Laura BricenoMy husband and I interviewed Renewal Design and Build for an addition/renovation in November 2015. Based on their expertise, portfolio of projects similar to our own, their processes for designing and then building, and their guarantees on price and completion date, we decided to contract with them for our project. We did a first and second floor addition where we renovated our kitchen and added a bathroom, bedroom, laundry room, and family room.
The process began with a thorough inspection of our home by all of the different trades who would be involved in our project (plumbing, electrical, etc.). For us, they discovered they would need to pour an extra footer in our basement. By doing this, they were able to give us a price quote that was almost exactly what ended up being in our contract, and there were zero financial surprises during our project. When we initially met with them, the price they quoted us seemed high; however, we had done other smaller construction projects within our home in the past by using an architect and a general contractor, and in two of these projects, we ended up paying double what we had agreed upon with the contractor because of surprises and other issues that came up during the project. We had none of these issues with Renewal, and in the end, I believe the initial price (although it seemed high in the beginning) was fair and possibly less in the long run, than we might have paid going the traditional route.
Once we were under contract, we worked with their design team: an architect and an interior designer. They both came to our home where we walked through together to go over what worked for us and what didn’t work for us in our home, the way it was. They were both attentive to our needs and wants and the architect came up with several drafts for us to choose from. From there, we picked the draft we liked best and refined it several times until the plans were exactly what we wanted. Then we worked with our designer to select the finishes like cabinets, vanities, tubs, tiles, flooring, etc. All of the planning was done prior to the beginning of construction. This process was stress-free and fun. Both the architect and designer did a great job of listening to us and making as many changes as we needed to feel good about our decisions.
Just prior to the start of construction, we met our project manager. He was amazing during the entire construction phase. He oversaw everything that was happening at our house: coordinating work and overseeing the subcontractors. In our past projects in which we used a general contractor, my husband and I felt one of us had to be present all the time when work was being done in order to make sure things were being done correctly (there were constant issues), to the point where it felt like a full-time job to supervise the project. The project we did with Renewal was almost completely worry-free. Our project manager’s job was to oversee the project to prevent issues, and that’s exactly what he did. He was attentive, prompt, considerate, professional, and skilled, and we were able to trust him to make sure things were done correctly and done well. This was important to us because we moved out of our home during the construction phase, so we weren’t always able to come by to see the progress. The construction phase for our project lasted about 7 months, with a project completion date that we had agreed upon when we signed the contract. Renewal finished our project 2 days head of that schedule. This was critical for us because we were renting an apartment and were able to move out on time without having to extend our lease. They also did a great job of completing the punch-list in a timely fashion at the end of the project. In the end, we would highly recommend Renewal. We couldn’t be happier with the work they did (our home is beautiful!) and the way we were treated during this project.
