Original Roots Design+Build

Our experience with Original Roots Design+Build truly couldn't have been better. When we decided to really explore the big remodel we'd been contemplating for years, I decided to take a different tack than I had on previous remodeling projects. We'd had several prior remodeling experiences, including remodeling our basement and remodeling a couple of bathrooms, and the experiences ranged from poor to decent. This time around, I did my homework, and starting on Houzz, researched Design/Build firms in Denver. Serendipitously, I found Original Roots. I viewed their work online and was impressed, so we set up an initial appointment with Paul. At our first meeting, he gave me a long list of previous clients and encouraged me to contact any or all of them for references. I reached out to 9 people, and 9 people got back to me raving about Original Roots. That just doesn't happen in the home remodeling/construction world! Paul, Matt, Janae, and the crew (Mike, Donnie, Gus, Andrew) were AMAZING. I cannot overstate how well this company is run. We spent many months going back and forth, collaborating on the architectural design, and once we had finalized that, we got an incredibly detailed estimate that was guaranteed to be within 10%+/- of the final. No surprises. They put a ton of initial work in on the bid, and it shows. Paul, one of the principals, is the architect and he is super detail oriented, which is exactly what is needed for such a role. Janae was our designer and from my Houzz idea book, she was able to glean my style and what I was dreaming of and help me make it a reality. Matt is the other principal and he is the construction guy. I. seriously don't think there's anything construction related that he doesn't know how to do and DO WELL. With these 3 people working on our project, I had such a sense of peace. I knew we were in good hands, I knew that had the absolute utmost integrity, and I knew that they would get the job done on time, on budget, and done right. AND THEY DID. Things came up--of course they did--this is life during covid and our house is a 1960s ranch. But each blip was handled professionally, fairly, and with absolute honesty. We are enjoying our new space so much, and are so proud of the fine craftsmanship on display in our home. And not only is it beautiful, it's so functional. To be honest, we even miss them a little--it was THAT great having them working in our home. I've learned from poor past experience that there's no substitute for good quality. These guys will not be the cheapest bid you get, but you will not find a finer, more talented, or more dedicated group of professionals, who we are now proud to call friends! Thanks, ORDB!

If you want an AWESOME historic home renovation, you can rely on Brynn, Paul, Matt, and the rest of the crew. We've been through a few renovation projects before, but their experience, creative problem solving, attention to detail, responsiveness, and general energy are beyond anything we've experienced. We're so pleased with the way our project turned out. Really, why would you hire anyone else? Becky and Steve Potter Highlands Historic District

We picked Original Roots to do a complete kitchen and guest/teen bathroom makeover. They took everything down to the studs and built it back up again. Throughout the process, we have been so impressed with how talented, professional, and just straight-up nice the whole team is. Paul was so upfront with how the process would work and total costs, and has been so accommodating and easy to work with the whole time. Matt, our Project Whisperer, was just a delight; I could text him with questions or problems and he would get right back to me and have things fixed up in a jiff. Tom was our rockstar tiler; a true craftsman and the nicest guy you could meet. Janae was our designed and she incorporated our ideas and gave great advice. Really, we are so happy with the end product. Did I mention they did this all with coronavirus restrictions? Matt and his team worked over the weekend to make sure we had a working kitchen before the state shut down for lockdown. Kudos to everyone involved. We love our new kitchen and bathroom!

My husband and I have lived in our home in Congress Park for 40 years. We live in a Denver Square and own a square next door that has 3 rental units. Paul Fread and Original Roots have been working with us through out the last two years. They have done a series of projects on our two properties that required a lot of planning and staging. We have had our primary dwelling gut renovated and extensive work on our rental property. They have demolished two old garages and built two new ones. Renovated two bathrooms and two ktichens, installed new window and updated electrical and plumbing in the rental property all while my tenants continued to live there. They have taken my beloved Denver Square and turned it into the home that I have always dreamed of. Everyone one on the team takes pride in their work, communicates and work well together. Colin Morrison and Matt Wood are excellent project managers. Brynn Mood helped to create interiors that are warm and family friendly. Every carpenter, Mike, Erik, Jordan, Daniel and Gus are people you like having on your property doing such good work. They are respectful and work with neighbors. They leave the work site clean an orderly. They stick to their timeline and your budget. They find solutions to problems in reasonable ways. When was the last time someone worked with a contractor for 2 years and had nothing negative to say? These guys are tremendous and you should consider them for your project.

My husband and I contracted with Original Roots to design and construct a two-story addition to the back of our house, consisting of a master suite and a traditional English library, while also renovating about two-thirds of the interior of our existing home which is located in the Baker Landmark District and was built in 1896. Having never undertaken a project of this size or cost, we had quite a bit of apprehension and uncertainty of the process. One thing we did know was we wanted to work with a company where we would have some form of cost assurance - here is what we want our project to look like at the end and here is what it will cost you to get it. We had serious reservations about entering a contract under a cost-plus arrangement where we were given a cost estimate of the project at the beginning and then received invoices later saying that the cost of the materials went up, it took more labor hours than estimated and now it was going to cost us significantly more than budgeted. With Original Roots we had no surprises. We ended up paying what we established as our original budget, plus/minus the mutually agreed change requests. It was also extremely important that we worked with a company that was honest and trustworthy. We were advised by friends and family, who had done remodels/renovations before, that the relationship with your contractor/builder is like a marriage. You need to be able to trust them, they need to be able to communicate clearly with you, and ideally, you should enjoy working with them, because you do spend a lot of time interacting with them. From the very first meeting with Paul we felt like he could be trusted. There was a comfortability with him that we had not experienced when interviewing other companies/contractors. Paul was prompt, organized, and clearly communicated the steps and process we would go through with Original Roots. Friends and family also cautioned us about being overly upbeat after a great initial meeting with the face of the company. Your project will only go as smoothly, with the quality you expect, as the folks doing the actual work in your home. With Original Roots, Paul sets the bar high and everyone working with him met the expectations that Paul has set. Matt, our project whisperer, and his entire crew were amazing beyond description, from timely responses to calls or emails, to treating our home and the surroundings as if it was their own, to going above and beyond while interacting with our neighbors and to the level of detail and quality in the work they performed. The subcontractors they used, many of which they have long standing relationships with, all performed quality work and met the original schedule (with one small exception). When “issues” did pop up, Paul, Matt and/or Brynn would always agree to meet us in person at the house. It made potentially difficult and/or complex conversations easier so we didn’t have to “read into emails” or interpret things. We always felt our concerns were listened to and taken seriously and ultimately the resolutions were fair for both parties. Having access to Brynn and what she brought to the design phase was invaluable. There would have been multiple situations of analysis-paralysis, not to mention fights, in our decision-making process if it wasn’t for her. She was a great listener. She did an excellent job of getting to know our likes and dislikes, tastes and style and picked up on design elements that our home presented. She then did the majority of the research and leg-work and then clearly presented options that for us were spot on. Brynn is also great at offering up ideas that pushed us out of our comfort zone but really ended up working well in the house. She also did a fantastic job of working within the cost estimates of the allowances in our contract, so we had no “ugly” surprises. Original Roots may not be the least expensive company out there, but it was such an enjoyable, pleasant experience working with them, we have no regrets and feel it was totally worth the money spent. We are house-proud. The one negative side in working with Original Roots is they made it really difficult to adjust our expectations when dealing with sales people/contractors/service providers who are not Original Roots.

Original Roots did a fantastic job with a whole house remodel of our bungalow. So many things wowed us. We absolutely loved Brynn’s design sense. She was a great listener, understanding what we wanted and making helpful suggestions to narrow the choices. Matt managed our project extremely well. He was on top of things, up front, and honest. Paul came up with an excellent vision and stayed in communication with us from beginning to end. OR has clear and accurate timelines and prices, they communicate well, and they are organized in a way that few contractors are. OR is also very principled in their work, which helped us appreciate their recommendations and make informed decisions. And beyond that, they are great people who work well together. Before starting our project, we heard a lot about how difficult construction projects are to manage. This was not the case with OR. They are a quality firm who does what they say they will, on time and on budget. (We were living in a different state for part of our project, and it was not a problem.) When we tell people this who have worked with other contractors, they are always amazed. It's hard to imagine going wrong hiring OR.

We were very pleased with the kitchen that Original Roots helped us design and build. They were very knowledgeable, responsible, and pleasant to work with. The quality of the workmanship was excellent. We would recommend them for any type of building job.

The Original Roots team is exceptional. When your project involves extensive modifications to an older home, having a team like Original Roots is essential and is well worth the price. There is no area of weakness with Original Roots. Paul Fread is a great architect who is particularly well skilled at creating seamless transitions between old and new architecture. The construction team led by Matt Wood and Colin Morrison is professional and very talented at their craft. They are tried-and-true carpenters who take tremendous pride in their work. The interior design skills of Brynn Mood were equally impressive and we’re very pleased with her work. Our project involved remodeling nearly the entire first floor of our 1888 Victorian home as well as a 300 sq. ft. addition. The work was broad and included the demolition of many plaster and brick walls, construction of an expansive new kitchen, a new bedroom, a new bathroom, and complex changes to our existing plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems. Above all, we were most impressed with their ability to effectively communicate with us throughout the 7 month project as well as pay close attention to small details. For example, all the trim in the new spaces in our home match the existing 130-year-old trim perfectly. They also meticulously matched the style, shape, and size of the existing brick so that it’s nearly impossible to identify the old and new construction on the exterior of our home. Needless to say, we highly recommend Original Roots to anyone wishing to make substantial improvements to their older home in central Denver.

there is no perfect contractor, but original roots (OR) comes pretty darn close. we bought a house in denver and renovated from brooklyn, NY. can you even imagine renovating from across the country?! who does that? and who does that and has a 5 star experience?? we did! OR laid everything out in minute detail at the beginning of the project, including the projected schedule. they ran consistently one to two weeks ahead of their own plan, sent us pictures at the end of every week, and were immediately available by text, phone, email, and video chat. the designer, paul, was experienced, creative, thoughtful, and thorough. he came up with about 12 different layouts for our gut renovation of the basement and recreation of multiple upstairs bedrooms into a new master and master bath. he did things like lay out the bathroom tile digitally so we could approve the tile design before installation and put our head heights on bathroom mock-ups to make sure the shower and mirror heights were both going to look good and make sense for my husband and i (12 inch height difference). he was receptive to our comments and suggestions and advised us on when our ideas might not make sense from a use-case perspective. we trusted his opinion and mostly headed his advice- a few times when we didnt we wish we had! the builder (contractor) matt, was no less impressive. any question i asked about anything related to our home or general construction he could answer without hesitation; his breadth of knowledge was crazy. he was a really good problem solver, knew construction inside and out, and definitely took initiative. for example, a handle had come off in the kitchen of one of the cabinets and i was going to have my husband or a handyman repair it; OR was not working in our kitchen space very much. while we were chatting one day he just picked up the handle nonchalantly and fixed it while we were chatting, without being asked. this is the best example of OR service- they are simply honest. they do what they say they are going to do. you will get a high-quality product- you will pay probably the higher end of the price range for it (i think?), but it will get done according to pre-specified parameters-- if you discuss something with them and it is mutually agreed to, it will get done, and you will be pleased with the product. that being said, they are flexible. we changed a few things around during the project or added things on, and they were receptive to that and still provided the same level of service. we did have a few hiccups as any construction project does. for example, they fixed something on our garage without agreeing to it with us beforehand that was a pretty expensive repair (initiative!). they told us directly what had happened, apologized that they hadnt discussed with us in advance, and when they told us about the cost, they subsidized it for us. same with some installation issues; they found our walls were not constructed of the material they had thought they were and were going to require some adjusting in terms of framing and insulation. they apologized, told us the new cost, and subsidized part of it. when they felt something was or might have been their fault and was going to add to the cost of the renovation, they were super straightforward about the issue, and split the cost with us somehow. we were very happy with our experience and would hire OR again. our house looks absolutely incredible, and it was a huge renovation (in my opinion). we cant wait to have photos taken so we can add them to this post and brag a bit ;) you should definitely at least consider OR for your project, but in the end we cant imagine a reason you would not go with them. if you want the best for your money, go with OR.

We have worked with Paul and Matt of Original Roots and their crew on several projects. You won't find a more talented, trustworthy, and reliable group of designers/builders. Their mission statement says it all -- they love what they do and the end results demonstrate that. They completely remodeled our master bathroom which now includes a sauna and steam shower along with a number of nifty design ideas. They also improved cabinets and other storage areas in our kitchen. And they are now doing exterior work on our second home in Salida adding a deck, a bridge over the "ditch", and an expansion of our guest quarters. They are an easy group to work with-- they listen well and follow through. In short -- they are the best in our many years of building from ground up and remodeling in Colorado.