Design Alternatives Inc.

Greg and Design Alternatives built our dream home! We have been so happy with the quality of construction and design. Our friends and family have even now reached out to Greg to help them build their dream home. Even post build, Greg has been so helpful on an ongoing basis and we would 100% recommend him and his company!

We were very fortunate to have stumbled upon an inventory home that was being built by Design Alternatives.
We can confidently say that Greg and his crew went above and beyond to ensure that we were happy with the final project. All changes/requests, big or small, were welcomed without hesitation. Greg gave unbiased, honest and upfront advice throughout and his transparency was second to none.
Greg and his crew were very respectful and the pride in their craftsmanship is evident throughout.
We would absolutely recommend Design Alternatives to anyone looking to have a project completed, whether it be a small renovation or a full build.

Greg and team spent over a year helping us design, improve and build our dream cottage. With the help of a Toronto-based architect, DA was a great choice for our family. The cottage is entirely custom, lots of design and construction challenges that were well were dealt with along the way. The finished product is exceptional even to the most critical eye. We would not hesitate to work with Greg and his exceptional crew again for any future projects.

We engaged Design Alternatives (DA) to renovate an existing cottage & add approx 2000 sq ft of additional living space. We complicated the project by wanting to live onsite while the work was being done. Certainly this must have added some challenges for the crews. We were pleased with the progress & the continuous dialogue with DA to incorporate changes/upgrades as the project continued. Throughout the project they provided suggestions & helpful advice that kept the job on schedule. With their guidance we selected several products we were unfamiliar with that, in hindsight, we have been very pleased with. There were no surprises during the project & the completion was on schedule. DA consulted with us throughout & following this project ensuring our expectations were met. This will likely be our only project of this magnitude but we were satisfied with the workmanship, timeliness, accommodation to change requests & overall performance of Design Alternatives. During our job & following we have seen other DA builds that demonstrate the quality & value Design Alternatives offers.

After consulting and comparing other companies, we choose Design Alternatives to build a home few years ago. We initially had great confidence in their abilities, and we liked the fact that they were a local company. Despite their many years of experience, we found them to be lacking competence and professionalism in several areas. Mistakes were made that such an experienced builder should not make. There were gaps in the design drawings, pricing (we ended up spending WAY over budget) and attention to details were missed that you trust your builder for. For instance, door openings were made that weren't standard sizes. Consequently, we were forced to buy custom made doors and greater expense. Our confidence was eroding as the build continued and we let them proceed. In hindsight, we should have stopped the building and insisted on more accountability. Some flaws were corrected, but not all. On site project management seemed lacking. The most significant error made was that the entire staircase was built backwards and despite the obvious error, it was installed. The consequence of this decision is that we have a cavity to the basement from the living room, installed in such a way that a door cannot even be installed to close it off. Some the trade workers were very skilled and competent while others were quite lacking. Problems from the latter have continued to plague us. Near completion of the project, we were fed up and just wanted them off the site. We ended our relationship with Design Alternatives and brought in our own trades to finish the work. We are still redoing work that we paid Design Alternatives to do that was substandard. The screens of the screened in porch did not last one year, and they blew out of the frames. We paid for the work that was done. We are not unreasonable people and do not expect people to work for free. When we had our final building inspection for the occupancy permit, the inspector was at a loss for words for the descrepancy between the drawings and the backward staircase. We hope this review will help other consumers. Nuff said.