Dog knows remodeling/construction can be an ordeal. Our home was overdue for an update of the…read more1970's kitchen, and, it turned out, remediation of the building's prior wounds, prior neglect, and prior bone-headed mis-repairs. Wilkinson is not cheap. He's also not sloppy, not incompetent, not unreliable, not dimwitted, not lazy, not dishonest, and not going to destroy your house trying to "fix" it. He follows the building code(s); more amazing, he KNOWS the building codes! He takes responsibility when problems occur. He doesn't hide in the little blue temporary restroom just because the inspector is coming by to check the permit(s). It's a shame we can't say these things about every contractor. I've added a pair of photos to show our before/after results.

Wilkinson Design + Construction is a real pleasure to work with, and to watch them work, and even…read moreto pay them. Pav and his team work efficiently and cleanly and they are meticulous in all things. Also on-time and on-budget... and, to a client / owner very-importantly, Pav is really good at paperwork and communication... It is great to be able to do email efficiently with a contractor: that is a significant time-saver for a client -- so many contractors nowadays have websites and Facebook pages but still use the landline-fone for their real communication, or far-worse the cellphone, so that voicemail-tag with them becomes a nightmare -- and some of them text & even tweet, but there you have no record or one difficult to maintain and consult. Pav however does email, & images & attachments & followups & the rest: so that if you yourself have a complicated & busy schedule, Pav can fit-in with you, and you with Pav, and so the normal wait-times on a project get minimized or even eliminated entirely. He is very efficient. And he understands his own paperwork well: another nightmare with contractors is when they don't, when they rely on "the office" and so their invoices & receipts & work orders & change orders & permits & all the rest get tangled-up and delayed, too often -- Pav understands all this, and his paperwork is clear & concise so that you can understand it too. The job is what counts, though: Pav did a major all-over siding inspection & repair for us, on our old wood-frame Noe Valley house which we love -- along the way he gave us a new front steps, and cured some raccoon-damage, and fixed a few other bumps and bruises the place has endured over its 100+ years, and he is helping us now with the design and installation of an elegant / functional "awning" over our back-door. We spec'ed the work to several, originally, and Pav's prices were competitive, right in the middle, and his accreditation was sound and up-to-date. And when change-orders came up he explained everything, suggesting alternatives & discussing, all patiently & in-detail & even in-writing: if a contractor's profession is not your own, "job-site verbal" doesn't work well-- and if you're busy it's always nice to get back to that "writing", on your own time, to be sure you understand what was said -- Pav is good about providing that. So we recommend Wilkinson Design + Construction, very highly. Give him a chance with any job -- he'll tell you if he can't handle it, and find someone else for you who can -- and if he takes yours on he'll finish it, on-time and on-budget.

Aleck Wilson was our Architect and we had to fire him. He…read morewas not capable of completing his drawings. His invoices had several charges that we did not agree on...Zip car used and charged at the same time for other clients. We paid for our drawings and switched to another Architect after signing off on those drawings, which he did not allow the Architect to use. We had to pay twice for drawings that we owned. Aleck wasn't capable of finishing a job and his invoicing was questionable. I would NEVER recommend.

Aleck Wilson designed our extensive remodel a few years ago and he was fantastic. He's not only a…read morefine architect, but he also understands construction so he helped us tremendously in communicating with our contractors, "translating" for both of us when necessary. We highly recommend him and would call him again for the next remodel.

We have used John Schlesinger on multiple occasions over the past 20 years for various improvements…read moreand remodels on our home in the Berkeley hills. Simply put, John is a top-quality, consummate design professional, and I wouldn't trust work on my house to anyone else. John's technical skills as an architect are without question superb, but what I really appreciate most about John are his customer focus and listening skills. Both are really exceptional. A case in point is our most recent remodel - a $300,000 project in which we completely rebuilt about 2/3 of our home's interior. John took the time to really understand how my partner and I lived and what we wanted in our "new" spaces. He then developed a number of design concepts for our review to show different approaches. Once we settled on the core concepts, John went to work producing all the drawings, engineering specs, and permit documents we needed to get our project approved by the city. The work took about six months to complete. Over that time, John was our advocate with our contractor, making sure he followed the plans, built according to specs, addressed our questions about costs, and in a few cases when the unforeseen developments necessitated design changes, he was there on the spot to work with the contractor to come up with alternatives. The best indicator of how a project turns out is the reaction that the finished product garners from family, friends and visitors. Our latest remodel is a masterpiece. Since its completion, it has garnered only rave reviews. The contractor did great work, and he had a fantastic design to start with. The best thing I can say? I wouldn't change a thing. John is a complete joy to work with.

Beware. This architect showed complete disregard for my budget. A year into the project when I…read morediscovered that the design he created resulted in a construction budget more than 60% greater than my budget his answer was that I never told him the budget. Is that crazy or what? When I asked him to then revise his design to fit my budget he indicated it couldn't be done and yet I was able to identify another designer who could design to my budget. Unfortunately I had already paid for a design I couldn't use and he refused to refund any of the fees I had already paid.

We have been working with Tobeler Design for over three years. John took our home from zero to…read moresixty in a very short time and in a very efficient manner. Unlike some designers, he is open to your input and won't try to stifle your ideas. He will work with you in any way that fits your style. I really appreciated that he did not require that I adhere to his suggestions at every turn. Like all interior designers, he charges the normal mark up when ordering furniture and fabrics and an hourly fee for consultation that is quite reasonable by bay area standards. I never felt that my invoices were out of the norm for anything we did together. Our home turned into a masterpiece, largely due to our combined efforts. Thank you, John!

Do not do business with Tobeler Design. We ended up paying over twenty thousand dollars for 2…read morecouches, a few pillows, and a sofa table. The couches were made of a very poor quality fabric by a local upholsterer that did inferior work. The first time we received the furniture noone could even sit on them. The upholstery was so hard that if felt like you were sitting on plywood. The top made for the table did not fit and Tobeler would not take it back. Tobeler charges 20% mark up plus 200.00 per hour for his time. Wait until the bills start coming in. You will be startled. He is like an attorney with his billing practices. The charges just keep piling up with very little to support them. Be aware of what you are getting yourself into with this firm. He puts on a good show but when the job is finished you will need a second mortgage on your house to pay for it. Update: We were served by a process server yesterday. John Tobeler is taking us to small claims court for 595.00 he says we owe for shipping charges on a table. Talk about adding insult to injury.

Dean oversaw our home remodel when we purchased a short sale property that required a lot of work…read morebefore it could be occupied. His ideas were practical, kept us on budget, and were finished efficiently. He knew all of the tradespeople to hire and we were completely satisfied with the results. Most importantly, Dean is a wonderfully conscientious person. I would highly recommend him for any new home construction or remodels that require architecture services.

I've been a developer for the last six years and have worked with a good handful of architects in…read morethat time. There are really two things everyone needs from their design partner: 1. Keen understanding of how to navigate the planning process to produce the best possible outome for you. 2. Client savvy to guide and improve your ideas so that the resulting spaces are not just functional but beautiful. Carl accomplishes both with aplomb. Sometimes a project as simple as a deck can run afoul of complicated rules and contentious neighbors. Having the right architect makes the difference between having good ideas and the right to build them. Carl's design aesthetic is also very much appreciated as he seems to know just how to walk the line between trendy and timeless to produce spaces that are airy and modern but won't look like an outdated idea or fad in five years. If you want to take your idea and turn it into something you enjoy looking at and experiencing every day I highly recommend you start your team with SF Arc.

Carl helped my husband and I to renovate and extend our home in Noe Valley (San Francisco). His…read moreguidance with the planning process was invaluable and we felt he had just the right combination of his own aesthetic and our ideas. Very highly recommended!

I am a general contractor in the city and have had a chance to work with Apparatus on several…read moreprojects. All the projects turned out great and in no small thanks to their skillful efforts. As a contractor I am a big proponent of necessary preconstruction work being done well and in great detail. All the Apparatus's drawings have been very detailed and helped me produce detailed estimates and also minimized the amount of change orders during the construction. Remodeling projects in San Francisco, and most of residential and light commercial ones are, have a higher need for a very intimate understanding of construction techniques. Merging of old and new in a lasting and ecstatically pleasing way is a challenge. The Apparatus team always stepped in and found the right construction detail for the right situation. As a builder I highly recommend them.

We worked with Stuart at Apparatus on a project and he was a dream…read more He was funny and professional and gets the job done. He has a great way of mixing modern elements that are timeless and classical at the same time. Apparatus has a great office as well in Hayes Valley. There is always parking out front and the bonus is that they are just a few doors down from Citizen Cake and you can pick up a cupcake on the way to or from your meeting with them!

We spoke with several architects before choosing Gary to draw up the plans for our renovation in…read morethe Sunset of San Francisco. Gary was clearly the most experienced and he had a solid intuition for figuring out what the best possible layout would be. He made some great suggestions that we hadn't considered, such as the opportunity to enlarge our shower. We were on a tight deadline with a baby on the way; Gary was able to draft the plans and get them approved ahead of schedule. When I changed my mind on some details a few weeks later, Gary was able to quickly make the changes. We decided to handle the design aspects on our own, but from looking at his portfolio I'm sure he would have done a great job there as well. I would be happy to work with Gary again on a future project.

Gary was honestly a godsend!…read more He took on a very difficult project, and overcame several legal, structural, and regulatory obstacles, to bring my project to permit approval. The project was to renovate a 100+ year old, 3-story building, through the aforementioned obstacles, in a city as tough as SF - so it was no easy feat! Gary navigated working with multiple stakeholders: me, my partner, the structural engineer, and a multitude of government officials. He's a very good listener, so he quickly understood the project's direction and was able to provide ideas and brainstorm in a way that was easy and fun to work with him. He also knows the building, planning, and historical codes incredibly well - so his abilities to mix his knowledge with his skills of listening and brainstorming translated into coming up with super helpful and strategic SOLUTIONS to ensure compliance with codes that the city APPROVED. I also enjoyed having healthy debates with him. As an opinionated home-owner who actually knows nothing about codes, I had opinions that he -very professionally- told me were not accurate, which I was incredibly appreciative of. When I was wrong, he offered his expertise in a humble and tactful way, and made me see that the route I thought to take may not be the best route. Knowing you're working with someone smart, knowledgeable, capable, emotionally intelligent, strategic and who can help steer you in the right direction was so incredibly valuable. Also - and this one is especially important - when he said he'd do something, he did it, by the date promised, and with great attention to detail. If you have the opportunity to work with Gary, do it; I promise you won't be disappointed!