Design Build Specialists

Let me start off my review by saying that it wasn’t my first rodeo with remodeling. (Not Design Build Specialists, a different company) It was an experience I never wanted to relive, as it was pretty much a nightmare. As the old saying goes, «twice as much, twice as long.» Unfortunately it was more like three times as much, three times as long. UGH!
A fire with extensive smoke damage throughout the entire house forced me to have to go through a complete remodel «down to the studs.» This was something that I wasn’t looking forward, especially having been through a disorganized and expensive remodel in the past. Add to this we had to deal extensively with our insurance company to boot. I was expecting a long, arduous, overwhelming process.
Thankfully I was introduced to Mark of DB Specialists by the company that boarded up our house after the fire. (The board up company was recommended by the fireman.) I was immediately impressed with Mark’s expertise, knowledge, and experience in «disaster» remodel. After calling his references, I made the decision to go with DBS to completely re-​do my house, top to bottom. It was a decision that I never regretted.
Right from the very beginning Mark was our advocate with the insurance company. He really understands the insurance company «game,» which I had no knowledge, so this was extremely helpful. His communication is incredible in that he answers his telephone, calls back or emails promptly, and has a weekly meeting on site with a timeline and breakdown of expenses. He works diligently to stay on budget and on time, which doesn’t seem common in his profession. He is open to giving lots of advice, and always seems to have great referrals and subs. (Enrique and Eduardo, and all the people working on our house were wonderful!) I appreciated how proactive Mark was, always a step ahead. He really listened to what I wanted and liked, and more importantly REMEMBERED what I wanted and liked.
We are about to embark on another extensive remodeling project with DBS. This is huge coming from someone that never wanted to go through a second remodel, and now we’ll be going through a third. It’s a testament to our trust of DBS.

My wife and I make our home in Ross, CA We used Design Build in Novato to refurbish a guest bathroom, construct a new media room and perform a number of kitchen repairs. This team is fantastic. They truly understand design, customer service and project execution. For anyone who is even remotely thinking about redesigning bathrooms, kitchen or large living spaces, this team is for you. They make the design process fun by excelling in truly listening to you and designing with your everyday needs in mind.
We were truly impressed with their product knowledge, quality of workmanship and project planning/​execution skills. Ask them about the wall sized GANTT chart in their offices. You will be impressed too.
We plan to continue our home improvement projects with Design Build with a focus on another bathroom and interior painting.

If zero stars was an option they would get it. Summer did not know the wall tiles could not go on the floor. I told them I see everything, but they wrote up their long contract leaving much of the old walls with their imperfections. I thought they would make what exists look perfect considering their VERY high price. NOT!I wanted a shower stall without a door that didn’t. splash. The one that was built had an extremely low curb and slashed a lot. The excuse made that was code in SF. The VERY first thing I asked if they had worked here before with a permit. They said yes. They had multiple extra inspections I PAID for. The electrical work was sloppy done NOT up to code and they wanted to walk away until I called them on it. They spent a lot of time changing their graph of when the job would be done. I told them I wanted to use my vintage lightplates. They did not tell me they were not up to code. They left my garage door open 2times. Considering the price their worker did not know how to take off door handles for a professional papiiint job. Brush strokes everywhere. It goes on and on. I have just sold the house. The new owner said the copper pipe was not very long and it was not a good job. RUN FROM THIS COMPANY!!!

These guys were the best contractors I have ever worked with. They showed up on time, did what they said. They were not the cheapest but not the most expensive either. I worked with the owner, Mark and Summer and my lead man was Elvis who was fun to work with. We almost went with the cheaper guy but we are glad we did not.

Aaaah, yes our «experience» with Design Build Specialists, Inc…
What started as a great double bathroom project, deteriorated into a relative nightmare. This company is slick, with a great showroom, and all the bells and whistles. But, from subcontractors that didn’t show up, to materials not ordered on a timely basis, to in-​fighting among their staff, this very expensive $ 80K bathroom remodel circled the drain when it went a month beyond their timeline!
We even had to bring to their attention that they had hooked up the two toilets to the HOT WATER LINE.
To add insult to injury, due to their accounting error, we ended up paying in full before the project was even near completion. After reading these other reviews, I have to wonder just who completed these other projects???
If we could, we’d love to post the pictures we have of the water from the remodel upstairs flooding our home office below… ooops, they forgot to make sure the waterline had been turned off.
Do your homework, and in this economy, get several bids!

Design Build was recommended to me for the repair of my home due to a pipe break in the bathroom. The damage was much more severe than we originally expected. Walls and hardwood floors were removed to allow the drying process. I have never had good experiences with contractors in the past so I was very skeptical. Bill Johnson at Design Build came through with every commitment. His crew was there when they said they would be there and the job was completed ahead of schedule. The best part is my house looks better than it did before the water leak. The floors are amazing, new tile in the bathroom changed the whole look and the paint match is undetectable. AMAZING and I hope to use them in the future.

Overall: An excellent all-​in-​one designer and contractor. We plan to use Design Build Specialists («DB») for future renovations.
Pros: Stand out communication, customer service, and project management (weekly updates complete with Gantt charts). Very high quality work. On-​staff designer provides guidance for layout and material choices. 100% follow-​through on project completion punch list (all concerns, questions and details addressed to satisfaction). Project completed on time, in budget. Capable, trustworthy on-​site job lead. When some demolition work in our master bathroom knocked the (already old) sink drain loose in our adjoining second bathroom, DB repaired the other drain free of charge, even though it had been on the verge of failing anyway.
Cons: Pricey, though you get what you pay for in quality and service.
Occasionally volatile timing – our site lead and other workers would sometimes come later in the day than expected, and often leave for several hours at a time to attend to emergency repairs (fires, flooding, etc.), another service line offered by Design Build. Despite this, our job was complete when promised.
One minor point of frustration arose around a Mill Valley building code requiring the installation of a fan in a renovated bathroom. DB was not aware that enforcement had begun in earnest on this particular section of the code and thus added a change-​order (adding a few percent to the original estimate) to include the fan. Our preference would have been to include this costing in the original estimate.
FYIs: In our case, the «estimated» cost of the job provided before work began was effectively a cost floor (i.e., it was clear that it was highly unlikely that we would end up being charged less than the estimate, and almost assured that any additional work would add to the total).
Read the (lengthy) contract thoroughly before signing. Make sure absolutely all work you are aware of and want done is included in the contract to minimize the chance that additional work will need to be added through change orders, which in addition to adding cost are likely to add time as well.
Background: My wife and I enlisted DB to renovate our master bathroom and repair some termite damage in our Mill Valley home. DB had performed some work for another member of our family and came well referred. We learned of the termite issue two months before our first child was due, and wanted to make sure any work was completed well before he arrived.
After a few days of discussion and negotiation, we began work with a very tight timetable of just over one month, including the Thanksgiving holiday. DB assured us that the work would be completed to our satisfaction well before our son’s due date. We were skeptical but the termite damage was such that we concluded we had to act before his arrival.
Under Bill Johnson’s leadership, Summer Venegas (DB’s resident designer) helped us pick fixtures, tiles, and colors, and Elvis (the lead carpenter for our site) executed the job extremely efficiently and on time.
If you want a trustworthy, reliable contractor who can provide design services, strong communication, and excellent work product, DB is a great choice, and entirely worth their above-​average pricing.