Saul was recommended to us as we were considering various contractors help remodel two bathrooms. Saul's price was better than some of the bigger outfits we were working with but not the cheapest - however, we liked the fact that he is licensed and came recommended.
It took a while to get a written contract sent over once we made a decision. It was vague and very high level, which didn't concern us too much but in retrospect, we might have wanted to be more specific about the scope of work.
Saul is responsive to feedback and questions / queries. When we asked questions about how to proceed on specific things, or asked him to fix things that weren't quite right, he did so quickly. He picked up his phone quickly or returned our calls within minutes if he missed them.
He did eventually get the project completed, but it took about 4 weeks longer than it should have because of scheduling delays and very reactive communication. He didn't tell us when we needed to have various materials ordered by, and that delayed the plumber and tiling subcontractors for multiple days while they waited for equipment. I can't imagine that was great for Saul's profit on this job - but was frustrating for us too because progress was much slower than expected (we had 6 guests come to stay who ended up having to share one bathroom) and led to several last minute surprises.
Saul is obviously very busy with work, which is great for him - but expect scheduling to be rocky. Sometimes he and his crew won't show up on days that they are expected to be there, and other times they'll be later than expected. Sometimes they'll come and leave after half a day to go make progress on other people's jobs. All of this feels inefficient to me - since it introduces a lot of travel time into each day. Not a big deal for us since we're lucky to be able currently able to work from home - but I can't imagine this being easy to coordinate if you're not at home all the time.
Saul's employees were very respectful and spoke English well. They did a reasonable job of protecting our carpets (although there are still some marks that we're hoping a shampoo will fix). However, one of our exterior stairs was broken during the demolition and we continue to find small shards of demolished bathtub in our front garden. When I queried Saul about the stairs, he said there wasn't much they could do about this because the wood was old, which makes sense but is a little annoying.
The work was done to a reasonably high standard. With our shower, they used moisture resistant drywall and the Schluter waterproofing system (instead of the more traditional and labour intensive to install cementboard method). I worry that if I hadn't queried them on this, they would have installed the tile directly to the drywall and we'd have had moisture problems in the future. In some counties in California, the Schluter approach isn't up to code (although in Contra Costa county, it is, thankfully).
There were small details that weren't quite ideal - for examples, handles being misaligned. Some dents in the drywall. Power sockets pointing in every direction. A light switch that was installed upside down. The wrong size screws being used to install drawer knobs. Most of these they were able to remedy quickly but we realised after everything was done and dusted, there was no edge on the tile, despite the fact the photos we had sent to Saul ahead of time included this. It turns out that the edge had to be installed underneath the last column of tile and apparently the tiler had asked us about this. If he asked us this, we absolutely did not understand what he was asking - and I wish that Saul had been more on top of things, as our general contractor. To redo that work now would be extremely expensive because we'd need to demolish the existing tile and reinstall it, all while damaging the drywall in the process and having to rehang the shower doors. We've decided to let that go - but I recommend overcommunicating at each stage of the process, particularly if you have specific design goals or you're undertaking a more complex project - or hire an interior designer to hold SF Remodel accountable.
Overall, we're happy with the work that Saul and his team did but I wish the process has been smoother and less stressful - particularly for something as commonplace as a bathroom remodel. read more