Ketti Kupper Conscious Life Design

Mr Kara paid ZERO for my work. He stopped payment on his last check, and a few days later on his first check deposited weeks prior. He received my design concept (not a fully complete detailed plan, that was not the objective. ) He insisted afterwards that I owed an installation analysis with ball-park budgets. That was time consuming and I did it as a courtesy. He also received site consulting, product research and extensive emailed information and product sourcing. I was particularly enthusiastic about ideas for his child to enjoy the garden. A more correct assessment is - this is designer/contractor beware customer. I got the impression that they may not have paid their masonry contractor the full amount owed because they seemed to be at odds and complaining while I was there. Mr. Kara expressed that he wanted to hire the neighbor's gardener to do demo and install and to simply get a concept and some installing design direction from me.

Its regretful to have any level of dissatisfaction after a project but this review, appearing 6 months after the fact, is the first I’ve heard about the problems mentioned and certainly does not present a correct picture. I contracted for only minimal project support to save the clients money.

The contractor on this project has a Houzz page but I would have hoped that any concerns between the client and contractor would have been addressed long ago in person, by text, phone or email.

My Agreement for "Designer Project Support To Coordinate with Contractor’s Scope of Work” had only for 7 specific days of time owed plus initial quote gathering. My compensation was a very low portion of the project cost. The client wanted to take on the roles of General Contractor and Project Manager to save on costs by doing the supervision themselves. Construction contracts were made between the client and the contractors. I had no construction contract and no sub contractors. My agreements and price points vary according my time invested or requested with every project.

I provided an excel comparison of 3 competing contractors and out of courtesy one additional carpentry quote was gathered, The clients chose the lowest bid contractors. The dates listed for my 7 visits changed due to the construction schedule. So the site cameras recorded more than was owed and quite a bit of extra consulting at no charge. Additionally, I consulted on interior work at no charge and referred a painter for the interior work. They seemed to be quite pleased with his work.

My site visit specific to the concrete work states “mark out concrete steps”. I laid out the shape and location of the steps with pieces of wood for the clients to confirm overnight. I was not present later when the steps were formed nor when they were poured.

The client efforts and money was very well spent due to the enhanced curb appeal, more usable space and attractive views that were obtained. I would categorize that as exceptionally well spent dollars because they received below market construction pricing plus a boost in the property value beyond their direct expenditure! From what the contractors told me they made many change orders at the clients request below their cost.

My design work is high quality and detail oriented as is evident in the photographs. I didn’t choose this profession after having been an Art Professor and Department Chair to do substandard work.

So sorry tor the frustrations this young couple experienced.

Their project was very deeply discounted from the market norm and it was late in completing the installation. More accurately approximately 5 months on what could have been an approximate 3 month project.

They were never told tough luck. The contractor’s on the job took responsibility and came back repeatedly to see to eventual customer satisfaction