Discussed my options with Kevin. He was extremely helpful. He could not take on my project, but…read morespent a long time helping me figure it out, to the degree that I was embarrassed about the time he spent helping me. I cannot recommend him enough. Thoughtful, careful, helpful, professional. I would very much like to work with him in the future.

We reached out to Kevin for a property boundary survey for our home, which we moved into 1 year…read moreago. Within an hour, he had already looked into prior property surveys done, gave me the contact info for the company/surveyor who completed it, and recommended I reach out to him. I really appreciate Kevin's honesty and efficiency!

I had a project that was stopped by the city and many people wouldnt even touch it because of the…read morecomplexity of joining a project mid construction. Sam came in and saved the day for me. He also stayed with me and answered a lot of questions throughout the process. The experience was not perfect, and there were times I was frustrated with our communication and speed. But considering the predicament I had placed myself and Sam in, I think he did a pretty good job and I really appreciate that he continued to respond and support my project even after being fully paid. (something a lot of contractors just dont do).

*** I AM STILL RATING ALTUS AT A BIG FAT ZERO ***…read more UPDATE: I had reached out to Sam so that we could come to some sort of agreement and he told me that he would "think about things" over the weekend and get back to me (this was over the 4th of July holiday weekend). He has been MIA and non responsive since. This is now going to court because he clearly doesn't want to work things out and refuses to respond to my calls, texts, and emails.

Daniel and his team are top notch professionals and offer clear, consistent, transparent, and…read morehonest results. I was in the complete dark on an ADU project. Daniel was able to navigate me through the process and offer great advice. He is attentive and his team provided the work superbly and in a timely manner. I would recommend this company 100%.

Our contractor recommended Bay Area Design to help with our plans for the remodel. The whole team…read morewas great and took care of the process from start to finish. This is our first ever project for our remodel and Bay Area Design made it easy to apply/submit for our permit.

Ethan and his team at Drafting Cafe have a great design sense and deep knowledge of construction…read moreand permitting. They helped me convert my basement into my home office and to build a deck from my side yard in Alameda. Ethan coordinated with a construction crew he works with regularly to be sure I got a quality build in the end and at a fair price. Communication was great throughout the process, and they were fast! I'd definitely recommend them.

The folks at Drafting Cafe have been incredibly helpful as we've been considering a small addition…read moreon our home. Ethan, Lindsey, Michael, and Lauren have been incredibly responsive and on top of things. Whenever we've spoken with anyone on the team, it's clear that they've reviewed our file/request and know exactly what we're hoping to build. The team has been very engaged and answered our many questions even while we were not yet 100% committed to the project. We ended up needing to take a pause before proceeding as we figure out budget on our end. But if we decide to move forward, we would feel great about working with DCA.

Avelar & Associates (Joe, George, Edwin, DeAnn) and Reconstruction Services (Guy, Lu and the…read moreamazing crew), just finished a 10 month project for our community of 28 townhomes. We couldn't have been happier. The project came in on-time and under budget even with the long rainy winter. Roofs, decks, trim, siding, flashings, vents, metalwork, paint, and more. They even fixed a few unexpected issues without us even asking, at no extra cost. Avelar has a team of professionals with deep expertise, and they are kind and lovely people to work with. We highly recommend Avelar and RS!

I felt they had really horrible communication. Massive overrun in time. We were told the project…read morewould take 3 weeks, and it has now been 8 WEEKS and the project is still not done. There were days they made appointments for inside access to the units, and instructed us to move all furniture away from the walls. When they decided they no longer needed access, they did not let people know. I could understand a project overrun by a couple of weeks. But 9 weeks (or more) instead of 3 weeks is not good. Company founder Richard Avelar retired and another founder Ken Kosloff passed away. This company does not resemble anything like what is described in prior reviews.

this is the second home we have had do the seismic retrofit for in the past 10 years and both were…read moredone by Matthew Gatterman and Avant Garde, he has done over 3000 of these retrofit upgrades since we first used his service extremely professionally and knowledgeable and the only contractor that took the time in the crawl space to do a complete assessment, his crew, David, Josh,Jose and Matthew were prompt and took the time to prepare a dust tunnel and the process was both clean to code, The building inspector even commented about how thorough and complete the job was done! Highly recommend this company!

Excellent experience with EBB program. I requested 3 inspections before picking a contractor- of…read morethem Avant Garde did the most thorough inspection and also offered the most competitive price. (Note however that they provide a rough initial emailed estimate based on house info like sq footage- for an in person inspection there is a fee, but it is credited towards the final cost if you go with them. They do an extra thorough inspection and provide full documentation so in my experience it is worth it even if you don't go with them.) Other free inspection contractors by contrast ran through quickly and provided few to little details on the actual reinforcement plan. My crawlspace had a section of perimeter foundation that was blocked by concrete and required drilling a hole to properly reinforce- none of the other contractors noted this. Avant Garde not only noticed this but also did not charge extra for it. After the work they worked quickly with us on the documentation to get us our grant check. I did crawl the crawlspace just to inspect the work and it was done neatly and the area was left clean. Very happy with the experience and would not hesitate to recommend.

Unprofessional tier contractor. I got a quote for 700k for a 200k job…read more Next time do your clients a favor and just don't bid if you don't want to do work. Read all the other reviews, this company is run by snakes.

We really enjoyed doing business with Dan and Alameda structural. The team is very professional and…read morepolite. Jose the foreman also did a great job in coordinating everything on-site and has been super reliable. The work was accomplished one week ahead of schedule with quality. They hear our needs sincerely and tried the best to accommodating. for example, Dan immediately brought us the heater when knowing we caught cold when gasline was cut due to shoring. I would definitely recommend them to anyone who needs a foundation replacement!

Anura Design drew and permitted our garage-to-JADU conversion in Hayward: a roughly 350 SF studio…read morecarved out of an existing garage, with an efficiency kitchen, a full bath, in-unit laundry, and a mini-split on a parcel that already had two dwellings on it. That is a tight little puzzle, and they solved it cleanly. Here's what I'd tell anyone shopping for an ADU designer: the drawings are only half the job. The other half is the city, and that's where Anura separated itself from the other firms we talked to. Juliana, our project manager, corresponded with Hayward's permit center directly the whole way through Planning, Building Review, and fees. When our permit needed to move off owner-builder and onto our licensed general contractor, she opened the request with the City the same morning I raised it, had the form completed and returned that afternoon, and came back the next day with written confirmation from the permit technician that the contractor was linked and that I'd been added as billing contact so the fee notices would actually reach me. I never had to chase her, and I never had to call the City myself. On the design side, Roman's plan makes a small footprint feel like a real home, and the structural package from Nick held up under review. They also flagged a piece of our electrical scope on the final drawings that could be downsized, which took thousands off the construction budget for free. Precise, fast, written answers. Superb work quality. Five stars, and an easy recommendation for anyone looking at ADU, JADU, or renovation design in the East Bay.

Overall, we've found Romain to be very reliable--not only in the quality of his work but also in…read morehis professional attitude. We've had his architectural designs reviewed by friends who majored in architecture as well as several interior and landscape designers. Everyone gave very positive feedback and encouraged me to move forward with finalizing the plan. If there is any "downside," it's simply that Romain moves quickly. You'll want to share your thoughts and feedback promptly, otherwise he may be a step ahead of you. Personally, I really appreciate his energy, fast turnaround, and thoughtful consideration of details. We highly recommend Romain.