My Contractor search started the last week the year 2020. I went on Yelp and put together a spreadsheet of 23 local Contractors that would potentially take on our Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) project. I would say I spent a good two weeks interviewing and meeting with various contractors. I met approximately 8 contractors in person of the 23. My list was sorted by how many times a contractor was reviewed, how many stars they have and cost.
After two weeks of interviews, I chose Carmelo Sosa for the project. He was 1 of 2 contractors that met me personally, all the other contractors sent me their project manager which pretty much wasted my time.
First Impression: The first time Carmelo met us, he was not only on time but he was waiting in the car before our scheduled appointment. Compared to the other contractors who sent out their project manager in suits, Carmelo came as himself, the contractor. No suits, tie, no gimmicks, he wants the job and not just my money. He reminded me of my team at work, he is the one who does the job.
During the Project: Let's just say it was difficult to get permits during the pandemic, I don't blame Carmelo for this as my friends who has friends that are contractors did warn me ahead of time of the time constraint with LADBS and just the process itself. The pandemic definitely held up our timeline but was expected.
I would say in the beginning, I was curious why Carmelo didn't have a pen and paper to write down our concerns and requests. Sometimes there were little things missed where I had to remind his team, but he surely is quick to answer my calls, "day and night", and I never had to tell myself "this guy isn't picking up my calls", he was ALWAYS available and would not rush the conversation about the project. His customer service is much better than the other contractors I have dealt with during my interview process. Overall, I can't complain, this is simply an honest review.
Carmelo's team always came early and worked the days that the weather allowed them too. I believe it took his team 10 months to complete our 2-Story ADU project of 3 Bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms.
Choice of Materials, fixtures, etc. Carmelo doesn't like cheap stuff, I was afraid he was going to have me choose cheap finishes, brands etc. for our bathroom, flooring and tiles. Nope, that was not the case, he wanted to make sure we were happy and allowed us to tell him what would work for us. Obviously if an item was just too expensive, we would simply pay the difference. I have no issues with what was offered to us.
Although this review is late and I can probably go on forever, I want to Thank Carmelo and his team for building our new ADU home, I want to say we were one of his first larger ADU projects and it was a success.
If you are in the Northridge or Reseda or San Fernando Valley and even beyond, Carmelo is your guy! I will surely hire him for future projects when the money comes! read more