Designs 4 You Remodeling — Attraction in San Diego

I had a very difficult time working with this company. It was the first time I felt like the customer was always wrong. If I had to do it all over again, I'd run far, far away.

The consultation went well, and the wife and I felt assured that the company understood what we were looking for. However, by the start date, we had no drawings or schedule of work. I figured, it's not a huge job, so no big deal...boy was I wrong.

The project manager, whose name I'll leave out, told me that I'd have communication on site either by him or his foreman, available to me daily, should I have any questions or concerns. That wasn't true at all and the very first day, they took down a pillar for a gate that wasn't suposed to be removed. They did build it back up, but only after he basically blamed me for not telling him that is was supposed to stay. Clearly, he doesn't take notes as to what we had discussed, but if a drawing was provided, there wouldn't be any questions....would there?

We had decomposed granite, pavers and plants installed in the front area. I am pleased with the pavers, even though they refused to include a top coat sealant. The DG though, looks pretty bad. It wasn't installed properly, is very loose and is cracking badly. Even the grass that was removed is starting to come through already. I should also mention that too much dirt was removed, so I had to purchase more and was hit with another $180 delivery fee. The PM blamed it on RCP for not calculating it correctly!

The entire job took a little less than 3 weeks, even though I was told a week. I understand that setbacks happen, but when I learned that workers are pulled off one job to work on another, I knew they clearly didn't care about their customers.

After I signed off on the job, I already had a leak in the irrigation. This didn't surprise me, because I saw them try to patch and repair a 20 yr old irrigation line that they were too cheap to spend the $20 for some new pvc. The line was broken and repaired in at least four places! The irrigation runs off the main water line, and the pressure is roughly 90 psi. The drip irrigation should have been regulated down, but it wasn't.

So, three weeks after calling, someone shows up to repair it. They plug the hole in the poly tubing and fix the leak, but decide it isn't necessary to recompact the DG. Then, the irrigation valve sticks open! Keep in mind they used the old valve and didn't replace them with a new one. I'm not surprised it stuck open, since they used so much PVC cement previously to repair the line. They then proceed to tell me to run over to the hardware store and buy the parts because it isn't covered. He finally gave in and bought the new valve, since he was in a rush to go to another job. The very day after, a drip emitter line blows off. At this point I just decided to bite the bullet and repair it all myself.

This company still owes me for a gate installation, but it's very doubtful I'll ever get that back. My word of advice to anyone who reads this, please don't settle on this company based solely on the positive reviews. I may have just been sent out the replacement crew because the A-team was busy elsewhere. There are many good contractors out there, so do your homework folks.

8-25-22 Update…

Bumped up to 3 stars for the owners of the company to come out personally and meet with me. My yard is now being worked on and addressing issues. Will update again with...

Last year, we decided to hire a company to do some beautification work on our front and long incline side yard. This involves building two levels of retaining walls made of keystones, over 1,000 square feet of quality artificial turf, and pavers in the front yard.

We call several companies to come over for an estimate. Many of those companies with good reviews never call us back or even replied to our email. Shocking to say the least! One company came months before. We had a discussion and planning at great length but that company fails to follow up with a simple estimate. In the end, we got an estimate from 3 companies. 'Design 4 You' estimate came back higher than the rest by quite a bit. Wait? Since I did a bid, why wouldn't I pick the lowest bidder?

It all boils down to this one person, Tal Sharf.

Tal is the project manager for this company. Not for Thal, we would probably go with the lowest bidder. He made the difference. He was attentive to what we wanted to be done. We also needed his expertise and wanted to listen to some of his suggestions. He gave us plenty of suggestions, and he gave them enthusiastically. For a young guy, he certainly knows his trade and was surprisingly very knowledgeable. I'm somewhat of a mellow person, however, I love to work with someone who is high-strung and full of energy. When my wife and I disagree on certain issues, Tal was very diplomatic in not choosing sides but has his subtle way of agreeing or disagree with one side. I chuckled on the inside as I observed Tal in a hot seat. I have to say he handles the situation quite well. This guy can work in the conflict resolution area.

Okay, this Tal guy is incredible, so how is the quality of his work?

The people he hired and supervised did a quality job. The job done was better than what we hoped for and it was completed well ahead of schedule.

Like with any big project, you are going to face with issues, setbacks, frustration because things were not what you had expected. Whatever issues were, we had it worked out with Tal. We just had a civil, polite, and mutually respected conversation to resolve whatever our differences were. He is constantly assuring us that things are going to be done the way we expected or agreed upon. In the end, it was done to our complete satisfaction.

Tal treats us not like a customer but a friend. Besides work, I talked to him about many broad topics from science, classical music, culture, language, world travel, to quantum physics. We had many long conversations in the baffling aspects of quantum theory like quantum entanglement and superposition. Not forgetting that this guy can play all sorts of classical music pieces on a piano like a professional performer.

If you have a big project and needed someone who will communicate with you, Tal is the person you want. You don't want someone that will not return your phone call or would give you empty promises. Tal is the real person in all this "multi-dimension universe" (our inside...

Joe and the Designs4U did a complete kitchen remodel for us. The project included opening up the entryway more, all new cabinets, counters, floors, sink, lighting, re-routing gas and electric… the works. Joe, Tal, Eddie, and the larger team at Designs4U worked with us from the very beginning of the project to the end. If you’re looking for a new kitchen, I highly recommend you speak with Designs4U.

Their designer, Tal, worked closely with us to help us navigate the delicate process of finding a kitchen that compliments our old Craftsman home, yet feels new and welcoming, while also making sure the space is functional for the long-term. Tal shopped with us, shared a variety of products and ideas, and even provided high quality 3D renderings of the kitchen prior to starting the work. This proved to be very important as the renderings helped us identify some areas we needed to tweak and inspired us to make a few changes to product selections. Tal did a great job of balancing parts of our ideas (which were partially but not fully formed) with practical recommendations and suggestions. Tal also stayed active and responsive after the design phase of the project, answering questions and offering ideas along the way as the project began.

I appreciated how the team was able to think through and cleverly solve some wants/needs we had but required non-traditional solutions (without getting into detail, the under cabinet lighting we wanted required an extra degree of difficulty than typical, and their team identified a much better approach and solution than I had imagined). All of the workers were polite, respectful, and worked diligently on their tasks.

We have an old house (100+ years). In turn, there’s always unexpected hiccups and issues that emerge any time we have undertaken a remodeling project. Joe and team did a great job communicating clearly to us whenever those surprises happened, and we worked well together when we had to make some resulting deviations from the initial plans due to unforeseeable challenges.

Finally, here’s the thing I think is important to note about Joe and Designs4U and something I would recommend anyone looking to hire a contractor to prioritize as a top consideration. AFTER the final payment was made for the kitchen, Joe and team have remained highly responsive and helpful as some inevitable small issues popped up from the kitchen remodel, even beyond the final walkthrough and “punchcard” phase. In all instances, Joe and team have been helpful, responsive, honest, and fair about working through these issues. While professional and businesslike, Joe and team made me feel also like they are friends who are sincerely committed to making sure we are happy with choosing them and the quality of their work.

I plan to use Designs4U for some exterior projects in the near...