Marrokal Design & Remodeling

My project manager and design team made me feel like the only client the had. Very personable group always available to answer questions and give advice.

There was never a breakdown of exactly what we were paying for. the project was way too expensive for what we wanted and ended up with. Some of the work was simply unacceptable and it was very stressful trying to get anything corrected. We did not realize that our first contact was a salesman and would not be involved once we signed the contract. Since he kept pushing for things we didn't want or need I can only guess that he must have been given a commission on the "sale of the project". I felt his only interest was in moving windows and appliances to raise the cost of the project but little to no interest in small practical details that were important to me (light over kitchen sink, light in middle of kitchen island, color of lights, depth of certain cabinets, placement of light switches , type of skylight and many other details that were important to me). The lack of attention to detail was very upsetting to us. I didn't realize that the design team only worked from pictures and plans after the first visit. No one came to our project to check on things during construction and no one came to see the final job. I often felt that everyone at Marrokal was so involved in more important jobs than ours that they had no time or interest in our project. The terrible stress I felt from this project was not from the usual things that can go wrong but instead from the way we were treated.

Reason For Choosing

I interviewed several design and build firms and the reason I chose Marrokal was because of Heather and Barbie. They took the time to look over my house and take pictures. I felt like they put the time into giving me an estimate. They seemed to balance what we wanted with keeping the cost down. They also seemed pretty honest. Other firms wanted to know my budget, but I don't recall Heather or Barbie asking me. I also have a neighbor who used Marrokal and was pleased with your work.

This was not our first rodeo with Marrokal. The first project in 2012 was a 6-month duration with a hard deadline for an external event. That project was properly managed and communicated, despite several surprises as the work unfolded We were very satisfied with the outcome in that project. That was our motivation for engaging Marrokal again for this latest project. The current project has been rather poorly managed with intermittent communication, and is currently 2 months late over a total duration of 5 months. The original project estimate was 3 months, and it is still incomplete.

Marrokal design company was an absolute pleasure to work with. My kitchen remodel came out perfect! Everyone was professional and friendly. I would highly recommend them to everyone.

Marrokal has great trades working for them - they are pricey. The work they do is beautiful. They are a solid company, not perfect. But, will do their best to make sure you are a satisfied client.

It's difficult to place into words the outstanding oversight provided by Marrokal Project Manager Kevin Hanson. Kevin was totally on top of daily work activity vs. schedule while maintaining visibility of all required inspections. Schedule and budget were maintained as per projections.

Our experience with Marrokal Design & Remodeling was very positive. Starting with the design process, they listened to our wants/needs and approached our project by thinking "outside the box" and gave us suggestions that we hadn't thought possible, giving us several options in different price ranges. The process was efficient and ran smoothly 95% of the time. The few glitches that came up were resolved quickly and professionally.

Relunctely.

Marrokal has growing pains. They have more jobs than they have the capacity to manage. Their project managers are overworked and spread too thin. Their contractors are also spread too thin, and they have a hard time scheduling contractors to do the work and your site can go for a week or more without any work being done, which is frustrating if you are living in your home while it's being remodeled. Details slip through the cracks, which result in additional weeks of delays down the line. One example: they forgot to camera the main sewage line to the bathroom being remodeled at the beginning of the project. Months later, we had to demo a 4-foot hole in our brand new bathroom floor to replace a pipe that would have taken a fraction of the cost had it been done at the outset. That led to a 2-week delay. Another oversight led to a 4-week dispute between two subcontractors over who was responsible for painting the flashing strip on a new roof. Another oversight involved a mistake in the design package, which neglected to specify that there would be recessed medicine cabinets. This error was not spotted until after the framing, plumbing, electrical and drywall were in place. So the area had to be reframed, the plumbing moved, the electric rewired, and the drywall redone. That one cost us about 3 weeks.

We now enjoy our home so much more. We sometimes just enter a room, look around and smile.

Design Consultants Knowledgeable

The design consultants helped us envision possibilities we did not know existed. The kitchen came together so well with a combination of beauty and functionality.

The Design Consultants were amazing.

We chose Marrokal based on their reputation and the professionalism of their sales/design staff. We can't say enough about Rick and Erin. Our trouble started after the "pass the baton" meeting. Our project manager did not listen to us, and as a result there were things done that we are unhappy with. The time line was ridiculously long, and all we ever got as an explanation was a shrug. He did not communicate with us adequately, and the schedules he did finally start giving us were useless and unnecessarily protracted. For instance, he projected 3 weeks for floor installation, when the floor was already installed. Again with the shrug, and no amendment to the schedule.While remodel looks beautiful, and we are comfortable in it, our project manager managed to take away all the joy of the project and leave us unhappy. We will NOT recommend Marrokal to anyone, which is a shame, as the age of our neighborhood could have garnered them lots of work with necessary updates.

Likely To Recommend

We haven’t worked with any other Design Remodeling firm for comparison and we can’t guarantee that everyone will have the same experience we had. But we can and will honestly tell people that Marrokal did a great job for us.

Reason For Choosing

The thought of having the entire process "under one roof" with one go to project manager throughout the remodel was appealing. The staff were easy to work with from flexible scheduling and dedication to making things right.

We had a terrible experience at Marrokal. The only exception was Steve Underwood, who was a professional Project Manager and did his best to work through some very difficult issues caused by poor design work. Gary Marrokal walked out of a meeting with us because he didn't want to hear about our issues. Now they've harassed us by bugging us to fill out this survey. I tried to ignore it, but it keeps showing up in my inbox and I am getting calls on my cell phone about it. So here is my honest assessment.

Never again. Hidden cost. Ineffective and misinformed consulting team. Unneeded delays.

Marrokal did an amazing job on our home remodeling project. The design, quality of workmanship, and support Marrokal provided to us was outstanding. We would recommend Marrokal to anyone considering a remodel.

I sincerely wish I could recommend Marrokal. Their success is a benefit to my home. But, after the problems we encountered and frustrations we had while dealing with the design consultants and construction snafu’s I don’t think we could ever recommend them. There was just not enough supervision and quality control.

Unfortunately we were very disappointed with the quality, timeliness, and the attention to our project. They came very highly recommended, and they were a big disappointment.

Love our remodel. Jason our design consultant was excellent! We love our new space!

Marrokal was key in turning our home into our dream home. Unexpected items did occur but they were handled professionally and fairly. We were very pleased with the entire Marrokal team.

I would highly recommend Marrokal Design and Remodeling's Project Manager, John Simko. John is very knowledgeable.

I'd recommend them to anybody! I've given away so many of their pens.

Additional Comments

I love Marrokal, I love them. Two of my friends had their houses remodeled by them. One of them is a building inspector so when he recommended them, I knew he was doing something right.

Marrokal did a great end-to-end job of understanding the vision I had for reimagining my new living space. Their expertise and professionalism made my dream house a reality.

Area For Improvement

I don't think I could have had expectations on something like this. It was a wild ride but the end is here and it is all worth it.