We found Fred Franke through our architects, after we had a poor experience with the contractor we…read morehad originally planned to work with. Our architects, who are very discerning, both said that if they ever need a contractor for their own homes, this is who they would choose. We are so grateful for this recommendation. We did a massive remodel, down to studs, on our 1939 historic home. I cannot imagine having gone through this with our original contractor, or really anyone else. Fred gave us an accurate and honest estimate of costs and timeline, he made sure to keep us updated throughout the process, and welcomed all of our questions. Whenever we thought there might be a problem or something was overlooked, he was always way ahead of us, aware of it and with answers. He is extremely knowledgeable, able to provide solutions to the inevitable problems that arise when working on an old home. His team of guys are very skilled and helpful, and he subcontracts with the best, so the quality of the finished work is excellent. I do not recommend using a contractor who does all the work themselves. You want someone who works with other true experts in their respective fields. Fred has been doing this a long time in San Diego and has relationships with the best. He is also skilled at working with the city and getting permits and things through. And he really went above and beyond for us to coordinate with the other folks we hired to complete the project (pool company, landscape company, and even Tesla for installing home batteries and car chargers). Beyond all the work, he became a friend through the process. He is honest, funny, and kind. He would always take time to chat with our neighbors and our families. We are looking forward to having him and his family over for dinner in our new home. We have now been in the house for a year and he just checked in with us a couple weeks ago to make sure there were no issues that had arisen. This review is honestly hard to write because it is hard to put into words how grateful we were to have worked with him. We have recommended him to friends and colleagues for their work and do so without reservation. If you are looking for a contractor, I hope for your sake that you get to work with Fred.

To say we had a great experience with Fred and his crew is an understatement. Franke Contracting is…read moreAMAZING!!! Fred is at the top of his field bringing a level of professionalism that we simply did not find in any other contractor. Fred oversaw every aspect of our extensive home rennovation, provided a weekly schedule, walk through with client, and frequently provided updated financials. We knew exactly what was happening each and every day. Fred and his deep bench of experts brought a level of service and knowledge we could have only dreamed of. Each craftsmen meticulously ensured quality and consistency for their respective trades. Fred treated our home as if it was his own, his suggestions and problem solving only lead to a project that exceeded our expectations. Undertaking a complete home renovation is a daunting and expensive task - Fred made it the BEST experience, and we recommend him a thousand times over. He turned our 1920's bungalow, into our California dream home. Fred became a trusted friend, and our neighborhood misses him!! There aren't enough stars to truly rate the Franke team!

[Original review was at 3.5 stars rounded down to 3 stars. However, I received some VERY unpleasant…read morecommunication from the "branch manager", Eran Chan, subsequent to my review post. He demanded that I provide my identifying information, ignored my request for privacy based on the review, and made accusations that I used a fake contractor. It was irksome enough to remove an additional star. Remainder of review remains in tact.] As first time homeowners, we discovered that the market for construction/ remodel help is difficult to find in San Diego. It's hard to filter out the reliable reviews from those who are associated to the business owners. This is heavily prevalent on Yelp and exceptionally so for service providers: it's important to notice how many of those 5 star reviewers have (1) no yelp activity, (2) no yelp friends, and (3) created the yelp account close in time to the date the review was placed. You should be cautious of the veracity of these reviews. With Treeium, you'll find a that there are some valid reviews and some questionable. I lend mine as one backed by evidence. To date I am the only Yelp Elite reviewer. I'd be happy to pass along my complete sentiments privately. I selected Treeium from -- you guessed it-- yelp. My husband, who's the more calm and friendly individual between us two, was the one to receive the initial marketing pitch from the company (we'll leave identification of individuals private). Overall, I would say they do a great pitch. The representative that they send is friendly, knowledgeable, and conveys a strong level of confidence in how the project will go, etc. The individual came back a second time to talk to me with my husband.. and even I was thoroughly convinced by the pitch. Once you sign the paper, that's where the rollercoaster ride starts. The first guys that came in were kind enough to lay down carpet covers to avoid stomping around in our Asian household (read: NO SHOES INSIDE) and on our brand new carpet. Subsequent contractors were less respectful and didn't bring shoe covers. We had to lay down our own carpet covers. Thankfully I wasn't present for most of the process because I'm sure I would have raised hell through each phase. They were relatively timely on the breakdown and removal. There were strong initial attempts to protect our property and minimize the construction mess. But once the actual work started, it seemed like there was just problem after problem. There were many pros and cons.. pros are evident by the final bathroom being done (finally).. My biggest qualms however were: (1) PRICE: we had to pay for a lot of additional things after the quote that just kept getting tacked on the original quote. It was frustrating to find out that certain tiles or things that we wanted were unavailable or could not be incorporated. We had to settle on several aspects. There is a payment plan option to make it more palatable. In retrospect, I think the project was on the higher end of what we could have found elsewhere. (2) FAILURE TO MEET TIMELINE: this is the MOST irksome part. We were told 4-6 weeks.. it took almost three months. With the various contractors that are required in any one job, I understand that the more parties there are.. the more likely there will be scheduling problems. But the timeline was edging on unreasonable. (3) AVERAGE COSMETIC JOB: I have never heard a contractor tell me your wall is crooked, therefore, there will be a gap between tile and wall in order have a straight tile surface. It's a minor aspect but gap bothers me every day like an itch in a spot you can't reach. Also, the white tiles that were chosen were shaved at the corners, leaving ugly brown rounded corners amidst the white tiles. Another itch. Also, we opted to keep the bathtub. They cracked the bathtub with removing the old parts around the tub. Rather than fix the tub, we were told we could pay more for someone to fix the cracked porcelain or go buy our own fix it kit. After all the extra costs, we opted for the fix it kit.. which i think is ridiculous. Oh but by the time we got around to it, the tub started to rust in the places where they damaged it. When you step back and look at the overall reno, it does look better than what we had. We're generally happy with the final product (my husband more than I)... and it is definitely an improvement. We did refer Treeium to another group of friends who did an even bigger project, but they had the exact same complaints we did so I feel that our comments are valid and verified. Prior to the unpleasant communications received from Eran Chan, I would have been happy to share that Treeium is *capable* of doing a good job and that we might return. With his harassment, I don't foresee our return or further referral.

Too bad Yelp doesn't allow for no stars - these contractor's don't even deserve one star. These…read moreguys are a bunch of corner cutting hacks. They remodeled my grandmother's bathroom, replaced some drywall and lights in the kitchen. They are completely careless of details, did not properly prepare or finish the job and their work is crap. They even sat my 80 year old grandmother down to watch her give them a yelp review at the beginning of the job before even starting on the work. Talk about having dishonest business practices and taking advantage of the elderly! There's screwed up grout, nails showing on thru the drywall and paint, areas they painted and didn't tape off etc. They didn't even have the decency to replace the outlet covers on a full bathroom remodel and left the hallway light cover completely bare. Like I said cheap and cut corners. They refused to come back and properly take care of their sloppy work until my grandmother paid them in full. Even the contractor that came out to inspect the work indicated that aspects of the work done were not up to par. Photos added to business since yelp does not allow them on reviews as of yet. On top of that, they did not haul away any of the construction waste and left my grandmother to deal with trying to fit that into a normal garbage can. Word of advice - do not hire these jokers - there are so many other companies out there that do provide excellent service - this company just isn't one of them. I will note the project was completed Dec 2013. They came out and fixed a few things related to painting the hallway in Jan 2014 however my grandmother was told the work has to stop somewhere. Essentially they didn't do the job right and by example of my last photo uploaded it they don't believe they did it right. Called the review not fair but that's what reviews are for. They did offer to come fix it at no charge today however to protect my grandmothers house we are not allowing them anywhere near it. Just an update, Eran their officer manager posted a couple pictures of the bathroom afterwards in an effort to do damage control and I am glad they did because none of them are close-ups yet you can still see how the grouting is going over the glass tiles and the little patch above/behind the shower head where there's grout basically rubbed on with a finger and never cleaned. Additionally they don't show the wall they filled where screws are visibly protruding and of course they didn't show any of the hall way or kitchen ceiling. Just be sure to not pay this contractor until the job is completely done and done right!

Exp Construction is great to work with. Jason and his crew of professionals do an excellent job at…read morereconstructing and remodeling. Their attention to detail is phenomenal. They did a few upgrades to our house and ended up with greater expectations then we started. Jason really knows how to see what will be the outcome and really has great ideas to make everything look perfect. The price was better than most, but the quality of work was far greater! His crew of workers are professional, friendly and skilled at there trade. We are planning on doing more upgrades and remodeling and can't wait to have EXP Construction back again. Thank you again Jason!!

I have Jason the owner built a room for my salon to do lashes extensions and eyebrows microblading…read more His work ethics and timing was excellent., He's very liable, professional, and very details oriented. I'm so happy with the result and save a lot of time and money with him. Would use him again for future projects.. Thank you Jason at Exp Construction !!

From a design stand point, I found them unimaginative. And their business process/business ethics…read morenot transparent. After 1/2 hr initial meeting for full home redesign and ADU addition, Stewart Mayer insisted on walking off with printed drawings. Within days, in good faith I sent him electronic version to help him with design. Even though the other architects did not ask for drawings to take home in order to come up with some prelim costs. He came back with 2 scribbled ideas I shared with him from another architect. When asked if I could talk to some references, his response - "our policy with these requests is to facilitate those calls with the understanding from the potential client that they are prepared to retain our firm contingent upon a favorable conversation. Hopefully that is the case for you, and if so we'd be happy to put you in touch with one of our current clients who has been through design and permitting phases and is now under construction". Shocked someone would ask for that commitment after finding him on yelp. An experienced architect who has no previous references happy to share experience of his work? An architect who thinks asking for references if not a norm in the process? The process of vetting out architects could take months. He was insistent on needing my plans for redesign discussion purposes but he scribbled 2 ideas from another architect. Watch out this guy had no good ideas while taking plans to generate ideas. Violating copy right law is a federal offense. thank you Yelp for having a platform to share experiences

Esther YELP…read more SM-designbuild was referred to me by a friend that had great success working with Stew and his company on their home remodel. As a single woman I was a bit nervous about renovating my condo as I'd heard so many scary stories about how things can go wrong with contractors, but my experience with SM-designbuild was great. The design phase was fun and painless; they listened closely to my needs and came up with great ideas I hadn't even considered. They priced the project early on in the design phase and I was relieved to find that the initial estimate was very close to the final cost. The quality of their work was excellent and I'm happy to report that they finished the job ahead of schedule! You can't go wrong with SM-designbuild. I would use them again in a heart beat and would refer them to all my friends.

We have used Casey for everything we have done to our house in 7 years. Big and small jobs - he is…read moreEXCELLENT. I have also recommended him whenever anyone needs a contractor and he has never disappointed. He is smart, timely, a great communicator, honest, conscientious, and just a great person too. I cannot recommend him more enthusiastically. Specific examples- years ago I wanted a Mr Steam installed when we redid our master bath. His ingenuity impressed me as he installed the complicated electronics and made everything look beautiful. When I converted a carport to a Gym during COVID - his resourcefulness to find materials in stock made the project happen when I wanted it. Honestly, I could cite examples for hours. Trust me. Casey is the BEST.

We can't speak highly enough of Casey, Matt and team. They are honest, fast and do excellent work -…read morethese three things are not often found in a single company. We used Casey and Matt to remodel some of our home and have had them back for additional projects and have recommended them to neighbors and friends who have also been pleased with their work. At this point these guys are family and we highly recommend!

At S&S Kitchens and Additions, Bob, Amanda, and Emily are a pleasure to work with. My older brother…read morehired Bob to design & build his new custom home after a fire burned his previous home to the ground and the architect was 6 months late with the plans. My brother is very picky and also hard to please. After I saw the high quality of the work S&S does, I asked Bob to come look at a project I was wanting to do. After I found out that I could not build a building exactly where I wanted to due to a septic system leach field, Bob suggested another location on my property that I had not even thought was possible. His expertise and vision is exactly what I needed. In addition to the new building, we are having S&S expand and remodel our kitchen. My wife really enjoys working with Amanda on the kitchen design. She is so helpful in providing solutions to help make decisions much easier. We are at about the half way point and couldn't be happier with the honesty, integrity, and quality of work from our friends at S&S Kitchens and Additions. I don't normally write reviews, but with such a big undertaking that I had minimal experience with, Bob has made me feel comfortable enough that I felt others might want or need to work with someone like him too!

An absolutely outstanding contractor. Robert and his team does it all and treats the project as if…read moreit is on their own home. Quality work and timely. Robert also has a design team that works exceptionally well in understanding your desires and bring forth design concepts that are right on with what you desired. We are looking forward to hiring him again for follow on projects.

A&P construction help us remolded our kitchen cabinet and bathroom at fair price with his original…read morequote. we are very appreciated. The job quality is good.

Al was referred to us by a business friend who had his kitchen remodeled and was a very satisfied…read morecustomer. After our plans for a 350 sq feet room addition (office/guest room) were finalized and he got the plans approved by the City, it took him only 5 weeks to finish this addition, beginning to end with all 4 City inspections and final inspection approved! He was on schedule, budget and his work ethics were excellent. Clean-up on a daily basis, being on time, supervising every day his excellent crew made us loyal followers of Al and we certainly will hire A&P Construction again for any future projects we may have.

I've used Capps Construction for several jobs at my home and they have been nothing but…read moreprofessional. They are always responsive and go above and beyond to keep me and my wife happy. Their crews are hard working and the work is always done in a professional manner. I would recommend Capps Construction for all of your home construction needs.

I hit this company up for an estimate and they never returned my messages. I can understand if…read morethey're too busy to do my project but the least they can do is return my call. Very un professional.