Overall, Hivex is an excellent company that has ab...

Overall, Hivex is an excellent company that has above average communication and fantastic quality workmanship. For anyone looking to get a basement finished, they are a great choice. Hivex provides some great things such as emails that tell you what phase they are beginning (i.e. Drywall phase) as well as some great handouts at the start of the project that give an overview of the process.

However, you need to keep in mind that they do not fully finish basements. They make this clear from the start so it was not a surprise. They do not do any painting (other than a primer coat) nor do they do flooring.

We only had a few small mis-communications that could have been avoided had we reviewed our entire contract with our project manager at the start of the work. For example, we had in the contract a glass panel door at the top of the stairs as well as a new handrail. These both seemed to surprise our project manager. Also, we used IKEA cabinets and knew from contract that we would either have to assemble them ourselves or pay $50 per cabinet. Once assembled they would hang them and do the trim work. But they do not hang the doors. That was not made clear in the contract.

I would suggest asking Hivex for a list of flooring and painting companies that they would recommend at the start of the project. We painted ourselves to save some money and had a local guy install our floors. But, it would have been nice to coordinate getting the painting and flooring done at certain times. For example, if you can get your painting company to do the bathroom before Hivex adds the toilet, vanity, etc. that would be ideal.

The last thing to keep in mind is that they may be a bit slower than other companies. They were well within the time-frame that they gave us (8-12 weeks). But, because they do not contract anything out, their crews have to travel from job to job which takes a lot of coordination and some extra time.

Hivex was moderately priced and did fantastic work. If you go into the project with an understanding of what they do and don't offer, you will be very satisfied. They are a great company that does great quality work.