Gary is very knowledgeable and Nik does great work! They work seamlessly together. I learned they have worked together nearly 20 years which explains their high quality workmanship and service. I would definitely use them again! Highly recommend! read more

Gary promptly answered my call. Because he was in the area, he was able to stop by right away. He correctly diagnosed the problem , determining that we had a defective carbon monoxide alarm, rather than a defective smoke alarm, that was high frequency beeping, creating much stress for an 18 year old cat and annoying anyone within range. Problem solved. Gary was pleasant and generous, arriving prepared with ladder. read more

Installed a kitchen light box. What an amazing difference! I should have done this years ago. read more

Aura Home Services - New lighting. - Lighting Fixtures & Equipment Near Me - San Ramon, California

I have been desperately wanting to get this kitchen out of the 60's and I just went ahead with this or it would have never happened. Overall, I think they did a pretty decent job today and I showed my photos to my friends, and they agree. When Gary said Nick will be on site between 6:30 am - 7:00 am, he wasn't kidding! He was on time! No issues with install, it was very straight forward and clean. I appreciate the plastic sheeting to avoid getting dust everywhere. My only error (and this was completely my fault) was not reading the contract completely. The second light fixture was a separate cost. Had I caught that prior to the work being done, I would have gone ahead with it. But my husband thinks he could do it and ripped out the fixture as soon as Nick left! So, if ends up taking a month to complete and over budget, I will be calling Lights In A Box to finish the job. read more

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We moved and had to get in contact with Gary and Nick regarding an upgrade to our lighting since we love their whole approach to the old kitchen lights. We did not plan a whole bunch of remodeling tasks, but knew that we had to have some lighting upgrades. We ended up with a whole house lighting upgrade - every room except our primary hallway. We had no fixtures in our bedrooms (switched plugs only), antiquated bathroom lighting fixtures, older non-LED lights in our living room, the classic fluorescent fixtures in our kitchen, a lone dim light in our dining room, and a strange entryway light. Gary took a look and had some great recommendations. He thought the work would take up to 4 days and I booked the work (no deposit required) at the next open spot in the schedule. Nick stayed with his early-start and early-finish schedule (that worked great for us) and got it done in 4 working days (more like 3.5 days). The quality of work is fantastic and Nick really worked with us to minimize the disturbance. He also made necessary modifications based on existing conditions. I really liked the wireless transmitter receiver for 3-way light switches for our dining room with two entrances. I can't recommend Lights in a Box enough. If you only need a kitchen light replacement, they can get that done in a day for sure. My pictures probably don't show off the craftsmanship enough. read more

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When I decided to get rid of the fluorescent lights and get recessed lights, I decided to go to Yelp and check out a few businesses. I always check revues and when I saw Lights in a Box had 5 stars and not a single complaint, I thought that was a little too good to be true. I was wrong! Gary contacted me immediately and made an appointment to give me an estimate. He arrived on time, explained all the details, and gave me a fair price. Two days later, Nik arrived at 6:30 am., and went right to work. He knew exactly what he needed to do. Everything was covered with plastic or drop cloths. His work ethic was exceptional and he worked nonstop until every last detail was complete. By 2:30, he had everything clean and wrapped up all his equipment. Nik is a no nonsense kind of guy who knows his job. I am so pleased how great the lights look. It makes the kitchen look so much larger and more modern. When I decide to do our next project, I know who I will call. This business earns their 5 stars for good reason. read more

what a difference! I am very happy with the transformation of my 70's kitchen lightimg. Nik arrived precisely at 6;30 am and worked non stop! The finished Product looks amazing. A true craftsman. In and out no mess. Very impressed. read more

Aura Home Services - Lighting Fixtures & Equipment Near Me - San Ramon, California

Nik, with Lights in a Box, just finished revamping my early 90's fluorescent tube kitchen lights into a beautiful, brighter recessed cam light system. I have a small, dark kitchen with room for only 4 lights in the "box", but they more than adequately light up the kitchen. I also replaced the cam light over the sink. You have a choice of four colors on the lights from 2500K (I think, or maybe it was 2700K), 3000K, 3500K and 4000K. The 2500K is yellowish and the 4000K is hospital bright. We chose the 3500K light color. With the dimmer switch (included in installation) the color is perfect for our needs. The trim and finishing work our installer Nik did is just beautiful. It's much more detailed than pictures show. As Nik noted, the added ceiling height of the light box, along with the new lights, makes our small kitchen look a little bigger! The whole process working with Gary, the owner, and Nik was easy. Gary answered all my questions and provided a detailed job description at a reasonable cost. He worked with me on my schedule and Nik was right on time (6:30 am) to start the job, finishing by 11:00 am. Nik put up plastic walls to minimize the dust and cleaned up any residue after. All in all, a great experience. I highly recommend Lights in a Box if you're thinking of re-doing your lights. read more

Aura Home Services - Did I mention a dark kitchen? But it's easier to see the trim with the light off. - Lighting Fixtures & Equipment Near Me - San Ramon, California

Great price, installed quickly, and there was no mess. I highly recommend Lights in a Box to update your old fluorescent lights. Here's before and after. read more

Aura Home Services - Lighting Fixtures & Equipment Near Me - San Ramon, California

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Amazing work!! Gary and Nick are the GO TO GUYS if you are looking to upgrade the lights in your home. Extremely punctual. Clean job. No mess. Fast and meticulous work. And good price. Highly recommended. read more

Aura Home Services - Lighting Fixtures & Equipment Near Me - San Ramon, California

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I wanted to send my "Thanks for a wonderful job". "Wow"! Nick, who installed my new lights is a true craftsperson. I would recommend Gary & Nick to everyone. You can't go wrong and you will be amazed at the transformation of your kitchen or any room in your house. Thank You again .... Good Bye 80's lights can't say I'll miss you!!!!! Mary Mattes ... read more

Aura Home Services - Done! - Lighting Fixtures & Equipment Near Me - San Ramon, California

They were very responsive and booked quickly. They showed up promptly at 7am, as expected and completed by noon that same day! They wore a mask and kept everything very clean. Beautiful work and we are extremely happy with the results! read more

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Transformational lighting! High quality craftmanship! Always on time, clean and organized. I wish I could give 10 stars or more. Gary and Nik work together seamlessly to get the very best result for placement and type of light. Nik's work is excellent and is meticulous with a European style of detail. Our first project was a very old fluorescent light in a hall bathroom. I simply could not believe the amazing result. Next came the kitchen, and now, every room is getting their own custom lights with dimmer switches. It is like living in a different house! I recommend Lights in a Box highly. You will not be disappointed. They were recommended to me by my neighbor who raved about them. With good reason! read more

This review comes from San Jose, CA.... Lights In A Box is a class act! I am so glad they did my work. Very responsive every time I called - for a quote and for other questions. COVID delayed my installation for a year and my original quote was honored even though there had been a price increase since my quote was created. The installer arrived in a mask and covered my floors with plastic. When he left, there was no mess to clean up! The products have provided the modern update that I was seeking. I LOVE THE FINISHED PRODUCT!!! I had can lights installed in my master bedroom, hallway, entry way and in the kitchen with a recessed ceiling. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL and professionally done. What a difference!!! I like it so much that I asked them to come back and do the other three rooms in my home. Nice people! Nice work! Prompt and professional! read more

Wonderful design and fantastic work! The final look is so elegant and transformative!!! We decided to replace our old fluorescent lights in the kitchen and in the master bedroom/bathroom area. The outcome is stunning: the new lightning is just gorgeous, making the entire space looking so fabulous. Both projects were performed on a perfect schedule: it took one day per each installation. I was concerned about the bedroom area (because it had a carpet). However, my worries were in vain: Nik prepared the space, and everything was covered: "no mess" outcome. I would highly recommend this team (Gary and Nik) and their "Light in a Box" design to everyone to renovate their old house. read more

I just noticed that someone from this company responded to my original review TEN MONTHS after I wrote it. Apparently, these folks have excellent recall, as the response would lead you to believe that the incident had just occurred. My one star review probably was a bit harsh, but instead of beating me up over it, maybe he should have apologized for his tardiness in the first place. My "motivation" was plain and simple frustration, which the owner did nothing to alleviate. And now that I read some other one-star reviews, I am happy that I did not use this company. read more

Hi Everyone, My name is Ceren. I met Gary and his clients when I first started working for the tile industry 10 years ago. So I can definitely say I know Gary with Affordable remodel' over 10 years. When I saw the deduction on the stars for wrong reasons I felt the need to respond to it immediately. The facts about Affordable Remodel: Gary is a reliable contractor who has been in the industry for a long time. He is a person who knows the ins and outs of this industry very well, the laws and the procedures. Over the years I have worked with many contractors, some of them are good some of them are bad. I can tell you that Gary is a very good contractor. When it comes to Affordable Remodel , the overall experience of the people were very good all these years. When the economy was booming, I remember that he was booked for 4-6 months in advance. He is very determined and people who used his services always used him, or wanted to use him again for other parts of remodels in their homes. He had been and still is really affordable for the work he does, the scope of work he does and quality of work he does. He has a very structured pricing which is explained in his contracts in detail.Although I realized that sometimes either people do not read the contract well and or the structured pricing does not work for some people. Overall my experience as a tile source, Gary constantly is on top of client's favor and well being. he follows up on the availability of the products and the status so the projects are on time. I can definitely recommend Affordable Remodel as a general contractor to all my clients read more

If you're on the fence, just do it. You'll love the results. These guys know what they're doing, and they do what they say they're going to do. This is my second review on the third job they've done for my family (twice at my house--kitchen and then dining room--and the kitchen at my mom's house). Nik's work is excellent and the way Gary works with you to get the lights optimally placed are a great combo that results in simple, elegant, functional lighting that gives you from dim mood lighting to super bright and everything in between. read more

I had this company remove my old fluorescent lights in our master bath. They did a fantastic job. Nik was on time bright and early and did a wonderful job. The ceiling now is gorgeous. The molding and all of the work was first rate. So glad I called them. Highly recommend them. read more

WOW! I used Affordable Remodel over the summer to remodel the kitchen in an older home my husband and I were looking to rent out. It was dated and boring and had no flow at all. Gary came in right on time with a great attitude, lots of out of the box idea's, and a very generous quote. He suggested things we never even considered! Gary and his crew were beyond professional, clean and classy. I plan to use them again in the future in other properties we own! As for the property, the kitchen had the place rented in only 24 hours after they finished as it was a show stopper. We considered staying ourselves after we saw the quality of woodwork and design that went into this kitchen. Gary's professionalism and talent go above and beyond what we expected. I look forward to working with this company again in the near future. read more

My husband and I cannot say enough great things about Gary and Nick at Lights In A Box, we would give them 10 stars if we could. Very fair pricing, very knowledgeable and I told Nick he is an artist at what he does! Lights in a Box did two bathrooms for us, added new beautiful lights to our living room and updated our lights in our hallways. Turned our beautiful, we hope to use them again in the future! read more

I love to cook but hated the old fluorescent lighting I had in my kitchen. I highly recommend "Lights in a Box" to transform your kitchen. Gary and Nik were wonderful! I couldn't believe it was done in one day! Nik was so efficient and kept everything so clean. What a beautiful job! Can't say enough good things about this company! read more

Gary and Nik are true professionals. Fantastic work done on all the lights with very minimal patches to paint. If I knew it would be this easy then I would have done this long ago. I would recommend them to anyone without hesitation. You won't be sorry if you hire them :) read more

I would not recommend Affordable Remodel. Had my kitchen done with them as it was a bad experienced. The City permit inspector did not approve on two items until it was redone. Affordable Remodel subcontracts all work as Gary W, owner, does not have employees. Some subcontractors work were bad to OK. Gary did a poor job overseeing the subcontractors. Gary used change orders to charge extra for work that should have been included in the original contract. I'm currently remodeling my bathrooms and very glad I'm NOT using Affordable to do my bathrooms. read more

I agree with Kirk L's review. They came out right away, gave us a very fair and honest quote (clearly outlining what they can and can't do), and were able to start pretty quickly. They were professional, incredibly neat and clean (NO dust afterwards - truly amazing!). Our before and after pics are equally amazing and getting rid of the old 1980's style wood/florescent light box in the kitchen made a HUGE difference in our kitchen. We definitely recommend Lights In A Box if you have an old, outdated (and yes, let's face it, ugly) wooden box florescent lighting in your kitchen and want the look of recessed lights without the excessive cost of actual recessed lights. Thank you Gary and Nick of Lights In A Box! read more

Gary Wendschlag is the owner and General Contractor of this company. He subs out all of the work and does a poor job of overseeing the work. Be careful reading the over the contract. If you don't see the part about who is responsible for getting the permits it will be left up to you even though it states work will not begin until you acquire the permits. The work will be done without them and good luck when you have a problem, because it was never inspected or passed by the city. Gary does not know contract law or the meaning of "Latent Defect". We encountered a problem when trying to sell our home with our shower pans both leaking. We had done the remodels a couple years apart with different subcontractors. Gary would not return calls, said the 1 year warranty was up, did not believe he was responsible, was incredibly rude and did not care we needed to get the issue resolved in order to close our escrow. Even after I showed him proof the latent defect law is in effect for 10 years he still did not care. Here is an example of his comments: "There are NO warranty statements or promises on the contracts between Affordable Remodel and your father Paul. This is a situation. As far as your comments about "referrals". 1. I have a ton of references and don't any more. I have been in this business a long time and realtors have always used their manipulation tactics by 'I know allot of people and I will refer you if..." Don't mean to be rude but save it. If I had a dollar for every realtor / client / business owner who said "give me what I want I can refer you business" I would not have to work, I'd be loaded. 2. I have never received 1 referral from Paul since we did both of his bathrooms 6 years ago... As I told you before I will not nor am I required to "jump" in yours or any other's time frame regarding this situation. I will do what the CA state legally requires of me regarding warranty if any in this situation. I also plan on utilizing all my rights and laws pertaining to this situation." Since Gary would not fix the problem even after finally sending out his subcontractor and finding there were in fact defects in the shower pans causing them to leak, we ended up losing the buyers. Gary finally replaced the shower pans, but did not fix the other problems. A heater vent was never attached and had been blowing hot air under the house for 6 years. He had sent out a sub shortly after the remodel to fix it. The "fix" was to stuff insulation under the duct so it met the vent hole never attaching it. His plumber also actually plumbed a trap sideways!!! Unbelievable! There was also a tremendous amount of debris left under the house from the remodels. We had to pay to have it removed. This shows you his lack of supervision over his subs and that he is absent on the job. This man was totally unreasonable when trying to resolve this issue. He literally yelled at me on phone and hung up on me. If you have a problem that goes beyond the standard one year warranty good luck. He will do anything and everything he can to get out of repairing it and will not stand behind his work. As he states in his quote above he doesn't care about referrals, which means he doesn't need yours. I would think long and hard before doing business with a man like this who lacks character and business ethics. read more

I found a business card of Affordable Remodel with papers regarding my kids bathroom done by Gary Wendschlag many years ago. I did not do any review at that time because it would remained me how frustrated and unhappy was with his job. First able I signed the contract with him but his presence at the job was only to picked up his money. The job was in the hands of employees who were limited when you asked them how they can do better something. I had a few encounters with Gary and his rudeness, no manners, and communication skills were so low. I ended up my project in the hand of his workers. read more

I am extremely pleased with the service and help I have received from AR. Nick did a great job on my kitchen and bathroom light. He was prompt, courteous and an excellent craftsman. I would give AR a recommendation any day of the week. Thanks Gary and Nick, job well done!!! read more

Gary remodeled two of my bathrooms several years ago. Although it looked nice, he really cut corners. He left a mess under the house when connecting the new pipes. Also, he brought in 3/4" pipes into existing 1/2" pipes. He obviously never replaced the "wall" pipes. There is a bit of rust that comes through the main bath when turning on the bath when it hasn't been used for a little while. Also the pipes make this clanking noise in the bathroom walls. We had a jacuzzi tub installed and instead of placing caps/screws so that the panel could be opened if repairs were required, he simply "caulked" the outside panel in place! I agree with other reviewers that he was not on site enough. He also had a bit of an attitude when I questioned issues. If you go through Gary, make sure you get a permit for the work being done. Although more costly, It will save you headaches later. read more

OK 5 years is a long wait for a review. But I was just recommending them to a neighbor. Phoned to confirm they're still in business before recommending - very glad to see that Gary is still there. AR (now Lights in a Box) replaced my ugly florescent kitchen lights in 2010. SO pleased! Beautiful work. Slight paint flaws in two places (you know how it is, I'm sure no one would have noticed but me)...they came out and re-painted the whole trim! And I realized that I haven't had to replace the bulbs in 5 years. Wow! read more

New lights really upgraded the look of my kitchen. AR was efficient and did quality work at a fair price. I'm delighted. Mike from Alamo read more

Gary came out to my place and was very informative and knowledgeable. I agreed to do the work and amazed! Nik did a wonderful job. I am very pleased and would highly recommend them to anyone who wants this type lighting renovation. Great company. read more

2/9/15 very professional & fair company. Gary & Nik have a great partnership. Nikolai did a fantastic job with the remodel. Prompt to arrive (was even early), answered all my questions, worked efficiently and left everything nice & clean. He completed the entire job in 7 hours. I am very HAPPY with the finished job. My kitchen now looks brighter & the depth of the new encasing makes it look bigger. Now I don't have to hear comments that my kitchen lights are so 70's. I would recommend them to anyone. read more

After 8 years, I finally decided it is time to get rid of the florescent kitchen lights. Gary came to give us an estimate. He then emailed us a contract that lays out exactly what will be done and how much. Nik just came and did the work today. He started at 7am and finished before 3pm. Nik is a true professional. He worked very efficiently and knew exactly what he needed to do. He even matched my current ceiling paint texture. The whole area was nicely covered up. After he left, the area was left pretty clean compared to other contractors who recently worked in my house. Their price is on the higher end. But no surprises. Everything came out exactly as I expected and as laid out in the contract. With the new paint we just put on a couple of days ago, our kitchen looks new! Very happy with the result. Highly recommend! You just have to be persistent in calling them to set up appointments. read more

They did a great job on our kitchen. Our house was built in 1977 and it has made it look updated and new. We found out about them from a neighbor who had her mother's house lights redone before putting it up for sale. She was very pleased and said the same thing we found. They were very professional, a great job, and left no mess. Having had other work done, that has never been the case. Everyone who has seen it has commented how nice it looks. It's nice and bright, and the great thing is that the bulbs shouldn't have to be replaced. And, if indeed it did happen, they even offered to come out and do it for us. Great service and great job! Debbie L. read more

Wow what a great experience! Awesome people to work with and great workmanship! I wish I would have called them long ago. Nik did the work, and was very professional. He cleaned up everything afterwords leaving no mess as well. Gary was helpful and clear explaining the process. read more

Very happy with the work performed. Arrived on time, done fairly quickly, and with a very high quality. Worker "tented" the area so that absolutely no paint or dust could escape. New lights look flawless. I'm a happy customer and would definitely use this company again. read more

I just wanted to re-post this good review after seeing two people gave 1 star reviews. I agree with Ceren that Gary does very good, professional work and his tile people are excellent. Props too to Ceren for helping pick great tile combinations - she has a great eye. I will use AR again when I'm ready to remodel my guest bath.... just waiting for the right time to do the job. Leslie H read more

I had an appointment with Affordable Remodel today. They were supposed to come give us an estimate for the work to be done on our house. 15 minutes before they were supposed to be at our house, we got a phone call that said they were not coming. They told us they were in the middle of doing a "bigger estimate" and that it took priority over ours. We told them we would be happy to go elsewhere!!! Talk about poor customer service! I will never call them again. read more

Gary and Nick from Lights In A Box did a fantastic job. We had our 1980's lights removed from our master bath and the lights and molding look fantastic. The job was particularly difficult given the depth of the existing box, about 10 inches and overall length of 10 feet. They were efficient, clean, straightforward, and made what I consider a work of art. I highly recommend! read more