13003 NE 85th St, Kirkland Washington 98033
This year we completed a major renovation with McAdams. A few years ago we had them redo our powder room and laundry room as a test run to see what they were like to work with. Suffice it to say, we were so wowed by the experience that we knew we could trust them to complete the big project that we had been hoping to do for years. This whole-house remodel involved a complete kitchen redo, removing and adding walls to reconfigure our floor plan, a complete redo of our master bath, and expansion of our house's square footage with two small additions (one to the kitchen and one to our bathroom). In addition, every room in the house was "touched" in some way: new lighting throughout, new millwork, changing out regular doors for pocket doors, new plumbing fixtures, new paint. Our house has been completely transformed through this process.
We always knew our house had great bones, and we love the area we live in and our neighborhood, but the 70s layout and "handyman special" upgrades left much to be desired. After this renovation, our house is now what we always hoped it could be.
As for the process of working with McAdams, I don't think it could have gone much smoother. Any major renovation is going to have some headaches and glitches, but Dale and his team do everything they can to minimize that. Almost all of the glitches we hit were due to supply chain problems and were not the fault of McAdams.
We started planning this project about six months to a year before the start date. During that time, we met regularly with owners Kat and Dale, architect Cindy, and designer Kristina, to work out exactly what we envisioned for our project. For me, working closely with Kat and Kristina was essential. I feel like I "know" what I want, but I can have a very hard time expressing it at times. Somehow, these two amazing ladies were able to translate my cryptic musings into reality. I don't know how they did it!
Once the groundbreaking started, we got to know the amazing crew who worked on our project very well. Our lead carpenter was Chris, and he is a great guy to work with. He has extremely high standards for his workmanship and for those around him, and you see that in the finished results. He and his team are not the kinds to cut corners just to get done quicker. The other carpenter who worked with him most of the time was Hamza, and he is also a wonderful guy: polite, kind and incredibly hard working. McAdams hires great subs, and our favorites by far are the electricians they work with: Ron, Bart, Brandon and Aidan. Honestly, by the end of this project, I kind of felt like this whole group was part of our family. We miss everyone now the project is over. Our consolation is that we now get to live in a house that is exactly what we always hoped for and that we hope we will live in for a long time.