DESIGNfirst Builders

We received multiple estimates, and decided to go with DesignFirst Builders for numerous reasons. Promptness, Showroom, the amount of different types of cabinets, counters, tiles, flooring and more. They also had numerous prices and quality from low to high depending on the cost of the addition to which build. From the start to finish of the project we dealt with multiple architects, designer's and project managers.
Anytime we called or left a voice message we were contacted within the hour. Lastly I want to give a shout out to our project manager, ( Rick Divito ). Rick went above and beyond from the begining to the finish of our addition to make sure everything was perfect. If you want your project to be perfect I highly recommend using Designfirst Builders.
They are the best !

Outstanding service, high sense of urgency and moved quickly on my project. Love their design capabilities, flexibility and careful attention to detail. Great project management tool -- shows you how funds are spent in very clear detail. No room for error or guessing. Very helpful in helping me get project back no budget due to unexpected situations that arose and completely out of our control. I highly recommend Design First -- what a great decision to hire them for my project!!

We had a GREAT experience with Design First Builders. We gutted out first floor, walls came down, bathroom moved...complete gut job. Fully expecting the horror story that remodeling can bring, the Design First Team really takes this into account. We didn't have any major issues come up in the process and any minor issue was discussed with the Project Manager and a quick, easy solution was made. I am in the construction industry and would recommend Design First to anyone including thinking of our next project.

Great company with a staff that really care about you. The showroom is beautiful with many options for selection and having a Designer to help you choose it all is even better! The work is beautiful and they also offer many client benefits. I for sure recommend them.

A mixed review great final product, terrible process. We were incredibly upfront about our budget and our priorities. We explained that the contract absolutely needed to come in below $40,000 knowing that there would be change orders and unexpected costs along the way that would likely increase that number. After some back and forth, Matt came back with some options it came in at $47,000 but then he broke out a few "extras,", we could get it under $40,000. These extras were not important to us, so we were thrilled! I was out of the country at the time, but Matt told my wife that we needed to sign before a certain date (and put down a deposit) to lock in the price and that when I came back, if there were issues with the design we could revisit that with no penalty which ended up not being true at all. A few problems occurred almost immediately. As we looked at the floor plans they had drawn up, we couldn t quite understand how they fit this extra bathroom into our space.- Turns out, they didn t measure correctly and added two feet of floor space to our upstairs.

So we just asked for our money back. We circled back to our conversations with Matt about the fact that we could get a refund if the plans didn t work out. He says that is not an option. The director of sales, Kevin, calls us and we explain. He defends Matt, tells us we want luxury items and that is not realistic for our price, We explain we want our money back he says that is not an option. So we start over, use the 4th bedroom like originally planned, tell him the priorities that we told Matt, and we go back to the architects. Kevin says, We can definitely do this for under $40,000. So we keep walking down the road, similar things happen, but not to the same extent. Our numbers starts creeping again. We show the architect the e-mail I had from Kevin saying we can do this for under $40,000 and just like that, they take off $7,000 instantly. Why couldn t have we done that before? We finally got to a place with a good plan and we were happy with the scope of work they were going to do, so we started. Our project manger really struggled. I would say 75% of the time she was on site it was to collect a check.

Lastly, we have the change orders. We get that there are unforeseen costs go into construction. The problem is, some of the change orders were for things that were out in the open. On a load bearing wall, the change order came 2 weeks after the work was done (most of the change orders came after the work was already done which was entirely different than the process they laid out at the beginning) and was pretty high. $1,700 to put in a small header. They told me that if I didn t pay for these change orders, that the contractors were not going to get paid. He literally said, You are taking money out of Oliver s pocket if you don t approve this change order I could go on but at the end of the day, we love our master bath/closet. We REALLY enjoyed working with Rod our architect. But overall--rough, rough process.

Update: After my review, I received a call from the owner, Dan. We spoke at length about the project and he was very apologetic. He learned some things about our project that he previously did not know and I was able to expand on our experience to help him better understand some of the challenges. He was grateful for the feedback and assured me that the entire team is doing a debrief of our project to prevent some of these mistakes from happening again. Specifically, he mentioned that the "change order" process will be tightened up to avoid confusion for the home owner. I really enjoyed my conversation with Dan and it meant a lot to me that he reached out. If Design First indeed addresses some of these issues, I would have no problem recommending them or using them for a future project.

Design First is a great company that really cares about their clients. They have a gorgeous showroom with the best options and finishes to choose from. They even have client benefits such as free cooking classes at their onsite cooking school and it is so much fun and something no one else offers. They have great designs and beautiful work. They truly think of everything. I recommend them to anyone.

So far so good have a appointment soon to go over remodeling

Really great company and staff that truly listen to what you want and help you through the whole process. The work is beautiful and the process is a true one stop shop with the 14,000 square foot showroom, interior design and construction. The work is gorgeous and I definitely recommend them.

DESIGNFirst is an excellent company. Great customer service. We used them for kitchen remodel and it was fantastic. Tony designed a super functional and beautiful kitchen. I love cooking in there! Don t even mind doing the dishes! Crews were great and any issues were quickly resolved. I would rate them a 10!

We have used Design First for several different projects. Started with our basement, then 3 bathrooms and finally our gorgeous kitchen remodel. We couldn't be happier with the work we had done!! Design First is a class act in every way! We love Tony's great ideas and have used most of them for every project. The crew Tony has working for him is outstanding!!! Can't wait for our next project!!!! My husband and I would highly recommend Design First!!