Joe did our drawings for a single family home including yard, roof, and garage. The quality is…read moreexcellent and only needed 2 days of onsite time. One tiny revision turned around next day. Communication with Cielo was prompt and professional.

Joel is great to work with and blessed with both extreme intelligence and a penchant for going…read moreabove and beyond to provide excellent customer service. We had a few hiccups with our project, but at every point he was able to help us through. Fog City is also keen to try out new technologies and tools, keeping them ahead of the curve in AEC world.

Scott R at Energy Calc Co is a invaluable resource for sorting through the complex Title 24…read morerequirements and reports that are required for Bay Area building permit submissions. As architects, we rely on his expertise and working knowledge of different building and HVAC systems, and he never fails to help us deliver excellence on behalf of our clients. Highly recommend them!

I've worked with Energy Calc Co on several projects and they are an invaluable resource to our…read moreworkflow. As T24 requirements tighten further over time, their knowledge of the code-related building performance saves my team time and helps build better-performing buildings. As a bonus, they have always been there to pick up the phone should I have any questions. Highly recommend.

If you want a quality project run by ultimate professionals, Levitch is the design/build company…read morefor your project. They designed and rebuilt our mid-60's home from the floor up. They made the process as comfortable as possible and worked with us every step of the way. When the city contractor reviewed and closed the permits, he said the work was the best he had seen in 30 years of performing inspections. We love Maurice, Vuk, Susan and the entire Levitch team. We definitely would use them again and recommend them to everyone who is looking for remodeling or rebuilding work to be performed.

I bought a house in Kensington in August 2020. Inspectors' documents reported that extensive repair…read moreand replacement of major systems of the house were needed. In September 2020, over a 90 minute Facetime, I consulted with Maurice Levitch, the president, architect, and general contractor as to how best address the issues. He walked through the house I had just purchased; I was in my home on the East Coast which is where I then lived. During that Facetime we agreed on the major contours of the project. During the next two months, his staff and I refined what would be done. Project scope, cost, and expectations were completely transparent at all times. The project took place from September 2020 to April 2021. While the project was going on, I was in Washington, D.C. I never once visited the Kensington house. Levitch and I did the entire project over email and telephone. At the end of almost all days, pictures and a short report were posted on their ProCore website showing me what had been done that day. I found the whole process enjoyable and interesting. I found Maurice to be a first-rate architect and general contractor with a deep knowledge of design, building systems, environmental impact, materials, and product. He will offer alternatives so that you can stay within your budget (I did find I spent more than I intended to but that was because I wanted to expand the scope of the project or pursue alternatives I hadn't contemplated). I found his subcontractors to be first-rate as well and Maurice makes sure that their work is organized, efficient, and of the highest quality. Among other things done: --All windows, interior doors, and exterior doors replaced. --New HVAC system. --Electrical system replaced, new interior panel, outlets brought to code. --Plumbing issues remedied, an entire subfloor of a bathroom rebuilt. Exact match for a rare marble tile found for a new floor. --Wood floor repair. --All manner of Kensington animals removed from crawlspace and attic. Moisture barriers, crawlspace and attic insulation replaced. --Walls sanded, made uniform throughout house with skim-coat plastering and then painting. Old baseboard removed, new chosen and installed. --Closets gutted, expanded, outfitted with custom rods, panels, and underlit shelves --A gas-leaking 36" range in the kitchen removed. Replaced with a 30" induction range, involving carpentry, electrical and plumbing work. --Carpentry work in kitchen, old maple cabinet wood was reused or matched perfectly. --Mudded in light fixtures for art lighting and wall washing installed. Total project cost was more than $325,000. A daughter with an Oakland worked with Levitch on two projects (2018 - 2022). First project: structural work to prevent house from sinking and an addition of 2 bedrooms, a playroom, and 1 bathroom. Second project: total kitchen renovation involving re-architecting of entire main floor. Excellent work, lovely people!

Very professional team. Fred is great to work with. He's helping us with a full remodel.read more

We hired U.S Accurate to remodel our kitchen and living room, and the experience was great from…read morestart to finish. Scope-wise, they removed a structural wall, added a new island, replaced all cabinets, added a butler's pantry, updated the flooring, upgraded the electrical, and took down the old plaster to install smooth drywall. Shay kept us informed at every step, talked us through options when surprises came up behind the walls or under the floors, and handled permits/inspections so everything stayed on track and to code. The crew was professional, punctual, and tidy and would also work on weekends sometimes. There were some minor bumps along the way but final results look fantastic and function even better. The new layout is open and bright, with smarter storage and lighting that really elevated the space. Because of the great experience, we brought them back for a bathroom remodel too. Highly recommend US Accurate Construction--would absolutely hire them again.

We've used HDR for about 5 years now for all sorts of projects: Bathroom remodel, range hood…read moreinstallation, sump pump installation and maintenance, they even helped us find a roofer when we needed a new one. Essentially, they are our go-to people for everything house. I don't know what we'd do with out them! Philip and Jim are the seriously the best, and the rest of their team is incredibly professional and talented. Chris has been especially amazing with all of the projects we've used them for.

We used HDR Remodeling to redo one of our bathrooms, as well as do a conversion of the downstairs…read morefloor of our house. While there were a few delays in the construction schedule, they were very professional in handling everything and the work was high quality. We're very happy with the result!

Association Reserves SF produces the highest quality and most easy-to-use reserve studies. Other…read morecompanies included pages and pages of data that is difficult to interpret. This is not the case with ARSF. Their studies include a clear and simple funding plan, component evaluations with pictures, and overall solid recommendations. Also, their component cost analysis is based on actual regional aggregate information. As a community manager, my clients and I rely on their work for developing long and short-term budgeting plans. Derek and his team do a great job.

Association Reserves was hired to produce reserve studies for my homeowners association. They…read moreproduces reports compliant with the law, looking out to the next 30 years of replacement and maintenance costs. However, the company seems to rely on anecdote and hearsay when it comes to estimating the lifetime of the biggest ticket items. Concrete they list as unknown, and don't count it in. Siding they count as 45 years, same as the asphalt shingles on the roof, and oddly and mysteriously, all the siding no matter whether it is fiberboard, metal, or fake brick. When pressed on how they came up with 45 years, the response was nonsense. Anecdotes and hearsay. Maybe it'll be 30 years. Maybe 90. Probably somewhere in between, but that's not how the reserve study reads. It says ALL the siding will need to be replaced 31 years from now, no more, no less. And because of that, the association needs to triple our reserve assessments just in case. Getting this answer, and getting an update to the reserve study stating that all the lifetimes over 30 years are estimates took over a dozen email. It took escalating this issue to the CEO of this national corporation. This company produces the vast majority of reserve studies in the country. Their President in my region touted that he wrote the statutes that require these studies to be updated each year. My suggestion is to ignore the statues. Get a study done once. Get it updated every 7-10 years, or when a big storm or earthquake may have shortened the lifetime of some major items. And while I'd say try another vendor, I've seen a few other reserve studies by others and they are just as useless when it comes to long-term planning.

We have been working on a 2nd floor addition to a 100 yr old house. As one can imagine, there are…read moremany significant structural issues that may arise unexpectedly when opening up walls and seeing how people build things 100 yrs ago. David and Ray have been incredible since the beginning of the process, helping us navigate through all the structural concerns and always trying to find a value engineering approach - whether it was optimizing depth of foundation work, or finding ways to reinforce old windows, coming up with ways to get headers into locations where there isn't the space, and/or proposing alternative shear wall options when there isn't room to fit things. Ray, our project engineer, has been the best communicating and responding to all our questions and worries. He carefully reviews the problem at hand that arise and often will provide 2 or 3 possible options that our builder can work on. With our current project, Ray is always super prompt to resolve any issues via call or email, or video conference and if necessary an onsite visit to inspect the construction phase. He was just crawling in our crawlspace the other day and notified our builder if some items that needed to be addressed to maintain a positive continuous connection from 2nd floor down to 1st floor and to crawlspace foundation. We are now adding the 2nd floor framing and almost done the most stressful part of the project. We have done 3 major remodels in the past with other firms where it was difficult to get in touch with anybody. With Ray and David at Simplengi Engineering, it has been a very refreshing experience to have experts that promptly responds to all our concerns. Value engineering, great timely communication, attention to detail, common sense, simple and smart engineering. We highly recommend Ray and David and Simplengi Engineering for any structural work. Simply great engineering. We don't plan to do another remodel for 100+ years but if we did, we would hire Simplengi 100% for sure.

​If you want the highest degree of professionalism​, the best customer service​, and an incredibly…read morewell trained and highly ethical engineer​, who is a supreme problem-solver and someone who actually responds to your questions, then you'll be 1000% satisfied with Dave Yadegar at Simplengi. ​D​ave is a superbly qualified engineer with a ​v​ast amount of varied professional experience​, and with his knowledge and skills​, ​h​e has saved us substantial amounts of time, money and perhaps most importantly - aggravation.​ ​I​nterestingly, I have met ​two other clients​ of Dave's, and they both shared the same opinion of​ his ability.​ ​D​ave will save you time, money, frustration, etc. New construction, remodels, expansion, - commercial and residential: he will simplify your life as ​he has done for me. He is absolutely the very best. PS- a shout-out goes to Antwon Trinh and Santosh Chitturi for helping round out the team!

We've had a great experience working with Mike Pourzand of Gehl Design / Build…read more Our original project was to replace a dilapidated shed in the backyard of our North Berkeley home with.a completely new structure having an identical footprint. Mike was very attentive and responsive to our objectives, and he developed a number of innovative and cost-effective design ideas to address our needs. We were often impressed by the way Mike's design ideas built on his extensive engineering and construction knowledge -- and vice versa. We also appreciated his efforts to anticipate and navigate city permitting requirements. Based on our very positive experience during the design phase, we elected to engage Gehl Design /Build to oversee the construction of the new shed, as well as to design and manage several additional projects (including a new and expanded driveway, new fences and gates). As part of this second phase, Mike identified and secured bids from qualified contractors he had vetted and worked with previously. His recommendation -- which we ended up going with -- proved excellent. On several occasions, Mike helped explain elements of our plans with our neighbors. He was very respectful and straightforward in his approach, helping to secure their support and goodwill. What made us feel that we were in excellent hands with Gehl Design / Build was not only Mike's extensive experience and his impressive knowledge and skill set. His dedication, patience, responsiveness, and integrity are all exemplary -- and made working with him a true pleasure.

The guys at Gehl design team helped design, build and implement a 300 sq ft design Artist studio…read morespace from start to finish, as well as build a small detached storage shed, that also looked contemporary in design. Mike and his team helped with every aspect of this project, from initial brainstorming, conception and design, to implementation -- I can't recommend them enough!!