Schroeder Design/Build, Inc.

Terrible remodeling company. We’re on week 22 of an 8 week project that started in Oct. It’s march. They still aren’t done and don’t seem to care. We’ve had 4 different project managers, the work done by their trades was horrible - crooked drywall, mismatched trim, etc. They do not use proper site protection. They would schedule work to be done, we would leave town to get out of their way only to come home to find no work had been completed. Don’t email, call or try to talk about your project’s problems with the owner Andrew Schroeder, he won’t respond. In his online profile it states "As the CEO, Andrew directs his focus across every facet of a project, meticulously navigating from the grand vision to the tiniest intricacies" - We're 4 months past our contract completion date, have expressed the concerns about the horrible quality of work and length of time to get the work completed, and we haven't heard from the guy... Poor communication, horrible quality of work, bad management, and absentee ownership. Take your business to a company who actually cares, you’ll thank me later.

Overall, Schroeder was a great company to work with for our renovation. There were definitely ups and downs along the way but in the end I am glad we decided to choose them as our company. We interviewed several companies, both general contractors and design/build. We felt most comfortable with Schroeder because of their reputation, reviews and they are a one-stop shop. They use an app to keep us informed throughout the process. After several design meetings Schroeder did their due diligence to provide an accurate estimate that took into account as much as possible before they opened up walls to begin construction. The conducted a "trade walk" twice, to get accurate estimates for our project. We have a split foyer home, built in the 1950s. Our renovation included opening up our main level to create an open floor plan for our kitchen, sun room, living room to be one cohesive area. We also added a small addition on the side of house to create more space for our master bedroom, a walk-in closet, expand and renovate the master bath, re-balance the two other bedrooms on the upper level (one was small, the other large), add new attic stairs and replace the railings in the split foyer. Because of the age of our home we also needed to update the electrical panel and the pipes. Our project was originally supposed to take 15-19 weeks. Given the areas that were being worked on and our family schedules, we chose to move out during the renovation. There were a few things that were not ideal during our renovation: #1 budget, our original budget was $350K including all fees. At the construction agreement signing, the time right before construction was to begin, the project was over by $30-$40K. At this time, I felt it was also too late to make adjustments without significantly setting back the overall timeline. It would cause re-design/cutting items and have downstream effects that would have impacted the timeline for our short-term lease. #2 Timeline. Our project manager (PM) changed mid-way, both PMs we were worked with were very knowledgeable and available when there were issues/questions. However, our project seemed to stall under the original PM the new PM, Mike Marek, was able to get our project back on track. In the end our project was 6 weeks delayed for the turn-over. The final punch list took an additional 2 months to complete. It also took significant effort and follow-up on my part to ensure all items were completed. In the end, I am very satisfied with final outcome of our project and would highly recommend Schroeder as a company to work with. They have extremely skilled/diligent staff among their team that helped us along the way including Jessica, Mike, Nelson, Edwin, Oswaldo and Sara. Also after moving back in some issues came up, e.g., a leak in the kitchen sink, pipes that leaked and caused ceiling damage. Schroeder immediately responded and fixed all issues as if they never occurred. They also offer a warranty for all their work.

Schroeder Design Build built a second story addition for us (a “pop top”). This included removing the roof, and building the new 3rd story (we call it the penthouse) which included a bedroom with walk in closet and full bathroom, den / office, and new stairway from second floor. They did an excellent job, and I would definitely recommend using them.

Our project with Schroeder, estimated at 12-15 weeks, wound up taking more than a full year. It was an unnecessarily stressful, frustrating year, that their own employees referred to as “embarrassing” and “incompetent” at various points. The project was mainly focused on our kitchen, 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, a staircase, and a fireplace facade. After 15 weeks, all that had been completed was demolition and some rough-ins - for months, we lived in a demolished home with no kitchen, just waiting for updates (pic 1 below - our living room and “kitchen”). The big problem was that Schroeder failed to identify one of the only walls we were removing as load bearing. It took months for them to just come up with a plan to address it (we were told their engineer was on leave). When the plan was finally drawn up, their engineer failed to account for an exterior door, so it took another week to run the calculations to determine that the load would hold over the door frame, and another 2 weeks for the county to review that letter. Eventually, the beam was installed someplace different than we had discussed, which caused downstream problems. We then failed inspections 5 times over several weeks - the first time, the wiring was just hanging from the ceiling (picture 2), no fireproofing had been done, and the inspector was baffled that he was even being scheduled. The second time, the right permit hadn’t been requested, approved and issued. The third time, Schroeder didn’t have the approved plans in the house for the inspector to review… and on and on. We didn’t have even a barely-functioning kitchen (e.g. floor, sink) for over 6 months after demolition. To make matters worse, they did not do much cleaning until a new project manager came on several months into the project, so we were left trying to clean drywall dust and various demolition debris after the good days when any work happened. It was a comedy of errors that could have been avoided through better planning and more consistent management. From demolition to completion over a year later, we went through 5 different project managers, at least one of whom was fired mid-job. Several subcontractors, including tile, drywall, and paint were either fired during the job or (we were told) shortly after because the work they did was so poor. The people Schroeder hired to do some of the most detailed work had little-to-no experience in what they were asked to do, including tile and paint (it was the same guy for both), and the concrete pour for the fireplace (it was cracking after days so we wound up having to just tile over it - again with the unqualified tile guy, even though we were told they brought on someone with more experience). When plans changed after the walls were opened up, the drawings were never updated, so subsequent sub-contractors were left having to figure out solutions on the fly. Change orders were built before they were approved on multiple occasions, which led to poor results.

Schroeder did excellent work on a series of discrete remodeling jobs on our old and unique farmhouse. This includes converting a closet to a bathroom in the early 1900s part of the house, building a new laundry room into the 1990s garage, and some other smaller jobs. The work was beautifully finished on a fast schedule and with minimal change orders. (Our rapid deadline was necessitated by a new baby on the way.) This is really impressive given some of the challenges in the older part of our house, and the numerous, puzzling, complexities in that space. Who knew that we had old plaster walls encapsulated with framing and drywall? Not us! Who knew that our sewer pipe could be in a museum? Not us! Who knew that we had balloon framing? Not us! We didn't even know what balloon framing was. Thankfully, our PM Steve really enjoyed the history and the challenge. And the result was fantastic and finished weeks before the baby arrived. Thank goodness. We hope to work with Schroeder again in the future! And maybe our house will even run out of surprises.

SDB did a great job with our kitchen design helping us to get back into our residence after a fire. Excellent communications and customer service and very skilled designers.

My husband and I had the pleasure of working with Schroeder Design/Build Inc. after we experienced a whole house fire in 2018. As I use a wheelchair, we not only needed to find an excellent design and construction firm, we needed to contract with a firm who understood ADA compliance issues. Schroeder has long standing experience with aging in place design. They addressed concerns in the architectural phase that had not even occurred to me which make my life in my home easier. Schroeder also worked with our insurance company as needed to resolve technical issues to the satisfaction of all concerned. Because we suffered a whole house loss, the rebuild was a long process, but Schroeder kept us up to date with weekly in person status meetings. This allowed all parties to recognize and address issues early and get them resolved quickly. Schroeder Design/Build is a family run small business that can handle large and small jobs. They provide a warranty to ensure satisfaction after the move in is complete. They have won many local and national awards. I highly recommend Schroeder Design/Build.

We had the best experience with Schroeder from the first meeting to the final walk through. We redesigned living/dining/kitchen into a large open concept. The design team was wonderful, knowledgeable, and helped us pick the best options for us. The GC was friendly and always had a smile. Whenever we had a question he got us the answer. When there was an issue he fixed it. The trades people were also great, the painters, electrician, and flooring people were especially exceptional. Everyone that walked through our door was friendly, knew they trade, and did a wonderful job. I highly recommend Schroeder Design and Build to my friends and family. When it comes time for phase two we will without a doubt be going with Schroeder!

We hired this company to build an in-law suite. We were very pleased with the sales representative and the design team. However, the project management did not meet our expectations. During construction we faced several major issues, among them: a frozen broken pipe which could have been preventable, an interior wall that was placed incorrectly which resulted in a smaller cabinet area than originally planned, and an incorrect placement of a door threshold which allowed water to come into the room. Although all these items were adequately addressed , it took several calls and messages to get project manager's response. For a good portion of the project we didn't see the project manager on site and it was hard to get him to response to our concerns promptly. Now that we are in the project warranty period and need to have several items fixed, we are finding again a slow response to our requests. Although work quality was satisfactory, the many issues we faced during construction and the lack of good communication with project management made our overall experience less than satisfactory.

Our project came in a little over the initial budget, but it was ahead of schedule and they did a nice job keeping us up to date on what drives costs and options to keep them down. It took a little wrangling to get a few last things taken care of, but overall they did a great job and we would consider Schroeder again for a big project.

Six years after buying our home we loved our location, but our house no longer worked for our family. After looking to move and being disappointed, we began interviewing design/build firms. From the start, Schroeder was the most responsive and most willing to address to our questions and concerns. Having only ever remodeled a bath, we were nervous to complete a whole home renovation. Our project included adding on to 3 of the 4 levels of our home, rearranging the layout, adding a master suite, remodeling a bath, creating an open concept main level and designing a new kitchen, new doors/windows and a deck. Schroeder’s online communication system was key to keeping everyone in the loop and making the entire process run smoothly. The design team was a tremendous resource. They truly listened to our wants/needs and helped us navigate endless options with such ease. We were informed every step of the way during construction and our project was completed within the estimated time frame. Six months later we love our home more than we ever imagined. We have received endless compliments from everyone who has entered our home and would highly recommend Schroeder.

Very professional company. Top notch designers and project managers. They do excellent design/build work and have won many industry awards.