Terrible project management requiring continuous feedback and pressure to get the job done. Poor workmanship by some of the trades, resulting in additional visits and rework.

Approximate cost: $60000

Degabriele renovated our Kitchen/Laundry and two Bathrooms under two concurrent contracts over a period of more than 12 months from initial signing.

The design was very good with a good result in the end - BUT - the client experience fell a LONG way below previous experience and the reasonable expectation of good service given the high prices and large payments demanded on delivery of unassembled and unchecked (in this case incomplete and incorrectly measured) cabinetry.

The quality result was only achieved through the constant application of pressure by us on Degabriele to address their substandard project management, supervision of works and many times repeated inability to deliver cabinetry on time, in full or to specification. Concerns raised with management were dismissed, fairly contemptuously and with no improvement to procedures.

This poor management resulted in us living entirely without kitchen and laundry facilities for two months and an overall time-frame of 6 months from demolition of the old kitchen to finalization of the new one as well as significant delays in check measuring and the actual start time.

Many jobs required 2, 3 or more visits by individual trades to compensate for incomplete and faulty deliveries, to repair outright faulty work, to reconstruct as a result of poor coordination between trades or to retrace steps due to an apparent reluctance to read and follow plans in the first place. Some examples are:
• the laundry cabinetry had to be completely removed and reconstructed as a result of damage caused by a leak from faulty plumbing of the washing machine;
• one shower drain was left completely unconnected to the plumbing;
• a cracked pipe was used to connect a vanity, resulting in significant leaking in the foundations of the house;
• a wardrobe whose back wall was to be moved slightly was instead completely demolished as the plans were not properly read; and
• we lost count of the number of times fitters were sent to complete the kitchen cabinetry, only to find that missing or incorrectly sized panels prevented completion.

We have to say that all of these were eventually rectified. At the end of the day, you may well end up with a good result from Degabriele Kitchens, but be prepared for significant pain in the process, (in our case well beyond anything we had experienced in the past from other kitchen and bathroom renovation companies). You would be well-advised to alter the original contract offered to ensure that you retain a significant percentage of the purchase price until the cabinetry is delivered and installed in full. You may also need to save long-service leave to cover the amount of time someone will have to be on the premises during the process.
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