We had an amazing experience with Nieto Valle construction. They fully restored my faith in contractors and the home improvement process. Julio and his team are very professional, transparent, good people and experts at their craft. We worked with Julio and his team in May for a retrofit of our home. They were on time, completed the project in a timely manner, kept the project clean, we transparent about pricing and through in detail. For any future work, they will be the first I call. read more

NietoValle is the best. They installed a Mag10 brace in my "soft story" condo. It looks like a work of art in my garage. The entire project was seamless: Julio Nieto informed of each stage of the permitting and construction. The team on the ground were phenomenal. They even carried my groceries for me during their lunch break! There were virtually no surprises - something that has never before happened to me in a construction project over the last 50 years. Earthquake bracing sounds like it shouldn't be a pleasure, but this sure was/is. The project was within budget and there were no surprises. All in all a memorably fabulous experience for this client. Thank you, Julio, Juan, Jose, Stephen. You guys are awesome. read more

Nieto Valle Construction just completed a CEA Brace & Bolt retrofit on my home in Hayward. The project was done in days with no issues. Julio and his team were on time, prepared, professional and polite. I highly recommend them! read more

Julio did our foundation retrofit for the Brace+Bolt program several years ago, his team did a great job at an affordable price. Last year I discovered one of our floorboards was getting pushed up from the bracing, and he sent someone out to fix it immediately. Back then he told me we should install a sump pump to help with the drainage under the house. I should have listened! With the crazy rains this winter I discovered he was right. So I gave him a call and he made time to come take a look on short notice. read more

Nieto Construction handled a repair to our foundation. While it was a little hard to get ahold of them at the start (we left a couple of messages), once we began discussing the project, all our communications were prompt and they answered all our newbie questions. We interviewed several companies for the work and went with Nieto because they knew their stuff better than anyone and they were straight talkers. They were clear and didn't try any funny business or double talk. We trusted their assessment of the problems and they explained everything carefully so we could understand. We were on a budget and they broke everything down for us so we could select the most important work to do first. The work they did was very high quality and we are extremely satisfied. All their workers followed Covid Safety protocols and were very professional and courteous. They did the work faster than we expected too. We intend to work with them again when it comes time to build out our front porch. read more

We knew we wanted to seismically strengthen (retrofit) our second East Bay house, an "as-built" 1954 San Leandro ranch-style home (1184 sq ft, 3 bdr/1ba, purchased 12/2019). (We had already retrofitted and sold a home in Alameda.) Our structural engineer. Joshua B. Kardon, SE, recommended a "SkinnyBrace" by Quake Bracing LLC (Thor Matteson, Founding SE). We attended a class by Matteson for contractors in January 2020, asked several for estimates, and liked Nieto Valle Construction's more comprehensive bid the best. Not only that, Nieto Valle was Matteson's top-rated installer for his patented SkinnyBrace. Everything Nieto Valle has done has gone very well since they began working on our home just before 1/1/2021.Their experienced crew, led by Jose Garcia, has been friendly, sharp, and always competent. They also accommodated every request I have made to help us get our 65-year-old original wiring and plumbing replaced at the same time. Julio Nieto, the owner, is always patient and thorough in explaining the process and is always looking to the next 2-3 steps. Joshua B. Kardon, SE, a tough man to please, is very happy with the way Nieto Valle has executed his plans in their first time working together. WE are almost done. I will miss watching the Nieto Valle crew work seamlessly together, as seen in this unedited video from the concrete pour: https://youtu.be/cKgsSSnb5mA We would hire Nieto Valle Construction again in a heartbeat and recommend them without reservation. read more

Julio and his team earned a full five stars: covering value, communication skills, and the actual product. The scope of the project was strengthening a weak opening (our garage of our single family home in San Francisco) as well as constructing a few strengthened walls to withstand earthquake forces. And, they closed off our open garage so it was 2 hour fire proofed, which was key since our kid bedrooms are above the garage. We also applied and successfully received the 3k grant from the FEMA Earthquake Brace and Bolt program. And, we did the whole thing with permits, so also successfully did our final inspection with San Francisco's building department. The whole project lasted from mid-September to late November with all the final sign-offs and FEMA approval in January (the actual work lasted a few weeks over the initial estimate but much faster than we had feared).In terms of value, they were the highest of three quotes we received, but unlike friends' projects that ran well over budget, Julio's estimates were within 15% of original estimates. We did a few change orders based on issues discovered during construction, but Julio and the structural engineer were pragmatic on what was the least we could spend to ensure we hit our voluntary seismic strengthening goals. Julio and his foreman Jose were great communicators, going over issues as they arose and so we weren't surprised. They also worked well with our structural engineer, Chris Pioli. Key for us as working professionals is they handled all the permits and communication with the city, which is no easy feat. And, they did the FEMA paperwork. In terms of actual product, they installed a cutting-edge seismic strengthening component, the Skinny Brace, which makes it faster to bounce back after a big earthquake, whenever that may be. The concrete work was also independently tested by a materials lab and exceeded the required strength. I felt they had a high quality product. In short, we'd hire Nieto Valley Construction again! read more

Nieto Valle Construction - Foundation Repair Near Me

See all

Julio and his team completed a soft-story retrofit on our home and we are very happy with the results. The work was done with care and on schedule and he was consistent in communication and dedication to the project. I am so glad he was recommended to us by our structural engineer and I have recommended him to friends who might want similar work done. We would definitely work with Nieto Valle Construction in the future! read more

Julio asked all the right questions and reviewed every thing I sent him on the weekend! He ended up referring me to another company due to access issues and heavy shipping equipment needed for very deep 14' drilling that was recommended. I really appreciate his knowledgeable input and assistance. Stellar response time from Nieto Valle. I can tell this is an honest reliable business and I'm still hoping to sub them in for part of the work if possible. read more

I used Nieto Valle in multiple projects for my 1920 newly bought house in Alameda. After I bought it, I know from the report the foundation has work to do, I don't know how bad it is. I got structural engineer and multiple foundation companies to come and inspect. Julio charged, but the ones didn't charge to do this just took a quick walk, didn't even go into the crawl space. Julio was there for a long time, explaining to me of each issues I have, took pictures, and sent me a detailed report. The money was well spent. I showed the suggestions and the report to the structural enginner, he thought it was a very honest report. After that, for weeks Julio was patient explaining things to me. Made sure I understand my house and foundation. With structural enginner's help, i decided to go with Julio's crew to 1) lift my house. It was a inch - 1.5 inch settling on one side of the wall. 2) retrofitting 3) stucco repair. They have excelled everything. I used both of his crews. Team led by two Joses. They are very hard working, honest, clean, and easy to work with. They are very respectful. On the lifting job, the team volunteering ly replaces a lot of the dry rot which was super nice for them to do, without extra charges. I felt safe with the work. After a few weeks, I had them coming to do retrofitting. Again, they replaced bad wood, added new beams to places need more support. All these are not included in the contract and they have helped with no charge. Work is super professional. They are on time, respectful, clean after them, I wish to keep them around for ever. I feel super comfortable just leave to work and come back at night looking at all the progress. They are honest, know what they are doing! Jose, Jose, Jose (three Jose), and sorry another person I can't remember the name. They are the ones you can trust! read more

Nieto Valle Construction - Dry rot they removed while doing the releveling. I'll add more pictures of the project later. - Foundation Repair Near Me

Julio and his team are helpful, talented and a pleasure to work with. They are on time, fairly priced and very knowledgeable.

Julio was super responsive and a great communicator. He completed some seismic retrofit work for us that had been left out of scope on a job that another contractor had done, back when we didn't know what we should have been asking for. He also pointed out and corrected a serious mistake made by the previous contractor. I especially appreciated his attitude as he explained what a specialist team like his crew typically does that a more "general" crew would not know to do. He obviously has a lot of expertise, yet didn't use it to try and pressure us into work we didn't need, instead explaining honestly what we should focus on and why. Five and a half stars. Definitely recommend to anyone looking for seismic retrofit work. read more

This firm comes highly recommended by another local respected engineering firm. They are thorough, professional, responsive and very helpful. Yes they charge $650 to give you an estimate. It's expensive, but it's worth it. I contacted two other companies about our retrofit. The first company wanted to quote me based on the square footage of the house and one photo of the foundation. He gave me a quote over the phone. The second person came out, spent 5 minutes to go under the house to look at the foundation and gave me a quote. And then Julio Nieto came out. He went under the house and was there for about 20 minutes. He went outside and looked the whole foundation over. And then he spent about 10 minutes with us explaining what he found. And what he found, none of the other two people did. We had cracks in our foundation in 5 areas. That needed to be fixed, or else the house would not pass inspection. The house formerly had a floor furnace, which had been removed and fitted with a wall furnace. When the floor furnace was installed they removed a section of a central beam, which weakened the structure of the home and also would be an issue with the county when they inspect the retrofit after construction. Neither of those two other firms found those issues, and had I worked with them the costs and timeframe of the work would have increased dramatically. A permit must be issued to do the work. An inspector must approve the state of the work and the foundation after work is completed. No inspector would have passed the job had I used one of the other contractors. Plus, the estimate Julio provided me was complete with photos and descriptions of the foundation issues and their solutions to fix them. This was such a complete document, that I could use it to submit to the state for their EBB rebate program. We qualified for California's Brace & Bolt rebate, where older homes in certain areas can qualify. Julio Valle Construction provided everything I needed to apply for the program, including a complete and thorough estimate with photos and costs. They even found some cracks in our foundation, which they were able to seal and rectify, in addition to bolting our foundation to the house. They even came back after the work was completed to take additional photos which were required to be submitted to the state. They did everything for me! These people know what they're doing. They're thorough, clean and highly competent. I highly recommend them for any structural renovation or any kind of work. They're amazing. read more

Nieto Valle Construction recently completed a retrofit project on my home. They were able to squeeze us in at short notice (about 1 month after my inquiry), and like other reviews here, they were able middle of the road in pricing compared to other contractors. The price will vary depending on your project's complexity; it's frustrating, but you just cannot get an accurate quotation without having somebody come and look at the work. I do agree that the $650 call-out fee is quite high, especially if you have already had a home inspection done, and they really won't budge on it. But it turned out to be well worth the money, and Julio (the business owner) did find a couple of things that weren't pointed out by the home inspection report. For us, the project went like this: I reached out them, and they responded within 2 days. Julio came round himself to inspect the house, and gave us a rough idea of the complexity. He correctly pointed out that our home needed custom engineering plans and would not pass the permitting / county inspection process, due to the unusually high 5ft cripple walls on our foundations. There were some communication "issues" with the engineering company they recommended, but I was able to help smooth them out. Once we had the corrected plans, they completed the engineering work, and arranged all the visits and inspections required by the county and city permits. While they worked, there's a lot of noise at the beginning, as they need to drill holes and so forth, but it gets more tolerable towards the end, where a lot of time is spend measuring and cutting plywood. If your foundation does not need to be dug up and is in good enough condition to drill, the bolts will be glued in with epoxy resin, which requires an inspection from another engineering company, at additional cost (but way less than digging out foundations.) In the end, the project took a bit longer than they said it would, and there was some to-and-fro with the engineering company, and a couple of unexpected expenses (not Nieto's fault), so budget to pay around 20% more than you might be quoted by Nieto. Our home was too new for EBB (built in 1989), but the retrofit looks very professional and gives us peace of mind. Well worth the money. read more

They just finished a major earthquake retrofitting project on our old home in SF. After reading horror stories about retrofitters on Howard Cook's website, i followed these guys around closely. I am happy to say they are very professional and meticulous, and obviously experienced. Their workers are friendly and accommodating, however if you have a special request.. like "don't step on those plants".. you might want to tell them in Spanish. :-) read more

Nieto Valle Construction - Foundation Repair Near Me

See all

Want to echo some of the other reviews. I did not use them. Quoted $650 for giving me an estimate for a repair. The business model is a bit of joke for customers. They may do amazing work but I will never find out. read more

Julio completed a voluntary seismic upgrade for our new home. I found Julio Nieto through a recommendation from my uncle, who is a Seismic Engineer who has worked with him on many projects -- so I had high expectations. Julio exceeded all of them. He went over the plans with great attention to detail, making suggestions and corrections -- catching things such as what size wood could fit through the opening to the crawl space under the house, so that we could adjust the plans without wasting critical time or dollars. Timing was an important factor for me -- we only had 3 weeks to get the work done before moving into the house, and Julio was booked solid (as are most contractors these days!) He offered to squeeze us in, working weekends -- and managed to work extremely quickly and efficiently with the city with respect to inspections. Fast forward three weeks later -- the work is done two days ahead of schedule, in time for us to move in. I would recommend Julio to anyone doing seismic upgrade work. read more

I actually didn't have Nieto Valle do any work for me, but I am looking for a contractor and called to check their availability. Even though they were booked 3+ months out and I need someone sooner than that, Julio took the time to educate me on how to best go about finding a contractor, and gave me a referral to a structural engineer, and answered my follow up texts. Thanks. read more

Nieto Valle has just finished a seismic retrofit on my house in Oakland. (We got the Earthquake Brace & Bolt rebate program.) I had read scary things about some contractors not using the right materials or not really knowing what they were doing, so I did a lot of research, and got bids from multiple contractors, whose bids ranged from "$6-8,000" to $21,000. Unfortunately, some of them did provide specs that were not up to snuff. I consulted an engineer who specializes in seismic work. He recommended Julio Nieto Valle (the owner). From the first meeting, I felt great working with Julio. He did not rush or push my decision as some of the other contractors had done. He answered all my questions and showed me lots of pictures from under the house. He was also thoroughly familiar with the EBB program, and helped me follow the steps in order to qualify for the rebate. Julio himself is super responsive, usually answering texts or phone calls within 15 minutes. The work crew was also very professional. They arrived on time every day, and were very considerate. I had friendly conversations with them when I went outside, especially when they were on lunch break. Every afternoon they swept their work area and tidied up their tools and supplies. My patio looks better now than it did before they came! The cost was one of the lowest bids we got, but the work and materials are top quality. ($6700 retrofit + $2k for additional foundation repairs we needed). I am still waiting for the final inspection, but there were three inspections during the process that were all fine, and I don't expect any surprises. I'm happy to recommend Nieto Valle Construction. **** We had our final inspection from the City, and it went perfectly. Julio helped me with the final paperwork for the EBB program, and it went through quickly. We got our $3000 rebate fro EBB 3 weeks after final inspection. A great experience, and it was sooo helpful to have Julio's experience and advice throughout! read more

We were concerned that we had some foundation settling. Julio Nieto did a detailed foundation inspection report and determined that we needed to fix an outside water drainage problem along with some minor foundation repairs. His experienced crew worked under our house for three days. They were on-time every morning. Completely COVID safe. They cleaned up every afternoon AND they were very nice people! Thank you to Nieto Valle Construction for delivering a quality repair for a potentially stressful problem! read more

$650 dollars estimated just to show up and provide a quote. Laughable.

Julio and his fabulous team just completed a structural retrofit of our large, walk-in closet that was sitting on two deteriorating and thin wooden posts with no concrete pads or foundation to speak of. Julio had been recommended by my structural engineer, an associate principal from a well-regarded engineering firm. I had solicited three bids and Julio's was not the cheapest, it fell right in the middle - but he and his team were worth every penny! They were super thorough and very detail oriented in their work, which included shoring up the closet, taking down the old posts, excavating dirt to make space for a new concrete foundation, installing the rebar, pouring the concrete and putting up new posts, concrete pads, braces, and brackets. During the entire process, they were polite, respectful, kind and cleaned up after themselves. I couldn't be happier with the end result, which looks beautiful aside from being incredibly solid and sturdy. I highly recommend them for any foundation and retrofit needs! read more

I have actually never done work with Nieto and probably would have liked to, but they charge $650 just to come out to tell me what would is needed for a retrofit. They do say they charge a "modest" fee for a quote but where do they think paying close to a thousand dollars is a modest fee. In addition, this so called "modest" fee doesn't get applied to the work that they would do. read more

Amazing job done by Julio's team and I think that's putting it lightly! They just completed an earthquake retrofit project for us and they went above and beyond on every detail. The structural engineering firm we hired (Thor Matteson and Chris Pioli) approved the job done and praised that the work was performed well. We had 4 different companies provide us with estimated fees and the quote Julio provided was largely reasonable and some of the out of scope activities that we incurred were all consistent with what the engineers suggested. One of his team members (Ivan) even provided me with a tour under the crawl space to experience how it is to carry out their job and it was super unique! It's through this tour that I experienced first hand that I can say I truly understand their work really is DIFFICULT! (Always knew that is the case but you don't feel it til you are under the crawl space really). Only one minor feedback for Julio's team which is that it'd have been nice if the quote would have included the priming option on the plywood sidings. I want to stress that this is not a negative feedback at all since Julio did provide me with a quote to prime the plywood panels toward the end of the project but I thought including such task in the contract up front (as an optional component) would have been very informative. Totally a bummer that the rain happened before the plywood siding panels could have been primed because we were thinking of doing so ourselves after the project is completed but obviously that is not under Julio's control at all. Once again, I HIGHLY recommend anyone who'd like to get structural work done at their homes to reach out to Julio's team. read more

I've nothing but praise for Julio, Ivan and the rest of the team. I bought a house which listed a potential foundation issue under a recently constructed extension. Julio came out and priced the job before I moved in and showed me pictures of what the problem was. The quote was very reasonable so I booked him straight away. We were not sure if he would be able to get a permit from the City - I was going to proceed anyway. But he pulled it off and the inspector told us he did a fantastic job. Julio also sent me lots of before and after photos as I'm not that interested in crawling under the house!!! Five stars all round from me. read more

I called Julio just to get a quote and right off the bat, he told me he was booked up until Oct. However, he'd be able to look at my structural plans for an hourly rate since he knew he wasn't going to take my job... I asked him if there was anyone he would recommend that was in the east bay that is in his line of work and he said " I know no one, to just Google it". I'm ok with the fact that his project load might be full, but I thought that he could handle our interaction with a bit more professionalism. Despite all the positive reviews, it seems like he has not up-kept his professionalism. read more

We recently completed our second project with Julio Nieto. We were so pleased with the results of Phase I (stabilizing the foundation of our home) that we hired Nieto Valle Construction for Phase II. Phase II was a complicated structural earthquake retrofit project which involved enclosing an older deck and building exterior walls to support the third level of our home. Phase II was complicated by the fact that our home is located on a steep hill with limited access. Julio and his crew did an outstanding job. Julio is honest, hardworking and has many years of experience. Julio really went above and beyond to get the job done for us. When we encountered some unforeseen issues, Julio proposed and implemented creative and cost effective solutions. Julio's crew is also honest, hardworking and very experienced. His crew is very polite and always cleaned up at the end of the day. We feel like our home is safe for the first time in 20 years. We would not hesitate to recommend Nieto Valle Construction to anyone looking for an honest, reliable contractor experienced in earthquake retrofit work. read more

The job just passed the Final Inspection! This was a voluntary seismic retrofit on a soft story building--two story multifamily residential. Stunningly smooth job, I cannot think of any way that it could have been better. Of course we found new problems once the building was opened, but each step of the way, Julio was there and handled everything. The daily crew members were professional and non-stop workers. Hard to believe all that done by two men, but yes. I am the resident building manager (10 unit 1-bedrooms), so I was there every day. When the building owner visited during a weekend, he was very impressed by how clean the work crew left the area, and each day it was left neat and tidy and broom cleaned. All during the project and before signing the contract, Julio always took the time to answer questions. That felt very respectful. He has an awesome team of employees, so no subcontractors except for the cement work and finishing stucco. And those were folks Julio had previous experience with. I would say definitely his crew contributes to the company's success. I could hear the guys out there working, chatting and even singing on occasion. Theirs is a feeling of camaraderie which I found uplifting. The owner of this building will definitely call upon NietoValle Construction for any and all future work on the building; they do much more than seismic work. Thanks Julio and the two Jose's! read more

My 1970's home was supported by jacks that had rusted out. Nieto Valle Construction removed the useless jacks and installed pillars in its place. I cannot thank Julio and his team enough for their expertise and professionalism. I highly recommend their service and would give them ten stars if Yelp allowed me to. read more

Extremely positive experience with this company. I was looking for a Foundation company to help me with the earthquake brace and bolt program. This company was listed as one of the companies that had completed multiple jobs under this program. Julio met me on time at the scheduled time. He sent me an estimate within a few days, and then scheduled the work a couple months out because of the backlog of work his company had. Once the work started, he helped walk me through the process for the program. I was out on vacation when the work was done, but he completed everything when I was away. He was even kind enough to help me water my backyard plants while I was out! He did a good job in keeping me updated and also helping me complete the final steps to get my check processed through the brace and bolt program. His company does much more than the brace and bolt as they also do major foundation work. I'd happily recommend his company to anyone looking for work on their foundation. read more

Julio Nieto and his crew did a foundation repair on a house in Redwood City built in the late 1940's. He was recommended by one of his previous customers. The crew did a great job, started early, finished early, exactly on budget. Julio's people were profession and just great to be around. The new foundation supports and piers look like they will outlast the rest of the house. This was just great work. read more

Mr. Julio Nieto retrofitted our basement. On time and budget. No surprises. Respectful of our home. We could get 20% rebate on earthquake insurance as a result of his work. read more

Julio Nieto has done a number projects for me over the past few years. He did extensive foundation work for a rental property I own in Sunnyvale. He stabilized the foundation and leveled the floors in the 1925 home. He bolted the house to the foundation and repaired cracks making it much less likely to be damaged in an earthquake. With my own home in Menlo Park he poured a special foundation for an internal room addition and poured a new footing to a corner of the house that was settling. In addition to the work he has done for me I have recommended his services to a number of real estate clients and colleagues in my business as a real estate agent. He has earned high marks and repeat business for his excellent work. Julio is fine craftsman who is a master of his craft. He can do minor repairs and earthquake retrofitting as well as constructing a new foundation or bringing an old farmhouse back to life. I recommend him without hesitation. Doss W. read more

We live very close to the Hayward Fault, and our house was constructed in 1928 long before building codes began to reflect concern about earthquake damage. After "thinking about it tomorrow" for many years, we finally contacted Mr. Julio Nieto for advice regarding seismic retrofitting. We were amazed at how thorough his inspection was. We learned that our house very badly needed bolting to the foundation as well as plywood reinforcing, and that we were very lucky not to have suffered severe damage in the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Julio provided us with a crystal clear, photographic explanation of our existing foundation, what badly needed to be done, and a thorough breakdown of what it would cost us. His inspection and plan of action was far more clear and complete than the others who had provided estimates, and his price more than fair. The work was completed in about two weeks. Julio is very enthusiastic about his work, a gifted teacher, and was kind enough to show me the important phases of bolting the foundation as well as attaching many, many 3/4" plywood panels to provide great tensile strength in the event of an earthquake. During this time, I was repeatedly very impressed with how neat the worksite was at all times, and how carefully materials and tools were stacked and kept in place. Not even the tiniest detail was overlooked, and when the Building Inspector examined the site, he said that he had never seen a finer retrofit in the many years of his career. The area underneath our house is now far neater and more orderly than it ever has been, which is a permanent reminder of Julio's skill and dedication. We feel very lucky to have met Julio, and his team of Nieto Valle Construction has made our home as secure as we can make it. We hope others will make the choice we did! _____________________________ Addition: Our older home that came with a garage constructed of red construction blocks. As time went on, bricks were actually beginning to shift, and the walls were beginning to buckle under the weight of the roof. We remembered Julio's expertise with structures, so we later asked Julio to take a look. He verified the building was ready to collapse, and offered to rebuild all the garage except for the rafter and roof assembly. Since his work on the retrofit was the finest the Building Inspector had ever seen, and since that project went so well, we again chose Nieto Valle Construction. Julio did not merely rebuild the structure. After supporting the roof and removing the walls, he doubled the studs and rafters so that the bones of the building were more than twice as strong. He provided a new window, additional lighting, more storage space under the rafters, plus a brand new floor. As happened with the retrofit project, I was astonished at the detail that went into digging and pouring the foundation, aligning the structural members, the skills involved in mixing and applying the stucco, and the sheer speed with which things were accomplished. I especially appreciated the fact that at the end of each work session, the work site was made neat and orderly with all tools and supplies neatly stored. For the curious, Julio is an expert teacher and taught me much about all that goes into the art involved in doing a job just right. His experienced team works with amazing efficiency and good cheer, and we now have a house well protected against the next earthquake as well as perhaps the best built garage in the city. I have three friends who have likewise benefitted from Julio's high standards of excellence, and since the next earthquake is a matter of "when" as opposed to "if," anybody who is contemplating making their homes more safe could not do better than to choose Nieto Valle Construction for the job. read more

If you're thinking of retrofitting your home, please consider Nieto Valle. We had 4 different companies give us quotes for retrofitting our home. Nieto Valle was not the cheapest or the most expensive but it was the ONLY one that actually went under the house! Come on...wouldn't a contractor need to do that in order to give an accurate estimate and not one with "surprise" charges? Julio Nieto and his crew were professional, friendly and thorough. We were chosen by the Earthquake Brace & Bolt rebate program and Julio took care of supplying the program with all of the documentation and photographs they required. During our final inspection the inspector said that the work they did was exemplary. In fact, he said that they did more than what was required. We are so pleased. We highly recommend Nieto Valle. read more

Nieto Valley Construction just finished a floating garage repair in my rental unit in San Francisco. They were referred by my engineer, who spoke highly of them. Julio the owner responded to my email immediately and was punctual to our first appointment. They were on schedule for both the start and the completion of the work, and did a perfect job. I will work with them again. read more

My small 1940s house needed earthquake retrofitting (mudsill was not bolted to the foundation, common for that era). Nieto Valle Construction was one of the companies recommended to me by a well-known local structural engineer (who's an expert on earthquake retrofitting). Julio (the owner), is very professional, straightforward, and highly experienced in this field. He did a thorough inspection and provided a full report (with photos and diagrams) of the advised work. And he was very responsive to my emailed questions and concerns (whereas other contractors I've dealt with haven't been very consistent at followup). He also feels it's important to do it by the book and with permits (which I found reassuring) and handles all the paperwork and legwork for the latter himself. His team was expert, thorough, efficient, friendly, and take pride in their work (e.g. they eagerly suited me up and gave me a crawlspace tour of their finished retrofitting and epoxy crack-filling). Highly recommend them for retrofitting and foundation repair. And may use them for other projects too (like driveway and garage repair). read more

Julio and his team just completed a full retrofit of our single story home. Julio came recommended by a well regarded structural engineer and he and his team did a great job. Julio was very thorough in his initial inspection and prepared a comprehensive proposal for our property. Julio took care of obtaining all the necessary permits from the city and arranging subsequent inspections. His team of workers were punctual and always left the property tidy at the end of each working day. They worked systematically and thoroughly through the project and completed the works as scheduled. I would highly recommend Nieto Valle Construction for your home retrofit! read more

I was extremely lucky to find Julio Nieto at Nieto Valle Construction, Seismic Retrofit Experts, on Yelp. Early this year, after the first rainstorm during the drought, we noticed that a large horizontal crack had have appeared at the side of the house where the ground had poor drainage. My first response was panic. I conducted a long and frustrating search of structural engineers and contractors to find an understanding and fix for the problem which led to many conflicting recommendations ranging from injecting "plumes" of cured slurry under the existing foundation to total redesigning and replacing the foundation. Most of these folks charged up to $800 just to take photos and provide recommendations. First of all, Julio came to my house at the exact time he said would which already distinguished him from several other contractors. He did a thorough inspection / with photos of the foundation outside the house and inside the crawl space along with reviewing the overall site. He listened to my concerns and my answers to his questions respectfully and without interruption. (This was not always the case with other contractors). He described a range of options for consideration and discussed the pros and cons of each which he later documented in detail (including the names and model numbers of materials) in a clearly written proposal. He did not try to sell the most expensive option which I appreciated. He also provided several references who gave glowing recommendations about the firm's work. In addition, Julio's professional, non-condescending demeanor was very confidence building. My husband and I chose Nieto Valle for the job. After we chose the option that best suited our needs, Julio provided a similarly well written and detailed contract for review and signature - expectations were clear on both sides. Furthermore, he went out of his way to call our city to determine permit requirements. During execution of the project, the Nieto Valle team was always willing to explain what they were doing along each step. Their work was meticulous. When they came through the house to enter the crawl space, they laid down sheeting to make sure the carpeting stayed clean. After the job was done and they were still at the site, they noticed and willingly fixed some minor items around the house which was much appreciated as we are not very handy. After learning more about Niete Valle Construction, we will certainly be contacting them again for other jobs in the future. read more

We, too, live not far from a major seismic fault, and were jolted by the Napa earthquake to get our house and separate garage/workshop (2-storey) retrofitted. Our inspecting engineer gave us several names of specialist construction companies. Julio Nieto's extraordinarily thorough estimating inspection -- complete with photos (from our narrow crawl space as well as the separate buildings) and very full written and oral descriptions left us in no doubt as to our choice of company. We are more than satisfied. Julio and his companion crew have done a lovely job. Not only do we now have a house firmly anchored to its foundation, but they epoxied all foundation cracks and properly fastened with steel brackets several previously improperly supported beams (both matters noted during his estimate inspection), but we also have a partly rebuilt workshop/garage (which had had to be engineered, since it was in such poor shape). Given that installing new sheer-walling was for various reasons impossible (or far too costly), with the help of our engineer, they were also able to use the house's sufficiently-heavy siding as sheer-wall with appropriate nailing and screwing. Julio and his men are always cheerful, and the site left spotless every night. He was efficient from start to finish, always here (in El Cerrito, a good distance from his base of operations) on time or early, the entire job taking slightly less than the two weeks estimated. Julio also does other kinds of work and was able to do a number of things we'd been procrastinating over. I have no hesitation in giving Nieto Valle Construction the very highest recommendation, and will certainly use them again for any construction jobs we may have. They do, as I say, lovely work. read more