I am so glad we chose Harrell for our kitchen and family room remodel. Their being design build made the project smooth and headache free. They covered nearly all aspects of the job, including design, project management, construction, subcontractors, and permits. I never had to worry about communication between our designer and construction. As our designer, Gloria was creative with visuals and problem solving to give us a great looking and highly functional kitchen. Lino was wonderful in overseeing the day to day construction. I appreciated their communication throughout the project. Gloria listened to our hopes for the kitchen and brought them to life in the design. She referred us to great vendors to select materials (e.g. tile and appliances). Lino regularly kept us up to date on what's been completed and what's coming. We are grateful for the thorough, high quality work of Harrell and their subcontractors. We're left with a beautiful kitchen and family room that we get to enjoy! read more

Is this Steve Harrel Archetect? We used Steve Harrel to design our 8000 Sq Ft home. We worked with him for about 6 months. We looked at homes he designed in Westlake, before hiring him. We've been in our home 18 years now & love this home!! He's great at designing a home with a view. We absolutely love the gorgeous cielings & every detail that he included. He tried hard to fulfill our dreams. Go look at several homes before you choose an archetect. If you're building a custom home you need someone creative who listens to your ideas & is patient. I wish he knew the Cad system, but we loved working with Steve Harrell. He's a very nice person, & a true artist. We thought he was fair priced. Don't go buy a set of plans to save money, especially if you have a view Lot! We've tried to get in touch with Steve but can't locate him, to make an addition, read more

Early that day it was at Peninsula Building Materials and as I drove back home saw the sign for Harrell Design + Build, figured I stop by their office and ask them if they are interested in my remodeling project. To be fair, the lady who was there was very kind person but I guess they either don't like walk-ins or saw me driving my pickup truck that I usually drive around with, I asked if I could talk to someone about my home remodeling project and the lady's answer was "our minimum budget for projects is $100K" . Perhaps that is the right way to answer and qualify people but it just felt bad as there was no discussion about my project ... so I politely said thank you and left. What she didn't know is that I drive a G-Wagon and my project is probably worth $500K, at least that is what I have budgeted for.  They are probably a luxury builder and to be fair I never got to talk anyone else but whoever owns that place should teach their employees how to talk to prospects read more

Harrell Design + Build - General Contractors Near Me - Mountain View, California

See all

We had an amazing experience with Harrell's team of professionals! Our home extension and remodel in Los Altos exceeded our expectations for beauty and function. Designers Sheila & Margarita were meticulous and creative in elevating our wants and needs to create new bathrooms that are truly a joy to use. Their build team was precise and thorough, and their follow-up has been appreciated to ensure things are working just the way we want. Highest recommendations! read more

Thank you Lisa and everyone at Harrell Remodeling, for being so thoughtful and responsive to my call for help and providing invaluable N95 masks which I will be taking to my hospital, Fremont/San Leandro Kaiser, for the use of the Anesthesia and ER Departments. Thank you again for selflessly helping our community and being our Guardian Angels. From a fellow Palo Alto mom and CRNA, Carolina A. read more

I have had several personal experiences with Harrell Remodeling' s service which left me very impressed. First, my wife and I had been checking out the new home market. In our area, this usually means that the home is a fixer upper. We located a house in Emerald Hills that appeared to need a little bit of work, but we were uncertain of how much it would really entail. Harrell Remodeling went out of their way to ensure that we knew exactly how much work a remodel would involve. Plus, their response time was lightening fast-- within 24 hours of my phone call they had already inspected the property, produced an estimate, and reported on important construction issues! I was very impressed with their responsiveness and the thorough evaluation of the costs involved. We decided not to go through with this purchase, in part because of what Harrell Remodeling was able to show us about the home, which was not immediately apparent from the disclosures. Second, Harrell Remodeling has performed a number of repairs at my office building in downtown Menlo Park, as arranged by my landlord. I work in a very old (c. 1901) building, and we had a sliding door that was sticking. Initially, we had hired a repair man to attempt to fix the door. The repairs worked for a few months, and then the door subsequently became dislodged. We then hired Harrell Remodeling to do the job. About one year on, the door still slides perfectly. Harrell Remodeling also installed a number of exterior lights on our property, and the job was very well done. I was particularly impressed by the professionalism of their workers whenever I passed by on my way to and from the office. Finally, my real estate agent has referred Harrell Remodeling to a number of different clients of his. From his experience, you can always rely on the quality being top notch and mistake - free. Because of these excellent experiences, I can wholeheartedly recommend Harrell Remodeling. read more

The experience with the Harrell Team was excellent from start to finish. They pretty much held to the budget, completion time was as expected and the progress throughout was seamless. The house was maintained in a very clean condition despite demolition, construction, paint, plumbing, electrical etc. The on-line connection to view daily progress was a nice touch. There was good lines of communication and face to face contact with Sara Jorgensen, Erick Hernandez and Doug Mszanowski. I would not hesitate to recommend my friends. read more

Harrell's produced a beautiful plan for my bathroom remodel which would bring it into a handicapped situation, but still be quite lovely in design and execution. Their representatives were always on time, easy to speak to and responsive to any of my questions or concerns. This company is the tops in remodeling and was recommended by everyone whom I asked for references. YOu can't go wrong with them. They are as good as their word and treat every customer with care and consideration. The cut-rate fellows need to be avoided as you get what you pay for is really true! It's a pleasure to recommend them. read more

Been meaning to write this for a long time. About 10 years ago we engaged Harrell for a kitchen remodel and to install an HVAC system. We knew they were expensive, but they had a reputation for doing work well and had done a number of our neighbors houses. We started with the HVAC system, which they subcontracted out. We ended up not going ahead with the kitchen remodel, largely because of the nickel and diming in our monthly bills. We were *literally* being charged $100 for each phone call they made to us to check in on progress. But setting that aside, what has me writing today is that the HVAC system never worked properly and finally melted down this week. Not really the fault of the incredibly cheap materials used and the cheapest possible furnace, but because the installation was so flawed. We had the HVAC guys back about 6 times to try to get the furnace to work without shutting off after two hours and finally gave up on them. We used other HVAC companies to keep the system limping along until it finally melted down a few days ago. Literally melted down, the motor burned out, the whole house smelled like burning rubber. I didn't realize how bad the install was until another contractor ripped everything out and replaced it, we found improperly installed electrical conduit, which was also cracked, incredibly Mickey Mouse PVC drainage from the A/C pan (which was too small), not enough slope for the drainage, causing water to periodically back up. Had water leak through the ceiling a couple of times. And a furnace enclosure that was too small for the furnace, which is why it overheated so frequently. Look elsewhere, these folks charge top dollar and deliver the worst possible service. read more

I put in four new windows in my home with another windows company (quite expensive) but each and every one of them turned out to be irregular -- noticeable by the naked eye. That was a lousy company to deal with. In the course of filing a claim with my credit card company, I had to ask a second opinion. It was also good for myself to get an estimate of how much "damage" the other company caused -- I wanted to know how much it would cost me to fix these windows. Most other companies wouldn't bother to "fix another company's mess" (who knows, maybe it's a small circle and full of mafias). But Harrell had been very good to respond to my questions right from the start. I had been busy so I dragged out the whole process for months, but in the meantime, I get to talk to various staff members from Harrell (due to some going on vacation). They were all very friendly! Finally, I scheduled with a project manager to come by for an estimate. He was extremely detailed and very knowledgeable. He carefully measured the window frames with a tape measure, a steel square, and a laser beam level. He patiently showed me what's wrong -- the irregularities are extremely obvious, showing that the other company had extremely poor workmanship (well, if these defects are noticeable to my untrained eye, of course you could measure them. But I wanted a quantitative second opinion). I was very impressed that he was also very honest: one problem is that a pair of windows in a bedroom are 1/4" offset vertically from each other. He told me that it would cost me $1000 to reinstall one of them to level them off, and it's not worth the money -- he offered to compensate the defects visually by just adjusting the window frames, a smaller job that saves me the $1000. Even though in the end I didn't hire Harrell for the job (because Mastercard sucks and didn't reimburse ANY money to me), I would highly recommend Harrell due to my great experience with them for the repair estimate. read more

While I was initially impressed by the contact I had with Harrell Remodeling, I'm appalled at the poor responsiveness of their staff. Two weeks ago, one of their representatives came out to do some measurements to give us an estimate on a good-sized, but not whole-house project. She assured me she'd get me an estimate soon thereafter, but I've heard nothing and my attempts to contact her have elicited nothing. I had high hopes for Harrell based on the examples of work I'd seen, but will be looking elsewhere. It seems from the other reviews that mine must be an isolated incident, but it's disappointing nonetheless. read more

I had a great experience with Harrell Care. They were fun, creative, professional, and accurate. I really needed a team that would work with my busy schedule and complete the remodel efficiently. No one believed me, but they finished exactly on time (maybe even a day early). The communications were excellent and thorough. I highly recommend the team I worked with. They did a great job and everything turned out beautiful. read more

We recently had Harrell come back for a second job, complete bathroom remodel. Because it was so old, we had to have new wiring and a new electrical panel, along with new plumbing, so it really was down to the studs and build it back up again. The results are spectacular and we're very happy with everything. Yes, they are certainly not inexpensive, but for our needs they were perfect. (1) A home with two women and two cats: they were courteous, quiet, clean, and tried to watch out for our kitties (who mostly just hid). Even covered the pavers in the driveway and walk so they wouldn't get damaged. As they say, they never forget it's your home. (2) Very little mess/inconvenience: Their zip-up plastic sheeting kept the mess and dust well contained, and the main contractor Paco was a doll to work with. He made sure any subcontractors were well behaved and did what they were supposed to do. (3) On time and on schedule: The planning and design phase took a long time, but it was easy - their onsite showroom had a lot of what we wanted all in one place, or at least gave us good ideas without having to run to every kind of home store in the valley. If we encountered any area of the process that could use some improvement, it would be more guidance in balancing cost and benefit during the design phase. There were probably less expensive options we would have been just as happy with. But it was worth it to have everything ordered and on hand before the work began. Then things just moved along steadily and we weren't left for days or weeks with half-done work. (4) Great communication: Not only is project manager Kristen a neat person who checks in frequently and explains anything we don't know, but they now have an online way to keep track of what's going on day by day, including logs and photos! Great for the road warrior who still wants to see progress and be involved in decisions at home. (5) Owning issues: Somehow a measurement was off and there was a gap behind the cabinets that shouldn't have been there. After researching a bit, they owned the problem and gave us a workaround, with a Plan B if we didn't like it. The workaround turned out fine and we were able to stay on schedule and in budget. (5) Above and beyond: While this work was being done, we had a new washer and dryer delivered and installed in the garage. We had measured the space and hookups, so even though they were bigger, they fit just fine. What we hadn't measured was the clearance for the person-door next to them. We discussed the situation with Paco and he agreed to re-hang the door to swing the other way, giving us adequate clearance. There were so many little things like this that they took care of for us just because they knew it needed to be done - super service-oriented company. You'll pay top dollar for Harrell service, but you will get top dollar service, communication, and care. read more

DISCLOSURE: I never used their services but did meet with them about an addition/remodel and attended a free seminar on remodeling, which I did appreciate and was quite informative. They are on the higher end (pricing) and the one-stop-shop is convenient for people who don't have the time or are worried about the remodel/addition/new construction process. Their past projects do look impressive. If you're willing to do the legwork (a lot of) and spend the time, you can likely get comparable/better quality at a much lower price. This does require you to find your own designer/architect and contractor(s) and spend a LOT of time. But in the end, you'll have something designed exactly (hopefully) to your specific needs (and you'll never be able to "settle" for an off-the-shelf resale/new home again. :) good luck! read more

I would give HRI six stars if that were possible. And I'm not easily pleased. The designer, project manager, and craftsman provided top notch service. There were the extra expenses and time extensions -- but really, isn't that the nature of a remodeling project? You have to pay for quality -- but how do you put a price on not having to worry about a thing during the whole process? The projects renewed the life of my condo, and dramatically increased the value of my unit. read more

I'd like to review this place based on experience but unfortunately the designer canceled our appointment. She scheduled and then called back saying she will need to reschedule because something came up. And I never heard from her again. not very professional at all. If you're not interested, just say so. read more

*** UPDATE *** Over the past couple of weeks the General Manager of Harrell Remodeling contacted me regarding my review of the company. During our call, he promised to look into what had happened and to get back to me with additional details. This culminated in a conference call this morning between him, Iris Harrell (the company's principle) and myself. I felt that the call was very productive and that the folks from Harrell were genuinely listening to my concerns. What I most wanted out of all of this was for my experience to not to be repeated, and I felt that they understood and respected this. When I returned home from work today, there was a hand delivered letter from Iris Harrell detailing the procedures that she has immediately put into place to prevent this from happening again. Specifically this includes supervisors following up with clients immediately after budgets are presented, as well as being more mindful of the desired client investment during the design phase. In addition, the company is providing me with all of the design work (e.g. cad drawings etc) that they had been working on as was part of my design. I want to congratulate Harrell for being proactive and honestly caring about the customer, as well as being expeditious in action by making immediate changes. Harrell Remodeling did come highly recommended to us, but no one is perfect and mistakes do occur. What is important is that when they are made that they are admitted to and corrected. Harrell has done just that in a proactive and expeditious manner. I can honestly say that not only does the company care about its reputation, but it also genuinely cares about its customers. *** END UPDATE *** We live in a modest 1,800 square foot house build in 1995. Wanting to upgrade our master bathroom as well as other parts of the house, we contacted Harrell remodeling. Over the course of a four to six weeks, we were charged approximately $7000 by Harrell for some very basic CAD and design work in order to work towards a preliminary estimate. The estimate we received for our project came to almost $400,000 (The house itself cost about 315,000 to build back in 1995). Keep in mind that we were NOT doing any major structural work i.e. no load bearing walls were being moved, no bedroom or bathrooms being added etc. Specifically,the work on our master bathroom alone was projected at between $120,000 to $140,000 dollars. Please keep in mind that all we were fundamentally doing was replacing a tub with a shower, updating fixtures, flooring, and removing a sheetrock dividing wall. There was no major plumbing, structural, and/or electrical work involved. I have struggled repeatedly to come up with how a bathroom remodel, for what is by most standards a small master bathroom, could cost over $120,000 (or over 1,400/sq ft). I just could not find a way to rationalize it even when I priced in some of the more expensive bathroom products. In addition, the design output we received for our $7000 included a couple of basic drawings and renderings and some printouts and photocopies of fixtures. How that could possibly come to $7000 is mind blowing read more

When you look at the Harrell Remodeling website they state that "we offer the finest quality Bay Area remodeling services". This is absolutely a true statement and you get what you pay for. If you are trying to cut corners or cost then you need to look elsewhere. Harrell Remodeling helped me redo my living room and converted my family room into a dining room. The craftsmanship, attention to detail and quality are bar none. I thoroughly enjoy my remodel every day. Most importantly, I had the ideas of what I wanted; they listened and made it come alive. read more

I hired Harrell Remodeling to do a minor make over. Floors, colors, light fixtures etc. Projects like these are never fun because of all the headaches in dealing with the contractors. Not with Harrell Remodeling!! They made this project a breeze. One of the workers got injured while doing the work, and I was on a time crunch, Iris (the owner) assured me that the project will complete on time, even if she has to pay over time. Now that's CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! Harrell Remodeling you have me as your customer for life. read more

I live in a small one-bedroom condo with only two single-pane windows. I've wanted to replace them with more energy efficient ones. I had a contractor lined up, but as it turns out, he had a car accident, and will be out of commission for a while. One day reading either the Palo Alto Weekly or Mt. View Voice, I saw a column written by Iris Harrell, and I liked what I read. I went to yelp, and based on Leslie M's review, I contacted Harrell Remodeling. I explained the nature of the work I wanted, and to make a long story short, a couple of days later, I had someone come to my house to take the measures of the two windows in order to give me an estimate. I showed this guy an estimate for the two windows from a Milgard distributor in Cupertino. He said he could probably get the windows for less, but I was supposed to get the paint to replace the damage done to the outside wood panels. This visit took place on a Monday evening and I was told that I would get the estimate either sometime Tuesday, or Wednesday morning at the latest. Tuesday came and went, and I did not hear from the Harrell employee; Wednesday morning (and afternoon), came and went, and I still did not hear back; by late afternoon, I decided to call and left a voice mail; by Wednesday evening, I got the call back. Well, it turns out that, no, he could not get a better price for the windows, after all, and that because my condo was built before 1978, the workers who would do the job (mind you, the job had nothing to do with the popcorn ceiling that I had in my condo), would have to wear a very special suit to protect them against asbestos. I was quoted $4800 for a job where I'd buy the windows and the paint (instead of Harrell Remodeling buying them, and then include the cost in the final price tag), and Harrell's job would simply be to replace them (and yes, the workers would have to wear the special suit). The original quote I received (with the contractor buying the windows and the paint), was for $1800, but as I mentioned earlier, the contractor had a car accident and he's out of commission for a while. I mentioned the Harrell's estimate at my condo's board meeting where I knew some people had already replaced their windows, and people seemed surprised at the idea of having to wear special suits. From them I got information for yet another contractor whom I called: his estimate: $1000 and he pays for the windows. Bottom line: Harrell Remodeling might work on small projects, BUT, will charge big prices. As for the quality of their work, I will never know. read more

A fairly extensive house remodel was a very disappointing experience, particularly considering the steep price. Some items were never done or not done correctly, and nine months after the project was nominally complete we simply had to give up on trying to get Harrell to finish the remaining tasks. They did some good work, which is why the rating is two stars instead of one, but overall our recommendation to those considering Harrell is to look elsewhere. read more

I went in to get a quote for the building of a new home that I wanted help with. I am looking to build a rental property in Mountain View that is nice, but also cost effective. I was very clear about this when I reached out to Harrell. Although the customer service I received was good, when I was given a ballpark quote, I was sorely disappointed. Lisa claimed that it would cost me "Somewhere between $500 and $1000 a square foot" to build a new home. This means that I would have to pay between a million and two million for a 2000 sq/ft home when I already own the land (which is the most valuable thing about MV). Based on extensive research, this is so far beyond a reasonable price, I find it almost laughable. If you go to: http://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/pdf/ah53115.pdf you can see the building costs for the state, broken down by quality of finishes and adjusted for regional differences. While I know that building in Santa Clara County is not cheap and paying for a general contractor requires that you pay a significant markup for the time and stress you save because you don't have to do the management yourself, I would strongly suggest that you look elsewhere for construction work. read more

First of all, I should make it clear that I did not use Harrell Remodeling for any real work, but I still have a lot good things to say about them. It all started a couple of years ago when my husband accidentally saw an Ad in the local newspaper. It was an Ugly Kitchen Contest held by HR. Since we just started to think about remodeling our kitchen and we already had the digital pictures, we casually dropped the photos in to them by email and forgot about it. A couple of months later, we were invited among contests from 20+ entries to a nice and lighthearted dinner. We all had fun, and to our surprise, we "won" the second place! (Surprised, because we thought many other kitchens looked "uglier" than ours from the slideshow they were projecting during the dinner. Ha, what do you know.) When I told people about the experience, they tended to dismiss it as a marketing gimmick, but I would explain that throughout the experience (there would be more later), I never felt any pressure from them. Well, yeah, I would not have gotten to learn about them if not for that contest, but to be honest, having seen the beautiful work they do in some photo slideshows, I doubt many of these "ugly kitchen" owners (like us) are the right client-tale for the firm anyway. We for one acting as our own GC and did most of the work ourselves. I think they really take joy in educating the community. (We learned about universal design from them and have incorporated some ideas in our design.) Among the wonderful prizes we won at the contest was a free two-hour consultation from one of their designers. Genie came out to our house, which is inconveniently located quite far away. I told her that we would most likely do most of the work ourselves and would want to make the most out of the two hours of her time to learn from her experience. Oh wow, it was one of best two-hours I spent with anybody! I could tell, Genie genuinely wanted to help out. She went through almost every aspect of a kitchen remodeling with me and offered a wealth of information, which I took notes of. In the end (a year later), many of my decisions came out of the notes, for example, the faucet choice (Hansgrohe), the granite shop (All Architectural Stone), and the granite fabricator (Marble and Stone Solutions) to name a few. I'm so happy about these choices that I feel grateful to Genie, and to Harrell Remodeling. I truly believe that I could trust them to do good work. I know that if I lived closer and could afford a professional construction firm, Harrell Remodeling would the first one I call. read more

Firstly, I did not end up using this firm so my review only reflects an initial consultation with one of their designers. I would not have ended up using this firm just from my interaction with the designer Harrell sent to our home. At the end of the consult, I ended up feeling like the designer had utter contempt for us and our home. I also felt that the high ball number that was thrown out to remodel just our kitchen was an effort on the part of the designer to ensure that we would not work with him. In the end, I would never consider even calling them in the future because I felt so insulted by the person the company sent to us. read more

I can't say enough good things about Harrell Remodeling. Reputable, responsible, responsive, thorough, professional, the list of positive qualities could go on forever. We hired Harrell Remodeling for a rather large remodel using Gloria Carlson of Harrell as our designer. Everything went incredibly well. Some highlights: for a whole house remodel Harrell was able to procure the necessary permits in less than one week. On a seven month project, with change orders, Harrell finished within fourteen days of the end date they gave us at the start of the project. Harrell stands by the price they quote you. When Harrell found unexpected asbestos in one of the old materials they were demolishing they covered the cost of the remediation at no expense to us as the remediation was not included in the original job quote. Every step of the way the Harrell team did A+ quality work down to the finest details. At the conclusion of the job, even the smallest detail finishing touches were dealt with within two weeks or less. Additionally, once the job is finished Harrell stands by their work. They guarantee their work and the few tiny issues that cropped up (truly minor issues like drawers needing minor adjustments or small paint touch ups for example) were taken care of within days. You would think that a seven month whole house remodel would be very stressful but our experience, working with Harrell, was incredibly stress-free. We love the final product and the quality of the finished work. If we need work done on the house in the future we will hire Harrell again. We highly recommend Harrell. read more

Harrell recently finished remodeling my kitchen and I am thrilled every day with the results. And the process was as good as the results. We did a complete remodel of a 200 sq ft galley kitchen in a 75-year-old home, moving appliances but not moving walls. It took 3 months from demolition to move-in. My project hit 2-3 potential snags along the way but HRI kept everything on track. After listening to friends' new-kitchen war stories, I wanted to work with a design-build firm and a team approach. HRI excels at communication and made me feel part of the team. The main reasons to choose Harrell: good planning and indefatigable attention to detail. Other reasons: creative designers with great ideas who also listen well and help you prioritize within your budget; experienced project leads who anticipate and solve the problems that an old house presents once you open up the walls; skilled estimators and project management, which means steady progress, on-time completion and no budget surprises. About budgets: Harrell has a reputation for high bids but maybe they're just accurate. In several pre-contract meetings, the design-build team kept costs in mind as they painstakingly worked out the details. (I needed the complete design-build service to get the details right in my small space but Harrell also offers a tear-out-and-replace service.) The project actually beat my worst-case scenario based on previous experience with low bids and unanticipated problems. I'll save that money for another project with Harrell. read more