Benchmark just completed a new kitchen for us in Emeryville…read more The kitchen has transformed our home, and the work was top quality. The whole process was smooth from start to finish, with frequent updates from Jason and Chris. When they found hidden problems or we requested changes, they were quickly on it. They added an exhaust vent the property lacked, brought the electrical up to code, and dealt with all the permits and inspections. Fantastic experience.

I wanted to update my review…read more Jason and Scott reached out to me a few weeks ago, and along with their employee Tony they did everything the right way. They came out and inspected the porch and saw how poorly it was originally constructed. They were able to fix everything the correct way and it now looks fantastic. As for the fans, it turns out they were originally hung with the wrong type of box, and they fixed that as well. The entire process was a much-needed breath of fresh air and the three of them could not have handled it better. This was the best way to deal with a bad experience as possible and my wife and I are thrilled.

It's been a long time since Gayler worked on our house but we have to provide an update…read more We moved out of California and finally got around to selling the California house. So why the review update? We sold the house for WAY over ask, cash deal, quick close, in large part because of the Gayler work done on the house. Everyone who viewed the house was impressed with the quality of the work Gayler did and wanted to know who did the work. When we told the potential buyers it was Gayler, the offers came in. So we loved the work they did on the house and it turned out to be one of the rare times when home improvements turned into a very lucrative investment. Something to consider when choosing a design/build firm.

Beware. They put on a good show ... slick marketing materials, fancy offices, a slogan, etc. We…read morehired Gayler to draw up plans for our kitchen renovation with a very specific budget. My husband and I eagerly showed up for our meeting, excited to see the plans they had prepared for transforming our '50s kitchen. After they wowed us with the renderings and all the possibilities, they showed us the estimated fee, which was approximately $200K over our budget. I almost burst into tears. After an awkward silence, the Gayler team found it appropriate to pour salt in our wounds, with a comment to the effect of, "Well, maybe you can afford it if your stocks do well this year." It was the humiliation on top of disappointment that was the nail in the coffin for us. We were already out of pocket in the thousands with Gayler, but the thought of working with them made me nauseous. So we took our money and ran ... to a contractor who was open, honest, and trustworthy. He built the kitchen of our dreams, within our budget.

Scott, Stacie, Joe, Josh and Joe have been such a blessing in our lives. Scott has been honest,…read morefair and a straight shooter throughout the entire building process. He is down to earth and overall a great person to deal with. Scott and the team built an addition for us along with rebuilding a poorly framed lower section of the home among many other things. He helped me throughout the entire process as far as the steps involved that he would handle and the steps that were on me. I do a lot of work myself and he was more than willing to help me at each and every stage. Thank you Scott!

Agree with the previous 5 reviews! We recently used Scott for a remodel. I feel like we did some…read moreof everything- plumbing, electrical, flooring, stucco, texture, paint, counters/tile, cabinets, etc. Scott and his team were great! They did quality work and the work was done timely. It was clear that the sub contractors he uses respect him and liked working with him so he was able to get us on their schedule to prevent significant downtime during our construction and any issues (all of which were minor) were resolved timely and to our satisfaction. Scott was responsive throughout the job. The quote he provided in the beginning was comprehensive and thorough meaning we didn't run into a bunch of unforeseen/extra/hidden costs. Scott made helpful suggestions on the construction plans that made all the difference and resulted in the the remodel turning out even better than we expected.

I had a very challenging experience working with Daniel Stamatoiu of Horizon Building for a…read morebathroom remodel in 2020. His bid was reasonable, but I found him difficult to trust for numerous reasons, causing me a lot of stress, necessitating my close oversight of his work, and making our many change orders difficult to negotiate. On multiple occasions Daniel misrepresented facts to me, including those related to a) his abilities, b) his material costs, c) availability of materials to meet my specifications. (Item B on that list was particularly glaring - where he tried to charge me $40/piece for heartwood redwood when he was using $11/piece plain old pine/fir! "Oops," he said "I must have misread the Home Depot website." As if an experienced contractor doesn't realize what a 2x4 should cost!?) I can acknowledge that many of our other issues arose from a dry rot issue he had not anticipated in preparing his bid, but it was him who elected not to go into the crawl space during his job walk, resulting in his bid failing to include this issue. Even after I forewarned him of the issue before work started, he elected not to inspect it. He acknowledged a lack of experience dealing with dry rot, but he later assured me that he'd address the problem as part of the job (unfortunately for me this was a verbal agreement, not one in writing). His failure to be forthright about his ability to address wood-destroying fungus meant that the necessary expertise was not brought in and therefore the problem was allowed to propagate and later re-infect portions of the work Daniel performed. On top of it all, much of his finishing work was shoddy at best. Gaps between the baseboards and floor, poorly textured wall paint around a new window (despite repeated request to correct the issue by me over multiple days and multiple failed attempts), a door that does not swing smoothly (again, despite me pointing it out and asking him to address it), a bathroom vanity that is not perfectly level, a window sill plate that was never smoothed so the rough/sharp edge from the manufacturing is glaringly obvious. I was hesitant to post this review because Daniel did claim he would warranty his work. Though I appreciate him coming back out to have a look at the issues he created, this has done me little good in the long run, as his "warranty" has summed about 2-3 hours of labor and did nothing to permanently correct the issues identified.

We had a really great experience with Daniel and Horizon Building, and would definitely recommend…read moreto folks looking for a reasonably priced contractor. In fact, I've already recommended him to a few friends. They renovated two bathrooms for us, and they both look stunning. We were particularly impressed with the quality and service for the cost, and would give him very high marks for value. We could tell when Daniel first came to bid the projects that he was very detail oriented (he was the only one of four that took notes and gave us an itemized bid), and that proved to be both true and helpful. He and his team made sure things were perfect before they were done. Small things came up of course (different batches of grout were slightly different colors, our tiles were too irregular in length to do the tile pattern we wanted and there was some miscommunication around this) but they worked with us to get everything as close to perfect as possible. His brother Andrei lays the tile and his work is really gorgeous. Daniel's also just a really nice guy and a particularly good communicator, getting back to us with answers to questions right away and troubleshooting issues that came up. For example, our stone fabricator cut the back edge of the stone too close to the sink, making it quite difficult to install the faucet, but Daniel found a way to make it work and had a good attitude about it. He and his team were also incredibly considerate in the amount of noise they made, making sure they waited until our baby was awake before doing the really loud stuff. One thing to be prepared for in working with Daniel (rather than a designer/builder team) is that you have take on the project design and materials sourcing yourself. For us this included some complex tile math and finding our own stone fabricator, though he did introduce us to excellent custom cabinet maker (https://millenswoodworking.com/) and shower glass company who we were very happy with. We probably could have used a bit more help knowing when we needed each component to be ready (sometimes they were stalled waiting on pieces), but he and his team were really patient with the delays. They were also very respectful of our time, and overall had wonderful customer service. Would absolutely use Daniel again for projects and wholeheartedly recommend him!

We were in an absolutely desperate situation when we found Chris and his team. Our home renovation…read morehad turned into a nightmare -- our previous contractor left our house completely gutted, uninhabitable, and in total disarray. We had lost money, time, and hope. Then, out of nowhere, we came across Chris, and from the very first conversation, he showed compassion, honesty, and genuine care. He couldn't believe what had happened to us and made it his mission to help us get our home and our peace of mind back. Chris and his crew started immediately and went above and beyond in every possible way. Since we were living in the home during construction, he built us a makeshift kitchen, secured areas without windows, and made sure we were comfortable and safe while the remodel was underway. His workmanship and attention to detail were outstanding -- he not only fulfilled our plans but added thoughtful extras, like a beautiful half bath we hadn't even imagined could fit. He stayed within our budget, communicated clearly, and treated our home as if it were his own. Beyond his skill as a contractor, Chris is an exceptional interior designer. His vision and creativity transformed our space into something truly stunning. His team was professional, respectful, and a pleasure to have around every day. After such a terrible experience before, finding Chris felt like a miracle. We can't recommend him and his company highly enough -- they didn't just rebuild our house, they restored our trust and made it a home again.

I would give more stars if I could! Chris and his team at Ruggieri Construction did an amazing job…read moreon our kids'/guest bathroom remodel. From the very first design conversation to the finishing details, they were professional, responsive, and easy to work with. They helped us make smart layout and design choices that completely transformed our small space into a beautiful, functional bathroom. The quality of their work and attention to detail truly stand out. We couldn't be happier with the results and will absolutely use Ruggieri Construction again for future projects. Thank you, Chris and team!

We were looking to demolish an unpermitted addition and build a new addition in its place. When…read morerequesting bids from construction companies, Loza Construction was the most detailed and did not leave out line items like other companies (example being demolition costs). During the construction process, the owner communicated clearly who will show up, what time, and what they will be doing. His crew are as friendly as he is. He was very patient when I had any questions during the construction process. There are times he would give friendly input on how big a standing shower should be, different closet designs, or what finishings to buy. The owner was great to work with and was very courteous to our neighbors. He completed the project on time and on budget without cutting corners. Most importantly, he did not fail a single inspection during the building process. I will definitely be working with this company for any future projects.

Joe does some amazing work! He built our house and was great at communicating during every phase…read more Good people and amazing service! Highly recommended!

Marius and his team are great. We experienced some delays that were outside of their control and…read morehe worked with us to find solutions to minimize the schedule and cost impact. He would make himself available when we needed him, whether it was a phone call or in person. Great guy to work with. Thank you for our beautiful kitchen.

We interviewed about seven contractors last year and chose Popescu Construction for our remodel…read morebecause they seemed to be the most responsive and were definitely the most professional. We were not disappointed. Marius and his team did a great job renovating our bathrooms, dining room, kitchen and part of our living room all before we moved in to our town home. The quote was a one the higher ones but in the end there was wasn't much creep to the quoted price. Which to us means he probably did a pretty honest job with his statement of work and the proposed cost. Oh, his proposal of the ones we received back was easily the most detailed as well. Expecting good craftsmanship and a timely project completion should be a given but is often not. Marius and team delivered there even with some curve balls (we ended up doing more than initially intended) we threw their way. Marius was able to manage all balls in the air and still manage to complete the project within an acceptable timeline. You can't always plan on vendors having sourcing issues on materials. Or having damaged or wrong delivered fixtures or appliances and other random setbacks. But they managed to deal with and remediate all the issues and keep our project moving forward. What we really appreciated was their professionalism, communication and responsiveness. He kept us updated on any project needs or timeline updates.Their ability to manage the project, warn and educate us on potential issues and provide solutions or remediations quickly. What can I say? They were great and if I ever had to do this again, we'd hire him again. We've passed his contact to a few friends and acquaintances already. Now, whether he'd do work for us again? That would be another story... I cannot recommend Popescu Construction highly enough.

I called Andrei for a small project as we had a handyman come and add a light to our bathroom and…read morethey messed up our light switch and wiring. Andrei fixed the bad wiring, put in a new electrical box and then fixed the drywall. He did an excellent job, is courteous and respectful and wore a mask. He's dependable and trustworthy which is huge when you are working with a general contractor.

Andrei with Rock Solid Development has been an absolute pleasure working with. What began as a…read morestraightforward kitchen remodel quickly turned into us remodeling the entire downstairs of our house, because of the level of trust and respect we had for his work. Andrei's attention to detail and eye for design was extremely helpful as we worked through this remodel and made design choices. From framing, to flooring, tiling, plumbing and more recessed lighting than I ever knew was possible, he handled it all. I can't begin to recommend Andrei enough. He is an amazing guy that did incredible work and I wouldn't hesitate recommending Rock Solid Development to anybody looking at any type of remodel projects. We're already thinking of what our next project will be!