Batt + Lear

We recently had a pretty negative experience with Batt + Lear. We hired them to install a bathroom and some walls in our basement. Our contract indicated that the work would take 60 days. I understand that projects often take longer than originally projected but it ended up taking 5 months for them to complete this rather simple project. Every time we asked when the work would be completed, Batt + Lear told us that they were a couple weeks away from being done. That went on for months. Not only did the work take way too long, at many points along the way it was of poor quality. My husband spent countless hours documenting the bad work, emailing, and trying to communicate with the business owner about the quality of the work. The owner failed to address these concerns or justified the bad work by pointing to other parts of our 100+ year old house and saying that his crew's work wasn't as bad as the preexisting conditions in the house. When, after months of trying to get Batt + Lear to fix their work, we threw a fit. That finally got their attention and they fixed the work, but after all of the trouble we went through, they offered us no discount or any type of compensation. Batt + Lear isn't cheap but we hired them because we thought we wouldn't have to put in a lot of effort to make sure that they were doing timely, quality work. We did not get what we paid for.

We had a very positive experience working with Batt + Lear. We presented them with the challenge of adding a downstairs powder room to our home built around 1900. Space was very limited and it was difficult to find a placement that wouldn’t take away part of our view of Lake Washington. But their creativity helped to find a way. Jason and Jan took us through various designs which helped us to determine what would be the most worthwhile solution and keep to the architectural integrity of our bungalow house. We did end up spending more than we had originally anticipated but there was considerable more remodeling done in our kitchen, family room, and an upstairs bedroom than we had anticipated. And, it was well worth it as the end results have not only been more enjoyable to us but have increased the value of the house. The crew was amazing! The quality of work from Greg, the project lead, and Paul the carpenter was outstanding. As well, each and every worker or contractor was pleasant and did impeccable work. They matched the details of a house and cabinetry that is over 100-year-old which we view as no small feat. We set a budget with them before the project began and time frame. There were some additional expenses but we were able to discuss our concerns and come to an agreement. And what was so important to us, the work was finished on time! No delays and no downtime. We have received many compliments on the remodel and comments from our neighbors about how nice all the workers were. Although we were away when our interior chimney was deconstructed, we heard that it was quite the neighborhood event! We highly recommend Batt + Lear.

We have been enjoying out Batt+Lear remodel for a year and a half now. The project consisted of an extensive home remodel, including total kitchen, HVAC, fresh water plumbing, and roof replacement and seismic upgrade. Their talented design team converted our challenging floor plan into a much more usable and pleasant kitchen and increased storage space. Their builders produced a quality result that is a pleasure to use and occupy. The project did exceed budgets, but most of that was due to unforeseen contingenies, staff changes, balky subcontractors, etc. B+L's own employees were all competent, energetic, and responsive to our questions and needs.

We didn’t have a good experience with Batt & Lear. Quality of work was good, however estimates were very inaccurate and pricing got to the point that we considered it out of control and B&L were unclear and unhelpful. Along with other works including laundry room installation, egress windows and insulation we completed a minor bathroom remodel. For the bathroom we provided all hardware, tiles etc but were ultimately charged $60k for a small 8ftx8ft remodel. Despite numerous discussions and emails we are still non the wiser why the costs were so high, leading us to believe we were over charged. This led to us not being able to complete other higher priority parts of our project that we were assured would “easily” fit within our budget. For awareness, one driver of high costs was that on top of a 15% contractors fee which B&L were clear about upfront, we were also charged for every email, meeting, and any PM time spent organising third party contractors etc. We were not aware of this upfront and this added a significant additional cost so be aware of this when dealing with B&L - we spoke to numerous other contractors and friends who had completed minor works and his appears highly unusual, particularly that we had this additional costs and 15% added to this too!!

We had a wonderful experience working with Batt + Lear. We hired them for the design and build of a major remodel of our home that included a second story addition and many improvements to make more efficient use of both energy and space. During a remodel, house contractors become front and center in the homeowners' lives and a good working relationship is very important. Everyone in the company was terrific to work with, very professional and hard-working. Two of my favorite things about working with Batt + Lear were their communication style and their enthusiasm for the project. From the beginning we felt very listened to and noticed that they were available to talk to us whenever we needed to. They had great ideas of ways to meet some of the design challenges imposed upon them and shared a lot of their knowledge about green building. They put all of themselves into their work, the results of which are that we have a beautiful home to live in. I highly recommend them.

We loved our experience working with Batt+Lear. We worked very closely with Jason and Jan on a major kitchen overhaul, as well as a big energy efficiency upgrade that included new windows, insulation, and a new ductless heat pump. We knew it was going to be a big project, and neither one of us had much experience with any other kind of remodel. They walked us through all the steps, were great project managers, and the overall experience was great. Everybody we worked with was delightful…from B+L employees to the subcontractors they hired for the energy efficiency work. They were all really friendly, nice people who performed high quality, exceptional work. In fact, the best thing we can say about working with B+L is that they created a kitchen design exactly how we envisioned, and they did it with a sustainability ethic that was extremely important to us. They were not the cheapest bid we received and we knew that when we started. But we had a big project and we needed it to be done well. B+L were upfront with the costs, organized and accurate with the budget, and extremely helpful when it came to securing financing. What tipped the balance was that of the contractors we interviewed, only B+L really listed to us and helped design the kitchen we wanted. Others tried to cram their design ideas down our throats, and weren’t willing to really be creative about with our small space.

We had the good fortune to work with Batt & Lear on an energy upgrade to our home. They worked with us to find a scope of work that fit our budget and stuck to the budget. They always cleaned up after themselves. They managed their subs well. Their work was excellent and we're happy with the results.