DLS Construction

More like 3 ½ stars, but I’m rounding up ;).
This review is based on a master bedroom/​bathroom renovation on a 1930s bungalow. We basically took 2 bedrooms and 1 bath and turned it into 1 bedroom w/​a master suite plus a powder room. We also replaced our siding during the renovation since ours was a little banged up and we were adding/​moving a lot of windows.
Here’s a breakdown of how I came up w/​the rating above:
Communication — 3 stars
Luckily I work from home… if I didn’t, I feel like there would’ve been some details that might’ve been missed. On occassion I’d have to repeat some of my instructions 2 or 3 times. Not a huge deal for me, but if you’re a really busy person it could be a little frustrating. Also, there were times I would be told something will be done on day X, but it’d end up being done on day Y. It made scheduling things a bit tricky. Although, since I work from home, I’m probably more aware of this stuff than most people would be.
Timeliness — 3 stars
I was originally told (prior to signing a contract) that this would be a 6 week project. When I received the contract it allowed for them to complete the project in 3 months. They told me this would be the worst-​case scenario (in case there were any snafu’s hit along the way). Imo the only snafu that came up was a two week delay for a pair of french doors, but it ended up taking 30% longer than what was in the contract to be finished. Also, almost every date I was given for something to start or finish was never met. Either the person didn’t show up until the following day or the item took them much longer to finish than expected. Not a huge deal, but I think it would help them to manage expectations a little better.
Cleanliness — 3.5 stars
They didn’t have a ton of space to work with so they had to pack everything in my small house and backyard. They vacuumed up the construction dust almost every day which was super awesome of them. Unfortunately one of their subs dropped a soda can in my living room and it got EVERYWHERE and ruined a chair. They rectified the situation by paying for the chair to be reupholstered. Accidents happen. During the work, they kept tons of trash in my backyard for quite some time.
Quality — 4 stars
The plumber, painters, electrical and the tile guys they used were great! There were a few mistakes during the framing and HVAC process that needed to be fixed and their siding guys weren’t super detail-​oriented. They were a bit lazy by framing around light fixtures vs. removing them and mounting them on the siding, but those were the only issues.
Cost/​Budget — 4 stars
I feel for the level of quality and what I had done, the cost was reasonable. However we did end up about 20% over budget (which had to do w/​me picking out high-​end fixtures, but there were some unforeseen costs that added to it as well).
Finished Product — 4 stars
I would say the interior work was 5 stars and the exterior work was 3 stars. After explaining we’d like our exterior siding to look just like our old siding (we were only replacing it due to extensive window additions and removals) we ended up with something that looked very different. We were never explained how the new siding would tie into the old window and door frames. The end result was a TON of j-​channel around everything. Not ideal. However, all of the interior elements looked fantastic.

We strongly recommend DLS Construction. Every part of the job was completed with high quality, on-​time or early, and on budget. In short, DLS — and Dave Schroeder in particular — is an outstanding and highly professional building contractor company that superbly built a project for our house. Here are reasons you should hire DLS for your project: 1) Quality — Dave and his employees and subs place a premium on attention to detail. Mistakes (and there are always mistakes) are fixed to the expectation of the customer, and they strive to exceed those expectations. 2) Price/​Budget — Dave’s pricing is fair to better than the half dozen other bids we received. Dave sticks to his budget and when there are changes he gives credit back and is transparent on the charges that may be added. This, I believe, saves money for the homeowner. 3) Subs — with one exception, all of his sub-​contractors were superb and professional; they showed up on time, worked full days, and performed tasks well and with high quality. 4) Trustworthy — for an residential homeowner, the process of designing and building a renovation is complex and stressful. Dave understands this well, and while he keeps it professional, he has clearly put a premium on hiring staff and subcontractors who understand the importance of honesty and integrity in their work. He and those he hires are trustworthy, which was an important feature for us insofar as inviting others into our house and among our family. Dave has a good network of resources and can get things done very efficiently. I am happy to recommend DLS to others, and am confident that this organization will leave you as satisfied as we are with a job done very well.