How long have we been in business?
We started the business in 1978 and incorporated in 2002.
How big is our company?
Five full-time employees work for us, and any number of regular part-time employees, depending on what the job requires. Our employees are family in more than one sense. Dana and his wife, Christina Van Horn, are godparents to two generations of the family of longtime employees Felipe and Martin Perez, whose dad also worked for us.
Where do we work?
We work in Albany, El Cerrito, Kensington, Piedmont, Berkeley and Oakland.
Do you design homes?
We work with an Albany designer who is very familiar with the local codes. Such knowledge is essential for obtaining a permit with the least hassle possible. Getting a permit from El Cerrito, Albany and Berkeley can take as long as a year, so you want your project designed by someone who knows what a city will and won’t approve. We will go through the hearing process with you and obtain the permit for you, or you can bring the permit to us.
We frequently work with outside architects, so if you already have your plans in progress, that’s not a problem.
How much will the work cost?
We develop a price from discussions with you about your needs, your budget and the plans. We prefer to negotiate prices with clients, rather than bid competitively. Working up a realistic bid is time-consuming, so we’re fortunate that usually our clients have already chosen us as their contractor, rather than putting their work out to bid. We then negotiate the price to one that meets your budget and aesthetic concerns. When clients do put their project out to bid, we rarely submit the low bid, because we give you the best value for your money, not the lowest price.
How do payments work?
Payments are linked to progress benchmarks and are spelled out in the contract. Additional costs, for example, are handled by change orders, which we work out with our clients.
Do we use subcontractors?
We work with subcontractors whom we have been hiring for years. This ensures that our clients get the best expertise available for these specialized professions. Among these are sheetrocking, tile, roofing, plumbing, electrical, flooring and heating.
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