I contacted John Ferguson after trying, unsuccessfully, to get a response from several contractors,…read morefor a relatively small job (by contractor standards). The communication between John, his foreman Raoul, and everyone else I worked with on the team was a breath of fresh air. They are very clear and very interested in the customers concerns, and full of helpful suggestions. I was sent a model of the project to review beforehand as well as a detailed breakdown of the work and costs. We discovered extensive dry rot that was not in the original scope of the project, but which was remediated within the given schedule. All the individuals who did the work were top notch craftsmen and pleasant to work with. Whereas previously the back yard was a dark depressing place, I now have a lovely aesthetic space in which I want to spend time. Thank you John, Raoul, and team.

In 2016, we used John Fergusson and More Than A Carpenter to complete a significant addition to our…read morehome in El Cerrito, expanding our house from a 1 bathroom, 2 bedroom home to 2 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms, and doubling the square footage. As you can imagine, this was a large project, and we as homeowners were nervous about budget, schedule, and quality. We had also heard horror stories about contractors going way over their budgets and schedules, and struggling with quality. It was therefore amazing to see what great work John has done. He brought the project in on time, budget, and quality, but more than that, he put his whole heart into the project. John is a unique individual who not only gets the work done, but is constantly looking for ways to improve the experience. Throughout the project, John was not only receptive to our ideas, but deeply thoughtful about new ideas. A number of the improvements he made have really been life changing for us -- an additional butcher block counter top that functions as an extension of our kitchen for example. Finally, I would say that John does his design not just off a drawing or a checklist of features, but really seeks to see what you're trying to achieve, what you like about your current home, and how you want it to feel when everything's finished. That's rare in a contractor. I am therefore pleased to recommend John and More than a Carpenter without reservation. Our work with him has been a joy from start to finish!

I can't recommend Duval Construction enough. Everyone we worked with was knowledgeable,…read moreprofessional and courteous. They built a beautiful driveway with very specific requirements---to match a Mid Century home. It turned out even better than I had hoped! They were responsive to issues that came up along the way, and minimized inconvenience during construction. The site was kept neat and clean between installations. The rebar laying was a work of art. Our neighbors (and even people we don't know) have commented on the finished work with enthusiastic compliments. Lastly, but not least, Celine, the office manager is one of the nicest, most efficient and professional managers I have ever had the pleasure of speaking with. Thank you Duval, for making our driveway a thing of beauty!

Duval Construction completed a complicated job of repairing our subfloor when we found out we had a…read morebad case of dry rot on our existing floor joists. They worked with an engineer to come up with the most efficient and cost saving way to do this, which saved our existing flooring from being torn up. To complicate things even more we were on a time crunch and they did their best to accommodate us, successfully completing their work on a tight schedule. Can not recommend them enough, they are honest, hard working, responsive and kind.

Harvey and his team did an excellent job stabilizing and repairing our outdoor stairs. The stairs…read morewere in really poor shape and felt like they were ready to fall down, so we needed the work done immediately. Harvey was extremely responsive and his crew started quickly. He communicated clearly about what was possible and was honest when the stairs turned out to be in worse condition than first assessed. The team replaced the unsalvageable parts and stabilized the rest, and the workmanship on the parts they replaced looks solid. All-in-all there was only so much they could do given the stairs were built incorrectly and were in very bad condition, but they pulled through and got everything into a safe, workable state. Harvey was also a really nice guy to talk with. Professional, personable, and easy to work with. He kept us informed when the timeline shifted, worked efficiently, and left the area tidy when they finished.

It is so rare to find a contractor who is willing to take on a range of tasks from small to large…read moreand do excellent work on every task. Harvey Varga took on a whole list of things that we needed done--from building a 150-foot fence, building a sidewalk and concrete pad, rebuilding kitchen cabinets to install a dishwasher, putting in a new vent fan, fixing an improperly installed dryer vent, etc. He was very responsive to our initial request for work and had a crew with a couple of days. Each task was given detailed attention and done with perfection. His crews were efficient, competent, thoughtful, and quiet. They were respectful of us, our property, our neighbors, and our dogs, and cleaned up at the end of each day. It was a pleasure to work with Harvey Varga and his crews. We give him and them our highest recommendation particularly for someone who has a mix of small and large jobs. Tom & Virginia

Taylor and his team were great! They replaced the exterior staircase at my home in the Oakland…read moreHills. The new stairs are beautiful and exactly what I wanted. Their work was efficient and high quality, Very communicative, very professional, hard working team. I would definitely recommend.

I had a grand piano delivered and needed my front entry way railing removed and reinstalled in a…read morepinch. They responded quickly and were super flexible with scheduling. They offered several solutions to solve the problem, the pricing was great and they did an amazing job. Definitely consider them for your home remodeling needs!!!!

Jimmy Stuart Construction did a fairly large job for us in our 60-year-old home in El Cerrito. He…read moregutted and rebuilt our kitchen/dining area and two bathrooms, did some structural work (new beam, shear walls), and numerous odds and ends (laundry room, outdoor deck and lighting). His experienced team has been together for years and is highly professional and committed to detailed work done right. They became like an extension of our family. They always went the extra mile to give us what we wanted. The crew kept the house clean, responded quickly to our calls, and coordinated well with subcontractors (cabinets, windows, plumbing, electrical, countertops, brickwork, mudders, painter). Jimmy was a wizard handling the permitting process. Stuart has a practical approach to solving all the issues that arise during construction. He discussed the problems and offered solutions. As things were finished he came back and fixed the little glitches that come up and made adjustments as needed. The work was done in two months, as promised, and, considering the adjustments we made along the way, was essentially on budget. Results are amazing, like living in a new house. We highly recommend Jimmy Stuart Construction.

1. Emailed Stuart Construction with a description of our project and request to schedule a time for…read morea consult. No reply after more than a week. 2. Called their telephone number only to get a voicemail message saying the voicemail box was full and could not accept any messages. 3. Called again and spoke to Jimmy who asked me to email him the details of the job. 4. Emailed Jimmy, more days went by without a response. 5. Received a call from Jimmy and apology. He said there was a possibility of stopping by our house that weekend to walk through, and would call to followup. Never received a call. The end.

It's rare to find someone who balances meticulous attention to detail with a clear vision of the…read morebig picture -- but Andrew does exactly that. His background as an architect, combined with his aesthetic sensibility and deep technical knowledge, makes him exceptional. He knows the best approaches, materials, and craftsmen for any project and offers complete transparency on everything. He lays out your options clearly, helping you balance quality with budget considerations. I hired Andrew to convert my garage into a studio and perform roof maintenance on my main house. During the roof work, his expert roofer spotted a serious issue that had been missed in the home inspection -- catching something that could have caused significant problems down the road. Andrew also counseled me on other renovation priorities, helping me understand what needed immediate attention and what could wait until I had the funds. If you want a project done right the first time, with someone who truly has your best interests in mind, I wholeheartedly recommend Andrew.

An update to my earlier review of Blue Dog. Since my first engagement with Andrew and crew, he has…read moreconstructed a deck on our north Berkeley home. What a *GREAT* job his team did for us. We have a relatively small house so the deck has virtually added a new living space. And we could not be happier with its build, the elegant beauty. Andrew designed the deck for us, recommended the wood materials and well, we love it! We hired Blue Dog again to rebuild our daughter's house in Albany. Again, he has taken the lead on design and rebuild. And once again, we couldn't be happier. Many thanks to Blue Dog and Andrew and his team.

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!

It's difficult to say how grateful we are to know Johnny. He is an amazing craftsman. He's honest…read more His pricing is fair. His advice is always sound. We trust him. We can't recommend him enough. When you find a good general contractor you want to scream their name from the rooftops because you know how hard it is to find someone you trust to fix and build things in your home and do it right, and you want them to have work forever. We started our journey looking for someone to fix a few things around the house, because we'd had such a bad run of luck with contractors and handy people. He did such a wonderful job that when it came time to remodel our kitchen he was the natural choice. He and Pedro did such a beautiful job on our kitchen. I had Devol Kitchen dreams, and I feel like we made them come true. There's hardly a room in the house that he hasn't worked on. In addition to giving us a beautiful kitchen, he has also built a beautiful custom desk for my husband's office, a custom enclosure for a projector screen, fixed several nearly 100 year old doors in our home that another contractor had cut down crooked, rebuilt crawl space access doors, added a crawl space access door, re-framed and replaced two doors, replaced a window in our office, and lots and lots of other small stuff. Johnny is also a dream to work with. We've had so many contractors out to our home, many focus on how hard and difficult the job will be. Not so with Johnny, it is always "no problem" or "let me think on it and we'll figure something out."

Johnny and crew rebuilt our front stair (which were falling down.) Excellent craftsmanship and…read morequality. The attention to detail is amazing. Johnny is always communicative and helpful.