Mark Brown
5/5
Building or renovating a home, or in my case a business, is an emotion fuelled endeavour. For me, every day my business was closed for renovation was a day without my only source of income. My project might not have been a big multi million dollar custom home, but at every single moment of the project Dave, my site manager Rob, and the outstanding team treated it as such. I could honestly write an essay about my experience but I will try and focus on the highlights.
Preface, I found Dave Shipp and his Shipp Group through my designer.
Budget: Dave's initial estimate ended up being less than 1% different than the actual cost when the dust settled. Wildly accurate.
Execution + Timing: There was not one single point during the project where we had to wait for anything. Every day there was work being done. I can't imagine a scenario where this project could have been completed faster. Rob was the site manager and was fantastic. As much communication as I needed at any point in time. From permits and inspections to coordinating with my designer and subs, he made it look effortless.
Honesty + Integrity: Dave is an open book, fully transparent at all times and he has an accounting team / support staff behind him that are equally as diligent. My accountant was thrilled to have this line item level of documentation.
Custom work: Because my space is a commercial space, so many elements had very particular requirements to accommodate new equipment I was installing, very particular health board guidelines, and to top it all off, this remodel was being done on an 80+ year old building. Because there were just so many finite particulars, and because high traffic commercial spaces undoubtedly will need maintenance and repairs, I was on site often to make notes and learn as much as I could and be able to offer quick decisions on detail items. From custom hvac solutions for my new equipment and helping me set up and install everything, there was nothing on the project that Rob or anyone on site didn't excel at.
I'll finish this up by saying one morning I was bringing in some equipment before the construction crew's work hours, and saw my lights on. I thought maybe someone left them on the day prior. Nope, it was just Dave at the crack of dawn reviewing work progress with a fine tooth comb to make sure it was up to his standard. This sort of thing probably goes unnoticed but at that very moment in time I knew everything I needed to about the person that Dave is and the business he runs.
It was a real pleasure to work with Dave, Rob and the Shipp Group on this project. I'm hopeful I will have the opportunity to work with them again on a future project and I'm relieved I will not have to compare bids because there is nobody else I'd even consider hiring.
