We highly recommend Watermark & Company and Mike Paclik and would encourage you to include Mike in…read moreyour list of potential remodelers.
I am a construction attorney and know very well the problems that people can have during a residential remodeling project. Because I know what can, and often does, go wrong, we had delayed starting this major project for several years. After our experience with Watermark, however, we wished that we had done this project years earlier. We couldn't be happier with the final results, how quickly the work was done, the quality of the work, and the adherence to the budget.
Our architect prepared some initial sketches and we met with Mike to discuss the project and to get preliminary pricing. Mike quickly returned the estimates and with enough detail to make important decisions about the scope of the project, and changes that needed to be made in order to fit within our budget. We went through this process several times until we finally settled on the final scope and price.
When we began the project, my wife was about 7 months pregnant (and we have a 2 year old) and we were concerned about lead-based paint in our house, which was originally built in 1962. Mike did the lead tests, which revealed some lead paint in old cabinets, and gave us detailed information about the EPA's new lead-based paint guidelines. Ultimately, the cabinets were removed (intact) to avoid creating excessive amounts of lead dust.
During demolition, our architect commented that it was an "extremely clean demo" and in about 3 or 4 days, everything had been removed down to the studs, including the old Saltillo tile, and ceramic tile in the bathrooms. During this process, we met several of Watermark's subcontractors including the framer, plumber, and electrician, all of whom were extremely competent, friendly, and focused on the task and getting it done right. I frequently found the plumbing, drywall, and painting subcontractors working on the house well past 6:00 pm and even on Sunday evenings, in order to maintain the schedule.
Throughout the project, Mike was regularly on site and anticipating upcoming issues. He communicated with us about potential issues that may arise, the need to address certain issues while they were exposed and easily accessible, and kept us focused on making selections (tile, plumbing fixtures, light fixtures, paint colors, etc.) to avoid any delays. We were motivated to complete the project as soon as possible, because we wanted to move back into the house as soon after having our second child. All of the major work was completed 2 weeks before the completion date, and we moved back into the house exactly 1 week before the completion date in the contract!
In addition to finishing ahead of schedule, Mike was able to complete the project on budget. With any remodeling project (especially older homes) there are a number of unknowns that will undoubtedly occur. We encountered our share of issues, but Mike always kept us informed of the issues, and discussed the costs ahead of time. Even with the unknowns and the unavoidable additions/changes that occur during any project, we were able to complete the project in line with the budget. [You should budget an extra 20% for any construction project. Ours was only 10%].
It is obvious that Mike cares about the quality of the work and wants his customers to be happy with the finished product. On almost every occasion, Mike had already identified issues that needed to be correct before I could bring them up. He expected his subcontractors to perform the work to the same level of quality that we expected, so we were always very satisfied, especially with the final result.
To sum up: this was a somewhat demanding project because the house was fairly old and required a significant amount of work, I'm a construction lawyer who is hypersensitive to potential pitfalls, my wife was pregnant, and we both had high expectations for the finished product. Not only was Mike willing to take on this project, he completed it on time, on budget, and with fantastic results!