Marshal and his team did a fantastic job repairing and replacing our door. Marshal is…read morestraightforward, knowledgeable, communicative, and clearly holds his work to a high standard. His crew was skilled, fast, efficient, and very respectful of our home throughout the process. Most importantly, Marshal is someone I trust to give an honest assessment and make sure the job is done right. I'd absolutely recommend him, and I'm already looking at future projects to work with him on.

We need to replace our roof at our condo. But to complicate the roof work, we have a deck on it…read more Through Yelp , I contacted several roofing companies and none of them wanted anything to do with the deck. Except one of the roofing company recommended a general contractor they had worked with to work on the deck. It all sounded good until I asked the GC for his liability and workman's insurance which was alarmingly lacking. So I came back to Yelp for help. After meeting with several general contractors , Rothman stood out as Marshall expertly identified our deck material as Ipe wood and took steps to preserve it. Rothman also is knowledgeable and is experienced with San Francisco's permitting process. Before the roof work, Rothman efficiently disassembled our deck, removed the old frame and organized the railing and decking in a way that allowed the roofing company to move quickly and complete the roofing work smoothly. Rothman came back afterward to reassemble our deck, plank by plank, carefully and meticulously. Rothman was competitively priced and carried all necessary licenses, insurance, and certifications. Well, it is not easy to find a contractor who is honest, friendly, knowledgeable, experienced, easy to work with, pays attention to details, shows up on time, cleans up well , does great work and finishes on time. The deck looks beautiful now and we couldn't be happier with Rothman's work! Thank you Marshall!!!

I contacted Joshua B. Kardon, PhD, SE, F.ASCE, on the advice of a friend who is an architect after…read morewe won the bidding war (for $869K) on a 1924 Craftsman home in San Leandro in 2019. It had several issues, especially a problematic (cracked) original foundation. When Joshua Kardon informed us that we might have to spend a considerable portion of the above purchase price to properly fix up the house, make it earthquake-safe, and bring it up to current codes, we decided to pass on this lovely house. (He told us that replacing the cracked original foundation and raising the basement ceiling from 75 inches height to 96 inches on the 1400-square-foot home - all by itself - might cost $200-$300,000 and take many months. The home had other issues, too.) We later purchased a smaller 1954 ranch-style home in almost-as-built condition and called Joshua Kardon again for a consultation about seismic strengthening. He designed the almost-finished project that spans the front of our home and protects it against earthquakes. Joshua Kardon selected a "SkinnyBrace" by Thor Matteson, SE, of Quake Bracing LLC as the most cost-effective way to anchor our garage and the front of the house using attic collectors and garage shear walls. Nieto Valle Construction of Hayward has executed his designs and will soon finish the garage drywall and attic insulation. Joshua B. Kardon, SE, has always insisted on designing and implementing the best possible seismic strengthening solution for us and his solution is now in place. His attention to detail and insistence on doing things "the right way" are highly reassuring and have produced great results. Josh is also very personable, patient in educating us as to why certain design strategies work better, and has a great sense of humor. I would recommend Joshua B. Kardon + Co., Structural Engineers, in a heartbeat to anyone considering seismic strengthening or any other projects requiring the services of an experienced, thorough, detail-oriented, and friendly structural engineer.

Josh was very kind and helpful in providing feedback on an early inquiry as to how I should…read moreapproach working with a structural engineer and contractor in an aspirational project I've started to think through. His calm, kind and approachable energy is exactly the kind of professionalism you want on your upcoming project.

Engin is prompt, responsive, and extremely knowledgeable. I found myself in a very difficult…read moresituation after my property was red-tagged by the City of Oakland due to foundation issues. After speaking with several engineers, Engin stood out as the most thorough, knowledgeable, and solution-oriented. He quickly understood the situation, provided a clear path forward, and worked effectively with the City of Oakland Planning and Building Departments to address the issues. Throughout the process, he was professional, communicative, and helped reduce a tremendous amount of stress and uncertainty. His expertise and guidance were invaluable, and I would highly recommend him to anyone needing structural engineering services. Thanks to Engin, a situation that felt overwhelming became manageable. I am very grateful for his help.

We hired ECR Engineering for a seismic retrofit design and build project in our Pacific Heights…read morehome, and we couldn't be happier. Navigating SF building codes is a nightmare, but Engin and the team made the structural side of things seamless. They provided cost-effective design solutions that saved us on construction costs without compromising safety. They were incredibly responsive to our contractor's questions and helped us get through the permitting process faster than expected. If you need a structural engineer in the city who actually understands old SF buildings, this is the firm.

Substrate has done a great job for us on a number of projects. Their expertise ranges from simple…read moreglazing and foundation details to complete structural engineering services on complex large projects involving steel, concrete, glass and wood framing. I always find their services to be reasonable and cost effective. Their details are comprehensive and code compliant, while not being over the top in such a way that the cost of the design is driven by unnecessary over engineering and overly complex details. Without hesitation, I highly recommend Sunny (the owner) and Substrate for structural engineering services. Mark

The principal Sunny Jhutti is an excellent structural engineer. He has provided his services to my…read morecompany Charles M Stewart Architects. Sunny works expeditiously to provide practical solutions to a myriad of structural concerns and he offers his services for a fair price.

I sought out multiple bids for installing a new Dutch door and new French doors for my little…read morecottage at Stinson Beach. Alex was not the cheapest yet his bid stood out as well written, comprehensive and timely. When questions were asked he was right there with answers. He was able to work with our tight time schedule. His accountability and responsiveness made him a stand out amongst the rest. Meeting on the job, Alex, is personable and a good communicator. The doors were going to be set in an irregular construction space so adjustments were expected and Alex had included an hourly rate for extra time and materials. Alex and his assistant brought needed tools and supplies, laying out cloths to protect the flooring. He has a calm demeanor and gave confidence the doors would work well. The job continued an extra day with Alex paying attention to many details and taking the time needed to get the work done right. He cleaned up and left the job site in good condition. Thank you, Alex!

Non-responsive & lack basic communication skills. Why would anyone hire them is beyond me!read more

We have been working on a 2nd floor addition to a 100 yr old house. As one can imagine, there are…read moremany significant structural issues that may arise unexpectedly when opening up walls and seeing how people build things 100 yrs ago. David and Ray have been incredible since the beginning of the process, helping us navigate through all the structural concerns and always trying to find a value engineering approach - whether it was optimizing depth of foundation work, or finding ways to reinforce old windows, coming up with ways to get headers into locations where there isn't the space, and/or proposing alternative shear wall options when there isn't room to fit things. Ray, our project engineer, has been the best communicating and responding to all our questions and worries. He carefully reviews the problem at hand that arise and often will provide 2 or 3 possible options that our builder can work on. With our current project, Ray is always super prompt to resolve any issues via call or email, or video conference and if necessary an onsite visit to inspect the construction phase. He was just crawling in our crawlspace the other day and notified our builder if some items that needed to be addressed to maintain a positive continuous connection from 2nd floor down to 1st floor and to crawlspace foundation. We are now adding the 2nd floor framing and almost done the most stressful part of the project. We have done 3 major remodels in the past with other firms where it was difficult to get in touch with anybody. With Ray and David at Simplengi Engineering, it has been a very refreshing experience to have experts that promptly responds to all our concerns. Value engineering, great timely communication, attention to detail, common sense, simple and smart engineering. We highly recommend Ray and David and Simplengi Engineering for any structural work. Simply great engineering. We don't plan to do another remodel for 100+ years but if we did, we would hire Simplengi 100% for sure.

​If you want the highest degree of professionalism​, the best customer service​, and an incredibly…read morewell trained and highly ethical engineer​, who is a supreme problem-solver and someone who actually responds to your questions, then you'll be 1000% satisfied with Dave Yadegar at Simplengi. ​D​ave is a superbly qualified engineer with a ​v​ast amount of varied professional experience​, and with his knowledge and skills​, ​h​e has saved us substantial amounts of time, money and perhaps most importantly - aggravation.​ ​I​nterestingly, I have met ​two other clients​ of Dave's, and they both shared the same opinion of​ his ability.​ ​D​ave will save you time, money, frustration, etc. New construction, remodels, expansion, - commercial and residential: he will simplify your life as ​he has done for me. He is absolutely the very best. PS- a shout-out goes to Antwon Trinh and Santosh Chitturi for helping round out the team!

We were rushing to get a foundation assessment for a potential house purchase. We were able to…read moreschedule a next day assessment and he gave us the written report in 2 days (instead of the usual 3), because he knew our offer was due that day. I appreciated his communication style and diligence. Price seemed right too. Thanks, Jakob!

Jakob was recommended by a contractor who was trying to address a foundation concern at our…read moreresidence. I reached out to Haushepherd online and followed up with a phone call. Jakob answered my call and was very helpful. He took the time to listen to my concerns and share his expert advice. Jakob was very knowledgeable and reassuring when speaking with him. While I was unable to hire Jakob's services due to time constraints, he still helped me out to the best of his ability. I will definitly be seeking Haushepherd's services in the future when needed and would strongly recommend them due to their excellent customer service and response.

Just completed a rebuild of a 4 story Victorian in the Mission district which included a voluntary…read moresoft-story retrofit and a new foundation. Our architect referred us to Giuseppe and AJO - what a find. You get 4 experienced engineers for one very reasonable price. They do multiple site visits with engineering and design teams. Lots of opportunities for consultation including multiple design changes in case the architect or city mandate them, which they always do... Giuseppe is very approachable and knows EVERYTHING about city codes etc. He even knows how to help you wind your way through the complex bureaucracy that is SF planning and building with minimal pain. Professional, congenial, flexible, reasonable price... I can't imagine a better engineering firm exists in SF. Jake Sinclair MD

Great experience with AJO. Giuseppe is honest, personable and and, above all, knowledgeable. Our…read moreADU is lovely, more so than I even imagined it would be. Kelly, the office manager, is helpful, kind and available.