mudroom and garage. Graves was also responsible for the design and helping to pick out the finishes for the kitchen. We relied heavily on the designer in this area and could not be happier with the result. We are equally happy with how the project turned out overall. The work was done well with emphasis on quality and detail. Several people have commented on how natural the transition from the existing house to the addition looks. Though there was a slight slow-down stemming from a delay in Dominion moving a power-line, everything ran smoothly when work was going on. We never felt short-changed or as if short cuts were taken, quite the opposite. There were instances when, for compliance or aesthetic reasons, additional work needed to be done and was with no change to our originally quoted total. This was all the more impressive because the aesthetic changes were issues and suggestions brought to our attention, not the other way around. Communication was generally smooth (it could have been a little better around the delay), and staff as well as contractors were easy to work with. Several months in, we are still enjoying the new space and have not had any issues or concerns pop up. I would recommend Graves for the quality and emphasis on getting it right versus just getting it done.

Look at the "Luxury Town Home" (https://www.houzz.com/projects/1366996/luxury-town-home) photos by Graves Design and Remodeling on Houzz. Nothing more can be said that you cannot see in the photos. Except every person who comes into our home oohs and ahhs about the gorgeous kitchen and bathrooms that Graves Design and Remodeling created for us. The Graves crews are masterful in their work and spotless in their follow up after doing the work. Their designer listened to our every requirement and accurately and carefully executed everything we asked for. Graves remodeled a 17 year old town home for us and now everyone who walks in asks us if this is a new house. They are true artists in their remodeling work and creative in ways we would have never thought of. They had a team spirit and great sense of pride in everything they did and I believe it is because they are all Graves' teams - not subcontractors. That makes a big difference in their care and attention to detail. And also how wonderfully they treated us every step of the way. Remodeling is difficult and you never know how it will turn out--well, our project turned out beautifully and now that we are living here, sometimes we just look around and marvel at the gorgeous home that we are fortunate enough to live in.

Fabulous transformation! From start to finish they were great to work with. Communicated any changes or suggestions in a professional manner. When I had questions they were quick to get back to me. I never knew they were in my home. They treated it like their own. Everything is top notch from the flooring to the beautiful tiling in the shower. Highly recommend!