It makes us want to build another house, to go into Brilliant. Make that it makes ONE of us want to…read morebuild another house. After two custom home build endeavors in Bend in the last twelve years, hubby is done. "Me or another building project" he has said. I dunno...some days it's a hard choice. These new green products are a huge leap ahead of where they were even eight years ago, when we had our current home built. And the paucity of options then and the characteristic of many of them as "spare" is why we didn't use more green products at the time. How times have changed because now these products seem so much more, well, brilliant for options across the style spectrum. Located in downtown Bend on Greenwood just down the block from the Bond Street Grill (formerly Decoy Grill) this was a stop in location as we were slip sliding down Bend's sidewalks on a snowy day. And what a fun stop it turned out to be! Friendly and helpful woman at the desk inside who was able to answer our questions and who demonstrated a real passion for not only the products in the showroom but the principles of green building. We looked around at the cool, there is no other word for it, counter top materials made of glass and concrete and other composites, color samples of non toxic paint, walls and walls of samples of lovely wool carpet, a Marmoleum display for floors and Green Mountain wood products display for wonderful butcher block counter tops in a variety of hardwoods. Just to name a few of the many items in this little showroom in the old downtown building. As probably high praise for the products, we also met a builder who was making selections for updates on his own home, after being introduced to some of the green counter top products through working on a client's projects and liking them so much. We still think there is a fair amount of "whoop-de-doo" in the green building movement, but it also makes sense to consider beautiful and durable products that have the added benefit of being environmentally friendly. If we are faced with a remodel or new construction again, we'd use several of them and Brilliant would be on our "go to" list along with the top notch builder we worked with on the last home build project. Hubby or another build project. Those are my choices? Give me a moment while I decide... :-) In the meantime, I'll look around Brilliant, given four stars for the choices displayed there and the helpful woman in the shop. Shy of five stars simply because we've been only "looky loos" and not customers. Yet..

Where do I start?! We hired them over 4 years ago to install cork and bamboo flooring throughout…read moreour home. We dealt directly with Jorden, one of the owners. First, he talked us out of using the material we wanted (Cali Bamboo) and into using a material that has turned out to be a nightmare. The installation was sloppy, with the installers cutting the material right inside our home, producing a dust that we are still working to remove. The sealant on the cork was peeling off within a week and the crew that installed the cork left several scratches on our bamboo as well as dents in our walls from their carelessness. They also installed cork right over an HVAC duct, which had to be fixed. They never repaired the damage done to our walls and bamboo. Within six months of installation, our bamboo boards started to cup and separate from each other. Some gaps growing to nearly half an inch! The quarter rounds installed near our sliders were peeling up from the weak adhesive they used and the transitions had started to crack. We brought this up with Jorden, who first told us to fill the gaps with wood putty. It only took two weeks for the gaps to grow beyond the putty, making things look worse than ever. When we told him this didn't work, he came to look at the damage and told us it was the result of low humidity levels in our home and told us to install a whole home humidifier. So we spent $2k on that, and it had no effect. We brought him in again several months later to show him the damage was even worse. By this time it had been over a year since installation. He then brought in the manufacturer of the bamboo to check things out. They decided that it was the shape of our fireplace, which is very large and separates our living and dining rooms. It's irregular and they had routed the bamboo around it. So, we made the decision to create a tiled hearth around the whole fireplace to give a smooth edge for the bamboo to butt up against. The manufacturer agreed to provide us with more material and Jorden (finally) agreed to redo the flooring in just our living area. It wasn't until about 3 years after installation that we finally got the new material - we were told to allow it to acclimate for several weeks. And now, 4 years and 2 months after installation, we have finally just had the flooring replaced. Yes, it took a full year to get around to it after delivering the product. A full year of living with a giant stack of bamboo in our home! The installation took three days and was done by one young man (who had been here for the original installation). Jorden NEVER checked in with us during these days. He never answered emails my husband sent him with issues we were having with the new material being different from the old. He never came to inspect the work and declare the job done. Clearly, he just wanted to wash his hands of us and didn't care to oversee whether the job was done properly. Now a couple of weeks later, we are discovering that this new material scratches very easily. In two weeks, we've amassed as many scratches as we had in four years! We now have more gaps opening up in the bedrooms, and continue to have issues with transitions, but we don't feel we can address them with Brilliant. It would cause way more of a headache than it's worth. We are now chalking this up to a VERY expensive mistake. Jorden could never bring a potential client through our home to showcase his work, because he'd never win over clients if he did. This is telling of the pride he takes in his products and installations. Don't spend many thousands of dollars with a business that doesn't stand behind their work!

I do not recommend Baptista Design. I had a very long and frustrating experience with a simple…read morebathroom, shower and countertop remodel. My contractor refuses to work with them again because they are so disorganized and incompetent.

I met with Tammy Hoxie to determine best choice of countertop material and backsplash tile for my…read moreolder home. She was very helpful and I appreciated checking out samples. On a second visit to Baptista to choose a different tile, I met Letty who was also very helpful. Once decision made, template measurements were taken, and within a relatively short period of time I was scheduled for installation. Josh and Steven arrived to do the job - on time, professional introduction of selves, good communication of process followed by thorough cleanup. The entire experience was quite smooth. happy customer here!

I cannot speak highly enough of Songster. We purchased a house and have needed help with several…read morethings - the most time and labor intensive so far being painting the entirety of the 2,600 square foot home. The house had several paint colors including dark reds, oranges, and blues. We were trying to get the painting done before the kids started school so we had time to settle in before. This crew worked so intensely hard to get this done for us and have been so awesome during our transition. They also helped us put up a chandelier which involved scaffolding, replacing light fixtures, patching the ceiling, and painting, on a two story level living room. Seriously - it looks like a different house and I am so grateful for their work and the willingness to help us through the chaos of this move. We have loved working with Jordan, Jonah, Anthony and Colton so much. They are all incredibly kind, hardworking and helpful, and I think the whole family is genuinely going to miss having them around. If you are looking for the best quality work, reasonable prices, and the best experience you could possibly have, you should absolutely hire Songster Handyman Services.

I'm a new homeowner and I want to do a variety of projects to remodel my house over time. I signed…read moreup with PGC to do a small project to replace a window with a sliding door, being VERY clear with them that my priority was getting it in quickly, and that I would have other projects that would follow. They said there was a 3 week lead time on the door and they would fit my project in between larger projects after that. 2 weeks later, I got a followup indicating that they hadn't ordered the door with a lousy excuse about the "door guy" being on vacation. I asked for a commitment on timing on the installation to proceed, and they said 1st week of September. I said fine, waited a week, didn't hear anything, asked for a followup, and they responded with another slip in the schedule, changing the install time to 2 weeks - 7X as long as the 2 days I was quoted. I responded, copying Ed on my e-mail to let him know that I was totally unsatisfied with the level of communication and commitment to the expectations they had set with me. That was two weeks ago, and I haven't heard back from either Ed or Elizabeth who is the project coordinator to follow up on ANY aspect of the project.

We used PGC for a couple of home projects including the remodel of our bonus room to make it more…read morefunctional and livable. The quality of the work was excellent. Ed and his staff made some recommendations to improve the space above what we were thinking about and we were very pleased with how the space turned out. We would highly recommend using PGC for any project.

We had a tub, toilet, fiberglass shower and vanity top removal in our master bath. We had vanity…read moretop and toilet removal in the hall bath. Both bathrooms also had new tile floor installed. The master bath now has a fully tiled shower with swing doors, bench and linear drain. The floor and shower tile are the same, making the look clean and making the room look so much larger. Jerid handled our project. His response time to questions was very quick. Chris Nelson has an excellent team and all workers on the project were diligent and very professional. Kudos to Chris Nelson and his team! We will certainly do business with you again and recommend you to others.

Nelson Tile - Review of Kitchen Countertop Installation…read more We worked directly with Chris Nelson, owner of Nelson Tile, for the installation of new quartz kitchen countertops. Our experience raised serious concerns about both workmanship and professionalism. Installation Issues From the start, Chris incorrectly measured the backsplash, resulting in a two-piece installation rather than a single seamless slab. He claimed the transition would be unnoticeable -- the photos tell a different story. One piece is already pulling away from the wall. Other reviews describe Chris as skilled with laser measuring, but that was not our experience. The visual difference between a single slab and a seamed installation is significant, and Chris offered neither a solution nor any cost reduction for this error. Material Quality Chris purchased the material from a distributor he admitted does little business with. Within just three months, we noticed significant chipping on both the edges and countertop surfaces. Chris sent his brother-in-law to repair the chips with filler. He acknowledged this was unusual and said he had seen it once before with another client, categorizing it as faulty material -- yet when we raised our concerns, he simply accused us of being hard on the countertops. For context, we replaced 15-year-old laminate countertops that had zero marks or chips. Over the following 18 months, we continued to experience additional chipping, hundreds of scratches, and pitting across the entire countertop surface. We eventually switched to plastic plates out of concern that any ceramic or glass contact would cause further damage (see photos). Attempted Resolution I had Chris return to the house. It was clear he was reluctant to acknowledge faulty material, but after some pressure he agreed to have the distributor conduct an on-site inspection. The distributor was professional, photographed the damage, and reviewed it with his team. The following week, I received an email from Chris stating that the distributor had agreed to provide a replacement slab at no material cost -- but Chris quoted $6,500 for installation, excluded sink removal and reinstallation, disclaimed responsibility for any damage to finishes, appliances, or cabinets, and required that we agree not to post any negative public statements or reviews about Nelson Tile. Summary Based on our experience and the lack of professional accountability, we strongly recommend considering alternative companies. When you invest thousands of dollars in a kitchen remodel, you should expect quality materials and skilled installation. Unfortunately, neither was delivered in our experience with Chris Nelson. We will have the replacement material completed by a different installer.

Central Oregon coast, 2 rooms, remove carpet, install LVP…read more Planning, consultation, detailed estimate, workmanship all outstanding! And super clean, on time, very courteous. Highly recommend! Great pricing, would hire again. April 2026.

We hired Sorem Enterprises to repaint our entire house here on the Oregon Coast! Working with…read moreSorem on such a big project was so easy and relaxing. We had the samples for colors and he picked a white to match for the trim and facia. Kristov was able to single-handedly paint our entire house in less than 7 days! We highly recommend Sorem as a contractor. This was our second project with this company and we would absolutely hire Sorem for more! Kristov even hung new outdoor light fixtures for us as part of the process. Our house looks brand new again and we couldn't be happier!

Matt and Bryce were recommended to me by a very picky friend. Another set of friends used them to…read morefinish a DIY job and were very pleased with their work ethic and quality. After I had them come to do some repairs, install porch railings, switch out smoke alarms, I knew they were the team to re-side the barn. They made excellent suggestions for weatherizing the barn and not only was the siding done precisely, the door seals (including some oddball ones that needed creativity) are the best I've seen. I'm happy to give them a 5 star rating.

We hired Joe Ottlinger, a licensed and bonded general contractor, to install a new counter top,…read moresink, and tile two vanities. The crew arrived a bit early and were polite, professional, careful and worked with precision. They were organized, efficient, and worked with good hustle. They made very good suggestions to improve our bath remodels. Their bid was competitive, they kept to their original price and they used some of my plywood to cut costs. They also helped us decide on how to manage other projects that we are doing. When we need more remodeling, we will call them again.

After a near miss with a "contractor" aka "handyman with a license" I was on my second round of…read moreinterviews of contractors when I met Joe Ottlinger of Ottlinger Custom Building. I wanted to add a shower in the master bath and finish off the room that would accommodate the "pop out" created by the shower. I knew what I wanted, how I wanted it finished and even had the tile picked out. The range of contractors I interviewed went from a fairly large company that actually had a "project management team" (which I didn't want or need for my small project) to a guy who came to the appointment late, hurried through it, couldn't be bothered with discussing the finishing off piece in the third bedroom and then literally begged me for the job weeks later after I had already settled on Ottlinger Custom Building. Most of the bids were much higher than necessary, and once the contractors figured out I knew that, started to negotiate the price down. Joe came up with a fair bid from the beginning. Despite the fact that I knew exactly what I wanted but being a single woman, some of these guys were to say the least a little condescending. It almost felt like they were patting me on the head as if to say "Don't think sweetie, we know best." After these experiences, my trust when it came to contractors was marginal. However, Joe really impressed me with the fact that he listened to EVERYTHING I wanted including the finishing off piece in the third bedroom which was equally as important as the rest of the project in terms of making it all look cohesive and wasn't an afterthought or an add on. Since I live in California and this is my second home, not being there was a big issue for me. So I decided I would go ahead and have Joe do the demo and come up for installation. When I arrived for the actual installation, Joe couldn't have been more helpful in terms of explaining the construction phase, permit process, why he used the same subcontractors to ensure quality installation, as well as what type of construction materials were the best quality and would ensure that there were no problems with mold etc. The reason Joe can keep his prices low and quality high is that he does most of the work himself with the exception of plumbing, electrical etc. and uses the same subcontractors that he knows do quality work and are dependable. Joe has wonderful "people skills" and has great relationships with his subcontractors and inspectors so there was never a problem/hold up getting items scheduled or approved. If you have a vacation home you want work done on or live in the area of Sunriver, Bend or Redmond, Joe is the best kept secret around. Whether it's a big job or small job, he is a perfectionist, who loves what he does, making his customers happy and takes pride in doing a quality job. The job was done on time with a minimum of hold ups. He did a fantastic job on my bathroom, took great pride in his work and even had the house cleaned when he was done!! Don't hesitate to use this contractor. I wouldn't use anybody else. See Ottlinger Custom Building on Facebook