Any recent experience with Big Red Construction or Proyecto?
Hi, We are embarking on a remodel/addition to our home and are considering both Big Red Construction and Proyecto at general contractors for the project. Does anyone have any recent experience with either of them? If so, we'd love to hear how your project went, and if the GC met expectations, schedule, etc. Thank you!
Mar 7, 2023
Parent Replies
I did a large remodel with Proyecto and would not recommend them. They were over budget, significantly delayed and made many mistakes.
Regarding Proyecto - I spoke with them to scope out some work I am considering and received an incredibly rude response from the person I spoke with. Not only did they reschedule our call multiple times, but when I did get them on the phone they were curt and dismissive since my budget was "low". In actuality I was scoping to see an estimate of what it would cost to do the project I am considering. When I do complete our rennovations, it certainly wont be with them due to their rudeness.
We do not have very recent experience with Big Red, but we have used them for several major projects in the last 15 years. Good friends have also used them for several major projects more recently. Big Red is not cheap. But the quality of their work is extraordinary, the communication is very good, and they come in on budget and on time. If problems arise, even some time after the project is finished, they fix it. No questions asked. Their workers and subs have been with them for years -- a measure of both the workers' professionalism and the company's fair treatment.
I did a remodel with BR and interviewed Proyecto for the job as well.
One thing that was a bit off about Proyecto was that (at least at the time), their policy was no change orders. But you will almost certainly need change order to do the project correctly, e.g. if you do demo and find something not previously visible that needs to be addressed.
At the time we worked with BR, they charged like the top of the market but didn't function like the top of the market design-build firms. We had do more micromanaging that we wanted to, sometimes solving cosmetic problems that they should have known how to solve themselves. Some of this was on the subcontractors they used. Some of them were solid, but others made mistakes they shouldn't have. At the end, the project turned out beautiful, but we definitely overpaid for it, given how much handholding they needed. They mostly stayed on schedule, but provided a schedule that was padded by two weeks to begin with (a definite factor in it being more expensive than needed). If you don't have some background or intuition for design and construction, I would suggest staying away.