We contracted Erskine to perform a significant project - renovating a kitchen, two new bathrooms and putting down a large area of wooden flooring. This was all part of a renovation of a lovely property, but one that hadn't been updated since it was built in the early '70s. Scoring a company for such a project is quite a challenge because a number of aspects/ competencies come into play, each of which need to be separated out.
Starting with strengths: Todd Erskine is a talented designer and has a very strong instinct for what works and what doesn't. He provided us with valuable/insightful advice based on broad experience. We had a pretty clear vision of what we wanted, but he significantly improved on it. The end result was really something special - and we are absolutely delighted. Sadly, because of a job move, we have very recently had to sell the house. It sold very fast (with pretty much a full recovery of the investment) and potential buyers invariably commented on the beauty of the design of the kitchen/great room space.
Two additional strengths - the quality of the materials and workmanship were excellent. More than a year on, no concerns at all. Further, a project of this complexity always encounters snags - this one was no exception. Erskine took ownership of all problems without pushing the cost back on to us. He addressed the issues in a good natured way, without questioning them or complaint. This took a lot of stress out of the project for us.
On the 'areas for improvement' front - Todd is an optimist and really wants the design to be right - but this can cause him to underestimate the cost of things. It is important that before putting a deposit down you have a very clear agreement with him about your maximum budget - a number beyond which you will not go. Get a very clear commitment that the deposit is paid on the basis that the deign that he will then develop will fall within that budget. The reason I flag this is because we did ask Erskine to do a second project. We set a very clear maximum budget...a deposit was paid...the proposal came back significantly above budget....and I lost my deposit. However, for clarity, Erskine did keep within the budget for the primary project that I refer to above.
Second 'challenge': we didn't find Erskine's project management skills to be great. We had 4 project managers over the course of the work. And the project did take significantly longer than had originally been projected. For us, that wasn't a big deal - all of the project managers were pleasant and helpful. The beauty of the design and the quality of what we was ultimately delivered outweighed for us the frustrations caused by delays and some disorganization. But, if things running like clockwork matters to you, then you could be in for some stressful times.
So to provide some more color around the score: design (5); quality of workmanship (5); value for money (5); keeping within budget (4 if you maintain a vice like grip on it - 2 otherwise); project management (2). But I guess the bottom line is, we are pleased we used Erskine. We have a much nicer house as a result and at a very good price. read more