I've been working with Larry for the past year on a tricky kitchen remodel. It involved expanding…read moreout one corner of our two story house and lots of careful planning and engineering to account for significant changes to load bearing structures. Larry worked very closely with me through this planning process. He was very responsive to emails, messages, and phone calls. He went the extra mile to explain the details of what was happening at each step of the process, and helped us make well-informed trade-offs and decisions. We haven't done the actual construction yet because of some personal scheduling conflicts, but I have no doubt that Larry and his team would be just as detailed and thorough in that endeavor as they were with the planning. He and everyone he worked with were very respectful and friendly when coming into our home, and cleaned up after themselves if they had to disturb any walls or ceilings. From a cost perspective, this wasn't the most expensive nor the cheapest firm we considered for this project, but knowing that it would be somewhat complex, we wanted to go with someone who would focus on the structural engineering rather than someone who would just get a job done in the cheapest and potentially hackiest way possible. I think that it was overall a great value given the amount of time that Larry spent with us in considering the details.

I worked with Larry for renovating my home. We added 1 BR/ 1 Bath and extended our kitchen and…read moreliving room. Larry was very helpful throughout the process. He was easily accessible and always explained each step in great details. He is not cheap, but the quality of work is worth the money.

We first worked with Chana Construction for a home remodel back in 2018, so when we bought our new…read morehome in 2024, choosing a contractor was a no-brainer--we didn't look anywhere else. From start to finish, they were exceptional. They guided us through the entire process, connecting us with a reliable architect and structural engineer, and provided a very competitive quote. Their execution was incredible: work started in April, and by June, they had completed enough for us to move in, saving us from paying double mortgages. The remaining work was wrapped up over the next couple of months. They handled a complete overhaul of our house: a full kitchen remodel, adding two new rooms, installing new flooring and carpets, painting, lighting, HVAC, and setting up EV charging. Throughout the journey, communication was smooth, interactive, and collaborative. They regularly offered great design suggestions and even gave us helpful recommendations on materials and fixtures to order from Amazon and other retailers. The finished home looks absolute awesome. Davinder Chana (Channaji) and Bhupinder are fantastic to work with--transparent, reliable, and with zero surprises along the way. I highly recommend Chana Construction for any home rem

Chana Construction completed our home addition with excellent quality.Mr. Chana is a very humble…read moreand nice person who guided us through the home addition process. He was always available to answer our questions and provide guidance. I would highly recommend Chana construction for any of your home projects.

We were delighted with the work Topos did for us. Peter is a great listener and presented us with…read moredifferent options, made revisions to the initial mock ups per our requests and helped execute on the option we selected. He helped us find an excellent contractor and his team managed our build. We are very happy with the results and the level of service.

I'm happy to strongly endorse Peter Baltay and his crew at Topos Architects as both a design firm…read moreand as a project management service. When my wife I are were contemplating building a home, we approached Topos as we had seen a previous spec project they had done and loved it. Design elements include maximizing space utilization, minimizing hallways, lots of light and windows, beautiful wood accents, high quality trim and attention to detail all appealed to us. During our first meeting when I complained about not finding any good lots for sale, Peter pointed out a few, including one particular lot that was not yet on MLS. The location was perfect for us and I ended up buying it 7 days later. The take home is that Peter has contacts in the area that give his clients access to info not always publicly available. We interviewed many architects and came back to Topos. I didn't like how some wanted to deliver a set of plans and walk away, leaving the builder to struggle with implementation. I also didn't like how some were 'out-dated' - I wanted computer-based models so I could visualize my home before it was built. As an engineer type, Peter and Topos were a great fit. I also wanted a firm who would help oversee the process from start to end and not and not pass the potato as soon as things went wrong (without paying through the nose for a personal assistant). I knew from previous contractor experience that building a home wasn't a cake walk and I wanted someone with integrity who I would work with through the entire process - Peter gave me that impression. Perhaps most of all, I wanted to know I was paying a fair price. I hated the standard fixed bid way of building houses where you're always combatting the general contractor over quality and price. I wanted complete transparency. Topos was prepared to offer this and had multiple previous projects to illustrate how this could be done and what I should expect. I want to address some of the negative comments in one review on this site directly. Building a house is not like Extreme Makeover where you go on vacation, return home and say 'Move that Bus' and have the house of your dreams. It is a process with literally thousands of decisions and over a dozen sub contractors. Mistakes are going to happen. Some people are going to do poor work some days. The city is probably going to say you can't do something essential to your design. Some tiles look great in the store but don't work in your house. Bad things happen. If you don't like a design element, it isn't Peter's fault, it is your fault. What you want on your team is someone that will work with you to effectively manage these things, prevent them when possible and deal with them when unavoidable. I can't imagine Peter and Topos doing a much better on this front. I'm willing to bet the negative reviewer never gave Topos a chance to fix what bothered her. In our case Peter and Topos were very up-front about what services they offer and where we might consider augmenting with our own consultants. Many people hire a lighting designer, interior designer, landscape design, etc.. We only hired a landscape guy and did the rest with Topos to save money. It is up to you. Look at previous homes and see what meets your standards and what doesn't. Oh, the comment about not working hard is absurd. Peter is there 8-7 most days. And, when things do go wrong, Topos stands behind the job. In our case a tile sub messed up the master bath. Peter made them tear out thousands in tile and redo it from scratch. While the sub provided the labor, Peter paid for all the tile out of pocket claiming they should have caught it earlier. This is someone who admits a mistake and takes responsibility for fixing it. For a bonus-factor, Peter is an amazing diplomat. He worked with some frustrated neighbors to make them advocates for our project, he worked with the city to find a way top get our gutters and design approved, and most of all he worked with me (which is no easy task) for 18 months to build a beautiful home. One other thing I'll add - in retrospect I undervalued the importance of working with subs that are beholden to the general contractor for their next job. While Topos let me select which contractor to use, there is an advantage to going with ones that they have used in the past and will use again. Because Topos builds a number of projects each year, many of the best subs work from one project to the next (provided you elect to go with them). Because of this dependence, they are incentivized to finish through 110% on your project. There were a few cases where a sub has had to come back many times (often fixing someone else's problems) and they have done so without complaint and without additional 'change orders'. They do it because it is right and they want to stay on Topos' good side.

Jeff and Scotty were incredibly professional from start to finish. Every part of the process was…read moreseamless- we were able to share our vision and watch as they brought it to life! Absolutely thrilled with the results and their attention to detail on every addition. Highly recommend on any home improvement projects. They bring luxury and quality through on the entire process. Thank you Bodhi Tree Construction for this amazing home makeover and for our beautiful kitchen - we are so grateful!

This review is long overdue, Jeff with Bodhi Tree construction has done work at our home over the…read moreyears, His attention to detail is impressive. His vision on projects we want done have always been better than what we can imagine. He has remodeled our bathroom/laundry, remodeled our kitchen. and he has done a facelift on our home. I have posted before and after pictures of all three projects. He has all done trim work around our windows. My wife has told me only Jeff is allowed to work on our home, and she is a picky one.

We cannot recommend Jeremy and his team enough. Our project was a full renovation of our 3 story…read moretownhouse, originally built in the mid-80's, and literally everything needed updating. My wife and I thought we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to do and how we wanted our renovated house to look, so our original intent was to work closely with our contractor to make all the design decisions on our own. In hindsight, I'm so glad we did not go that route. It didn't take long for us to realize we were in over our heads - as the saying goes "you don't know what you don't know" and that was definitely the case here. If you want a well thought out design, taking both functionality and aesthetics into consideration while ensuring a consistent flow throughout the house, you need an expert. Fortunately for us, we found Jeremy. From our very first interaction we were impressed not just with Jeremy's knowledge and experience in design, but also the importance he placed on getting to know our tastes, priorities, and the outcome we wanted. Over the course of our project we never felt pressured to make a decision that we weren't comfortable with or that we felt didn't fit our needs. That said, Jeremy had many insights and suggestions that frankly we would not have thought of that significantly improved the final result. For example, a small tweak to our first floor design netted us noticeably more room in our kitchen, giving us more cabinet and counter space, as well as improving the flow of traffic. Jeremy is also quite knowledgeable and resourceful. Having him work closely with us in all our material selections - lighting, floors, fixtures, tile, paint, etc. made all the difference. What would have seemed overwhelming became a manageable and coordinated process. He knows which features, brands, qualities to look for. He can also tell you which decisions are important, and which not as much so. This helped us focus on important decisions and not sweat the small stuff. Lastly, Jeremy is a true design professional. He worked seamlessly with our contractors to make sure they understood and followed through with our designs. Detailed and highly professional plans, e.g., RCP, floor plans, elevations, renderings, etc. exceeded our expectations and were very much appreciated by ourselves as well as our contractor. It takes all the guesswork and ambiguity out of the execution, as should be the case. They're also extremely helpful when visiting showrooms - we were often asked how we created the plans or who made them for us. And, Jeremy was always accessible to provide feedback and suggestions 'on the fly', providing a quick sketch or rendering to help us make decisions in real-time. Bottom line, you can tell when someone has a real passion for what they do, and Jeremy has a passion for design. He is a pleasure to work with, and he knows what he's doing - I would not hesitate for a moment to hire him for your project.

We had a special need to open up the house a few years ago. Jeremy created a design to open up our…read morekitchen, optimize the flow of our entire living spaces and re-design bathrooms to meet ADA requirements. We were deeply impressed by his extraordinary attention of our needs and to every detail. He suggested many really good ideas proactively to make our everyday life much more effectively. He also followed up thoroughly to make sure the construction is executed perfectly.

As first time home owners, our first kitchen remodel had to be done once and done right. It was my…read morechance at having my dream kitchen. After months of enviously watching home renovations on HGTV I was eager for my Pinterest dreams to become reality. We met with Tim Alo and his architect Rudy in our old galley kitchen where they listened to my long wish list. Together they drew up a layout, measured walls and windows and offered new layout ideas that really opened up our home. Once my dream kitchen was drawn up Tim drafted an estimate and emailed it over. I was pleasantly surprised with how honest and kind Tim's demeanor was and how easy he was to work with. He was patient and listened to all my ideas. When I asked him can we do this? He would always respond with yes it can be whatever or however you want! I liked the sound of that. I soon met with Tim and John at Custom Craft Cabinets, where Tim showed John the drawings of our kitchen and he was able to translate my modern kitchen cabinets on a 3d CAD image layout. Once the cabinets were scheduled to be made Tim put us on the calendar for demolition day. Tim did the demolition of 3 major walls quickly and had all the debris out in one day. I was impressed with how clean everything was after demolition and through the entire project. Living through a renovation with a toddler was tough but Tim always made sure the house was left safe, clear and vacuumed. Through the long process of kitchen renovation I learned that I had to become patient. There were so many multiple steps to building a kitchen; walls, windows, texturing, paint, floors, Gas, air ducts, electrical, permits, cabinet installation, appliance installation, lighting, counter tops, backsplashes, then the fine detailing of everything. Tim would give me daily updates through email, text messages and phone calls. I was thankful that he had a great team of people to come help him along the way. He coordinated everything! Tim suggested where to go to pick to windows, doors, countertops, and tile, which was so helpful. I appreciated his professional honest opinion when making design choices. Everyday Tim would come with a smile on his face ready to work and fix whatever we brought to his attention. He was so pleasant to be around and we trusted him with our home completely, which says a lot since my husband trusts no one. It seemed like everything he did was just another piece to a puzzle. He made construction look fun and easy it is apparent he really does enjoy fixing everything. Tim is organized, neat, so smart and found great solutions when needed. The end result has surpassed my Pinterest dreams! We truly love being at home and cooking in our dream kitchen. I don't think our kitchen could possibly be any better then it is. We are so thankful to Tim for all the hard work he put in to make sure everything was perfect and to our liking. He seriously went above and beyond our expectations, even fixing a hallway light switch that annoyed us when we bought the house. He saw that it was wrong and fixed it to surprise us. He would even let our three year old help him occasionally having him hold a flash light or have him pass a tool. Our son loved seeing Tim everyday. We are so glad Tim took our project on. He made this experience so much easier to go through because of his trusted team and kept everything on track. We are so thankful for his sincerity, patience, and work ethic. He is a good hard working person with a good family who just wanted to make our home a place we love. We look forward to future remodels for the rest of the house and hope we can squeeze into his busy schedule! Do yourself a favor and choose Alo Construction.

This review is long overdue. Tim Alo from "Alo Construction" is highly recommended for any…read moreremodeling construction in your home. We've been working together for the past three years on three amazing projects.(kitchen flip, master bathroom and hall bathroom). The new kitchen design was a major project for me. I drew out a major kitchen flip in my home. He loved the ideas and made awesome suggestion as well. Tim works hard and takes pride in his projects with his customers as if it's his own home. He's a perfectionist and he always makes sure the job is done right and customers are happy with each phase. Tim and his team cleans up at the end of day for the next phase, which I appreciated that due to having four paw pets around. Tim loves four paw pets and works with the customers that have them to make sure they're safe as well. Tim does a lot of work on his own and also works with his local partner teams, they all do an amazing high quality job and work together well. He has a lot of great connections in the Bay Area to get the best price and quality for your home remodeling project/s. His wife, Vanessa is a home designer consultant (VGA Designs). She helped me narrowing down on fine details to build a kitchen of our dreams. She's a gem and I loved working with her. So if you need extra help on decisions she is a life saver and stress relief that helped me get my kitchen project done so that Tim and his team can keep working to finish on time. Vanessa helped me with all the final designs and details what would work best and not work in my design space, like drawer placements, cabinet style, counter tops, back splash, her input on hardware, etc. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my kitchen, master bathroom and hall bathroom! I get compliments all the time of all the remodeling I've done to my home! Thank you again, again and again Tim and Vanessa for all you both have done for my home! You two are a lovely couple and a great team to do professional home remodeling work with! Best wishes to you both! Warmest Regards, Cristine

Jim has been the architect now on two of my extensive home projects…read more He has provided a calm and patient platform during the development of the design, guiding me smoothly to the finish line. His demeaner and experience in his craft was enjoyable and provided me with confidence in his ability to deliver what I was wanting. Also, with his knowing his way around my cities planning department, made the paperwork go smoothly.

As a structural engineer, I have worked with James on many projects. He is a seasoned pro who…read moreunderstands the balance between art and science, which makes our projects efficient and successful. He is fun to work with and a high-quality architect. We recommend him for your project!

Mr. Alberto who helped me to build up a beautiful new ADU which is attached with my existing area,…read morewho also designed ADU as well, and helped me to finish the construction. we worked together for almost whole year . l love his personality as well as the quality work. He is also an honest man, because he finished all the job he promised. We are still a good friend since he finished my project. Another gentlemen Mr. Victor who is also very nice man, he works with Alberto who did the quality electrical work for the whole project, we worked together smoothly and happily. l strongly to recommend him to do your new project!.

Albert Alfonso (architect) was referred to me by a relative. Though not licensed at the time I…read moreengaged him to do the work, he is associated with a licensed structural engineer. His architectural design fees are reasonable. The initial payment is a retainer and the balance is paid only when you get the city permit. He did a good job with the architectural drawings. He went the extra mile to help me respond to the planner's comments. He is a very hard worker. He is accessible to customer's needs and provides additional support when needed. He also has connections with contractors and can recommend someone if you need one. It is a pleasure working with him. I recommend Albert and his company if you are looking for an architect.