This review is long overdue. Michael and his team, including Max and Alberto and the rest of the…read morecrew, were wonderful and easy to work with. We first hired Artifex for our home renovation which included new kitchen, two new baths, new windows and sliders, refinishing existing hardwood floors, insulation throughout, new electrical, and interior and exterior paint. We even removed a wall and installed new support beams. The work was completed in 4 months and that included a pandemic related delay. The entire team is highly skilled and professional. They offer smart suggestions and good alternatives. And I can't say enough about the quality of their finish work - tile and carpentry. We hired Artifex again for our deck and railing replacement project and experienced the same level of professionalism. We would definitely hire them again for any future projects....That is, if they can fit us in :-)

We hired Mike and his team to completely gut and redo our kitchen, master bath, and master bedroom…read more In addition, we asked for a face lift on the guest bath and new hardwoods throughout the house. There literally wasn't a room in the house that we didn't touch. We originally got 4 quotes on the job and Mike's quote was in the middle range but it was the most complete quote, and he also spent a lot of time even before we signed the contract answering our questions and walking us through each line item. For two people who had never gone through a major renovation before this was incredibly helpful. He originally told us it would take 3 - 4 months to complete the job and everyone who we talked to, who had been through a renovation, told us to expect at least double that. True to his word, Mike and his team completed the work in under 4 months and this was after we were delayed by two weeks when they had to fix shotty work that had been done before we moved in. In addition Mike was very conscious of our budget. He helped us pick cost efficient products and often helped us located less expensive alternatives when he knew of a good option. On the other hand, he and his team are very committed to high quality work and would also let us know if it was worth it to spend the extra money on certain items. If there were places where we could save money by doing the work ourselves, Mike worked with us to let us do that which was a huge plus for us. Throughout the process Mike and his head carpenter Luiz were responsive and did a great job of keeping the whole team on task. In addition, either Mike or Luis were on-site monitoring the work almost every day. This is not a company where you never see the general contractor. I also have to say they were both incredibly responsive to our calls and emails. We are both extremely detail oriented people and Mike took the time to answer all of our questions and he responded in a timely manner. The final product couldn't have turned out better. We have had people tell us that our house looks like it came out of a magazine. And, they are right...it turned out amazingly well, on-time, and within budget!! I would recommend Mike, Luiz, and the rest of the team to anyone.

I have used Elevate design on several of my projects. I have found Justin to be very in tune with…read moretoday's trends. His plans are clear and easy to understand, and he communicates with you, and listens to what your saying. I also have referred him to others, and they have all had great feed back on how Justin took care of them.

Be careful if you work with Dennis Freeman for cabinetry of any sort. Dennis Freeman used to own…read moreCascade Cabinets and I was unfortunate enough to waste $20K on kitchen cabinets through him. I was doing a complete kitchen remodel and my general contractor pushed me into using Dennis Freeman. I am now saving money to have his terrible work, which is peeling like crazy, refaced or repainted. During planning, I asked Dennis if there was a downside to paint-grade cabinets vs. stain-grade, and he said there was none: they were equally durable. I opted for paint-grade because of the color scheme I wanted, and his cabinets began to peel within two months. When I first noticed it, I was $40K poorer for my new kitchen, and I was HEARTBROKEN. I had worked so hard to save that money. I hoped the peeling wouldn't get much worse, but during the first year of my brand-new kitchen, the peeling continued. The project was more than a year finished when I finally contacted Dennis about the terrible quality of his cabinets. I was relieved that he agreed to come and fix the peeling ones. But he never came, despite *many* phone calls, and I understood after some time that he never planned to. I wrote a strongly worded negative Yelp review about Cascade Cabinets (this business of his has since closed). This also didn't mobilize him, but at least I hoped to help others avoid my mistake. I finally had to contact the general contractor who had managed the project, and he persuaded Dennis Freeman to correct his work. Dennis showed up and told me that I had to expect this sort of result from paint-grade cabinets (hello? 1. Where was this information when I first asked? and 2. I know people with excellent and durable paint-grade cabinets in their kitchens!). He also blamed the peeling on the cabinets being near the sink/moisture (hello again? 1. This is a kitchen, he knew that from the start, and 2. With time, even the cabinets farthest from any water source have started to peel). He advised me on how to care for them, but I had already been following his instructions to only wipe them with a damp cloth all along. Anyway, he took the worst and most peeled doors down and went away with them; returned with them "fixed" and they promptly resumed peeling within a month. He then asked me to take down my Yelp review since he had corrected his work, and I deleted it reluctantly, because what I wrote was still true. When the replacements started to peel, I had no energy left to fight anymore; it had been such a struggle just to get these sad corrections done. This project was in 2011; it was 2012 when he fixed some of the worst cabinet doors. It is now 2019 and the cabinets look like hot garbage. Huge flakes are coming off them. I am afraid to clean them because I don't want to contribute to the peeling. I worked so hard to save up for that kitchen remodel, and this just makes me want to cry. It wasn't right for me to remove that Yelp review, and now that I am going to be spending money to repaint/reface his cabinets, I have to warn anyone else who might be considering using his services. To be clear: I don't know anything about Elevate Design Build; his other partners in this venture may be quite competent and ethical--I have no idea. All I can say is BE CAREFUL ABOUT CABINETS with this company, ask who's doing them, and get some kind of serious warranty that spells out your durability expectations.

We had such a great experience meeting with Jeff and Chris. We're in the early stages of thinking…read moreabout a kitchen remodel and weren't sure if we'd be moving forward this year or next. Typically, once you say that, companies either push you out or don't take the time to acknowledge a potential future project...but that couldn't have been further from our experience with them. They were incredibly kind, accommodating, and happy to schedule an appointment right away, even after we explained our timeline. They encouraged us to come in, get a vision, and understand rough costs, while also being transparent that pricing can shift over time of course. The entire appointment felt comfortable and pressure-free. They were thorough, extremely knowledgeable, and genuinely helpful. We never once felt rushed or sold to. That alone set them apart from every other construction company we've met with. We left feeling confident and excited, and we absolutely plan to move forward with Jeff and Chris when we're ready to remodel our kitchen. I've never felt this good after a consultation - highly recommend.

We hired Jeff and Chris to do a complete remodel of our condo in Rossmoor. From start to finish we…read morecouldn't be happier! Jeff started the process even before we closed escrow. His familiarity with the Rossmoor system as well as the Walnut Creek building department enabled him to obtain the permits and start demolition the day after we closed escrow. Right from the get go, Jeff and Chris listened to us and ably guided us to vendors and products that were appropriate for our design style and budget. Communication was seamless: we spoke to Jeff through the project several times a day. He was completely transparent with what the costs would be while being flexible with any changes we wanted. The subs Jeff used were exemplary. They have a high level of respect for Jeff and it is evident in their quality of work and attention to detail. Jeff and Chris were on site daily and their attention to all the details meant that we had very few items on our post-move in punch list. If you want a FUN and LOW STRESS remodel experience, I highly recommend Jeff and Chris! We are extremely happy with the work and guidance that they provided and would definitely recommend them.

3rd Generation Painting is the best, they just finished painting the exterior of my house and…read morepainted the interior a few years ago. 3rd Generation is not the cheapest but you get what you pay for and with 3rd Generation you can rest assured that you will end up with a quality, professionally completed product. John is a great partner, he really helps with color selection. Before I painted the exterior (interior also) we talked about colors and he came by and painted color samples on the walls so that I could see what it would look like in all kinds of light. He is a true professional and will take the time to talk through the details of the job with you. His crew is the best! On time every day and they do what they say they will do when they promised it. I had a lot of old peeling paint that needed to be scrapped off and they were great at making sure everything was cleaned up and left the way they found it. John stopped by every day to make sure things were right and I was happy. I highly recommend 3rd Generation Painting.

Very happy with the exterior paint job that was performed. John Sparks did our appraisal and helped…read moreus choose colors. The crew was very fast and tidy. We will be using them for our interior painting. Just had my interior done by this company. John Sparks and company are the nicest people to deal with. They are very professional, hard, fast workers. Happy with the job and price. Jose comes back after the job to carefully inspect and touch up. Mario and Luis moved and wrapped all the furniture in plastic to protect our valuables. Then moved everything back. It's always going to be hard to live through an interior paint job. We appreciated that they completed the work in 3 days plus 2 hours for touch up for our 2100 sf home.

James helped us to remodel our main bath and add a half bath in our 1920 old house. As new…read morehomeowners we were nervous about our remodeling after hearing many bad stories; but James has made our project really smooth with amazing results. We picked James because in our consultation he took time to look at our house, and proposed detailed, well thought through options for us with pros, cons, different price points and key execution details. He is a great listener, was patient to hear our thoughts and helped to evaluate them with professional opinions. All of this made us feel at ease from the start. The smooth communication continued throughout the project, we were informed of key decision points, presented with pros and cons, James proposed several key changes we have not thought about, sent pictures so we do not need to keep visiting the house, all the little things discussed were executed without us worrying about them again. James delivered within budget. All the change orders are well discussed so no surprise to us, and he have never tried to sell anything not in our best interest. The work is high quality, James even helped us to catch a mistake our HVAC contractor made to avoid damage down the road. Inspections are passed smoothly. Construction site is kept clean. And James still answer our questions after we moved in. We are lucky to have found James, highly recommended and would definitely work with him again.

James and his crew did an ama I got job on our earthquake retrofit which included putting in a…read morehardy brace for our soft story in the garage. He always communicated clearly and they finished as predicted. He was wonderful to work with, have a fair bid and the work was excellent.

Shawn Lober is actually my competitor…read more I will say this about Shawn, he's a super stand up guy. Runs a very meticulous construction company and hands down if you have the money to afford Shawn he will build you a home of comfort and luxury that most people cannot comprehend, or fathom. I worked for Shawn many, many moons ago, we did not leave on the best of terms, but I always wish this guy the best of luck. If you know Shawn, he doesn't need much luck because the reality is, he is a gifted person. He will sell high expectations and deliver on those expectations. He is one in a few left in this business, that wants to deliver a high quality product while the average contractor sells you midgrade low end junk from home depot or lowes, or that hole in the wall fabrication shop that gets imports from china. One thing I will always admire about Shawn is that the final result he wants to deliver you in a contract is flawless. It will take me many, many years of experience to reach the level of expectation that Shawn is at, but I will admit that I learned from one of the best in the business. I will take those crafts with me and grow to hopefully become as gifted and crafted in the construction business as Shawn is.

Our experience with Shawn Lober Construction has been great! We had a kitchen and two bathrooms…read moreremodeled and could not be happier. The crew was very professional, polite and cleaned up after themselves every day and the job was well done! I would definitely refer Shawn Lober Construction for any remodel or addition.

Best ever. Jim is an amazing person and an expert at what he does. He has a can do personality and…read moreis respectful of your home and his employees. He handled issues in stride and came up with solutions quickly and effectively. He was attentive and on the job site every day. He is focused on quality, has a good design eye, and is meticulous with his client's wish list. His team is warm and friendly each day arriving punctually with smiles on their faces. They are detailed and experts in their trade. He is the very best stone fabricators and cabinet maker. I highly recommend Newcastle Construction.

We have used Newcastle for three projects now. First was our Master Bath remodel, then our…read morekitchen, and most recently our other two bathrooms. I really love working with Jim because I can bring him in, tell him my "vision" and he lets me know what's realistic/affordable and what can't or shouldn't be done. He is very responsive, honest and follows up/fixes any issues. His team Al and Jaimie are hard working and respectful. Al especially is very thoughtful about how to approach things, really thinking everything through and checking/double-checking things. They always show up and communication is very good. Jim's cabinet guy/team is also really great. We have one more big house project that we will look to Jim and team to do in the future, no question!

We hired John to finish our garage, and couldn't have been happier with the result. We loved that…read morehe is not only a contractor, but also a certified electrician. John consistently went above and beyond, and the final result shows it. Touches like LED canned lights and a special outdoor, high outlet for our Christmas lights make a big difference. We would recommend John for any home improvement project, big or small! He's invested in bringing your vision to life, while also incorporating his own wonderful ideas.

John was referred by a kitchen and bath supplier. He worked on our master bath vanity upgrade. John…read morehas creative ideas, good communication, expert skills, arrives on time, leaves a clean workspace, has reasonable rates and a good sense of humor. Thank you John!