OakWood Design-Build

We’re really happy with the addition OakWood Designers and Builders did for our home. Overall the process went smoothly and the team was easy to work with and responsive when questions came up. The work was completed exactly as we imagined it, and the new space fits in so well with the rest of the house, which was important to us. It’s been so nice having the extra room, and we’re glad we chose OakWood for the project.

My husband and I met with Oakwood’s President/CEO, John Liptak, to explore the possibility of acquiring Oakwood’s services to build our new home. Not only is John friendly and professional, but he is extremely knowledgeable in every step and detail required to build a high quality custom home. He gave us a tour of the facility and introduced us to team members. His confidence in the quality of Oakwood homes and his team is evident and his honesty about pricing and add-ons was also much appreciated.

While we don’t often post reviews online about personal projects or providers we work with, we’re making an exception here as we believe that more people need to hear about the incredible work done by Oakwood, Design Candy and their related teams. I cannot possibly stress how much of a difference having the right partner to work with for a renovation can make an impact. First off, when Steph and I bought our first home together it was a stressful process as I believe it is true for any first-time home buyers. There is so much going on between mortgages, moving, inspections, work and balancing all of it, just that process alone can be a nightmare. Add to that the rather ambitious idea that we wanted to renovate some key elements of the house /before/ we moved in so that we didn’t have to try and balance living and renovations at the same time. Enter: Oakwood. We’ve had a great relationship with them for a long time (They previously renovated Iversoft’s newest office) and we have always visited their design centre just off of trim road in Orléans with envy. When we bought a place down the street from their design centre, they were a natural choice for a partner. We were working with a close friend on the design and inspiration for our planned renovation and Oakwood’s team was absolutely amazing at working with us. They were able to provide their own recommendations and design insight while working within the vision Design Candy had presented and, unbelievably were willing to work with the insane timeline we’d set for ourselves (a little over 4 weeks!) Start to finish. Let me also say right now, EVERY single person we spoke to going into this renovation told us that renovations run over time and over budget and no amount of praise for Oakwood or belief in their process and teams was going to change that. (Spoilers: They NAILED the timeline!) The Job: •Completely demo and renovate Kitchen •Upgrade home electrical service from 100A to 200A •Sand and refinish ALL hardwood in the house •Disassemble, sand, refinish the main staircase and replace all wood spindles with new metal ones •Update most major lighting fixtures •Repaint the entire house Timeline: •4.5 Weeks until we moved in (Start to finish) Step 1 Start with some inspired designs, napkin sketches and continue forward! During the design phase before we took possession of the house we coordinated with Sharon at Oakwood, she helped coordinated all of the moving pieces, created the schedules, budgets and timelines. She was an absolute godsend and our hero through this ENTIRE process, not only was she always multiple steps ahead of us ensuring that everything was going to line up, she was proactive in helping to enforce Oakwood’s core process and make sure our stress was in-check at all times! Step 2 In order to help keep timelines moving, we volunteered to take on the demo of the kitchen ourselves as we could start on the evening we took possession and have the kitchen ready for a crew to tackle the next morning! This is where I want to highlight the absolute insanity that was the next 4 weeks of our lives and the incredible professionalism of the entire Oakwood team. Not only were they able to coordinate all of the electricians, plumbers, painters, contractors, flooring specialists, appliance installers and deliveries they did so without a missing a beat even when one of our appliances arrived damaged in shipping! If you’ve ever wondered what an entire kitchen and appliances look like in boxes, here is a small idea of what happened next after the demolition was completed and the kitchen arrived Nearly 3 weeks into the project it was incredible seeing just how much had been done, cabinets were going up, plumbing had been done, the countertop team was in and measuring everything to finalize the cutting and polishing of countertops and we couldn’t believe how close things were getting to move-in day! As always we absolutely loved getting our daily end-of-day reports from our on-site project manager who summarized everything that had happened that day as well as the text updates from various tradespeople as they completed different steps and wanted to send pictures of work they were proud of, we could not possibly have been happier or felt more comfortable with the team that we knew was taking such good care of our new house! One thing that blew us away during the entire process was despite the 20+ people involved with all of the various elements of the renovation, painting, floors and more every single one of them spent painstaking time focusing on small details, little perfections and making sure every element matched the designs, specs and was absolute to the standard that Oakwood prides itself on! With so much going on it was easy to forget that the entire house was also being sanded, restained and painted from top to bottom! With so much going on, we wouldn’t want to spoil too much of the surprise, the end results of the work that Oakwood, Design Candy and so many others did for our new home was beyond words. We continue to be humbled every time we come home that we’re able to call this ours and enjoy the craftsmanship and work that went into every small detail. Conclusion Since the renovation work was completed and as we’ve settled into our new home I have not yet missed an opportunity to talk about how great an experience working with Candace, Sharon, John, Marc and the entire Oakwood and Design Candy teams were. When you’re dealing with a world of chaos in a renovation where every timeline is dependant on another, suppliers and work can so easily be tripped up by simple mistakes or oversights, Oakwood stands head and shoulders above any other company we’ve ever spoken to. They have detailed reporting and processes to keep owners involved in every step of the process while also giving a ton of confidence that everything is happening just the way it is supposed to. They easily adapt when the unexpected happens and were proactive in helping manage our expectations and mitigate our stress throughout. This was easily the largest personal project either of us has ever taken on and overseen as customers and we cannot speak highly enough of the professionalism, results, and efficiency in which everything was delivered. We’re looking forward to our next project with the Oakwood team and are happy to act as a reference so others can avoid the renovations headaches and nightmares we’ve heard so much about from other companies and contractors! ~Graeme & Steph See our full story here: https://medium.com/@graemebarlow/our-oakwood-design-candy-experience-49ee04206eb4

Oakwood is a very professional design and build team. They strive to bring the best possible service to their clients. Their attention to detail is unlike any other company we have worked with in the past. The quality of their work is always top notch and we look forward to working with them for many years to come.

They are the most skilled in Ottawa. People that really care. I highly recommend them. We love our new renovation, it was like living in a new home!

My condominium upgrades went south with the first contractor I hired. Thank you! Oakwood for taking the reigns completing on TIME and on BUDGET not to mention the numerous errors corrected left by my original hire!

We are building our luxury home with Oakwood. They have very professional team. Very clever and up to date with all the technologies and design. They custom build our home according to our family need and wishes. Very respectful people, they build a great relationship with us. High end builders and very professional!!! Highly recommend!!!

We highly recommend Oakwood because of the workmanship and the quality of work they had provided for our kitchen renovation. My wife and I are very happy and satisfied with their services and products. The project manager and technicians we dealt with are very polite, dependable and customer-oriented, they essentially had the same goal as ours to complete the renovation on time and on budget and also to meet our expectations. They have warranty on their products, so they promptly addressed the stuff that we were not satisfied. We wouldn’t regret paying a little bit extra to hire Oakwood for their quality, and mostly importantly it was a stress-free renovation overall. Before hiring Oakwood, we hired another contractor to do our kitchen renovation, but the contractor didn’t complete the renovation as promised. Then we engaged Oakwood to continue the kitchen work, they understood the scope of work and provided professional advices throughout the renovation. Taking on somebody’s unfinished work wasn’t easy, however, Oakwood did an amazing work and did everything correctly. We finally got our dream kitchen! Thank you Oakwood!! A special thanks to Scott Bartels. We are pleasant and fortunate having Scott to renovate our kitchen as he is a very skillful, professional and diligent technician who provides outstanding workmanship to meet our expectations.

Oakwood did a complete exterior renovation including building a new oversized double garage all new windows and doors, new siding, roof, and stone. This also including an upstairs bathroom Reno as well and plumbing stack, and electrical service replacement. Given the size of this project Oakwood proved their reputation through highly trained professionals, general professionalism, and fantastic support. They also successfully navigated several challenges that a project of this size co,es with.

We contracted Oakwood to for our renovation project because of their excellent reputation that they stand by their work. We are so glad that we did! They meticulous reviewed the work of the trades and ensured the work was up to their high quality Oakwood standards before considering the job complete. They met their commitments. Their designer was professional, customer-centred, and talented. Our “new” home is better than we could have expected.

I have worked with Oakwood both personally and professionally over the last 6 years. They have always operated with the utmost integrity. They always met their commitments and if a challenge came up it was dealt with swiftly and efficiently. Great people.

Very fast response to an urgent need. We are amazed at the quick turnaround and the quality of the work.