We found Don & his team when our other contractor bowed out due to illness. What a find he is! While we waited for plans to finalize, we asked to commission a painter. He sent the best. We felt every sub contractor Don utilized on our project from that painter through completion was clean, timely and fantastic. We did a small addition (closet, bathroom, laundry room) which required removing a dead tree, retaining walls, doors & windows, roofing, siding, insulation, plumbing electrical and tile work. We never had an issue passing inspection. Since Don lives on the mountain, he was helpful to us as newbies. He recommended product choices based on durability, etc. He offered remedies to the aging home's prior projects that weren't done safely or correctly. When we discovered that a gopher had loaded the existing bathroom wall with tons of dirt, he had a solution and expert to remedy the situation. As other issues arose in our aging home, he offered options without sales pressure as to what would serve us best in the long run, always making the final decision our choice. Safety and durability seem to be top priorities. We appreciated how he guided us through the process. The quality of his workmanship, the timely meetings and billing schedules all made for a relatively seam free small project, even when mountain living & mother nature created challenges. read more

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This guy will lie lie lie.. Don Souza is very demanding and very condensing he creates more work so you have to pay more this is the. M.O. for Don Souza Construction read more

Yes! I found Don on yelp & got him in contact with my husband. He did an amazing job for our home in Big Bear. Unfortunately I didn't meet him in person but I promise that his work quality & his sub contractors are superb! read more

Don did a great job taking over on a large deck construction project that had gone astray. Don came in with a competent team and completed the job in a expeditious manner. Don was especially good at communicating and being available to answer any of my questions. He managed his team closely and kept them on track, while doing quality work on a complicated project. Don was also very prompt in billing, unlike previous experiences in Big Bear where getting an invoice can be like pulling teeth. I am very happy with the work Don and his team did, and the way in which he handled the job. read more

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Don did a great job. We did a complete remodel, including the addition of a porch to the front of the house. The house had many structural defects as the previous owner DIY'd a lot of things without permitting anything. Don fixed everything, the right way. He doesn't cut corners. He believes in doing it right and if we had any concerns or didn't like the way something turned out, he would fix it. Ultimately he wanted us to be happy. You hear nightmare stories about contractors disappearing toward the end of the job. Don was always available and saw the job through to the end. No matter how small our asks were, he took care of it. We would definitely work with Don again. read more

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Don did a great job in replacing my siding and windows on my house in Big Bear! He was great at answering all of my questions and even provided me tips on some of the projects I am doing myself. I am very pleased with all of the work Don and his team performed, and will be calling him again when I need help on my larger projects! read more

Inquired for a client regarding an older deck leaking into his living space. Don was readily available with an immediate solution and sage advice on what it would take for a proper fix. read more

Don just finished remodeling the 2 showers in our Big Bear cabin and once again it was an outstanding job and superior work! Don has handled all the work on the cabin since we purchased it...rebuilding all of the outside decks, new doors and granite counter tops. He manages the jobs from start to finish and will always deliver top quality! 5 star rating for sure read more

Don did a terrific job on our cabin in Big Bear Lake. He installed a beautiful new stair railing for our cabin along with remodeling our guest bathroom. Don has great attention to detail and is a perfectionist, which I love, but most importantly he gets the job done correctly. He does not cut corners like our previous contractor did. He is also very reliable and you can trust that he will make sure the project is done correctly and on time (which is amazing). He will be the only contractor I trust to do any further work on our home. Thank you Don! read more

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Don made my husband's and my dream of 30 years come true! We had wanted to remodel our cabin for many years, but life got in our way. Since Don is our neighbor, we stopped by his place and told him we were ready to make our wishes a reality. Don came over, made his suggestions, drew up some sketches and then he LISTENED TO WHAT WE WANTED. A few weeks later, we had an architect, designs and plans to begin. 2 years later, when we walked into the completed remodel and add-on, I started to cry, and my husband beamed like a light bulb! Not only did we gain 688 square feet of inside living space, about 300 square feet of outside entertaining and relaxing space, we gained a brand new cabin. All built and constructed according to current building codes. We had, technically speaking, a brand new cabin. read more

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Don Souza was a life saver for us. In October of 2017 we had contracted with another construction company to add a 700 square foot addition to a cabin in Big Bear, California. We should have recognized a potential problem right off the bat after we signed a contract and we were not getting the OK for the building permits. In February of 2019, the contractor told me to call the county myself. In 24 hours after that call, we had our permits.This was just the start. The contractor completely cut corners in the construction, did not follow the architectural plans, and did not show up for the project for months at a time and finally just abandoned the project. After interviewing different contractors, we hired Don Souza to completely remediate everything from framing,plumbing, heating, roofing etc. He was awesome and completely brought everything back to code and gave us the cabin of our dreams and what we had initially contracted for and more. His work product is excellent, his desire to excel is phenomenal and his passion and empathy is unbelievable. This was a big horror story for 18 months until Don Souza saved us. Don't get stuck with a bad contractor and get stuck with bad construction and have to go through a horror story. Choose Don Souza Construction and love his work product. Absolutely THE BEST!!!! read more

Don and his crew put our garage back together after two big trees fell on it. They did a beautiful job. It looks better than it did before the trees feel on it! Highly recommend Don Souza. read more

Don Souza Construction - General Contractors Near Me - Big Bear Lake, California

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If you want to have a home improvement project done right, Don is your man. He's honestly the best contractor we have ever worked with...he cares...quality from start to finish is the only way he operates. Our vacation home needed cement siding to stop the woodpeckers from taking over and when Don was done it was absolutely perfect. Every cut of every piece of siding and trim was perfection itself. We also added windows, a paint job, and an electrical service upgrade and we couldn't be happier. Besides his excellent communication skills, Don got the job done when he said he would. There is no other contractor that is in the same league as Don Souza Construction. We can't imagine using anyone else. read more

Don built our cabin in front of the lake 8 years ago. It is beautiful and we enjoy it every time we go. We put a lot of logs even a big tree in the center of the house that also serves as part of the structure. Don was present throughout the entire construction and directed all the trades with responsibility and care. Our family and friends get impressed when they see the house, it is beautiful and it feels very solid inside and out! Thank you Don from the Silvas read more

The best way to explain my experience with Don is to simply say that he is the first one I will contact, no matter what work I am looking to do on my cabin in Big Bear. I have had experience with MANY contractors (outside of Big Bear) and know that not all have the characteristics I have experienced when working with Don: integrity, honesty, down-to-earth, sincere, knowledgeable, follows the rules, the list could go on. When you find a contractor you trust and get along with - don't let them go! While in escrow on a house in Big Bear we discovered (through prior inspection reports) problems ranging from mold, drainage issues, and roof problems. While a normal person might run immediately, we wanted to know the full extent of the problems - we LOVED the house. I called Don because of his yelp reviews to get his input on the drainage and determine the condition of the foundation. I was sold from our first conversation because he took the time to really talk to me, I could tell he cares about the quality of his work, he mentioned pulling permits (not all contractors will follow the rules), and he was very personable. While still in escrow, we hired Don to take a look at the drainage issue and house foundation to determine what work might be required and what it might cost. Don was thorough in his review and contacted other contractors for additional input. Ultimately, we decided that the work required on that specific house was beyond what we were ready to take on. That information was priceless. We are now in escrow on another cabin and following our general inspection, Don will be the first person I contact for specific construction questions and work estimates. Really, once we get the keys, his is the only company I want working on my cabin. It is something very special to know that I have someone I can trust to let me know what work is needed, and to already be 100% comfortable with him or his crew working on my house in my absence and knowing the job will be done correctly. I look forward to the novel I will write on here after the first construction job he is able to complete for us. Thank you Don. read more

I hired Don as my general contractor for a large home addition in Big Bear. It was a unique build for many reasons that I will describe below, but long story short I would highly recommend Don to anyone who is in need of an A+ contractor in the Big Bear area. The home was purchased in 2018. There was an "original" side of the home which was a roughly 1,000 square foot cabin built in the late 70's. What made this a unique project was the "new" side of the home - the former owners of the property had undertaken a very large permitted addition to the home that started in 2008. In total the addition would add about 1,600 square feet of living space, including a new kitchen, new bedrooms, new bathrooms, and new efficient water heating system and HVAC system that would tie into the "original" side of the home. When purchased, the "new" side of the home was completed structurally from the outside, but did not have any finishing on the interior. We needed to complete plumbing, HVAC, and electrical that had all been roughed in on a pay as you go basis by the old owners. We also needed to complete interior walls, doors, cabinets, flooring, tiling, etc. from square one, in addition to some exterior work that the city asked us to complete - new driveway approach, some irrigation work around the foundation of the home, and some safety issues associated with the outside decking. Safe to say it was a very large project that had many different skills of labor required, and came with a higher level of complexity because we were tasked with completing someone else's work that had been done in small increments over a roughly 10 year time period. To make things more difficult, I used a unique renovation style loan that allowed me to purchase the property. Because of the type of financing, we had lots of requirements we had to satisfy, not just with the city to complete the permit, but also with the bank to satisfy everything they were asking of us. This was the situation I chose to get myself into, now I needed professional help with getting me to the finish line. Enter Don. I was living in San Diego at the time and did not have any connections with contractors in the Big Bear area. After doing some online searches I came across Don's information, in addition to a few others. After calling everybody to speak about my situation briefly, I knew that Don was my guy. For starters, I could tell that he knew his stuff. And I don't just mean general contracting, but more specifically general contracting in Big Bear. Big Bear is a unique location - not only are the weather patterns extreme which create their own building issues that I was unfamiliar with, but because it is a vacation driven economy up there it can be hard to get good skilled labor when you need it. There simply are not enough full-time skilled laborers in the area, especially with the amount of development currently going on, which means good help is hard to find. Don had A LOT of experience working in Big Bear. It was evident the first time we did a walkthrough of the house - he was pointing out potential problem areas specific to the area that no one else had taken the time to identify. (This is a good time to mention that another thing I really liked about Don was his ability to communicate. He was able to take his knowledge and communicate with me on a level where I understood what he was saying, and if I didn't understand something Don would take the time to explain it before moving forward.) When we started the project Don's Big Bear experience became even more evident - he seemed to have great, longstanding working relationships with everyone who was brought into the fold: subcontractors, city official/inspectors, etc. We were even able to retain some of the subs who had done some of the rough plumbing and electrical work in years past because they were familiar with eachother through mutual professional contacts (Big Bear very much has a small town feel to it) For how much of a mess this whole scenario was I could not have asked for anyone better to help me than Don. On top of everything I mentioned above, the quality of the work completed was top notch. Don helped me turn this "I think I made a mistake- project" into a dream home that my family and I will be able to enjoy and make memories at for many years to come. The final thing I will say is that I like to work with people who are passionate about what they do. Don is very passionate about what he does, and it shows in how he treats the people he works with and the final quality of the work. Could not recommend him enough. read more

It is a pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for Don Souza for the simple reason that he and his company did an outstanding job on my recent deck remodel and expansion in Big Bear! Given I am in the field of construction and the job was not nearby where I could provide frequent review and oversight, selecting the right contractor was of keen interest. I was particular in the qualities of the contractor I wanted especially in the areas of high quality of workmanship, proactive management to solve problems and find better solutions, self-management of the job site and provide a reasonable price. After reviewing several contractors, Don was the right choice for all of these reasons. Don was personally involved in the job and ran it like it was for himself...he receives very high marks from me and I look forward to our next construction project. read more

I contracted with Don in 2014 to replace my concrete driveway with an automated heated driveway system for my Big Bear house. I give high praise to Don for his attention to detail and craftsmanship. I own multiple properties and have worked with numerous contractors. Don is, by far, the best contractor I have worked with. He differentiates himself from his peers through his exceptional communication skills and commitment to meeting deadlines. Don maintained continuous communication with me throughout every step. Not once did I have to call Don for a status report - - he always beat me to the call. As an absentee owner, that was very important to me. I was impressed. Following the completion of the job Don made numerous visits to ensure the system was performing well. He made a personal point to visit my property during the first snowfall. After two seasons my heated driveway system continues to perform flawlessly. My driveway has a 13 percent grade. Thanks to Don, the winter season no longer presents an obstacle. I highly recommend Don for any project. Regardless of its size, Don will treat you as though you are his most important customer. read more

We were recommended to Don and immediately struck by his breadth of experience, knowledge, and high standards of work. We purchased an older home with a fantastic view and the renovation called for a near gutting. With every job its not unusual to uncover problems once the work gets started and Don was fantastic at identifying what needed to be done, present us with options and cost breakdowns and get the project completed. The exterior required retaining walls and designing a completely new driveway and stairs. He worked tirelessly with the City, meeting with City officials and got the plans approved. He came across issues that would have completely stumped less experienced contractors. He had a team of sub contractors and closely supervised their work to make sure everything was completed in a professional and prompt manner. As well as workmanship, Don, unlike many contractors who just want to get the job done, has vision and made so many suggestions that greatly improved the project, keeping us within budget. We put in all new bathrooms with natural stone, vanities, a completely new kitchen with granite counters and everything was finished perfectly, on time and within budget. His communication was excellent, letting us know exactly when things would be done and what the next steps would be. Thanks to Don, and his complete professionalism, we have a million dollar home, solidly built and designed to maximize the views, including two new decks. He is by far the best contractor we could have had, and we highly recommend him! read more

Excellent experience with Don. Honest and fair priced. He completed the job long before promised and the work was top notch. Highly recommend Don for your construction needs. read more

Simply put, Don Souza Construction is - by far - the best. We've had extensive experience with numerous contractors and subs over the years hired to complete various projects on our two properties. Don Souza is the ONLY contractor we trust. In one particular case, Don was able to meet short deadline requirements and achieve final inspection on the property on the very first pass. Don's work has always been outstanding and competitively priced. read more

Don Souza took our tired old Big Bear house that had never seen an update and transformed it. We started out just wanting some log trim and a kitchen/bath update, but Don was so great to work with we ended up putting on an addition, too. He hires only the best people so the work is high quality. The work was done in a very timely manner considering how much we kept adding on for him to do. I really appreciated Don's flexibility and he was great to bounce ideas off of. A friend who recently stayed in our place with her family said of the new cabin, "You put the class in Big Bear!" I would never use anyone else. Thanks, Don! read more

Don is a very talented builder. He puts his heart into his work and has great attention to detail. He built our home several years ago, and continues to look after his "baby" when necessary. He's become a family friend and is truly an outgoing and friendly guy. We can't say enough positives about Don and his crew! read more