Ilya Engineering responds to emails within minutes and answers their phones. Surprisingly, once an…read moreengineer is assigned to your project you can contact him/her directly. I also want to mention that my project took less time than originally thought. As a result I was invoiced for three hundred dollars less to reflect the actual time spent. This is definitely the firm to use if you want great customer service, plans that meet LADBS requirements and charges that reflect the actual time spent on your project.

Service requested: architect plans/structural engineering and permitting process. The design was…read morehow we wanted. A few hiccups along the way with the final permit but Sam acknowledged the mistake on his end and said he would sign off the edits in the revision phase of construction. I will give an updated review once that time comes. Quality: quality of work was good. Efficient in communication and dealing with a difficult city in a permitting process. Took about 6 months for the permits and the city kicked back for corrections 2x which is pretty standard. Value: felt his pricing was fair and reasonable Customer service: always responds to phone calls. Even after our final payment when we had questions or needed assistance. So not a "take your money" and we are done type of guy Overall impression: would use him in the future for any architectural or structural engineering jobs

Letter Four totally dropped the ball on my project! Almost…read moregot to the final approval stage just to find out that it was not worth doing due to section 8. After spending $200,000, the project was scrapped! THE DID NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY AND I LOST ALL MY INVESTMENT IN THE PLANS! $200,000 DOWN THE DRAIN! They didn't offer any reimbursement at all for their mistake!!! Good luck if you use them, and I hope they don't mess it up like my plans if you use them. But I wouldn'trecommend them after what happened to me!!!! BeWare

Found Letter Four online and read glowing reviews like the ones here... I should have looked…read morecloser. Having worked with them for 2 years, I now realize most of these reviews are either (1) 5+ years old or (2) from people who work there - Alex S, J M, etc. I spent about $120k and the last 2 years on a 4-bedroom remodel with Letter Four. I have *nothing* to show for it. No plans, no permits, nothing. Just a home that I cannot live in with some holes in the walls and ceilings (they just enough minor demo that I can't live there and then they disappeared - fun!) What I do have are shady invoices (they pad their invoices, double-charge you, refuse to send you receipts even after you ask 5x, charge you for everything they can with a 20% markup - Ubers, printing fees, software fees, etc). What really bothered me is that they pay their Project Managers almost nothing and then they charge you $200/hr for those PMs work. When I tried to do calls with them to understand the invoicing, instead of listening and admitting their mistakes when they very clearly double-charged me for the same things - they yelled at me. The owner Jeremy talked over me the entire call. (To his credit, he did apologize for not letting me get a single word in - he said something like "I've been told I do this to women"). If you want to work with two really arrogant people who want to talk a lot about how great they are and how right they are but won't listen - by all means, sign up to work with these folks. The work itself isn't just subpar and sloppy - it's actually unusable. They were constantly making mistakes - you'd send them measurements and then get the plans and everything would be the wrong size. I never got a window schedule that had windows that matched the plans. They never got approval for a permit for the plans they created. They made so many mistakes, it's laughable. I hired a new Engineer and Contractor who both can't stop cracking up about Letter Four's work. "This isn't even to scale! Look, they have the downspouts at the highest points of the roof! Look at this - that part must be a joke, right?!" For the prices they charge and how arrogant they are about their experience, they deliver really sub-optimal work. They claim their high hourly fees and high-end rates will make your remodel easy for you - but I found that working with them is 5x more work than with my new contractor. (Message me if you want his info - he's *amazing*). Finally, their design aesthetic is really cheesy. It doesn't match any of the photos in their portfolio. All their design proposals felt something you'd see in a cheap flip. It was a total waste of money to pay for a "design + build" firm because I ended up designing every inch of it myself. Another reviewer called them "awkward" and I 100% found that to be the case. Their online portfolio is great, but actually working with them is a total nightmare on every level. Most people don't love their contractors - but you will LOATHE these people. I guess if you want some cool horror stories about your remodel, this is the company for you!

I hired Blend Design Studio for some residential work on my home. David was a delight to work with…read more He was very knowledgeable and helped me navigate the entire process, which can feel very overwhelming as a homeowner. I also thought he was very professional and reasonably priced. I didn't actually start my project right away. There was actually a gap of 4 years. My contractor and I had to contact him with some questions and David responded immediately, which is something I completely appreciate.

Blend Design did a nice job on my ADU blueprints. I will be using them again for my next building…read moreproject.

I have worked on multiple projects with Structural AF. They have always been professional, easy to…read morecommunicate with, quick, and thorough. They are fantastic!

One of the best architectural and engineering company in LA. I have done a few projects with them…read more All the project I have done it's really convenient and nice open floor design, they know how to do it to be convenient to live in it house with all the features you need in the house and a lot of times you don't even think about it but it's there. The drawing is very detailed if you want to find the measurements, it's there in front of you compared to other architects that cannot find any measurements Another best thing is that they are always there every time you call them. You don't have to hustle to be in touch with them for any questions you have. I highly recommend them

Misong just completed another project for me. They renovated a 2 bed/1 bath unit. I appreciate…read moreMichael's bid breakdown and transparency, the efficiency of the work, his crew and office personnel. The job was completed in about a month and half. Very pleased with the outcome.

I think the saying goes, in your life, you need a good doctor, a good lawyer, and a good…read morecontractor. During the same time that I was working on my new home, I knew of several other friends who were also renovating or remodeling their homes. I can say without hesitation that no one had the experience that I did. My home when I first purchased it and before remodeling started was in dire need of some major work. No central air, flooring was lopsided, structural foundation work had to be done, needed to change a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom home into a 3 bed 3 full bath plus den home, needed to get permits, install a porch, redo the garage into an extra room, landscaping, etc. The list goes on. From the time my escrow was closed, to when everything was ready for move in, all of this was done in less than 4 months which is ridiculous in a time when materials and manpower was low. Friends who had half as much work to be done as I did spent over a year. In terms of costs, the speediness at which all this work was done saved me an incredible amount of money. In addition, every cost was stated very transparently, including any sudden, unforeseen changes or circumstances, as well as options to add, forego or make adjustments and those subsequent costs. Michael has decades of experience, and was crucial in thinking of things that I never would have that enhanced my home in ways I would not have imagined. He also is very very detail oriented and was always on site, making sure nothing, even small, seemingly insignificant things were overlooked. His staff was excellent, very communicative and knowledgable. He and his employees treated my home like their home, and the final product speaks for itself. Renovating a home can be extremely stressful especially when it is so hard to find a contractor you can trust. I had none of the experience that so many people had by working with Misong Construction, and would recommend them for any job.

I had the pleasure of working with Ballentine Architects on two separate occasions (2 years apart)…read more We renovated our home in two phases and we used Ben Ballentine on both projects for his architectural services (As-Built designs) and structural engineering facilitation. All of our sessions were incredibly collaborative and professional. Ben helped us understand not just what was structurally possible / not possible but he also made great design recommendations as well. Ben also submitted and facilitated our permits with the city and was great about providing status updates / submitting revisions when necessary.

From start to finish, working with Ben and his team at Ballentine Architects was incredible! They…read moreexplained the home renovation process to us every step of the way and went above and beyond to make our remodel as easy and enjoyable as possible. Ben has an incredible vision and transformed our home. But what we really appreciated is how he included us in every decision and design detail. His thorough designs and presentations really helped our decision making. We are beyond happy with our final product and will absolutely use Ballentine Architects in the future... if we can ever be convinced to leave our current Ballentine Architects home.

I had a car crashed into my building, which made a large hole in the living room. Bela Development…read morewas selected out of seven estimates. It was a long process working with the insurance, but Tom from Bela Development was professional and throughout to shepherd us through the insurance process and eventually completed perfectly. Any reasonable requests I had, Tom and the team accommodated them. The results are fabulous.

We had an incredible experience working with Michael and Baldo at Bela Development. As first-time…read morerenovators, we were understandably nervous, but they guided us through every detail with patience, expertise, and care. They completed a full gut renovation of our primary bathroom and a renovation of our guest bath, and the results exceeded our expectations. The tile work is absolutely gorgeous, the attention to detail is next level, and the job site was kept impeccably clean--which was especially important since my partner and I were living in the house with our dogs throughout the project. That level of thoughtfulness made a huge difference. Baldo was amazing at problem-solving and offering smart ideas and workarounds, especially given the surprises that come with an older home (ours was built in 1977). Michael was equally outstanding--always diligent, responsive, and proactive in addressing any questions or concerns I had along the way. We were so happy with their work that we've already had them back to update our kitchen with new backsplash and tile work, as well as an outdoor bar. I can't recommend Bela Development highly enough. Skilled, trustworthy, and a true pleasure to work with from start to finish.

Justin is great to work with. I had a bad experience with a previous architect who overpromised and…read moreunder delivered. Justin not only delivered as promised but also stayed in constant communication with me. If I had a question about the design or the process he made himself available and helped me. He also helped me identify issues with the existing design that could have made it more costly and helped me navigate the changes through his thoughtful explanations. I highly recommend Justin for any of your upcoming projects, he is honest, straightforward, respectful, and takes pride in his work.

Justin was amazing to work with throughout this entire process, though our communication mainly…read moretook place via email. He was prompt with every response wither it was from myself or with the city for various revisions and documents submittals. His work is excellent, i have no reservations with working with him again for future projects and rates are competitive for the A+ work that him and his staff provide.