London Design Build

The project: a 20+ year old cedar deck attached to house that was in disrepair plus railing considerations for front entry. I had received several quotes from deck builders in the area before Ben from London Design came out. The previous bids were competitive but just rip and replace. When Ben reviewed the site, there was an 'aha' moment you can only get from an architect/designer. Ben then came up with a concept to expand the deck, remove some perimeter railing treatment and open the space up. It turned out to be a fantastic recommendation, modernizing a 108 year old property while opening up the view into the garden. The London Design Build two-person build team were fantastic. Not only do they demonstrate total command over carpentry and TimberTech installation, but they efficiently built two fences that far exceeded my expectations. I get lots of compliments already. The railing treatment was installed by same crew and they did a great job navigating the porch steps and uneven foundation toward the front entry steps. The crew interacted with me daily, got my input on different implementation challenges that came up, and were fun to be around. I really appreciated having the same two people throughout as they demonstrated real ownership and attention to quality. We made some modifications to the side fence treatment and Ben quickly provided a quote, then the team got new materials and executed the adjustment quickly without any hassle. I would definitely recommend London Design Build. Resist the temptation to go with a low-ball bid of builders that will just copy your old, existing deck treatment and execute it quickly; rinse and repeat for them. Get a design expert like Ben onsite to expand the possibilities and treat your project with unique nature--very happy I did it will bring joy and great value to the home. I already have future home improvement projects for London in mind.

London Design Build transformed our backyard from a barren plot into our dream oasis. Initially, we were faced with nothing but dirt, sod, and an unsightly slope, unsure of how to make the space functional. Ben took the time to consult with us, truly understanding our vision for the yard, and then crafted a design that exceeded our expectations. The final product is absolutely stunning, and we're thrilled with the results. Our outdoor space is now perfect for entertaining, and guests are consistently impressed by its look and feel. The London Design Build team was always communicative and professional, and we are incredibly grateful for their outstanding work.

We consulted with Ben on a renovation of our front yard and carport. He was a pleasure to work with and we were very pleased with his design concept. His 3D rendering of the proposed project was highly professional and offered a great way to visualize the entirety of the project. Although we did not engage with him on the build of the project, I was still confident that he had the experience and knowhow to deliver the expertise necessary to realize the project.

I’m always hesitant to post anecdotal experiences for products or services, but when you truly have an exceptional experience with a company, I thought I needed to share my experience with others. After living in our house for 15 years, my wife and I were ready for a change. We heavily considered moving to a larger house to accommodate our growing family, but the growing list of “cons” in moving began growing quickly. From both an effort and logistics perspective as well as a financial perspective. We decided to see what would be possible in our current home to extend our living space and get more out of our existing investment. We received 3 referrals from friends. It was clear from the beginning that Ben Middlemiss from London Design Build had the most comprehensive experience of the vendors I spoke with. Ben’s design was breathtaking and his “art of the possible” for what we could accomplish in our space was far beyond what we had previously imagined possible. He made the entire process simple and straight forward. He handled all permitting, ensure the design would meet my city zoning codes and handled all of the engineering. The other vendors wanted to push many of those burdens back on us. One of our biggest challenges was deciphering the laws to determine how big of a structure we could build. Ben’s design came within 1.5 square feet of the maximum allowable permeable surface. Ben maximized every foot. Ben began by building a full 3D design so that we could virtually walk around and experience the different features. When we chose to move forward, we went with nearly every recommendation. The only exception was choosing not to include a modern fire feature in the middle of our turfed area that would have been great, but we needed the play space for the dogs. The major construction was a large modern hipped roof structure built with solid steel vertical supports and a gorgeous wood timber beam cross section roof. This area was filled with an amazing kitchen that included a grill, vent hood, sink, refrigerator, and a ton of countertop space. It has made hosting events a breeze. The large gas fireplace is the center piece of the covered space. It was built with thick solid tile stone and provides a great wow factor when guests arrive and from nearly every angle. I can’t go into detail on all of the features of the back yard as I would be typing for days. The maintenance free turf yard, the indestructible PVC multilevel decking, the overhead heaters, the color changing lighting system, and the professional style planters have turned our back, side, and front yards into a complete urban oasis. The highly functional space has dramatically expanded the total living space of our house. Ben is second to none when it comes to designing a space that met all of the needs that I, my wife, and my kids could throw at him. I would use Ben again without hesitation for any future projects and recommend him all the time to friends.

We’ve used Ben and the London Design Build Team for 2 projects in the last several years. Ben and team have approached each project with more creativity than any other company that we had bid on either project. As an example with our recent project, a landscaping lighting project, Ben recommend lighting up the architecture of our home. No other lighting professional had even mentioned that but merely focused on lighting up the trees and shrubs that we’d enquired about. Ben stretched our imaginations and did it all the while coming in at a cost equal to and less than most while providing additional lights and allowing us to really showcase our home in a way in which we had not imagined. Needless to say we couldn’t be more pleased and are shocked at the amount of folks in the neighborhood that have commented on how great it looks! We’d agree! Even while here working on that project Ben and team did some touch ups from previous work that they had done that were in no fault of their own but due to settling, etc., over the years. We’ve recommended Ben and the London Design Build Team to many friends over the years and it is to no surprise that nearly all of them have used Ben and team to complete their home project. It goes without saying but if London Design Build isn’t on your list to come out and discuss your project with you then you’re missing out.

Ben was fantastic in bringing our ideas and desires to life! The designs were beautiful and he paid very close attention to detail taking into consideration our wish list and budget. The videos depicting 3-d rendering of the proposed project was extraordinarily helpful. London Design was very patient with us as we asked to see a few different options in regards to layout. We highly recommend Ben and London Design to create an outdoor masterpiece for you and your family to enjoy for years to come!

We have enjoyed the results of London Design Build's beautiful design and outstanding craftsmanship for over 14 years. Our back yard space (pavers, deck, gardens and water feature) are a great source of joy for our family and friends (even more so in these home-bound 'Covid 19' days). The quality construction and top grade materials has kept everything looking consistently beautiful. Ben and his crew do incredible work and we highly recommend them to anyone interested in working with the best.

Great work and very responsive to any questions or concerns along the way. Ben and his crew came up with good design and result was exactly what we were hoping for.

London Design Build was an amazing and positive experience from beginning to end! Ben really listened to our vision and encouraged us to share inspiration images to our board in Houzz. He then really brought that to life with the plans and 3D video; We were able to talk through all of the elements and make adjustments with a realistic view of what it would look like in our space. When the work started, the work area was clean and organized every day. We always came home to a clean area and enjoyed discovering all of the work that was done that day. Our project was completed (mostly) on time with a few weather delays. Our project is the low maintenance outdoor living area we had imagined. We highly recommend London Design Build, and would use them again should we have a need!! Cheers!!

Ben came up with a great design and presentation. Good communication and follow up. Quality work and everyone easy to work with. Love my backyard and am looking forward to another project with London Design and Build.

Hired Ben and team in Jan 2015 for a sizable project in our backyard. While we are happy with what we got in the end, the process of getting there took way too long. Paid for a premium experience, got sub standard performance and a lot of mistakes that just did not meet our expectations. Pros: 3D rendering of project was helpful was able to deliver the project vision, delivered everything is scope uses high quality materials in project Cons: Terrible communication about project status No commitment to timelines and bad completion rate on anything that was committed Took over two years to finish. Did not see any work progress for months at a time. Work site was a mess and overly disruptive. Sub-contractors and work crew left unsupervised, or given unclear direction. Led to a lot of mistakes and duplicative work.

I contacted London after seeing their work at a friends house to convert our backyard into an all year living space. London was unique in that Ben's vision was matched by his team's ability to implement it. The project was significant with a 18 ft high cathedral beamed living space, fire pit, hot tub, landscaping and irrigation. We spend countless hours outside after building this. We could not have been more pleased with the outcome. It's really spectacular and nothing we would have thought of on our own. If you're ready to get something exceptional I suggest calling Ben @ London for a consultation and design to get some ideas. We are very happy we did.

Ben and the team at London Design Build are very professional and outstanding! The Design & Leveraging Interactive Software- When we decided to transform our backyard into a new outdoor living space, Ben listened and providing opinions based on what we wanted. It started with a sketch, then using interactive software, Ben literally built the new outdoor living space, decks, and walk ways into our existing house. The software gave us a real 3D view of the project as a part of our house, with a full walk through video, as well as still photos. We could see it "for real" versus just a black and white paper blueprint. Within the software, we could change the stone type from river rock to flat stones, the color of counter tops, decking, and patio floor options. The result was no surprises, and we saw the software version come to life in the real project completion. * The design video can be viewed on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ArD2pxilO0 Project Scoping & Proposal Detail- The final proposal was extremely thorough, with details on every phase, all labor hours, specific materials and quantities, permit fee estimates, and cost per project phase. We had zero unanticipated costs or surprises, a very important factor to me. The 2 changes orders we had where our decision, and exact specs and costs where added. We got exactly what was expected and paid for. Construction & Project Management- The team is extremely professional and friendly, and after 4 months become friends with us and the kids. They where always here on time, and would clean up and organize at the end of each work day. A big whiteboard was in the back that had a running calendar of tasks for the week, scheduled hour by hour noting what work would be done on what day, as an example, concrete pouring Wed 2:00pm to 5:00pm. I found it very helpful and was impressed by the organization…it was cool to see what was happening when! Completion & Follow up- When the project was completed, wow…what a transformation to a "5 star living space" that's truly as if it was built into our house. We did a final walkthrough together, and created a punch list of little fixes here and there. Ben has stayed in touch 1 year later, coming back to fix a few loose wall stones and make sure we are happy with the project. Simply put, London Design Build is first class and as good as it gets. Preston Jones, Sammamish, Beaver Lake Estates

London Design Build is great to work with. They designed my whole backyard 5 years ago. I love the 3D walk-through design. It helped me visualize everything and tweak all the features to exactly how i wanted them. I have been building out the design in phases and London Design Build is always available and responsive to answer any questions about the design as I continue to build my dream yard. These guys are seriously creative and came up with ideas i didn't even know were possible. Highly recommended!

I worked with Ben and his company on my rooftop deck. The project was amazing, from the first blueprint, to the planning and the execution of the build out, Ben is exceptionally talented. We have since done a couple more phases (additional lighting and back side of the deck build out), I don't have anybody come up on my rooftop without being blown away. I highly recommend London-i.