Landis Architects | Builders

NB: Should be a 4.5, but that's not an option here.

Our renovation project involved putting in an all-new kitchen and powder room, plus refinishing floors, replacing lighting, and repainting living room/dining room/family room/hall on the same (relatively open plan) level and some relatively minor exterior work. Project included electrical and drywall work but no structural changes. Mold removal wasn't originally part of the project, but, when a problem was discovered, it was handled thoroughly and expeditiously.

The good: Overall, the finished project looks great and all the changes we made to our kitchen/main floor work well.

Coordination between the design and the construction teams was good and we ended up working with great people on each side. Colleen, who helped us with kitchen design, was very good at laying out/generating alternatives and flagging pros and cons. She was focussed on our objectives and kept working until they were met. Fabricio held down the fort on the construction side. In addition to being a skilled craftsman with high standards, he is someone who is always looking for ways to make things better. He thinks ahead and has a problem-solving mindset. We always felt that he was treating our home the way he would his own.

What fell short of perfection: probably worth bearing in mind that this was our first renovation project so it's not a comparative assessment. We've heard other peoples' horror stories and our issues were minor/mostly resolved in real time.

That said, two pieces of advice: (1) Make sure the designer you are working with is a good match. If not, ask for someone else. Landis has multiple designers on staff. (2) If you are moving out for renovations, give yourself a cushion (more than a month on each end) wrt alternative arrangements for housing.

Landis transformed our kitchen to make it look stylish and modern. The design and layout of the kitchen completely changed, and it looks absolutely amazing! The value of our house has significantly increased. Dana Kaminsky, the team leader, was a pleasure to work with. She has a great personality, cares about her clients, and brings a tremendous amount of value to her projects. Maurice Brown, the project manager, was very responsive and ensured the quality of the work met Landis standards. I felt that all the employees that worked on the project were professional, respectful and dedicated to doing quality work.

Landis has my highest recommendation for Design/Build firms in the DC area. We trusted Landis with the renovation of the second floor of our home - a roughly 150-year-old row house in Capitol Hill (with all sorts of quirks) - and Landis did an amazing job keeping the project on schedule and within budget. The design process was a joy, and they kept us updated with photos and regular reports throughout construction. Keeping the project on schedule was especially important for us, as my wife was expecting a baby to be born within a month or so of the project completion. And to top it off - we started construction right at the onset of the pandemic - and Landis still found a way to make it work! Dana Kaminsky with Landis orchestrated the entire project, and we were amazed with her level of support and the professionalism of the entire design and construction teams. The outcome was spectacular - even better than we had hoped! We were absolutely delighted by the experience.

Landis Construction walked off our +$400k remodeling project in early 2015. They broke their contract with us by notifying us that they were not going to honor the 2 year warranty. Then, in May 2015, we discovered a water leak inside the house from HVAC drainage that was never hooked up. They first agreed to fix it, then didn't show up. Then they said they wouldn't make any repairs. Quality of their work? The project failed code inspections for structural, electrical, and plumbing (inspection occurred, then Landis notified 8/25/15). During construction, they damaged a pre-existing custom sliding set of doors. Agreed initially to 'make it right,' in the end they walked away from that too. As of December 22, 2015, Landis has not made any repairs - even those required by code.

Update: After seeing the response from Chris Landis, I had to respond. The repairs recently made to address the code failures of the Landis work was done at our expense. Landis did not provide any support -- neither did their subcontractors. And, to that point, several code failures were due to the work of Landis employees, not "subs". There is still one remaining code failure on this +$400k project. Any code failures at all is embarrassing for a firm that charges so much and claims to deliver quality....Think about it--- "code" is the worst/lowest quality you are allowed to build --- and they couldn't meet it!

The DC building inspector needed to see behind my walls to identify code violations from the guy who sold me my house. I asked landis to send someone out to cut holes, and estimate the repair work. They insisted I have 2 people, for a combined $600, with the extra person taking "notes".

The contractor and note taker they sent out were very kind and professional (5 stars for them), even cleaning up minor boot prints they left in the house. After the inspection, the contractor told me to wait for an estimate until the building inspector provided a report. Ok, I can be patient...

A few months later I've submitted the gov't report to Landis, and after multiple follow up emails/calls to them, they're telling me I have to pay a few thousand bucks to cut more holes so their subcontractor engineer could see the problem and put together an estimate. isn't that what the "notes" should have covered? why wasn't it mentioned I would need to spend 2k more, just to get an estimate before we started down this road? convenient that it only came up after i paid $600...

I asked for a refund on half, because the "notes" didn't provide me any benefit. To their credit, the owner got involved and looked into it. They've agreed to refund half.

Probably like most people, I really only write reviews if I have a really good experience - or a really bad one. This is the former. TLDR: construction project to gut and renovate a kitchen, living room and two bathrooms in a DC row house. Great experience, totally professional company, smoothest construction project I've ever been involved in.

The details: This is a high-quality top tier company. At no point did we encounter even a hint of unprofessionalism. Everyone we interacted with was highly skilled and a pleasure to work with. Even our neighbors commented on how great the workmen were. The design process was particularly good (Tahani Share and Matt Dirksen). The design team spent significant effort in trying to understand our vision for the job and the types of design we liked and was focused on translating that vision into the job - and they had an organized and efficient process for doing so. When issues came up, they responded effectively and with integrity to find a resolution that we were happy with. The completed job is in fact what we envisioned and, with one exception around a tile selection (that's too complicated to discuss here) there are no significant areas where the design or construction turned out to be flawed or have problems. We did find Landis to be more expensive than other options. We were willing to pay a premium to achieve a smoother construction process and avoid some of the risks and hassles that are so common in the construction industry. And we got most of that - with a few minor bumps along the way. But given the size of the project, perhaps those were inevitable. I've done projects on the cheap, and with solo or small contractors. This was a fundamentally different and better experience.

This is the second time we used Landis for the house remodeling. The first one was kitchen back in 2015. This time around, it was a bigger project, adding a new room on the third floor of our town house. We could not be happier for everything they have done. The house remodeling is stressful. Not everything goes perfectly. In that sense, one gets frustrated, but that's the nature of the house remodeling. They are first and foremost very professional. They try to keep the schedule and budget. They think for us, instead of just getting a job done quick. Stated differently, we trust them, which probably the most important element of picking a general contractor.

We have hired Landis for various projects since 2006. From our backyard patio over garage and stone wall to our front steps and our rear room addition, they have done an extensive amount of work in our house. Carlos Marin was very skillful and professional with his carpentry work, and Ethan Landis made sure the process was smooth. They listen, are easy to talk to, responsive, interested in our home, and are proud of the quality of their work. They also have great coffee mugs!!

They are sensitive to the architecture of the house as well, and they know how to apply research knowledge and experience to achieve the right look.

We hired Landis to create an addition on the back of our home expanding our kitchen and living area. We also tore out our old master bathroom and put in an all new layout with new fixtures and lighting. We wanted more natural light in our home and Landis was able to provide just that with well placed skylights and windows. Tahani Share did great work with the design plans, and Jon Bein and Luis Orellana were regularly on site and kept us updated with the process every step of the way. Everyone we worked with was very conscientious and skilled, and pleasant to have in our home. This was very important to us considering our renovation took about 6-8 months. All in all, we highly recommend Landis. It is not the cheapest service, but you get what you pay you for, and they hit their deadlines with quality work.

Landis Construction does great work! Ask for Chris.

Check their website for example work and price ranges:
landisconstruction.com