Andros Kitchen & Bath Designs

Final product was just what we wanted, almost on schedule and over budget. Learned a few lessons on this project. It was our first time engaging a designer project manager. Keep communications open, be very clear about what you want and be firm about what you want. Otherwise, scope creep enters the picture and you end up with change orders that explode your budget. Be sure to always ask what the cost of a change order will be. Our cost exceeded original budget by 23%. Subtrades that were excellent; cabinet installation, tile work, electrician and general contractor. Subtrades that were good; plumbing (personality was an acquired tasted but work was very good) and flooring (too slow but decent job). Project management by Aleem of Andros was good but not excellent as he was spread out over a few jobs and couldn't always stay on top of things. There were a few problems and anomalies that popped up as the project proceeded but the trades were adept at working through them. However, beware that every little thing not spelled out in your contract will end up in a change order that will undoubtedly be expensive. Since this was a first for us, we chose not provide a key to contractor for anytime access which basically held us captive in the house for the 6 week project. Trades were inconsistent and unreliable (except cabinet installer) in terms of when they would show up vs when they said they would be there. This is apparently normal for all trades and/or renovation projects. Will consider giving them an extra key if we do this again. As with almost all contractors, for any minor damage done or mess created in an area outside of the project area, don't expect that it will be repaired or cleaned to original condition if at all. That will be an extra charge. As far as design went, we already had a concept in mind and Aleem helped flesh it out for us in a rendering and producing working drawings. He was helpful in offering some alternatives and had a showroom that offered us the design elements that we wanted. He was also fairly responsive by text, email and phone whenever we had concerns or questions even though we didn't always get the answers we wanted to hear and sometimes a non-answer. Aleem also seemed married to to his suppliers and very reluctant to source other vendors when his couldn't supply what we wanted, even when we found a vendor that could. Generally a very good construction team and would consider using if I ever have the budget again.