We lived in the Oakland Hills for 17 years. Years ago we experienced severe weather damage - wind and rain. Karl Kardel and team to the rescue. Karl is super knowledgeable, technical and thorough. If you're looking for a quality solution you'll get it with Karl and his team. AND THEY STAND BY THEIR WORK. Karl also helped us navigate the insurance side of the damage. As with most wind and rain damaged homes, as the team worked on the house, opening up the walls, further damage was discovered resulting in more NECESSARY repairs - more work, more $$$. As with ANY construction process, especially repairs on your house/home, ask lots of questions; document work to be done and work completed, costs, and overall manage the project. We found Karl and his team to be fair, highly competent and capable. We were especially impressed with Armando and Joel. We trust them - they're honest, have integrity, and are competent and hardworking. Years after the repair (at least 10 years later) and years of rain, wind and overall weathering, an issue arose. Karl and team fixed it without question (arguably some may not have had anything to do with prior repairs). I recommend Karl and his team if you're serious about quality work and not a "bandaid solution" type of solution that doesn't REALLY fix the problems. read more

This company failed to get a permit, and Oakland stopped the work. I waited months for them to get a permit and even went to the City of Oakland to help them. The company was unable to get a permit, and they abandoned the project. I had to fire them. Now they are trying to charge me $21K to remove the driveway, even though the contract was about $2K. I have never ever dealt with such a dishonest company. read more

Karl Kardel Company - Another view of their work - General Contractors Near Me - Oakland, California

License on CSLB is showing as expired. Do NOT hire. License numbers 271178 and 520533.

We had a very complicated problem with windows that were deteriorating. Karl Kardel Co. managed to restore the windows WITHOUT having to get on the delicate slate roof, which would have had to involve removing slate and installing roof jacks! They also picked a gorgeous green that we'll be choosing for every piece of trim around the house. MAJOR THANKS, guys!!! read more

Karl Kardel Company - Restored windows! - General Contractors Near Me - Oakland, California

Karl is dishonest, shady, unreliable, and delivers defective work. Countless times he committed to showing up and didn't. When he did show up, the work he delivered was subpar. Karl and his team left numerous loose ends and refused to come back and fix them, demanding payment for the defective and incomplete work they had done before doing so. Working with this company has been a terrible experience from beginning to end. It is entirely likely that any positive reviews here were written by friends doing these guys a favor or possibly fake accounts. Don't think twice about going somewhere else for your construction needs. You will only regret working with these guys. read more

Karl Kardel Company - Horrible work - General Contractors Near Me - Oakland, California

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I don't think it would be possible to hire a more expert and experienced company -- a company led by Karl Kardel -- to find and fix a residential water leak. His team of workers -- they include veteran, knowledgeable experts like Armando and Arturo -- are real craftsmen with incredible attention to detail. Again and again, they went above and beyond expectations. The entire team was like that. All were polite, considerate, impeccable in keeping the site and house clean, and willing to explain what they were doing and why they had chosen the materials they used. Indeed, they even suggested fixes for several other issues I was having and told me how to do the work. Prior to hiring Karl Kardel Co., I had requested a consultation and bids with three other water leak experts and engineering firms. One company sent a rep who told me that they would have to replace the entire deck at a cost of well over $100,000. When I balked at that, he told me privately that if it were his house, he would focus on our French doors and the sill beneath them. The other two firms told me it would cost roughly $1,000 just for them to come to the house to assess what it would require to remedy the water leak. Karl Kardel, on the other hand, at no cost came to the house twice to assess the situation. He proposed a more modest fix than replacing the entire deck and offered up a contract significantly below what the other firms had indicated. After I signed the contract, Karl told me the work would start in several weeks and be finished within a week's time. Indeed, that is exactly what happened, and at the contracted price. It was my good fortune to hire Karl and his team. After five years of trying to find someone to fix this leak, I now have peace of mind. Thank you Karl, Armando, Arturo, Israel, Katie, and team! read more

I've had the pleasure of working with Karl Kardel Company on various major projects over the years and continue to be thoroughly impressed with the quality of their work and service. Most recently, they replaced all the windows in my home and fixed a rather large dry rot issue on an entire wall. I have good friends who are contractors that always compliment the workmanship when they come visit. I also used them to rebuild my driveway and couldn't be happier with the outcome. The workers are great, quality is unmatched and one of the few honest construction companies remaining. Can't recommend them enough! read more

Karl Kardel Company does excellent work at reasonable prices. Their expertise in waterproofing and home repair work is what differentiates them from other contractors. They have fone excellent work in my house and I am a satisfied customer. read more

We had a bad leak in a brick balcony over our garage. More issues uncovered as the job went on, requiring adjusted expectations. The quality of the work was excellent, but it took some time to complete the job, longer than expected or promised. read more

A five week job only took six months to finish. Karl, et al, was hired to repair leaking deck over living space. While the plan for repairs was sound, the execution was poorly done. The work was mediocre and his subs were called back for redo on both stucco and tile work. Unfortunately, our relationship became a bit combative. In the final phone call Karl and I shared, he told me he was occupied with a lawsuit and he would call me when he wasn't busy to schedule the finish of the job. ...well. f 'im. Failing to complete Job, he left me, the homeowner, to tear out and find someone to complete the work. A second general contractor that looked the work in progress (prior to my tear out) made the comment, "it looks like an unsupervised apprentice did this." It was sad, really. I'm guessing Karl and the Karl Kardel company may have been good at one time. However sharing my experience with others, I've since found that they have similar feelings about the man. Karl is just Karl, and probably should just pack it in and find a peaceful rest home where he can spin his tales of the olden days to new ears where he isn't harming anyone's property. I'll be generous and give him two stars as the deck didn't leak at completion. But like P.T. Barnum, Karl can talk a big story and fail to deliver on some pretty rudimentary expectations. -- Anticipate cost adjustments as your project progresses. read more

I signed on with Karl Kardel Co. to repair two leaky decks and a shower pan. I was told the deck repairs would take 2 weeks. Once they finally began work (which was two months later than they'd indicated), the work took over 4 months to complete. Most days, the project sat with no-one present or someone coming by for 1 -2 hours. I tried to be understanding due to covid and life issues, but in addition to the timing...all else revealed itself as incompetent as well. I was double billed for some items (remedied when I pointed it out), and worst of all, all three of the projects that they addressed have significant failures. The work was sub-par and craftsmanship sloppy -- I was stunned. They did not re-install flashing at the top of the deck doors (as the contract had indicated they would), causing one door to literally rain water inside...then damaging the seal of the door and fogging the glass. Karl referred to me as "crazy" to think that his work had anything to do with it. He was rude, aggressive, offensive. Issues are still not resolved. DO NOT HIRE THEM. read more

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I hired Karl Kardel Company to paint the trim on my house. It was badly in need of repairs and they did a more than perfect job, milling new window frame pieces and repairing dry rot. They even found holes and cracks in the stucco by the chimney and near the roof that needed repairs that I would haven't noticed myself. I was very grateful for the care they took on my house and all the employees were very pleasant to work with. I am extremely satisfied and feel well taken care of. I highly recommend Karl Kardel and Company. read more

Makes sense now. Only two stars on Karl Kardel Consultancy, the other name in yelp. Karl cannot figure out how to make my bridge driveway stop a small rain leak without demolishing the whole drive way and starting over for +50k. I guess I'll have to wait until it rots out and becomes a big job before anyone will be willing to do a small job in this town. Update: Yup, looks like another Man project for the Man! Did you see my new retaining walls and Gym floor deck! Nice! (A little left to do honestly) But The guy who claimed to be the #1 hillside landscaper refused to bid it (again too small for a professional) So I did it myself. Contractors in the Bay Area don't want a job under $50k. Smaller projects you just gotta do yourself. I guess the unemployment problems are a thing of the past. read more

We had a large bank of custom fixed wooden windows in our dining room on the weather side of our house in Piedmont that were old but beautiful which were leaking with the leaking getting progressively worse and damaging the interior wall. Karl replaced them with a bank windows made of mahogany, custom made to match the original, repaired the damaged interior wall. While they were at it we had them retrofit the other windows and openings on the weather side and paint the exterior on the affected sides of the house. They were reliable, fair and it looks good. I recommend them without any reservation. Now we just need it to rain. read more

Person came out to look at the job -- waterproofing patches had come off where some pipes are screwed to the roof. A few hours job. Told me will send a quote. After no quote and when I contacted again, received email that they would need to replace the whole roof (which is not that old and in great shape) and can provide a quote for that. Wow. read more

I've owned apartment buildings for 30 years. When it comes to finding and resolving water leak issues, there is no one better than Karl Kardell. read more

Karl was completely unprofessional!!! We had a long dispute with our landlord regarding a mold issue. We found and hired Karl since the landlord hired a friend and was totally incompetent. Karl bashed us to the landlord and disregarded my pleas to look for mold. He refused and said he didn't want to go on a "fishing expedition" and he didn't "get the feeling of mold" all while the owner hired his company to replace a roof and many other small jobs. Long story short we took the owner to court for negligence and won. Hired another company and house was and is riddled with mold. Karl is incompetent. Motivated more by money than good service. Unethical. UPDATE - the landlord settled the lawsuit and we were rent free due to all the ongoing construction and MOLD. The real shame is the next tenant that moves in won't know the real happenings inside their home. You completed your work on the home and waterproofed it after the mold was removed by the mold remediation company. Your recollection of what happened is far from the truth. read more

Do not trust this man. He is unprofessional and apparently has no concern about his reputation. Huge invoices, shoddy work. Perhaps he no longer cares because he is close to retiring? read more

For more than 50 years we have used the talent and skill of Karl Kardel to develop and enhance the esthetics and safety of our homes. In those years no issue has arisen that was not amicably solved. I would recommend the Kardel services to anyone wishing to have their home developed by first class artisans. read more

Karl is very knowledgeable and certainly knows his water proofing/stucco and how to repair defective work. However for me some of his subs do not quite meet the high standards as Kardel's main guys. I think you can trust Karl for guidance on how to address the problem, but you may want to keep an eye on his guys. Overall we are happy and the work is good. read more

Karl Kardel's company did a very good job painting the outside of my 72-year-old house. The painter he got to do the job was excellent! On the day he made the estimate, I gave him a tour of the outside of the house, asking questions about certain areas that looked "iffy" to me. The painter answered my questions and explained things very clearly, so there were no surprises when I got a written estimate with all the details we'd agreed on. The painter also took care to paint a few square feet with the colors I'd chosen, and then asked me to approve the colors before he painted the rest of the house. I appreciated the chance to change colors at the last minute if I wanted to, although it turned out not to be necessary. The only weak point in my experience with Karl Kardel was in the scheduling. I signed the contract on October 31, 2014, but painting didn't start until December 22. The weather was responsible for some of that, of course, but some of it was also due to communication glitches. Overall, I was very satisfied with the paint job and would definitely recommend Karl Kardel to others. read more

My family bought a home that had a deep crawl space that filled up with 3' water like a swamp. The home inspector missed this and leaking windows. Kardel's crews were able to make the house bone dry, and used a simple inexpensive fix to save all my windows. Other bidders wanted to tear all of them out. He was very considerate of our financial constraints having just bought our dream house read more

I've had Karl and his crews help me out on my house on many occasions. From painting to waterproofing work he and his guys are some of the best in the business, and certainly some of the most knowledgeable. If you have a difficult waterproofing issue or stucco building I would not hesitate to call Kardel. As a fully licensed and bonded contractor with multiple awards he gives you a sense that he knows what he's doing and has been doing it for quite awhile. He was especially helpful in negotiating with my window company after I had many failures and getting replacements. read more

Karl and his team completed an extensive repair project at my Upper Rockridge home in May 2012. I highly recommend the company and would use him again for a repair or remodel. We had water intrusion problems. Karl was the fourth contractor who looked at the problem; the first three were stumped and could not determine the source. Karl's experience, however, helped him determine the sources very quickly - he is the Sherlock Holmes of leak detection! Then, he and his excellent crew undertook the repairs. The project lasted several weeks from start to finish - we had several rain delays but Karl's team were on site and working every day that the weather permitted. They were very committed to finishing my project as quickly as possible, I never felt they were distracted by or busy with other jobs, a problem I have had with other contractors in the past. The crew were wonderful, courteous, and left a tidy work site every night - even my neighbors complimented us on it, that in spite of what was obviously a very large project, the work site looked suprisingly clean and orderly. The final product is beautiful - stucco and paint restored to perfection and all of the water problems solved! Thanks very much to Karl and his whole team! read more