If you want a quality project run by ultimate professionals, Levitch is the design/build company…read morefor your project. They designed and rebuilt our mid-60's home from the floor up. They made the process as comfortable as possible and worked with us every step of the way. When the city contractor reviewed and closed the permits, he said the work was the best he had seen in 30 years of performing inspections. We love Maurice, Vuk, Susan and the entire Levitch team. We definitely would use them again and recommend them to everyone who is looking for remodeling or rebuilding work to be performed.

I bought a house in Kensington in August 2020. Inspectors' documents reported that extensive repair…read moreand replacement of major systems of the house were needed. In September 2020, over a 90 minute Facetime, I consulted with Maurice Levitch, the president, architect, and general contractor as to how best address the issues. He walked through the house I had just purchased; I was in my home on the East Coast which is where I then lived. During that Facetime we agreed on the major contours of the project. During the next two months, his staff and I refined what would be done. Project scope, cost, and expectations were completely transparent at all times. The project took place from September 2020 to April 2021. While the project was going on, I was in Washington, D.C. I never once visited the Kensington house. Levitch and I did the entire project over email and telephone. At the end of almost all days, pictures and a short report were posted on their ProCore website showing me what had been done that day. I found the whole process enjoyable and interesting. I found Maurice to be a first-rate architect and general contractor with a deep knowledge of design, building systems, environmental impact, materials, and product. He will offer alternatives so that you can stay within your budget (I did find I spent more than I intended to but that was because I wanted to expand the scope of the project or pursue alternatives I hadn't contemplated). I found his subcontractors to be first-rate as well and Maurice makes sure that their work is organized, efficient, and of the highest quality. Among other things done: --All windows, interior doors, and exterior doors replaced. --New HVAC system. --Electrical system replaced, new interior panel, outlets brought to code. --Plumbing issues remedied, an entire subfloor of a bathroom rebuilt. Exact match for a rare marble tile found for a new floor. --Wood floor repair. --All manner of Kensington animals removed from crawlspace and attic. Moisture barriers, crawlspace and attic insulation replaced. --Walls sanded, made uniform throughout house with skim-coat plastering and then painting. Old baseboard removed, new chosen and installed. --Closets gutted, expanded, outfitted with custom rods, panels, and underlit shelves --A gas-leaking 36" range in the kitchen removed. Replaced with a 30" induction range, involving carpentry, electrical and plumbing work. --Carpentry work in kitchen, old maple cabinet wood was reused or matched perfectly. --Mudded in light fixtures for art lighting and wall washing installed. Total project cost was more than $325,000. A daughter with an Oakland worked with Levitch on two projects (2018 - 2022). First project: structural work to prevent house from sinking and an addition of 2 bedrooms, a playroom, and 1 bathroom. Second project: total kitchen renovation involving re-architecting of entire main floor. Excellent work, lovely people!

First: I have not used Troy Construction. So why am I reviewing them? Because out of half a dozen…read morecontractors we met, Bulent was my favorite. We did not choose Troy Construction due mainly due to timing (he couldn't start our project for 3-4 months due to his busy schedule). So why was he my favorite? He was down to earth, was very enthusiastic, clearly understood what we wanted to do, and had a lot of useful advice for us. Even though he had a busy schedule (which we didn't know until we asked him when he could start the project), he spent over an hour with us discussing our project. While we ultimately chose another contractor, we already know we want to use Troy Construction for our next big house project...

We had Bulent and his crew install a new bedroom and 2 bathrooms to our existing home in Richmond…read more It was quite a undertaking! Bulent and his crew were awesome to work with! They were polite, efficient and made the disruption as minimal as possible. Bulent kept us informed every step of the way. He is professional, personable and very easy to work with. Can't say enough good things about Troy construction!

Andy and team completed two kitchen remodels and 2 bathroom remodels for us. One for the house we…read morewere selling and the other for our new house, both houses were 100+ yrs old. Both projects turned out great. The thing I like about working with Andy is that if I need to make a tweak or adjustment to plan, he doesn't get annoyed like other contractors with which I've worked. We discuss and adjust as needed. He provides good ideas and selects skilled subs. All the crew members are friendly and do excellent work.

I hired andy to do a pretty simple kitchen cabinet rearrangement, which turned into a much bigger…read moreproject due to some shoddy work done by the previous owner. Andy was fair and did an excellent job. He kept us aware of what was happening every step of the way. The end result was fantastic - a great looking kitchen and paint job on the whole floor too.

Overall: super strong construction crew, really poor communication and project management from…read moreoffice staff. We brought in Alward Construction into our Berkeley, CA home remodel project in March 2018. Keith (founder) met with us several times, and painted a wonderful picture of how the project would unfold -- clear estimations of cost and timeline, weekly meetings with project management staff, clear lines of communication. Alward is more expensive than most -- you expect you're paying top dollar for great project management and customer service. Unfortunately, as the project unfolded, most of these promises fell apart. Our master builder who was onsite every day was excellent. He and his crew pushed the project forward, with high quality work day after day. The office staff, however, proved repeatedly that they barely knew what was going on with the project, were defensive when asked simple questions, and repeatedly dropped the ball with regards to timelines, budgets, sequencing of work, and generally managing us, the clients. The budgeting process was a total waste of time. We spent weeks trying to work with their estimators, who had a giant chip on their shoulders (maybe because we're young? maybe because we're in the tech industry?) and proved to be unable to grasp the basics of our project (ultimately a kitchen remodel and new windows/doors). They came back with wild estimates that were 2x-3x off from reality and what the project ultimately ended up costing. It turns out that the project management staff were not really focused on project management. They were mostly focused on after-the-fact reporting of what the master builder was doing. This meant that we, as clients, had basically no visibility into what was happening, what the schedule would be, or what would be happening on a given day. We had dozens of emails with our project management confirming specifics ("please confirm these materials have been ordered" or "please confirm the flooring will happen after the cabinets") only to come home after a long day and see the exact opposite ultimately happened on-site (oftentimes at great expense). You never hear of a remodel project that goes perfectly -- you expect things to take longer than expected, or cost more than expected, or to encounter some twists and turns. Our house is beautiful, and we thank the Alward builders for their fine craftsmanship. However, the last 4-5 months have gone comically wrong in ways that we never could have imagined. We've basically had to project manage everything ourselves, as the Alward office staff was disorganized, combative, unprofessional, and in the end caused us so much stress and cost overruns on a nearly daily basis that we took over management of the project ourselves.

I hired Alward Construction, because a friend had known of Keith Alward for years, and because my…read morearchitect also thought they were a solid company.  I knew Keith Alward was semi-retired. However, the team that still carries his name was terrific. I bought a 100+-year-old fixer-upper home. Before moving in, I wanted to get it ready for the next 100 years by strengthening it seismically, remodeling the kitchen and bathrooms, and creating a master suite.  Alward Construction remodeled my house from the foundation to the roof and everything in between while being careful to preserve the craftsman charm that I didn't want to change.  I'd recommend Alward Construction to anyone who wants a really professional snd high-quality job, with great management and accountability from start to finish.

Review of my retrofitting project…read more by Montclair Construction C.Z. Nie 1/6/2026 We owe a house in El Cerrito about 800+ sq. Ft. We noticed the floor was slightly sloping towards the SW corner. We decided to ask Montclair Construction to take a look of the problems and provide us some correction advices. We made an appointment and Mr. Justin Caddy showed up right on time. After he checked out the house, he suggested to do a floor height level survey to quantify how bad the problem was. Mr. Justin Caddy and Mr. Nirmal came and did the survey. Luckily, the sloping was within the tolerance, but there definitely needed some work to stop it from getting worse. Mr. Justin Caddy proposed to do the following jobs : 1. Retrofitting by install more girder beams under the floor as well as piers. This would support the floor much better. 2. Install a French Drain, which would guide the water away from the foundation so the rain water would not affect the soil under the foundation. 3. Since the house was only bolted down on the foundation but did not have shear wall installed, might as well to get the shear wall installed included in the project. Because the crew would be working in the crawl space anyway. We thought these suggestions made great sense, so we asked them to do the project. The whole project started on 12/22/2025 and completed on 1/29/2026, which was not including the time engineers working on the plan and applying for the permit form the city. We are very happy with the results for the flowering reasons : The whole project was conducted by Montclair Construction in a smooth effective way. We did not have to deal with the engineering company, Upright Engineering, and the city. All of the paper work was handled by Montclair Construction in a proper professional manner. After the project we received a copy of the permit and the plan with no cost. During the construction period, my tenants were not disturbed (except some dust and noise), only once the crew asked for resetting a tripped breaker. Montclair Construction provided a portable potty at job site for their crew. During the whole process, Montclair maintained a superb communication. They promptly addressed all of my concerns and answered all of our questions ( since we know very little about construction works, we had tones of questions). We had used emails , text messages, and made many phone calls. We always got connected quickly. We had called Mr. Justin Caddy, Mr. Nirmal, Mr. Miguel, Mr. Javier, and office manager Ms. Diana Connolly many times, and anyone of them was always courteous and easy to discuss whatever the subject was. We had spoken with superintendent Tom while we were waiting for the city inspector to come. We must say that one hour wait did not seemed to me was too long, because we learned so much from Tom. We must say that everyone of the Montclair Construction employees we met was very professional and helpful. The project passed many inspections at different stage of the construction by the engineering company, Upright Engineering, and from the city of El Cerrito. Montclair Construction handled all of the inspections, so we did not need to be at the scene. During the construction We requested some favors from Montclair Construction, which was not foresaw at begging of the project. We asked Montclair to replace the small entrance door to the crawl space, because the old door was in bad shape. Montclair Construction ( Mr. Miguel's crew) replaced it with a new one, not just looks great, but also much stronger. Montclair did not charge for this job. At the end of the job, Miguel's crew pulled out some junks form the crawl space as city directed. We asked Montclair to haul them away, and they did at no additional cost. We appreciate very much! After the job, Miguel's crew did a good job to clean up the job site. We called for a few little things, and they all got addressed promptly. All in all, the experiences are all positive. We are very happy about the results. We made the right decision to ask Montclair Construction to do the job. We are very appreciative and thankful for Montclair Construction's professional help. Montclair Construction & Structural Inc. 3871 Piedmont Ave. Oakland, CA 94611 Office phone : 510-547-2457 or 510-545-9622

I can't say enough good things about my recent experience with Montclair Construction and the work…read morethey did on my backyard retaining wall. It was a big project involving drainage and a complete rebuild, and they handled every part of it flawlessly. The crew was fantastic--courteous, kind, and incredibly diligent. Even my next-door neighbor commented on how impressed he was with their professionalism. No litter, no loud music, no parking issues--just a great construction team doing excellent work. A special shoutout to Robert and Diana, who guided me through the entire process and answered every question along the way. Orlando, who oversaw the project, was also a pleasure to work with. Their communication was excellent, and they kept everything on schedule. I wish I remembered the names of the two main guys on the crew, because they absolutely deserve recognition--they were A+ workers, always hardworking and always smiling. I highly recommend Montclair Construction. They get a 10/10 from me--an A+ rating. This is one very happy customer, and I'll definitely use them again for my next construction project. C. Beam Oakland Hills ---

Josh did an AMAZING bathroom and kitchen remodel job in my house; unbelievable clear kind calm…read morecommunication, incredible workmanship, kept all deadlines, he exceeded my expectations. I will hire him again in the future and I've referred him to my friends who are also impressed with Josh and his crew. Thank you Josh!!! I love my house again!!!!

We recently wrapped up our down-to-studs bathroom remodel with the Handyjew team, and we had an…read moreincredibly positive experience. Josh was always available to chat and delve into every minute detail and question that I wanted to discuss (there were a lot). As a result, we were able to put together a very clear, detailed, and fair estimate. In the end, the estimate was right on target, both from a cost and project time point of view. All of Josh's team members are very professional, considerate, approachable, and great at their craft. We've gotten lots of great compliments on the bathroom! I can't say enough good things about working with this team and will definitely look to them for future projects. Also as a side note to how great these people are - during the course of the project, our car got totaled. Josh generously offered one of his in the event we needed it for an emergency. Just a very thoughtful and nice crew.

We hired counterforce to do our seismic retrofit work for our house in South Berkeley. These guys…read morewere the best contractors I've hired. Clean, professional, and they did really excellent work on time and on budget. I could not recommend them more.

I hired Counterforce Inc to do mandated retrofit work for my apartment building in Oakland. James…read moreand his crew were the ultimate professionals from beginning to end, timely, responsive, friendly .... easily the best contractor experience you could ask for. I highly recommend Counterforce Inc.

HHR returned to complete a beautiful renovation on our second floor…read morejust two years after the first floor (reviewed in July 2024). Jason again coordinated the planning and permit process seamlessly and also worked with the City of Alameda to upgrade the electrical service to our house. They created a stunningly beautiful total remodel of the guest bathroom with new bathtub, gorgeous tile work and perfect installation of new vanity, fixtures, grab bars, lighting. There was excellent timing of the many stages of construction, with a smooth daily sequence of the teams of highly skilled and professional electricians,plumbers, carpenters and painters. We always received excellent communication for the schedule of work. There was hardly ever a weekday without substantial work taking place. All the workers were highly skilled, tremendously helpful, cheerful and professional. It was truly a pleasure to deal with the entire team. With these two renovations, HHR has now totally redone our three bathrooms, installed pocket doors, reconfigured closets, installed new wood flooring, and performed many electrical and lighting improvements. We are 100% pleased with the results of both of the renovations. Home Healing Renovations are the very best and are highly recommended.

HHR just remodeled an entire basement area for us (two bedrooms, living area, wet bar, bathroom)…read more Jason and the entire crew were great from start to finish. Communication with Jason was excellent and the crew did great quality work. I felt their prices were very reasonable for the quality of work. I plan to work with them again for any future projects I may have. Highly recommend!