Andrew and Cathy Taylor had an ambitious vision when they were remodeling a building they had purchased to house Cathy’s dental practice.
Topping it off would be a stunning section of aqua-colored glass in the lobby.
As nice as this feature would be, the essentials of the Taylor Dentistry office — dental chairs, X-ray equipment, underground lines providing water and air to each patient station — were more important.
When the Taylors went over their budget with their contractor, Scott Robinson, President of Robinson Renovation and Custom Homes, the decorative glass didn’t fit.
As the job proceeded, Robinson delivered a pleasant surprise to the Taylors: He had saved enough money on other parts of the job to cover the expensive glass display.
Robinson likes surprising his customers with good news rather than the unpleasant surprises of costly change orders that often come in construction.
“Many people come to us because they had a bad experience with another contractor on a previous job,” Robinson said. “They don’t want another nightmare.”
For Robinson, the key to delivering jobs within budget is careful planning.
“We select every piece of material up front, and we order everything we need within 2–3 days after we sign a contract,” he said.
As part of the Robinson system, the company develops a schedule of when each phase of a job will be completed.
“When we’re ready to plaster, we have the plasterers ready,” Robinson said. “We don’t have to wait for weeks for them to become available.”
Robinson sees remodeling as his niche, and he relishes the challenge of reconfiguring a space for the most efficient use possible.
“I love making all the moving parts work,” Robinson said. “New construction is a breeze. I’d rather use all the skills that it takes for renovation work.”
Robinson Renovation is meticulous about minimizing disruptions to a business or family that’s using a space during construction.
“For us, it’s not a job site; it’s a family’s business or a family’s home,” Robinson said. “We’re very sensitive to not giving them headaches.”
While the Taylors were using Robinson Renovation for the first time, Santa Fe Ford had used the company twice before hiring the company again for a recent major remodeling project.
“I didn’t get any other bids,” said Santa Fe Ford President Greg Waitcus, who has been friends with Scott Robinson for 32 years. “My trust in Scott and his team is huge. I knew what I was getting, and I knew I could call him whenever I needed to.”
The Santa Fe Ford job involved the challenges of incorporating a new Ford Motor Co. showroom design into the remodeling of existing space.
Scott and his design team developed a plan that doubled the size of the old showroom while adding a second bay for writing service orders, a second business office, which allows customers to complete their purchases more quickly and a waiting room for service customers.
The project incorporated energy efficiency, including LED lighting, high efficiency heating and cooling and additional insulation.
“With the help of Robinson Renovation, we were able to enlarge our space without our electric bill rising,” Waitcus said.
Robinson Renovation also has long-term relationships with many of its home-remodeling customers.
They include Alachua County Clerk of Court Buddy Irby and his wife, Linda. The latest job the company did for the Irbys was a kitchen remodeling.
“We appreciated that Robinson Renovation worked so hard to make our project turn out so beautifully,” Buddy Irby said. “The process was not nearly as painful as we expected.”
Other customers with close ties to the Robinsons include the family of Rev. Dan Johnson, the pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church, where the Robinsons are members.
“They remodeled one entire end of the house,” Johnson said. “My daughter was in a bad accident a few years ago, and we needed the house to be wheelchair accessible after she and her husband moved in with us.
“We were out of town and asked if they could do it while we were gone. Anytime we asked for anything, they took care of it.”
The efficiency and customer service of Robinson Renovation was especially important to Jack and Susan Davis, who asked the company to rebuild their kitchen after a fire.
“Tom Driscoll came out immediately and started helping us with the plans,” Susan Davis said. “Based on our conversation, he drew up a quick sketch on what our new kitchen would look like.”
“We were truly impressed with their attention to detail and the craftsmanship that every crew displayed,” she said. “Project Manager Chris Weeks went above and beyond to make sure everything was perfect.
“He even came out on a Saturday to move our washer and dryer back in place so we could do laundry,” she added.
Robinson Renovation built an addition to the home of Russ and Becky Hite that included a new garage, two new bathrooms, a family room, a den and a bedroom.
“It is just wonderful. You cannot tell at all that it is an addition,” Russ Hite said.
The Robinson family’s involvement in construction began with Scott’s father, Elwyn Robinson, the owner of Quality Builders.
In addition to Scott serving as President, the Robinson Renovation’s leadership team includes his wife, Wanda, as the CFO; their son, Jason, as the Production Manager; and Tom Driscoll as a Sales and Design Specialist.
When Jason joined Robinson Renovation, the family heritage in the building industry extended three generations. In October, Jason and his wife, Kourtney, had a son, Walker, opening up the possibility of a fourth generation in the business.
Attention to Detail at Every Step
Robinson Renovation guides customers through every step of a project. As a result, customers don’t need to bring in their own designers or hire other professionals. The steps the company follows are:
Step 1: Initial consultation
Step 2: Preliminary proposal
Step 3: Design development
Step 4: Final proposal
Step 5: Preconstruction
Step 6: Construction
Step 7: Finalize project
Surveys Show 97 Percent Satisfaction Rate
Scott Robinson likes hearing compliments, but hearing suggestions for improvement is even more important to him.
That’s why he uses GuildQuality, a company that conducts customer satisfaction surveys for the construction industry.
GuildQuality’s surveys show a 97 percent satisfaction rate for Robinson Renovation, and it also provides the company with many worthwhile suggestions.
“It’s helped us make adjustments and fine-tune our systems,” Robinson said.