Nearby Door Refinishing in Ashburn

We purchased a 1970s vintage townhouse and wanted to fix several things, which in aggregate were too much for a standard handyman but, as we learned, not interesting enough for DC-area contractors who are flush with larger projects. We called numerous firms who only would consider our relatively small project if (1) we were willing to pay an exorbitant sum or (2) wait 6-8 weeks to start the project. After exhausting the Angie's List contractors with the most ratings, we called Design Pro based on a recommendation from our realtor. The project manager, Jeff Newell, spent an hour with us understanding the work we wanted done, and he also offered very helpful suggestions - including discouraging work he thought was unnecessary. To our relief, his quote for the project came in at a reasonable level, and they were able to take some crews off of other projects to complete our messy tasks (floor refinishing, door construction) before we moved in. In the end, we were extremely pleased with the quality of the work, especially the hardwood flooring. We needed to have new pieces puzzled in where the demolished wall had been and then needed to have the whole floor refinished. It looks gorgeous. That said, we were first-time home remodelers and were unaware of the communication difficulties that apparently are common with contractors. For example, the door we had installed was supposed to be solid wood, but the on-site manager bought a hollow one. He was not happy when we pointed out the mistake, but as soon as we mentioned it to Jeff, Jeff took care of it. Also, although they used a dustless sander to refinish the floors, there was a layer of sawdust covering the adjacent room afterward - which we spent an hour and a half cleaning the afternoon before the move. We would have appreciated knowing in advance that we would be responsible for such cleanup. In sum, Design Pro deserves a higher profile on Angie's List - the quality of their work is very high; prices are reasonable; and unlike everyone else we spoke with, they seemed to truly care about our business. But because we had some communication issues (between the project manager and the on-site team, as well as between the manager and us), potential customers should be watchful of such things.