I hired McGrath Contracting for a hillside drainage project, and it has been the most frustrating and expensive mistake of my homeownership. The issues began on day one. Despite a signed contract which outlined all of the expected deliverables, the crew and project manager Gus arrived unaware of the full project scope. I had to personally intervene just to ensure they completed the work that was promised and that I paid for. When they initially "finished," they left my property in disarray with exposed PVC irrigation lines that had previously been buried. When I asked them to return and properly bury the lines, that is when the real damage occurred. During their digging, they severed an electrical line, displaced hillside rocks and broke my hillside sprinkler system. They attempted to fix the sprinklers they had just broken, but failed again, causing a plug to blow off shortly after they left. MORE ON THIS AT THE END. The first main failure with this job, however, was the system they installed itself. By February, my garage and the area under the house were intruded by mud and water--the exact areas the drainage solution was supposed to address. For the next eight months, I was forced into a cycle of "ghosting." I sent dozens of texts and emails to the owner, Paul, that went ignored for weeks and months at a time. When Paul finally acknowledged the failure, his response was not to remediate the work or stand behind his initial "optimum" recommendation. Instead, he refused to fix the issue unless I paid for a second, even more expensive project. McGrath Contracting took my money for a solution that didn't work ($17,000), displayed zero accountability for their errors, and lacked the basic professional courtesy of returning a client's message. Now back to the irrigation line issues. While having my hillside redesigned recently, an underground leak was discovered. It turned out that a pressure regulator on my MAIN WATER LINE had been incorrectly installed. Because McGrath's workers were the ones who previously broke and "fixed" the irrigation system in this exact area of the property, it is my strong personal opinion and belief that their crew is responsible for this error. I can only imagine how much money this underground leak has cost me in water bills over the last year and a half. TLDR: DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, HIRE THIS COMPANY. I DONT CARE IF YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT TELLS YOU THEY ARE THE BEST IN THE CITY, THEY ARE NOT. PLEASE SAVE YOUR MONEY, SAVE YOUR TIME ESPECIALLY. read more

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Had McGrath Contracting for foundation inspection. $795 for a less than 30 minutes visual evaluation and was promised for a report. Followed up multiple times and never had a report. Do not engage with this company for business, hire a contractor who is responsive and honest. read more

I'm a real estate agent and have had clients use McGrath for foundation and/or drainage inspections several times. They really know their stuff and are recommended by my general home inspector. It's not always easy to find someone who has expertise in both foundations and drainage but McGrath fits the bill! On their most recent inspection my buyer client was pleasantly surprised at the cost estimate for repair of foundation cracks! read more

Over 30 minutes late to meet 4 professionals while inspecting a house I am in escrow over. Had to send email, two phone calls and a text to get report needed for due diligence. Then report was not what was promised to be able to discern what to negotiate with seller. When I asked for clarification I was ignored until I finally got a text that said "oops". Final straw was patronizing email that told me to "calm down and enjoy my new home". Paul obviously does not take notes to remember what he promises to deliver in his inspection report which by the way did not come with supporting pictures; had to ask and got another rude email. So inept and unprofessional; he did me more harm than good. Find someone else! read more

This is an unfortunate review. Paul and his team were solid to work with for a while, and then just dropped off the face of the earth. We needed drainage and some pump work in the house. My experience: Pros: - Paul gave an estimate quickly, which was within range - even though LA rains were crazy, he sent a team quickly, and they did substantial piping and drainage work around the house as well as installation of a sump pump pretty quickly. - this is important: we had 2 to 3 emergencies after the installation where the pump didn't work, and we had standing water. They sent a team quickly each time, cleared out the issue, and got it back working. They didn't charge for any of these visits. I really appreciated that. When my pump burnt out, they even brought an emergency backup pump to fix it. Cons: - Communication was a general issue. There were many things about the pump installation that it would've been good to be told about - what pump, the pump paperwork in case of issues (which we never got, so I can't contact the pump manufacturers), when failures happened what the underlying issues were/what we shoudl do to fix them, the general maintenance schedule, etc. - Related, this is the real issue: after a certain point, the team just stopped responding. They left an emergency pump in the house, and after more than a dozen attempts to contact them I haven't heard back. At some point, I was told offhand that "the boss would be sending a bill for this repair because it was due to lack of maintenance" - and when I reached out to ask about it, I didn't get much constructive, looks like they just closed the case and moved on. The work was solid, and the team was responsive... until a certain point. I have had to learn by Googling about what's going on with pump, and am trying to now fix it with another team. read more

By far, McGrath has been the most outstanding and memorable experience I've had in construction. Joshua Brenna, a supervisor, made this experience possible for me. I have never in all my years been taken care of so thoroughly. From start to finish, Joshua demonstrated a high level of professionalism, expertise, and attention to detail. He took care of things I didn't even ask for or know to ask for. One of Joshua's standout qualities was his excellent communication skills. He kept me informed at every stage of the project, providing regular updates on the progress and addressing any concerns promptly. This transparent communication greatly contributed to a smooth and stress-free construction process. Joshua's craftsmanship is truly impressive. The attention to detail in every aspect of the construction exceeded my expectations. Whether it was the precision in the execution, the quality of materials used, or the finishing touches, Joshua's commitment to delivering top-notch workmanship was evident throughout. It wasn't about the money for him. It was about delivering the best product he could with honesty, integrity and honor. There was just an overall warm human experience that is missing from most contractors. read more

So after my 1* review after failing to get a reply from the company, the owner contacted me directly and apologized . He asked me if I would still like the work to be done, I agreed and was told they would get me scheduled in the next couple of weeks. Great! Even greater was getting a call a day later asking if they could start the following day which was completed this week. I am happy to amend my review read more

Solid company Paul is a stand up guy he sent Tom out to my escrow they got a bid to us in record time. Paul and Tom know their stuff and are professional. Any one on here complaining about price doesn't understand that for good work with licensed people it costs more today especially in LA. You get what you pay for and I honestly think their bid was reasonable considering how much needed to be done. read more

These guys are waaaay overpriced. I a highly rated reputable company do the same work as quoted by McGrath for 50% of the price.

They turned a stressful situation into a seamless one. I would advise anyone to recommend Luigi as their Project Manager. He will respond and keep you informed. read more

I hired McGrath Contracting to carry out a foundations & drainage inspection during the purchase of my home back in 2015. A few months later, after I'd bought my home, I paid them to carry out the foundation repairs and drainage corrections that were advised in their inspection report. Fast-forward to 2021 - I had a pre-sale general inspection report carried out, which highlighted the SAME drainage issues as the previous report. Turns out McGrath Contracting did carry out the foundation repairs, but not the drainage corrections. Which I had PAID them to do back in 2015. I've been trying to get ahold of them for 2 weeks to get this sorted, and they are refusing to return my calls. It's completely unethical and unacceptable business practice, and I'm just so disappointed - especially since Paul McGrath is regarded as one of the best in his field. read more

I reached out to Paul on a friend's recommendation because I need retaining walls set along the front of my house - a decent-sized job that would take a couple weeks, so not a small paycheck for him. He came to take a look at it 5 weeks ago and got us all pumped that he could swing the job *no problem* and get it on his schedule fairly quickly. He promised a bid within a few days. I've never heard from him since. I've called multiple times, texted, sent the materials he asked for and spoken to his assistant several times, but never rec'd a single communication from him. No texts back, no calls, nothing. Now we are back to the drawing board looking for someone who can do the job and a month behind thanks to this nonsense. WHY THO. How hard is it at the very least to simply text and say you can't/won't do the job? Why waste everyone's time? We should have taken note of the reviews that have similar complaints and never called him - at least we found out prior to actually working with him! Very disappointing. read more

Mr. McGrath inspected my foundation earlier this year (2018) in advance of my property purchase and he recommended fixing a "minor" crack. They did the repair, I paid in full. When I inspected the work, I noticed they had completely ignored a much larger, substantial crack in their initial inspection and recommendation. When I called Mr. McGrath to follow up, he did not return my call. I left several messages, no callback. I also called his assistant and his job scheduler. No return call. Emails were also unreturned. Basically, they took the easy money and then moved on to the next "customer". I regret doing business with McGrath Contracting. read more

Very bad experience recently with Paul McGrath's company. Residential foundation inspection was performed in late April of 2019. We still have not received the written report. Check was cashed long ago. Numerous unanswered emails and phone calls since then. A couple of weeks ago, my wife recently connected with Amanda at the company who said she would speak to Paul about a refund. Still no response. Obviously very disappointed with this experience, but even more so since we had previously used McGrath back in 2006 and had a great experience then. Not sure why this one went south, but if you are a relatively small residential project, would recommend finding an alternative - does not seem McGrath has the bandwidth to properly service all of his clients, especially if you are not a large scale project. read more

I used Paul McGrath to repair my foundation on a hillside single family home. The job was started 3 years prior with a different company who was horrible. I had to fire the original company and switch to Paul McGrath Contracting where I had the complete opposite experience. Professional, experienced, finished the job on time and on budget. He runs his company very well, all staff are approachable and informative. read more

When I was diagnosed with foundation problems on my house, I was told it could cost me in the neighborhood of $25,000 for repairs. To my pleasant surprise the quote from McGrath was under $2,000 for doing the repairs and the quality of the service was exceptional. They were professional in the inspection and repairs and very honest. They were recommended to me by my realtor who told me he has always had very good experiences in working with them. read more

I had to work with a few other companies to rectify the issue with my water drainage problem and knowing now what the issue was it was far outside Mr. McGrath's capabilities. I appreciate the fact that he decided to refund my money knowing that he would not be able to fix the issue that I was having. read more

People who know me know whether it's even possible I would mutter the words "I'm going to ruin you" but I did say I would write a scathing review if I don't get a response ASAP. You didn't care then. I wrote a bad review--all of it true. After the review I got an apology and excuses. I acknowledged to Paul over the phone that I understand things go wrong sometimes but it's important you actually respond to your customers. An apology goes a long way--but not under the guise of "take down the review." We had to file for two extensions because of McGrath. One because it took a several calls to get an appointment, which was then changed, then a late inspector and a late report. End of the day--ignoring your customers after they've paid in full when there's a deadline is just bad business. A simple call, text, or email to say you were busy and would eventually get to us would have been appreciated. read more

I called Paul McGrath after seeing a gap in the foundation of the house. Paul was very easy to reach via phone, and we were able to set an appointment quickly for a fundation inspection. Paul was punctual, resourceful, and answered all my questions. He also sent me a written report afterwards about the condition of the foundation. The fee for the fundation inspection is also very fair. I highly recommend McGrath Contracting for fundation work. read more

I am a real estate broker and have used McGrath for many years for clients and on my own properties. They are simply terrific, reliable and tidy! Paul McGrath knows his business and is known and respected throughout our industry. If you have foundation issues, Mcgrath is the first call to make. read more

I highly recommend McGrath Contracting. Paul and his knowledgeable crew excavated a steep hillside in my backyard and built a huge retaining wall in its place. They doubled the size of my backyard! It was such a pleasure doing business with them. They were honest, professional, and very flexible as I was constantly adding and changing the scope of the job. The office staff was a pleasure to deal with too. And most importantly Paul handled the burden of dealing with the City's Planning and Safety department with ease. read more

Our realtor recommended Paul McGrath saying, "He's a class act." That pretty much sums it up. From escrow inspection to walk through after drainage work was completed, we couldn't have been more pleased. Fantastic job and exceptional service! read more

We had some very tricky structural issues under our deck. Paul recommended a Structural Engineer, who was excellent. They completed ALL of the construction required to strengthen the deck. The crew was great, quiet and efficient. In addition, to the requested work they added some additional support. They were just what we like, come, get it done correctly the first time and finish on time. If we ever need some additional construction we would definitely use them. Highly recommend. read more

This is seriously the easiest referral I've ever given. I know I'm going to look like a genius for sending someone to Paul. He's everything that you can hope for: honest, reliable and incredibly good at his job. I've had the pleasure of working with McGrath Contracting for over ten years know. This is a prince in a world of frogs and his crew work harder and more efficiently than any I've EVER seen before. read more

Mr. McGrath sent an employee, Gustavo, to my house to prepare an estimate and then I never heard from him or his employee again. I left a phone message but it was not returned. I have never had a experience like this with a building professional and do not understand how this company stays in business. read more

I had a very difficult drainage and reconstruction project, in terms of scope and accessibility, with the potential of work downtime at risk. McGrath undertook the project with tremendous care and perseverance, came in at budget even though the project had unforeseen challenges, and was always available when I had questions or concerns. His teem was great - professional and courteous - and the system as a whole worked like a charm. It's the 1st time I've ever been completely satisfied with, and felt confident about a contractor. Bottom line is he's the man. read more

I lucked out and was referred to Paul McGrath by my realtor, who is the top person for Coldwell Previews on the west side for a few years running I think. That should tell you something. Weinstein worked on my last house in a more limited way, and I was happy with that work, so I called them, andJulian had good reviews, so it seemed logical to get a quote. Re: Weinstein had some second thoughts after reading some reviews here about them putting disclaimers into their contract as a result of a lawsuit, and those disclaimers were actually in the contract I received from them. All three outfits had different recommendations. The job was basically to re-level the sill plate on the entire house, because our hillside lot has settled about 5" toward the downhill side over the past 60+ years, and we were not going to renovate the house without first making sure the floors were level again. Weinstein and Julian both recommended foundation reinforcements and underpinning, whereas our home inspector said our foundation itself was fine with only minor cracks, and that the fill beneath the entire lot had simply shifted over time, leaving the foundation intact apart from minor cracking. The geologist backed the inspector up. To my eye also, the inspector was correct. I asked Julian to quote without underpinning, and they came back at nearly the same number as the first quote, which suggested to me they didn't really want the job. McGrath I already had a quote from. Their quote was a bit lower than the other two places. They said they would get the house floors level to within an inch over 30 feet. Gustavo is the foreman, but the guy on site each day was Elloy (?). He and crew used an electronic level, cut custom lumber to elevate the sill plate and put another sill plate down on the foundation where the gap was large. They then put earthquake braces in place wherever the plate had been lifted, with bolts into the concrete and metal brackets every four feet around the foundation. All this was done to current code, without me having to specify anything. Keep in mind this involved about half of a 2800 square foot single level house, and the settling was zero on one end of the L shaped floorplan, and 5" on the opposite end of the L. The floors are post and pier construction, and these piers all received new lumber and bracing to the correct new heights. Basically first class, no corners cut type of work. Floors came out within 0.25" across the entire house after jacking it up and setting it back down. I found this to be pretty incredible, as they were over 5" out of whack to begin with. We had an issue with a semi-attached garage, which was even further settled than the house. The roofline connecting the garage to the house developed a large bend that was not acceptable, because the house came up 5", but the garage had not moved. I had raised the roof issue when the project started, and I reminded Paul of this. He had said they would deal with it, and he stood behind his word: his crew spent an extra week or more lifting the entire four car garage to match the house, sistering all the vertical framing with new lumber cut to the correct height. This straightened out the roof peak. Keep in mind this garage work was not spelled out or written into our contract in any way. Paul did it because it was the only good solution to save the existing roof of the house, and presumably because I did ask at the outset how they would handle the issue. Paul did not charge us anything extra beyond the original quote for leveling the garage to match the house. Just a note about collateral damage. This process cracks a lot of plaster and breaks a bunch of windows. So if you plan to level a house, be prepared to put new windows and doors in, and fix large amounts of stucco and plaster. Usually this stuff has already been broken when the house initially settled, and the doors have been trimmed and stucco patched over the years to cover it up. But it all breaks again as the house goes back to being square. I don't think it would have mattered at all who did the work; this damage is just part of the process. If you don't want to deal with it, then just be happy with sloped floors and skip the leveling. But if you are planning new windows etc anyway then that is a perfect time to level things out. Anyway my general contractor saw what they did and was impressed. I think his comment was "these are good people to know". After watching McGrath's crew work for about four weeks at the end of 2015, I agree. They do only this type of stuff, they do it thoughtfully and well, and they stand by their word. Would hire them again any time. I have no relationship to McGrath apart from that described above. read more

A home inspection identified a significant water leak underneath one of the bathrooms in a duplex I was interested in purchasing. Paul gave me a thorough assessment of the situation prior to my purchase and his staff completed the work efficiently when the repairs were finally made. Final price matched his estimate exactly. Highly recommended. read more

McGrath Contracting did a foundation inspection on my house for sale. He recommended some basic work & additional work that seemed quite extreme & costly. I got another inpection & had them do the same basic work at 1/3 less the cost quoted by McGrath & they told me the other work was not necessary at all & could result in collateral damage. If that part was a concern, there was another far less expensive way to do it, if we felt it was necessary at all. read more

I cannot recommend Paul and his team enough!! The best praise I can say is i have used them for both my recent house purchases over the last several years and will use them again each time. Knowledgeable, courteous, reasonable, efficient, professional and most importantly when dealing with contractors ON TIME. They fulfilled their promises when/where/how they said they would. read more

We worked with McGrath Contracting to have a sister-foundation built under our house and have our multiple drainage issues solved. They did an excellent job in all areas. Paul is a great guy to work with - so is his staff. I would definitely recommend him to anyone - and in fact did recommend him to our own son! He did a great job for him also! You can not go wrong with Paul McGrath and McGrath Contracting! read more

We used Paul McGrath Contracting to fix a number of drainage issues with our new home. It was such an easy process. He gave us a detailed proposal, his crew was very professional, and the job was completed on budget. They were even able to match slate tile that was installed almost 25 years ago, so you can't even tell there was work done. I couldn't imagine the job running any smoother. I highly recommend his company. This is the first time I've even written a review on yelp, but Paul's team definitely deserves it. read more

We used McGrath Contracting to install a French drain line to solve a water problem at our house. They installed the on time despite a couple of days of rain. The line had to go from the back yard, down the side of the house, across the drive way and through the front lawn. I was worried about the scarring that would occur. However, they did the job so well that it left almost no scarring. You can't tell that a drain line was installed when looking at the front of the house. I would absolutely recommend McGrath Contracting for this type of work. read more

He did a great job in repairing and retrofitting the foundation of my building. Finished the job on time and delivered what he promised!

Purchased an older house that required extensive foundation replacement. Given I was going to live in the house, I wanted a job done well by somebody I could trust. My structural engineer who did the inspection recommended McGrath Contracting and not only did he provide a competitive quote, he was very honest in providing an assessment of what was really necessary to bring things up to minimum spec vs a full replacement that I was actually looking for. Eventually went with the full replacement that took 6 weeks. Paul originally estimated 4 weeks but his foreman had guided to 6 being more realistic. I was ok with that given I was more interested in a job done well than a job done fast, and as far as I can tell they delivered completely on their promise within budget, and they left the space in clean condition as well which was nice. I highly recommend McGrath Contracting as they really seem to know what they're doing, they're honest, and they do a great job. read more

I first hired McGrath Contracting on the recommendation of my real estate agent when I was buying a house, to do the inspection on the foundation and related issues. Paul generated a detailed and professional inspection report, including discussions of what work was recommended to be done on the house from a structural engineering perspective. I bought that house and proceeded along with a [planned] total renovation. During the course of that renovation, on several items, rather than using my contractor's subs (or my pool builder's subs), I turned to Paul. Each time, his was a voice of reason, maturity and experience that I'd been missing on other pieces of the job, and each time he completed his piece timely, accurately and right at the price he'd quoted. So, many months after the main renovation was complete and I wanted to bolt my house to the foundation and reinforce my cripple walls, I turned only to Paul. He stood behind his original inspection report from almost a year before and gave me the price he'd set forth on that report - (and he sweetened it by offering to pay for permit pulling, etc.) His crew got the job done with minimal hassle and mess, right on schedule and for exactly the quoted price. And they were completely professional and polite. I have always felt in good, trustworthy hands when using McGrath Contracting, and I will continue to use them extensively in the future. read more

After two years searching for a contractor, and upon excellent recommendations from people who had work done by McGrath Contracting Inc., I was confident that McGrath was the person to complete my complex and difficult remedial slope repair. McGrath recently completed building my retaining wall system, three lots in length, atop a steep hillside. Throughout the entire process of obtaining a permit, working on budget, meetings with structural and geotechnical engineers, the Department of Building and Safety, and numerous electricians, plumbers, etc. Paul graciously educated me on how best to approach and accomplish our goals. McGrath has a calm temperament, is patient, and if I was upset with a situation or outside person working on the project, he always advised me on how best to handle the situation, or he would handle the situation himself. The project manager was highly organized and efficient, had good design ideas, and took great pride in his work. The men who worked on the project were polite, extremely hard working, and also took great pride in their work. The woman who runs the office was incredibly kind and knowledgeable, and I knew she had my best interests at heart. The retaining walls and steps are architecturally beautiful, and I recommend Paul McGrath for his high standard of work professionalism, intelligence, and integrity. read more