This is going to be an honest appraisal from my view of our recently (finally) completed remodel.
Project foremen: 5 stars.
Designer: 2.5 stars. We had to push too hard at times to get Cole to accept the colors and finishes we wanted. He's young and I think he has great potential, but he has to accept when the people he are working with do NOT want something, recently popular or not.
Ordering: 1 star
We first contacted Poulin in late January 2021. We were looking for remodels of both bathrooms and the kitchen, including every floor in the house to be replaced. After some preliminary conversations, we got into their schedule and started working with Cole on our remodel designs in May or June 2021.
We were technically scheduled to start in August 2021, but being delayed by the ongoing supply chain issues didn't come as a total surprise. Sadly, Poulin kept over promising which became more irritating than just telling us when things arrived and what we were still waiting on. We were certain the remodel would start in late September, then October... Everything did finally arrive and was hauled to be stored in the house and the remodel started in the first week of January 2022.
Demo started, then two days later, they opened the boxes holding our new cabinetry. It was the WRONG color, not even close to what we ordered, in fact it was exactly what we said we hated and wouldn't ever want. We stopped work and Cole and his father (boss) came loaded for bear, bringing the items we'd selected to prove to us we were wrong. They looked at the sample, looked at the cabinetry and agreed they didn't match. Nobody had opened a box to check, they had just accepted the label having the same name. Work stopped with one bathroom completely demolished, but thankfully we still had the kitchen and master bath workable.
Within a week, it was discovered that Poulin had outdated samples and the cabinetry company was not to blame. Poulin then made a request that we agreed to and were haunted with the rest of the remodel: They suggested we allow them to install the boxes and change out the doors and exposed surfaces to the color and style we had selected. It logically should have kept the remodel on track. What we didn't count on was the screwups on the orders and installation of doors by a secondary crew.
We had to have doors reordered three times to get things to right, and we finally gave up after the last two doors came in (the end of October) a MUCH lighter shade of stain. We have gotten to the point we just wanted off the merry go round of orders and reinstalls.
The kitchen is beautiful! It was everything I had hoped for. The hallway bathroom as well. The Coretec floors also exactly what we were looking for, but the carpet in the master and guest bedrooms were a lower quality than we would have chosen for ourself. Our fault for telling them we just wanted a berber style carpet without actually choosing it ourselves.
The master bathroom is also beautiful, and the depth of remodel that went on in there makes it truly impressive looking, except for the two mismatching doors on the vanity. Another bit that was partially our fault, and partially Coles was the cabinet we requested. There was room for a good depth linen closet based on the changes that had been made to this room. The cabinet was beautiful, then we opened the doors and started laughing. The cabinet was only one foot deep, completely useless for holding towels. We hadn't specified exactly what we wanted and again Cole ran with what he thought should go in there without asking. A similar reaction for the vanity where we had requested a cabinet with a space for a pull out trashcan with a drawer above it. The version installed had a pull out laundry basket, no drawer. It will work, but not even close to what we wanted.
Would we hire Poulin again? Based on 90% of our interactions with their people, yes we would. But we'd want full cabinet replacements and check designs better.
Update: Standing behind work 5 stars.
Exceptional repair of shower wall in MBR bathroom.
