Alair Homes Decatur

I have had the pleasure of working with the team at Alair Homes Decatur for the past 15 years. As a residential designer, it is essential to have a good relationship with the contractor/builder in order to deliver a successful project. With Alair Homes, they have a team and system that ensures everyone stays on the same page till the end. I have always admired their unique step-by-step process that is taken to develop and execute a successful renovation. Not many contractors I work with are as involved at the beginning of the project as the Alair team, providing me with the insight in my design to avoid any issues once construction begins. I wish all contractors understood the need for teamwork in order to make the dreamwork as the folks at Alair.

Alair Decatur has their "stuff" together more than any other contracting/construction group I have ever worked with. They have enough staff to remain organized and their project managers have been a joy to work with. They are calm, cool, and collected with their subs, keep them on track and deliver top notch quality construction. Really, really impressed with their work and professionalism. Would recommend them to any client looking to remodel or build new in the Atlanta area and will use them personally when we are ready to add a second story to our personal home.

I am an architect and I have done several projects with Alair. I love working with them! They are SO organized and knowledgeable. They do a great job building a committed team for each project. Their approach allows potential problems to be understood ahead of time and details to be followed through, creating a higher level of finished product. I also love the way they work through all the decision making before construction starts. Clients go into a project with a strong sense of what they are building so when the "roof gets ripped off" and the natural stress of a renovation project begins Alair helps assure clients are in the best possible position for a smooth process. You can't ask for more!

Alair did a good job with initial design and support through permitting, but once we entered construction, this project was a NIGHTMARE. Budget development, cost management, and transparency were terrible throughout the project - none of the tools and processes that Alair promotes were ever effectively used. Our project ran significantly over budget, even after we reduced scope, and was way behind schedule, to the point that we were at risk of losing the interest rate on our loan. Most disappointing was we found out that they were overpaying vendors (vs firm fixed quotes) and were telling us about significant budget overruns well after the money had already been spent - we spent hours pouring over quotes and invoices to reconcile project costs and overcharges. They blamed a lot on Covid which was not the reason for the vast majority of the budget overruns - most was poor estimation on amt of material or not including scope in budget that was part of the initial design. As a result we wound up having to spend a significant amount of money out of pocket during the project IN ADDITION TO maxing out our loan and STILL having to owe them tens of thousands of dollars after the project is done. The onsite project management team did a good job and we are very happy with the design of our home (which is why they get the 2 stars), but with the games being playing at the main office and the absolute incompetence in cost management, they have no business charging a premium markup or operating on a cost-plus contract model, and should not be working with clients that are financing their project through a construction load or are on a fixed budget as we were.

Alair Homes Decatur did a magnificent job of planning, coordinating, and completing a second floor addition to my home. They did brilliant work with the architects from Anne Architecture. It is an honor and a pleasure to say that my home had architecture, interior design, and project management all led by a diverse group of women. My home project was completed on time and within the budget that we anticipated. The results of this design and build have turned my formerly tiny home into a well-appointed, fully functional home that now accommodates 2 adults and 2 children working and schooling from home in a space of comfort.

We can’t say enough good things about Ken, Anthony, Peter and the rest of the Alair team. On time and under budget—our kitchen renovation come out beautifully! I couldn’t be happier with the results, and we have recommended Alair to friends without reservation. They were professional, did fantastic work, and made every effort to keep our inconvenience to a minimum. Their pricing structure was transparent and I felt in control of the budget throughout. We will definitely use them for our next project.

We just completed a massive renovation with Alair this spring. They were excellent in every step of the way - the planning process was incredibly thorough, and they took every measure to deal with the inevitable unforeseen events. We would absolutely use them again!!

Simply put, our renovation with Alair Homes Decatur was uncomplicated. That is hard to come by in this industry. Peter, David, and the whole crew are excellent with communication and responding to our never-ending questions. Our renovation involved demolishing the back half of the house and rebuilding with extra add-ons. The unfinished basement was made usable. And we now have a luxury spa bathroom. The Alair team fulfilled our contract and then went above and beyond in making sure we were happy with the outcome. We love our new house and it is thanks to Alair Homes Decatur.

Alair did a great job with our renovation/add on project. We went from a 2 bed 1 bath house to a 4 bed 3 bath house of our dreams. We received a lot of one on one attention to go through details and must haves (Brick exterior a requirement for me!) and they were great at price checking to make sure we got what we wanted. They were also great in dealing with all of the loops the City required (side walk tax, earth-craft requirements, etc.) There were a few times we were not on the same page as our project manager which caused some confusion, but Michael and Peter would go above and beyond to right the situation. We are very pleased with the house and are excited for all of the future memories!

Among other things, we hired Alair in Decatur GA to finish our basement which involved fixing a leaky corner and engineering a beam solution to fix a bouncy floor above without having to put posts in the middle of the room. They put a designer and two engineering partners to solve every single problem we faced prior to breaking ground on the project. They assigned a project manager to handle everything during construction. The engineered solutions they incorporated into the project were very impressive and will likely outlast the house. Alair is not likely to be your least expensive option but they provide value in the expertise they bring to the table and by removing the burden of having to micromanage the details of the project. It was truly white glove service. It is also worth noting that because of the thorough planning in advance we had only one small change order and they came in slightly under budget for the project in total. I highly recommend them for complex projects that need engineered solutions and for people that don't have time to manage a remodel project.

We hired Alair to finish our basement. We were fortunate enough to have purchased a home in historic Inman Park that was built in 2011 but still had the historic feel of a home a hundred years older. Our biggest priority was to have a basement that looked like it was "always there," as if the original builders had designed it. Considering we know next to nothing about designing and building a house, we also wanted to have an experience that was as stress-free as possible. And boy did Alair deliver! We met with multiple design/build companies and instantly felt comfortable with Peter from Alair. After signing on, we met with our designer, Whitney, and our project manager, Chela. The entire process was as professional, smooth, and transparent as advertised. We were in constant communication with our team from the very beginning. We had some interesting challenges with our space due to existing duct work that they worked through flawlessly. We were kept informed about any potential issues well before they became a problem. Our project was continually tweaked to maintain our budget, and the team gave honest suggestions to focus on our priorities. The Alair portal was an incredible resource that kept us completely informed throughout. I also felt 100% comfortable with all of the subcontractors and workers who worked on our house, which was important to me while I was at work with my wife and two children at home. The only issues we had were minor. The initial scope of the project was larger but needed to be scaled back as material and labor costs increased throughout 2018-2019. Again, the team was very straightforward about these issues, and we were able to make changes to fit our needs. The project took a few weeks longer than initially stated, but we had anticipated that based on the scope of the build. The final product was even better than we could have imagined. The quality and craftsmanship is fantastic (I wish we could add more than four photos!), and our new space has quickly become our favorite place in the house to spend family time together. We are more than happy to act as a reference to anyone who is considering using Alair for their project. Thank you to Peter, Chela, Whitney, and the whole Alair team!

I recently wrapped a series of meetings with Peter Michelson with Alair Homes Decatur, and I want to recommend him and this company to anyone considering a home renovation in our area. He was great - he came out to my house and really took his time assessing it, he interviewed me throughly to get a good handle on what I was looking for in terms of my living space, he had lots of creative ideas as to how we could approach the renovation, and he took a lot of time to explain the process from the design through the build. He was realistic and up front with me about the cost. He did not pressure me or put the hard sell on me. (And, for the record, I think the costs were competitive - very much in line with what it takes to do a renovation here). In the end, I decided not to move forward for a variety of reasons related to costs, and he was great about that. I toured around town and saw a number of Alair projects - all of them outstanding. In many ways I'm sorry not to be doing this renovation - I think the Alair team would do something truly special with this property.