Well before he became president of LBK Design Build, Nick Kornea was a boy who loved Legos.

“I’ve always liked building things, ever since I was a kid,” he recalls. “I grew up in a blue-collar area, and I’m the son of two immigrants whose families have always done blue-collar jobs. I’ve just always been attracted to that, specifically the building industry. It’s been my focus for my entire career, it’s been nothing but construction and design.”

That interest blossomed into apprenticeships in both welding and carpentry, as well as general construction jobs, with Kornea realizing that he especially “liked working with companies that also work with architects, designers and clients, and watching the process of things being designed all the way through construction and that final hand-off to a client.”

That passion for nurturing a richly imagined vision into a breathtaking reality drives him and the similarly inspired LBK team to be the one-stop-shop going above and beyond for homeowners entrusting them with all manners of interior remodeling jobs, especially those bread-and-butter kitchen and bathroom projects.

And getting to know those potential customers is as meticulously thorough as everything else LBK does.

“We’re careful as we onboard clients just to see if we’re a good fit for one another,” Kornea says. “Our clients tend to be folks that are professionals, that are busy with life, busy with work and they’re looking for good communication, good project execution, cleanliness, and someone to hand them over a turnkey project with as little fuss as possible, where design decisions can be proposed by thoughtful and clever designers. We only want to build projects that we design.”

Befitting a company that also employs his father Illia and wife Joanna, Kornea and the LBK team effortlessly extend that warm, family feeling to everyone who hires them. “Our ultimate goal,” Kornea affirms, “is to make all of our clients feel like our only client.”

Facilitating open, honest and frequent communication is key, Kornea notes, and LBK has its own app directly connecting homeowners with the team. That 24/7 access allows for peace of mind and minimizes surprises, thanks to putting progress photos, project costs, remodeling selections, job logs, contract information, direct chat options and more directly at clients’ fingertips.

“You simply open up the application, ask questions or send messages, and since the entire company sees them, the appropriate party will respond,” explains Kornea. “The majority of clients give us the greatest feedback about it. They say they always feel like we’re tip-top on communication and that their voice is heard. This is how we makes sure everyone’s on the same page, and there’s no chain of command with communication.”

To further ensure clients are active participants in their homes’ redesign, LBK is set to open its brand-new, state-of-the-art showroom and design center in Doylestown on April 22.

“It’s like a design and experience center because we have certain rooms set up like rooms of a house,” he says. “The idea is to show people the newer appliances and how they work and perform. We have a couple of bathrooms and wet rooms; we have a fully functioning kitchen with a working sink, dishwashers, refrigeration, range, ovens, a microwave, and that’s also going to be used for networking-type events.”

The LBK team started working on the design center after restoring the historical structure serving as company HQ: “The building we’re currently in is a late-1800s building, and it was originally a creamery. It was structurally dilapidated and technically condemnable, but we restored the structure from the ground-up after we fully designed it, and then it was a collaboration between our own skilled people and also trade partners. Our offices took a year to renovate with all-new elements and everything, and then we started the showroom/design center renovation in August of ’22.”

That kind of dedication to a project, demonstrated work ethic and commitment to a grand vision has secured LBK numerous Contractor of the Year awards from the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, most recently 2023’s regional win for Residential Bath $75,001 to $100,000 and 2022’s quartet of kitchen and basement best-ofs.

And while the awards are certainly a feather in LBK’s cap and validate the team’s hard work, nothing beats knowing that they have loyal, happy customers all throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey who’ve found out firsthand why the company’s motto is “Dream it. Build it. Love it.”

“The awards say that we have people on our team who are career-oriented, focused people that are family-minded and team-cultured,” Kornea observes. “The heart of our focus is our relationships with our clients. Last year, around 62% of our business was repeat clients and referrals—and any time we get a referral from our clients, that’s one of the highest compliments they can give us.”

LBK Design Build
Serving Eastern Pa. and N.J.
(215) 675-5000
LBKDesignBuild.com

Published (and copyrighted) in House & Home, Volume 23, Issue 5 (March 2023). 
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