Studio Dec

Studio DEC (Dan) helped us on a reno of a backyard studio. Dan helped conceptualize, steer us away from wild ideas (that in retrospect we are lucky we didn’t try), move towards financially reasonable choices, and solve challenging problems that other contractors had suggested crazy stupid (and expensive) solutions for. A great example is his choice of using spray foam insulation (expensive) instead of standard batting for the very complex ceiling (it was an owner build and had lots of joists and panel sections). A roofing contractor wanted to put in six vents and batting and the cost was crazy (due to the labor). The spray in foam was more expensive as material but cost less overall, and a better design solution all around.
One of the things that Dan is great at is ideas, and thinking creatively about materials and project needs. I mean, he is super creative, which I love. I don’t want cookie cutter, but I do want functional. My experience with Dan makes me wonder if the other reviewer didn’t understand the material usage on his project, as Dan is pretty careful and specific if you are using materials in ways unexpected (and maybe unintended).
Ours was a small project, and he coordinated several different contractors in a short amount of time. The only issue was that one of the contractors did a goofy thing and the project was so fast moving at that point that by the time we noticed it there was no going back. Not a major problem, minor cosmetics. Not really Dan’s fault, but… y’know.
A question one could ask is whether you’d use him again. My answer is yes: I am using Dan/​Studio DEC for a house reno, including a two-​story addition and maybe (if I’m dumb) a lifting and finished basement.

We couldn’t have asked for better than Dan! Dan Corcoran (the DEC in StudioDEC) designed the redo of our apartment. He gave us 3 different layouts to choose from, each with computer generated 3-​D images of the finished product. He listened to our feedback and came up with a final design that met our needs exactly.
As the construction progressed, Dan was there on site, supervising the contractors, making changes as needed. Thank god he was there to make the decisions that only someone with experience and expertise (not us) could make correctly. He has an excellent eye, a thorough knowledge of materials and resources, and was able to keep us well under budget. Even though we live outside of Seattle, he was able to network with local businesses and use creative solutions to get us what we needed.
He has been in touch since completion to make sure everything went as planned and spoke with the contractors a couple of times to get them back and make the needed adjustments.
All in all, a fantastic job!

Nice design on paper, poor material choice, didn’t work within budget, poor follow through on project