We worked with Michael to redesign our basement and patios. He was easy to work with and came up…read morewith multiple great designs and redesigns as our plans shifted during the process. Michael helped us to discover our "style" and then carried those themes throughout the design, working them into the little details like door knobs and column framing. He's also a chill guy so we didn't mind seeing him frequently during meetings or house visits. Highly recommend!

We worked with Wagstaff and Eric to design our ADU…read more This was a rebuild of an existing internal space in our main house into an official ADU, so came with significant constraints on size and layout. Eric was great to work with; he was responsive and listened carefully to our ideas. Billing was clear and the final cost came in approximately at or under Wagstaff's estimates, including a number of design iterations. The design process was a partnership and contributions from both sides were crucial to the final product. We provided strong opinions on how the space was to be used and requirements. Eric provided design ideas, and used his good understanding of space, building constraints and opportunities to validate our ideas and turn them into reality (or provide alternatives). My main regret is that we did not use Wagstaff enough! We did our own construction observation, but next time I would ask Wagstaff to take responsibility for that. We're delighted with the result and would use Wagstaff again!

I worked with Eric on a new construction build plan. Overall, I do not recommend this firm…read more 1. We did not align on high level how the flow in the new house should be, and he ended up drawing the detailed plans even if it was not what we wanted. Costed us 10k+ for nothing. 2. Every iteration was more than 5 hours, even if all he did was add a door/bath (no big changes). 3. He optimized for things that made no sense to us. Like he optimized for keeping one of the walls from the current house, even if we said we don't care about the current house (since this is a rebuild). 4. He sent plans to us that were still over the allowed limit 5. He talked to the city to understand the requirements, and understood them wrong. The limit for our lot that he said we need to respect was not correct, even if he talked to the city. 6. He asked us to get an "As built survey" even if we want to rebuild the house fully. Hi another 5k dollars. Overall I do not recommend working with this firm. We paid them way too much money for something that we could not use. Completely useless.

We live in Noe Valley & I saw a home he designed a block away which…read morewas fantastic. Our project was to build two new bathrooms upstairs in our old house. Not having design skills or interest we had no idea that ithe project would turn out so well--what a surprise. So here's the equation. Innovative ideas + easy going personality +psychiatric & mediation skills = an unqualified success. Susan

It has been years now that I been wanting to report Ron Wallace (architect) to the Architect Board…read morebut I don't have time. This is faster. I hired Ron Wallace to help me with realizing my penthouse. I felt he would be knowledgeable with the planning to put this difficult project through. It was nothing but a nightmare for my husband and I. The first billing was for $4,500 including $3,000 of cad drafting, redrawing my entire house that was already drawn. He used a new cad drafter so not only was I appalled that he would draw something already drawn but the drawings had so many mistakes that I really question why he would redraw it just to make it wrong. It was impossible to have my phone calls returned. When we decided to fire him, it was a nightmare too. He drew a design of the penthouse that was never accepted by the planning department. I have forgotten what we end up spending and it was not pretty, especially since all I got for the money was a tip on a construction assembly. I ended up doing the design all by myself with the help of an engineer and building the penthouse. I love it and I am glad I did it at the end. It can be done without suffering the bad services of Mock Wallace Architects. And that is a shame because I am an interior architect and I would have love to partner with him on this one. I can't believe he was so lousy and that I had to do it all myself. Funny enough my neighbor across the street that has been building for a long time says he never uses architects, that "they are all crooks". I wish I had known that earlier. The field of construction is tough enough that we don't need people with no work ethics and no communication skills.

Hi my name is Michael Hom and I am the principal of Hom Pisano Engineering Inc. I have been…read moreworking with Mock-Wallace Architects for several years and have really enjoyed working with both Ron and Larry. Both are professionals and have a lot of knowledge regarding city planning and design. They always make an effort to help clients control costs and make their projects affordable. I highly recommend Mock Wallace Architects to any clients and look forward to continue working with them for many years.

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.

You'll be in good hands with Graff Architects. We interviewed 3 other firms before we decided to…read moreentrust the plans for our home renovation with Grier and Chris from Graff Architects. From the moment we first met with Grier we knew that we were in good, trustworthy hands. Grier's knowledge, experience, and design sensibility are quite impressive. He is a true industry veteran, filled with anecdotes and stories that helped make the stressful renovation process easy and enjoyable. We were amazed by Chris's talent, responsiveness, and attention to detail. He really helped us transform a tangle of ill-conceived turn-of-the-century rooms into a spacious, light and beautiful layout with great flow from the dining room to the kitchen to the patio. Everyone who sees the new space says that it fits in seamlessly with the rest of the house and looks as though it was meant to be that way all along -- exactly what we had hoped for. Grier has lots of great contacts in the industry. He recommended several General Contractors to us, and after interviewing all of them, it was hard for us to choose a winner from among them because they all seemed like top knotch, ethical contractors. Ultimately, we were quite happy with our choice in General Contractor, who we never would have found, but for Grier's recommendation. Grier and Chris also navigated the rigorous Piedmont building permit process for us quite well. Their strategic thinking helped us break our renovation into multiple permits, thereby allowing us to get started on interior construction right away while the permit for exterior construction wound its way through more extensive design reviews. We found Graff Architects to be quite fair with their charges and accurate on their own time estimates. They were sensitive to our tight budget and helped keep the renovation process within our means. We'll certainly look forward to working with them again when it comes time for more renovations in the future.

My wife and I hired Chris Coffee at Graff to design our bathroom remodel. This was a unique and…read morechallenging project given the small space of the bathroom in our 60 year old home. Chris presented us with multiple design options for the bathroom and did a great job of explaining the positive and negative aspects of each. The final design matched the look and feel of our older home while using modern design and materials. Chris' design passed the county's permitting process with flying colors which enabled us to move rapidly. Chris also supported the interviewing of general contractors and answered the many questions we had during the actual construction. We truly appreciated his insight, creativity and detail oriented approach to our bathroom remodel. Five Stars!

Mega Bravo to Tony and his team!! We've enjoyed working with Tony and his team for a few years…read morenow, and they've always delivered a stellar performance. Profession and efficient! They were able to work within our budget as well as keeping us updated along the way with each progressive step. My husband and I couldn't be more pleased with the design of our property in the Peninsula. Can't wait to start our next project! Thank you again Tony and team for everything and always getting back to me right away! Looking forward to our next project!

Tony and his team helped everything along the way! They listened to our goals, provided great…read morefeedback, and drove the process along. There were a few hurdles, but with Tony's help, we were able to keep the project moving forward. We've kept his number in case any questions come up, and are very pleased to know him.

I hired Tarry Chung to come give her architectural and design opinion on a kitchen renovation I had…read morebeen considering. I knew I couldn't take a sledgehammer to my wall without consulting with her first. Tarry is totally down to earth and was so easy to work with- she really knows her stuff, and I felt confident that I was getting solid, practical advice. She explained the logistics of executing my idea for opening up our cramped kitchen, and also threw in some great suggestions and advice I had never thought to consider before. I recommend Tarry highly and will most certainly call on her again once we get started on our project.

Tarry Chung, Design Consultant helped me with numerous home remodeling projects. She is truly a…read morepleasure to work with. Tarry assisted with selecting wall paint colors, picture frames, and furniture items. She was particularly instrumental in converting my basement to a home office. For my master bathroom renovation, she helped me optimize space and plan a layout that suited my needs and lifestyle, while helping with basics like selecting floor and wall tiles, a shower door, and matching fixtures. More importantly, Tarry is a very knowledgeable professional who really takes the time to understand her clients' needs and desires. She is creative, thinks outside the box and pays amazing attention to details. At the same time, she is very practical and respects your needs to work within a budget. I highly recommend Tarry for any interior design project and certainly plan to use her again in the future.