We found South Land Remodeling through Yelp on account of their excellent 4.9 star reviews. We reviewed 8 companies. The estimates for our project ranged in price from $290k – $350k. We decided on South Land because Ilan (the GC) and Oren (the owner) were very personable; for a 1 year long projec...We found South Land Remodeling through Yelp on account of their excellent 4.9 star reviews. We reviewed 8 companies. The estimates for our project ranged in price from $290k – $350k. We decided on South Land because Ilan (the GC) and Oren (the owner) were very personable; for a 1 year long project, getting along with your contractor is essential. South Land was the lowest cost estimate with the next being Goldenline. It was a toss-up between the two, but in the end, we went with South Land because they were $10k less.
Scope
The original scope was to 1) knock out 3 exterior facing walls to install a 5, 3, and 2 panel multislider 2) vault the ceiling in the master 3) reconfigure the walls to solve the maze like existing layout 4) replace the doors 5) create a new powder bathroom 6) create 4 closets 7) demo the walk in closet for open concept 8) redo the ceiling recessed lights 9) install a ton of led strips and lights. This was the original scope. The estimated time frame was 4-6 months. As we progressed, certain unexpected changes were added. South Land also convinced us to vault the ceiling in the kitchen and gave us a good price. We also had to redo the floors because of all the open holes from the concrete pads for the support beams. Expect your budget and the timeframe to double. In the end, we spent $450k with South Land and another $300K for other contractors and materials and vendors.
Subcontractors
As with most contractors, South Land contracts with other subcontractors for which they pay a lower price. Some of these contractors were exceptional. Some, not so much.
Jacob was absolutely fantastic. His guys did the framing, supports, concrete pads, I beam supports, insulation. He was an extraordinary problem solver. I drew out the fireplace and he created it to the 1/8”. He knew exactly what needed to be supported, where the shear walls needed to be. He did about 60% of the renovation, all the most challenging parts. I wish his team would have stayed on for the entire project but he was slightly more expensive than other later contractors and South Land decided to use other contractors. This was disappointing as some of the replacement contractors were not quite as good.
The electricians were good with some of the workers excellent.
The plumber was competent.
The painters were an issue. The quality of their work on challenging parts like mudding in the led channels was pretty bad. I had to hire my own painters to redo the work that they did to smooth it out.
Drywall was good as were insulators.
Floor Tile guys were good also.
Positives
Communication: I was always able to reach Ilan. Ilan arranged for a lot of the work upon request and was very responsive. The prices quoted were reasonable. Work that I had not planned on was quoted fairly and they were never pushy on scope additions. The work quality overall was good.
Negatives
The project lasted almost exactly 1 year. For the first 80%, South Land was very good. But for the last 20% the quality dropped to good. I don’t know if it’s because they were ready to move on to the next project but we had disagreements on timing of contractors showing up. Also, there was work that I had assumed was included in the paid for scope that I had to pay extra. Much of the last 20%, I used my own contractors to complete, including my own painters to correct the poor job the contracted painters did. I also hired my own handyman who took care of a lot of things. Throughout the project, I was very hands on and it felt like I was taking on the main role of GC. In a perfect world, South Land would have solved many of the problems that I had to solve myself such as sourcing materials and figuring out LEDs.
Conclusion
Overall, we are happy with our experience with South Land. They are honest and reputable and deserve their high rating. We rate them a 4.7 out of 5.0.
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