Bolster

In short, we've had an awful experience with Bolster. We engaged Bolster to renovate a three-bedroom apartment. They assured us that they worked with the best sub-contractors and had a large, experienced team of their own to supervise the project. Instead, Bolster has scrambled to find and replace sub-contractors, and our project is now on its fourth (!) project manager, with the prior three no longer with Bolster. That churn in personnel has caused numerous mistakes, from incorrect orders, poor design and planning, and botched installations. As a result, the project has been delayed by well over a year, and we're having to accept Bolster's shoddy work. Below is an image of how Bolster's team initially installed the wallpaper in our powder room. Correcting that one mistake took Bolster more than six weeks because Bolster allegedly couldn't find someone to re-do the work. Although they've fixed that wallpaper, numerous more serious issues remain unaddressed. And that photo gives you a sense of the quality of Bolster's work and the sub-contractors they engage.

I contacted Bolster through their website to look into design build options for my 900 sf ft apartment renovation. They were extremely responsive and helpful throughout the process. They also connected me with a fantastic architect who devised an incredible design for my apartment. I was very happy with the design build structure, as it really enables you to be more informed about costs upfront. I ended up increasing my scope quite a bit, but I was able to do so with open eyes, because I could see the cost impact. Overall, the process has been good, and its at about 90% completion and I'm very happy with how its turning out. I will say that the process has taken longer than it was originally projected, but everyone on the Bolster team are good about keeping you informed on progress. The team is very professional and everyone is very nice and enjoyable to work with.

We had an amazing experience with Bolster. The quality of their work speaks for itself, but what really impressed us was their attention to detail, their responsiveness and overall communication, and their genuine interest in making our home exactly what we hoped for.

The Bolster team delivers a professional and reliable service to help with renovation goals. They get the NY co-op landscape and were able to help us navigate the system and delivered against our renovation goals.

When we decided to renovate our apartment my husband and I interviewed a few professionals and decided on Bolster because of their design-build capabilities. I’m an architect and had already done much of the design. Bolster took my ideas and turned them into a full set of construction documents along with a very detailed estimate. We really appreciated their transparency and clarity throughout that process. Once construction started we were impressed with their workmanship and attention to detail. Our 1927 prewar apartment turned out to be challenging (few plumb lines and right angles, aging pipes and electric wires), but the Bolster team found solutions to all the issues. They offered suggestions outside of our design that made excellent sense and we happily incorporated them into the design. Whenever we had questions we got immediate answers. We found everyone working for Bolster to be outgoing, friendly, and professional. We are happy to recommend them for projects large and small.

Bolster helped with my gut renovation. The results where extraordinary!!! Could not be happier Julieta my project manager and Michael the leading architect helped me every step of the way. Very professional team.

We had heard horror stories about gut renovations in our building. Projects that took years to complete and costs that went way over. So we were very careful about who we selected to do our renovation. Our experience with Bolster has been amazing, even taking into account the pandemic. They completed the job with only minimal delays (Covid-19 related) and stayed on budget with no surprises. The "Bolster Promise" is the real deal. Transparency and communication are bywords for them. We would recommend them to anyone doing a major renovation.

I used Bolster to renovate my studio apartment in the Flatiron. Prior to contracting with Bolster, I had already had plans prepared by an independent architect I had hired, and I had obtained approval by both my building and the NYC DOB. During my initial conversations with Bolster, they produced a comprehensive and detailed project cost sheet which I found remarkably thorough and analytical (down to the number of light bulbs of each type necessary for my project). The project scope was far more detailed than proposals furnished by other design+build shops I looked at, and factoring in their proprietary Bolster promise (a sort of insurance on cost-overruns and delays), I had much more confidence in proceeding with Bolster for the build. While I had planned to use them only for the build, during the gutting phase, Bolster identified a few deficiencies in my architect’s plans (e.g. measurements that were off, piping in different locations) – ultimately my plans required a post-effective amendment, and I used Bolster architects to efficiently close out that part of my project. They were far more responsive and thorough than my independent architect. Bolster was timely, professional, responsive, and thorough during the build-out. Until Covid-19 hit the city, my project was right on schedule and was coming along great. While my project did get stalled by Covid shutdowns, Bolster kept the lines of communication open and rolled out modern tools (like Slack) to coordinate matters. In the end, my apartment came out fantastic, and exceeded my expectations. Six months in and have had virtually no punch list items. Very pleased with the experience all around!

Bolster team was excellent and navigated us through our renovation. High quality work and experience, and the team did a great job helping us work through COVID and get the renovation work done

We met with countless architects and contractors, and all seemed to have varying relationships with the other, so we could never get a handle on exactly how or when our project would be completed. But when Bolster was recommended, all of that confusion melted away. After their initial inspection, we were offered 3 different gut renovation options to choose from, and there was literally no detail overlooked. The project ran seamlessly from the demo to the completion date -- hitting every price point on the nose, being flexible when we wanted to make changes, and always doing more than what was expected. The end result was flawless and we feel like we grew our family with the team that worked with us. We only wish we had more property that Bolster could work on, because that would be first and ONLY place we'd go.

Bolster did a fantastic job with the renovation of our 2 bedroom apartment in Manhattan. Key highlights below: 1) Price is set on stone on day one. You will not pay more than what's initially agreed on. 2) Project will last no longer than what's agreed on day one as well. Monthly carry for apartments in NY is expensive. A project delay is therefore costly. Bolster eliminates extra costs arising from delays. 3) Our contractor, Aaron Borenstein, was extremely responsive. Always made himself available. 4) Their technology makes it easier to track progress and costs. 5) High quality work and post-project warranty. If I had to do it again, I would definitely go with Bolster.

As first time home owners, the hardest thing for us to parse is the per-se-foot fees set forth by architects and contractors. We understood that based on experience professionals would have these figures in their head, but they didn't help us in trying to create a budget to accomplish the changes and updates that we sough in our old landmarked townhouse. And we didn't want to sign on with someone based on an estimate that was prone to gross fluctuation. We also had trouble finding a fit with architects that seemed committed to us and what we thought was a very workable budget. This being Brooklyn, turns a budget that could easily have gotten us a house someplace warm and a house in the woods is a pittance to NY professionals. Then along came Bolster who for a small fee provided some sample drawings and some granularity to our budget so that we could make informed decisions about costs and determine our scope. And an on time and on budget guarantee sealed the deal. We met our architect and contractor along with our Bolster rep on site and they got what we wanted. They rendered the plans we dictated, but also came up with great ideas and suggestions based on their know how. We are still early in the process but the fact that we know our team up front is immensely comforting. They are always responsive and very clear about their process. We even had a water main burst and our contractor had a plumber there in 15 minutes. The fact that I always get a prompt response from the team is huge. Fingers crossed that the headache of Landmarks, demo and renovation prove to be small obstacles for Bolster, but for now they've been amazing at shepherding us green owners through this labor.