Gregory Wagner

Review of HIVEX

I met the previous owner DB who is such a great gu...

I met the previous owner DB who is such a great guy. His family has taken over the business recently. They, apparently, have been involved in running the business for some time. I searched around a bit and their price for the basement remodel I was having done seemed to be best by far. To be sure, though, their quote was without some of the services others were including. In the end, they did an amazing job and came below all other quotes.

The job was about 1800 sq. ft. of basement remodel. It was unfinished. As such, they had to install all the studs, all electric, all plumbing and finishes, including installing a full bath and bar area. They have different crews that piggyback, one after the other, completing the tasks sequentially. It seems they have a good bit of business as sometimes crew members would have to be push back a few days some tasks intermittently. The job did not, however, have any significant delays and was completed in a timely fashion as advertised.

The process was very smooth and painless. They had a foreman who was in direct contact with me about all steps. I was most impressed with John for never letting a detail go by without being addressed. If I mentioned something, even casually, there was sure to be an email addressing my concern within a day or two and the concern was always addressed to my satisfaction. To be sure, there was never any "big" concerns, just little things that I, as the owner who has to live in the space, might be particular about that the contractor might not think about.

The workmanship is fantastic. The drywall came out great, the bathroom looks fantastic. The custom sliding door met expectations.

The negatives of the experience were few and far between. There really is only two, and one has nothing to do with Hivex. That is the simple fact that they will do whatever you want, and however you want it. So you need to have done all your homework up front. Know in advance if there are any special lighting requests, maybe there will be a special use area and they need to be made aware of that. I guess what I mean is that you might want to have a completed design, maybe with a designer, to present so that you get exactly what you need/want. Hivex was happy to work with me on all requests, but they didn't offer design services. Then again, maybe they would have offered more design advice if I had no idea what I wanted before I started. As it was, I presented a very specific floor plan on day one which I did review with their people in order to create the plans to apply for a builder's permit.

The only other thing worth mentioning is that their quote will not include some aspects of the completed project such as cabinet and floor installation and final pain coats. These can be significant costs and can easily add 50% of costs to your project. So, get your quotes in advance.

Ultimately, I have no reservations recommending Hivex and think they did a fantastic job and I am grateful for how smoothly it all went.

Greg