I live in a 1600 sqft one bedroom loft with one bathroom and a small kitchen. The major plan was to double the size of the kitchen and create a new ensuite bathroom and a separate 2 piece bathroom using a portion of the original bathroom. I also created a new mini laundry room and almost doubled the size of my in-suite storage. There were changes to electrical, plumbing, mechanical and structural as well as altering the condo sprinklers. Needless to say not a small job.
I planned the renovation a year ahead of time. I was fully prepared with architectural and other permitted drawings for every facet of the reno. I then contacted 5 companies that I found on homestars and word of mouth. NPC was my top pick and I am extremely happy that I found them!
Right from the beginning of my vetting process, Natanael was clearly the most responsive GC from all of the companies I contacted. He provided me with a timely quote and replied to every single one of my emails afterwards within 24 hours. I went through all of the quotes very carefully. His experience began to show very early on in the process. His quote was the most competitive and the most cohesive and inclusive. He was also booking 6 months in advance so it was nice to see that his services were being demanded by a lot of people.
There were no surprises that came up about changes in cost to my renovation. He stuck to his word on everything he quoted. Not only that, I asked him to do somethings that were a little different or a little more involved than the original quote. Every time he was very reasonable about the changes. Sometimes he even did them for free! I was so relieved to have a GC on my job that wasn't eagerly awaiting for any changes so that he could gouge me on it. He never did once. It saved me a lot of sleepless nights.
Like any renovation, I did encounter multiple setbacks. I've done this a few times now and this is simply a fact of life with large scale renovations. You really cant avoid it. I can honestly say that these were almost always completely out of Natanael's hands. Miscommunications happen and even I was at fault some of the times.
What I can't stress enough about Natanael, and it is the main reason why you should hire him, is that no matter what setback happened in my reno, he did stop until I was completely satisfied. His dedication to customer service is something you don't see everyday and certainly not in today's times of laziness. I admit I am very particular so often I demanded a lot, probably too much, but he did not stop until I was happy. He was almost always on my side of every issue and if he wasn't it was because i was being unreasonable. After my job was mostly over and paid for, there were a few small things that needed to be finished. I was never worried he would never come back. In fact, he came back within 1-2 weeks every time I asked him to over the course of the next year. Often times for things he didn't have to.
If you start a renovation and expect things to go perfectly then you are setting yourself up for disappointment before things even start. Of course, price, skill, quality, and reliability are important. But what is the MOST IMPORTANT thing is dedication to the customer., no matter how long it takes. I can honestly say Natanael's dedication to costumer satisfaction is one of the best I've ever seen or heard of and THAT'S the main reason why you should hire him. I will be hiring him again in the future 100%.
