Constraction reviews in Berkeley, California

I had the pleasure working with George and his crew to complete a major renovation to my home in Berkeley including full kitchen, and the construction of a new bathroom, with structural upgrades. George was great to work with from the initial meeting to the last inspection, he was always upfront, honest and kept the project moving. Issues always come up with any remodel but George was great to work with in solving them. I have a few more projects in mind, and George will be my choice going forward.

Stephen B

We are very happy to have chosen Tinka Construction to remodel our bathroom. The result is exceptional. George was always quick to respond to any of my texts and emails no matter what the news may be. Our bathroom needed a complete teardown to expanding one wall out an additional foot. His crew was outstanding whether it be reconstruction of a wall, plumbing, electrical, painting or cleanliness. And to complement George's crew, he uses highly skilled third-party specialty contractors, such as, for our custom shower install. What amaze us most was how the work was all done as seamless as possible by being creative and resourceful at solving any potential obstacles or issues. We are looking to hiring George and his crew again on another project.

I bought a new home and I didn't hesitate to contact George again to remodel my whole condo this time. In less than 3 months he was able to finish everything, which includes a new kitchen and living room, 2 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, one laundry room and one walk-in closet. The estimation I got from other contractors was more than double the time!
George was very nice to help with getting the San Francisco permits and all the materials I needed to buy. This was my first time doing such a major work and he was there at every step consulting and helping with everything.
My new home was a complete disaster so it was needed to do everything from scratch, all the plumbing and electrical. I still can't believe he was able to finish everything so fast!
Everything is looking so gorgeous now and I'm getting so many compliments!

Amazing kitchen renovation and experience working with Tinka Construction. George and his team truly transformed my vision to reality. They made my kitchen a little beauty! I highly recommend them for any home remodeling!

George helped us with a complete remodel for our home in Berkeley. He and his crew (Oni, Enrique, Marvin, Wuillian) are extremely smart, honest, professional and creative. His pricing is also reasonable and transparent.

We started with an awkward layout (even no room for fridge in the kitchen!) and ended with a tastefully transformed home: open, modern and feels much more spacious than before. George is patient, transparent, detail oriented (with a special eye for safety!) and always a clever problem solver on behalf of his clients. What he did for our project was too much to list, but I'm attaching a few photos where the end results can speak for itself!

Contractors like George is hard to come by and highly sought after in the current environment, we would recommend him to any one who values craftsmanship and quality!

George Catalin is a great contractor and a good man, skilled where it counts and it shows in the results of his work.

When hardly any other contractors would even respond to my emails as we looked for bids to remodel three of our bathrooms, George responded immediately and let me know his availability, even though it wasn't for a few months.

After that time, he was more than happy to listen to everything we had envisioned in the remodel and respectfully put in input based on his knowledge and expertise. He was honest every step of the way and leveled with me even if it wasn't necessarily to his advantage. That type of personality is invaluable to us when dealing with important and personal work in our home.

George and his team were flexible when needed and courteous when in our home. George, Oni, Omar and the rest of the team were a pleasure to see during the project, and were happy to oblige when we needed some extra odds and ends done in our projects that weren’t listed in our original contract. They had no reservations when asked to work later in the day or come back the next day to finish one of the stages a little earlier than planned in order to better fit our schedule.

I would recommend Tinka Construction and George to anyone who is looking for a general contractor who is knowledgeable, honest, skilled and, simply put, has left us very satisfied with how our projects have turned out. We're excited to see our new bathrooms whenever we walk inside, and will call George when it's time for the next project on our home.

George and his team worked on an extensive residential renovation project with us including transforming our basement into a second, separate living unit (ADU). He took our (very) rough design and brought it to life, although we did end up having to create drawings and manage the permitting process.

The project included major non-structural changes, a renovated kitchen, all new flooring throughout, interior/exterior doors, all new electrical throughout, coordination with other trades (HVAC, roofers, and solar), tree trimming/landscaping, new lighting, a bathroom renovation, and new insulation and drywall.

George was very knowledgeable about the inspection process and passed every inspection. His crew also left a clean job site each day, something I see as a mark of a crew that really cares about their work. Their attention to detail is also impressive, with good craftsmanship apparent in the final result.

Overall we are very happy with George's work and would absolutely hire him again. He is a genuinely good person and provided fair prices, even throwing in some additions along the way. Check out some of the photos!

I used Tinka Construction for a major remodel I did of my kitchen and bathroom last year (as well as painting, new electrical, and refinished wood floors). George was friendly and and professional throughout the process and the work he delivered was reasonably priced and well executed. I have to say that it was probably a bigger job then anticipated. My home is very old and hadn't had a major remodel in 40 years or so. We had a lot of expectations and were fairly picky about the how the job got done. George was great and worked with us throughout the whole project to get us the kitchen and bathroom remodel of our dreams!

My interior design firm had the pleasure of partnering with Berkeley Craftsmen on a 5,000 square foot renovation - not only did they deliver on time and on budget, but they were a joy to work with! The team expertly project-managed every phase of the project with transparency and levity. True to their namesake, their craftsmanship is unparalleled - for the primary bathroom, when it looked like the grout lines weren't going to line up from the walls to the ceiling, they took 1/8" off of every ceiling tile and didn't charge uncharge the client for the additional work! The clients have been so satisfied that the scope continues to expand. We are now working on an ADU in the back of the house!

They built me the studio I had always wanted right in my backyard. Mark Butler and his crew were truly amazing and we came in on target and on time. I got my house earthquake retrofitted and my basement made more spacious at the same time--due to concrete work we needed to make a foundation for my new studio. This this was a comprehensive multi-step project and Mark lead this extremely well from beginning to end.

They help me save tons of money by connecting me to an architect that was in her 70s and new exactly what we needed to draw and didn't have any need to impress her genious upon the situation. She simply, carefully matched the style of architecture that already existed in my home, something that I had said that's very important to me, and wisely said if you're looking for any answers or details that aren't in the drawings, just look at the original home and they will be there.

That honestly saved me $10K minimum and I didn't have to suppress any other architects that wanted to make a buck or make a statement at my expense. That was really truly the best advice. Then Mark thoughtfully carried out all of our plans.

I honestly cannot recommend these people enough--they are superb, honest good folks make really great spaces.

We can’t say enough good things about Berkeley Craftsmen. They’ve done three projects for us over the past four years; the most recent one was a kitchen remodel in spring 2018. We’re still in awe over how beautiful our new kitchen looks and how functional it is. To say it exceeds our expectations is an understatement. We can’t thank Berkeley Craftsmen enough. They are extremely careful, conscientious, organized, meticulous with details and friendly as well. There isn’t another contractor we would want to work with. Over the years, Mark Butler has given us a tremendous amount of time, help and advice as we’ve worked thru one issue after another stabilizing and updating our 1940 house in El Cerrito. We couldn’t have done it — doors, windows, kitchen, bathrooms, plumbing, wiring, floors, painting, stucco work, insulation & cottage repairs — without his steadfast help, encouragement, support and great advice. They get five stars from us.

We are new homeowners and hired Berkeley Craftsmen to do the first set of big projects on our house and had a fantastic experience. They replaced a deck, installed fencing, removed an internal chimney that affected 3 levels of the house including our tenant’s unit on the first level, and completed a number of smaller interior projects (e.g., closed off some walls to create a bonus room, installed an attic stairway and storage space, refinished wood flooring).

Throughout the entire process, the head contractors, the foreman, and all the crew were incredibly professional and friendly to work with. The first couple weeks of the project were critical, as we wanted major work related to the chimney removal to be completed during the limited time we vacated the property and we also wanted to limit the time our tenant’s unit was affected. Berkeley Craftsman was right on track and stuck to schedule so that our living arrangement for those couple weeks was minimally affected. For the remainder of the project while we were living on the premise, they were very respectful and did the best they could to clean things up at the end of the day so that our space was usable. They were extra careful since they knew we had a toddler at home. In a few years, we hope to redo our kitchen and add another bathroom, and we definitely plan to reach out to Berkeley Craftsmen to do that work.

We undertook a very extensive renovation of our house in El Cerrito, and met with Berkeley Craftsmen on the recommendation of our architect. We are so eternally grateful for the introduction, and for their availability in taking on our project. I truly can't express adequately what a wonderful job they did building our home. The care and attention to every little detail, the excellence of every aspect of the work, and above all the quick, clear and responsive communication, at every stage of the huge project, were all outstanding. Mark Butler has continued to follow up long after most of the crews have gone, personally coming by to finish small punch-list items, making sure we are 100% satisfied.

This project was very extensive, like down to the studs, with new foundation and drainage elements, all new interiors with drywall, new floors, complete new plumbing and electrical system, new exterior, solar system, windows, doors, everything, and we are completely in love with everything BC and all their subcontractors did for us.

I can't recommend them highly enough, truly an exceptional company. It restores one's faith that there are still true craftsmen in the world who take their jobs seriously, and believe in honesty and integrity.

I am evaluating options for my first major whole-house remodel, and as part of that convoluted quest, I have found the feedback from Berkeley Craftsmen to be both thoughtful and informative. Michael & Lauren have been generous with their time, as well as with authentic assessments and guidance. There is really no doubting either BCs commitment to supporting the most rational approaches to a given project/purpose, nor their commitment to client service. The experience was night and day compared to the “hey, sure we can do it, whatever your budget!” hustle of so many contractors. Bottom line, get in touch if you’re considering a high-touch, high quality local project!

We hired Berkeley Craftsmen for a major remodel of a 1932 house, and they exceeded our expectations in every possible dimension. It is exceedingly rare to find all the qualities you want in a general contractor—top to bottom throughout an organization—but Berkeley Craftsmen delivered them all: exceptional competence and skill, absolute reliability and trustworthiness, meticulous attention to detail, and a genuinely delightful team to work with.

They should really be called Berkeley Perfectionists—in the best sense of the term. We would walk through the house, and someone would suggest moving something “one inch,” and every time they were right. It’s hard to believe, but they cared about our house just as much as we did.

The entire team worked incredibly hard and steadily over the course of ten months. Even when we expanded the project scope—sometimes at their insistence, because they were committed to doing things properly—they stuck to the schedule and finished on the promised date. Literally no one could believe it, but we moved in on the day we had agreed to at the start.

We cannot speak highly enough of the integrity, craftsmanship, and quality of Berkeley Craftsmen’s work. And just as important, we were lucky to enjoy the camaraderie and collaboration that came with working alongside this remarkable team.

I'm a Bay Area architect and it's been a pleasure working with Devon and the team at Vought Construction on a complex remodel and addition project on a hillside lot in Mill Valley. From start to finish, they executed a complex project effortlessly.

In my experience, Vought Construction embodies the qualities of a great contractor: excellent communication, clear pricing, a strong ability to execute technical details, and terrific project management. They're incredibly responsive and great at providing feedback on initial pricing during the pre-construction stage, as well as on scope changes throughout the project. Everyone from the project managers to the subcontractors is highly skilled and embraces a collaborative approach. They are client-focused and committed to building trust among all team members.

Devon was in charge of our custom home construction for our new home. He did a fantastic job and his professionalism and attitude is stellar. Equally importantly, I am still in touch with Devon and he is still so responsive when I need advice on anything to do with the house. He's fabulous. Thank you, Devon!

The most competent, communicative, clear, and skilled contractors I have ever worked with. High integrity and I recommend them highly.

I got to see the crew at this company up close, having built two houses with them. Their approach to problem solving with eventually saved us money on our projects. They are the best!

I hired Vought Construction to work on my Berkeley property. Devon Vought has the most professional team I've ever worked with in the construction industry. They're absolutely #1 on my list.

I recently worked with Vought construction on a remodel and I would definitely recommend them. The attention to detail and professionalism made the whole process that much easier. Their crew was great and finished the project on time and on budget.