I hired Steve Evans to do my kitchen. His work was impressive! He was quick and did a beautiful…read morejob! Unfortunately I couldn't give 5 stars because one of his workers made an inappropriate comment. It's unfortunate because Mr. Evans is one of the few contractors that shows up and gets the job done!

Laura M's review is spot on. In fact, I hired Steve following her raving recommendations (and…read moreafter I got a look at her gorgeous kitchen, which is highlighted on his web site). I'm slowly learning that there really are ethical, reliable contractors out there with high quality standards. You just have to find them by word of mouth (or word of Yelp. You're welcome.) Redoing a kitchen is an overwhelming undertaking. There are so many things to think about, decide on, consider. Steve is a pro at gently walking you through the process. He provides stellar referrals for other professionals when necessary (cabinetry, color consultation, etc). He has the best team of workers. They are on time, friendly, professional and they obviously enjoy working together and working for Steve. They take pride in their work. They clean up every day and keep you up to date on status and next actions. There were a few instances where Mr. M and I found something we thought wasn't right in the evening when we were inspecting the day's work. Our immediate reaction was to be dismayed and frustrated. Until the next morning when we spoke with Steve. He listened, understood, and quickly came up with solutions that pleased us. His many years of experience have made him a creative and talented problem solver, with very high standards for himself and the businesses he associates with. In the end, we are thrilled with the job they did, and with the process. Start to finish, it took 13 work days. Saving up to do the master bath next!

I am taking the time to write this because there are a few things you need to know before you hire…read moreTappan Builders to remodel your house. These are things we wish we had known before we hired them. First, the bid. Don't believe it. Tappan low balled his bid, leaving out dozens of items that came up later as "suggested" change orders. Our project had 21 change orders! Some of these were due to real changes in scope. But too many were items that could have and should have been part of the original bid. Some change order examples (these are increases from the amount in the bid): -Electrical: Change order for $6600 -Windows: We did add about 30% more new windows, but the price went up by 90%, from $18,000 to $34,000 -Interior Painting: $12,800 -Flooring: $11,500 -Heating Ducts: $1500 -Bathroom Vanities: $4000 -Wood Trims: $3900 -Door Hardware: $2300 Secondly, read the contract slowly and carefully, and consider having a lawyer read it. Here's what we learned the hard way: We decided to have the exterior painted by a wonderful company, Contreras Painting, who has painted many homes in our neighborhood. Their bid was about the same as the bid from Tappan's painter, but we knew the quality of Contreras' prep work and painting was extraordinary. What we discovered about the contract was that when we got our allowance credited back, it did not include the 22% that Tappan tacks on to all sub-contracted work or materials that he buys. That is, he kept over $1200 in profit and fees on work that was not even performed by his crew or subs. When asked about this, he referred us to the paragraph in the contract that allows him to do this. Buyer beware. Third issue: Several times we were told that plumbing or electrical items we wanted were not available. These were toilets, faucets, fixtures, etc., that we had spent time researching and deciding upon. His answer: pick something else. When we did a bit of Goggling online, they all turned out to be fully available. We had to prove to him that he was wrong, and in some cases, purchase the items ourselves. Then, when we bought them ourselves, he informed us that neither he nor his subcontractor would warranty them. Fourth issue: Tappan suggested a very expensive, but supposedly quieter, fan for the bathroom (Fantech). When the bathroom reached the stage where it was useable, we discovered that the fan was no quieter than any cheap generic model. After complaining that this fan was not living up to its reputation, Tappan suggested that we "put some screws" into the duct work. After reading the installation instructions online for myself, I discovered that he had virtually ignored the manufacturer's recommendations: that is, the material for the duct work and the ducting length were both wrong. It took almost a dozen emails before Tappan finally had his crew take a look. Indeed they were able to fix it, and they didn't charge extra for this, but the aggravation it caused was simply unnecessary. Fifth issue: His electrical contractor tries to cut corners. When asked specifically to install Lutron switches and plates, he substituted Leviton, in a mix-and-match manner, and the colors did not match. This was eventually corrected, but it took time, energy, and a bunch of emails before it was done. Sixth issue: Schedule. From the start, we asked for some sort of schedule for this project. It was clear that this was not going to be done in the three months of his original estimate. But we were never able to pin him down about the overall timing, nor could we even get a rolling estimate of upcoming decisions and dates. We would get comments like "decide on the tile by next Tuesday" when they were nowhere near ready to move ahead on tile work for weeks thereafter. On about a week's notice, we even worked out a place to stay so that the floors could be finished. When the day came, that very day, we were told that the plan had changed, and we would have to work out our accommodations for a later date. Seventh issue: Double charging. In at least three instances, invoices had to be revised by Tappan as a result of overcharges by his billing department. One of these was for over $800, and the others were smaller. But be vigilant. You need to check their work. Eighth and last issue: He loves to look around your house and diss other work you have had done by others. He, of course, insists that you correct everything with his contractors. With his 22% tacked on to all work by sub-contractors, you would be far better off to get your own bids. His "oversight" of other professionals is simply not worth it. When it was needed, say with the electrical work described above, it was not done. Having said all of the above, Tappan Builders does do high quality work. Our crew was competent and friendly. If you can get past everything described above, you may still want to hire them. Good Luck!

I recently had Steve Tappan do another job for us. He turned roughly 400 square feet of unusable…read moredirt space underneath our home into a 200 square foot storage area, 100 square foot utility area, and 100 square foot laundry room. This job was fully permitted, done within budget, and completed ahead of schedule. Throughout the process my wife and I were worried about dust and debris as we were still living in our home. Steve and his crew took precautions to safeguard our home and possessions and little to no dust made it into our home.

Ron is exceptional. I am a realtor (DRE#01947142) and I deal with contractors a lot more often than…read morethe average person. I have worked consistently with Ron for nearly a decade on everything from single family homes to 4 unit buildings. He has remodeled units, made emergency repairs, built decks, redone bathrooms, and much more. He has integrity, and he cares about getting the job done right.

Ron overhauled our basement in-law unit which included a bathroom-to-the-studs remodel and a bit of…read moreunforeseen structural reinforcements. He did a great job getting us basically everything on our wishlist within the budget we'd laid out. Would hire again in 100%

We worked with Baywood for an extensive down-to-the-studs whole house remodel of our 125 year old…read morehome and couldn't be more pleased with the process and outcome. Robert and his team are kind, communicative, creative but grounded, accountable and just an overall delight to work with. The quality of their work definitely shined through after completion and since we've been living in the house for a couple of years. I can't recommend Robert and the rest of the Baywood team enough.

Baywood has been a contractor for me for 40 years. I first met Robet Malone, the owner of Baywood,…read moreafter purchasing my first house in Berkeley where they performed extensive renovations. 5 years later, I hired him and his team to construct a small office building and help remodel an existing office building on the same lot. And 15 years later, my wife and I purchased another home in Berkeley where we enlisted Baywood to convert a garage into a stunning guest room. Baywood is not inexpensive, but I found that they perform their operations with care, integrity and uncanny expertise.

Gary was hired to repair water damage to a basement bedroom and kitchen ceiling. His estimate for…read morethe bedroom took 2 weeks; he inspected the kitchen twice and never provided an estimate. Gary's drywall work seems solid, and his suggestion that we add more outlets while we had the walls open was great. In 5 working days, he only arrived as schedule twice, texting me in the morning to change his mind about the other 3 days. He left the room half-painted with a partially disassembled and broken closet door frame. He wanted more money to finish the painting but never provided an estimate for that, either. He also left a trash bag as big as my garbage bin that will take several weeks to throw out with my usual trash. After he saw my poor review, he reiterated that he didn't think he was obligated to finish the painting, but offered to anyway. This was the 4th time he said he'd paint it. By then I had lost faith in Gary, and was working with another painter.

Gary and crew were highly recommended by a friend who said "best contractor I've ever worked with",…read moreand did not disappoint. They helped us replace ceiling drywall after mold remediation, which they completed quickly and quietly (we just arrived home from the hospital with a newborn the day before!) Gary was super helpful and gave me lots of advice on other small things I've wanted to do at the house, including a bedroom closet modification which they just took care of right away. They were all friendly, always on time, communicated well and all pricing discussion was clear and upfront. Can't recommend them highly enough. We'll certainly be asking them to help us with additional work in the future.

I can not recommend JBM Construction highly enough! Can I give him ten stars?! I want to. John…read morebuilt our espresso bar on time and on budget. I would have been utterly satisfied...nay, thrilled, had that been all there was to praise about JBM. It's not. John also turns out to be a very thorough, communicative, resourceful contractor. His many years of experience have earned him a sizable network of reliable subs, who are also a pleasure to work with. And in the rare instance when they're not, don't worry, John has you covered. He will handle it and you will not feel the pain. John will take care of your project and you'll feel that he's taking care of you, too. Now to the work itself, it's exactly what I wanted except better. Perfect execution. A couple of things needed adjusting once the project finished and John totally took care of them, no problem. People come into my space on a daily basis and compliment how awesome it looks. Many inquiries about who did the work. Seriously, a few times a week! If that weren't all enough, John is a joy to work with. It really makes me happy to see him walk onto the project cause he's just such a GOOD GUY. Reliable, trustworthy, big-picture minded, experienced, easy--going. You will not be sorry you hired JBM.

I can't believe I am the first person to review this business! I was fortunate to have had a friend…read morerecommend the contractor services of John Mora. Over the past year, John and his crew have done several projects for us including: repairing external and internal rot caused by leaking downspouts; installing beautiful new windows and repairing rot caused by water that leaked through the old ones; opening up (and later closing and refinishing) the ceiling to put in insulation and recessed lighting; and other little stuff, too, like hanging a new interior glass door. In addition to his excellent work and reliable team, John provides genuine caring and calmness to every project. He helped us stay within our budget by telling us what we could do ourselves. John and his crew truly care about getting the job done right, and obviously take a lot of pride in their workmanship. John is just a truly lovely person and great to work with. For another testimonial of sorts, check out the reviews for the cafe Local 123 in Berkeley. Notice how many people praise the space. John and his crew are responsible for that work, too. He had mentioned that he had done a job there and I checked it out for myself. It really is well done. I feel very fortunate to have had John and his crew work on my house.

We spent almost 2 years thinking about renovating two full baths and a powder room in our 54-year…read moreold house but did nothing until we finally decided that Walters Remodeling was the company we wanted to work with and initiated the project recently. Two things became apparent as we progressed through the detailed design stage and then on to construction. One was the professionalism and competence of the Walters' people involved and the other was the pleasantness of working with them in their offices and in our home. Michael, the Project Manager was attentive and thorough in keeping us posted on the construction process and schedule. He explained everything they were doing and gave us the opportunity to customize items, like where towel racks go and what height the shower should be. One of the prime benefits for us of this project turned out to be not the new, modern appliances updating our old baths, but the underneath replacement of floors, ceilings, walls, water pipes, insulation, and electric wiring. We've essentially rebuilt a major portion of our house. In doing major construction alteration, Walters Remodeling took great care in eliminating dust using suction machines and in protecting the parts of the house outside the renovation area. We bought a room air scrubber for our bedroom as a precaution. It indicates when the air is bad, and it has almost never found anything other than clean air. We highly recommend Walters Remodeling for home renovation projects.

We were looking for a contractor to help us with our kitchen remodel. We needed walls removed and…read moreareas rebuilt, electrical work added etc. Michael from Walters Remodeling came over and listened to what we were looking to accomplish, inspecting the area we were remodeling, going into the attic to check out the beam that was going to be replaced. We are so pleased with Walters Remodeling. They are wonderful and they have a superb crew. The work we had done was completed exactly how we wanted it with a few suggestions to make it work better. Michael and team came over and spent at least an hour listening to what we were looking to accomplish, inspecting the area we were remodeling. No other contractors were as courteous, thorough or showed such professionalism.Everything was completed in the time frame given. I highly recommend them.

A few weeks ago, I discovered a leak coming from our upstairs bathroom that had made its way down…read moreinto our laundry room. After opening the ceiling, I found the source: a cracked ABS pipe. To access and repair everything, I had to create two drywall openings (26" x 28") inside, and later realized the plumbing repair required an additional 16" x 16" opening from the outside stucco wall. Once the pipe was fixed, I began calling contractors. One quoted me with a very fair price but never followed back up with me. Another contractor I had used in the past quoted twice as much as the other contractor, then backtracked and said he would match other prices--which didn't give me much confidence and I did return his call. I then called Mr. Gomez Construction. He answered immediately, gave me a very fair price, and sent two workers the same day to repair the interior ceiling and matched the existing texture perfectly. They did excellent work. I chose to paint the ceiling myself, though they offered to handle that as well. Later that afternoon, around 4:00 pm, another member of his team came to patch, fill, and texture the exterior stucco opening. It too was perfect. By 6:00 pm, everything was complete. The texture match--both inside and outside--was perfect. I highly recommend Mr. Gomez Construction. They provide excellent service, with professional results! I have used others in the past, none of them have ever come close to matching stucco like Mr. Gomez Construction.

Eugene George and his team are fantastic!…read more The communication is outstanding and the workmanship is the highest quality. The little things like calling when heavy traffic causes him to arrive at the job site later than he promised is an example of his professionalism. He has earned our trust and restored our faith in contractors. We will certainly use George Construction again!