Hammerschmidt Construction

Quoted price then they came to start work one month later and raised the price. Workmanship was not up to par.

1) Nearly tripled from his oral estimate to his email estimate without any detailed proposal. It was odd as John did not seem an inexperienced person. It was our mistake to think we could give him second chance — lured by the awards list on his web site.
2) We went to him when the project got considerably bigger (thinking now it’s worth his attention). He suggested a design process (reasonable) — very eager to get us to sign a contract that only says hourly rate, but refuse to give any rough estimate how much time he needs to copy an already existing staircase design drawing, the only change is simplify it (remove a few elements), add engineering calculation.
3) Then he tells us we weren’t respecting his time by asking for estimate of construction. Hello? When are we talking about construction this time around? Thought we were just talking about design process. Trying to clarify our simple design requirement and see if he can tell us how much it would cost /​how much time he needs to do the drawings based on existing plan: 10 hours, 100 hours of work? Are we not supposed to know which range we are in?
Deeply disappointed, but learned a valuable lesson: trust your gut feelings. When something does not seem right, it most likely is not right!

We worked with John and his crew to renovate our 1930 cabin in the redwoods, a huge project in a small house (one wall left standing). Aside from being a fun guy to be around, John is unquestionably trustworthy and completely honest. He was recommended to me by the woman who used to cut my hair in Los Altos as the guy all the local folks went to for remodels and additions, noting that a very high percentage of his business is direct referral and repeat customers. I’m now one of the folks in his fan club. :)
Pros: Delivered on schedule and on fixed-​bid budget.
Excellent communication of status and action items all the way through the planning, execution and commission of the project.
Engaged in some leading edge items we wanted to implement (LED lighting) by inviting us to accompany him to workshops being held on the topic locally.
Added significant value to the design provided by the architect by enhancing the kitchen space and implementation details.
Awesome construction quality… we’re coming up on two years now and still marveling at the very fine detailing.
Cons: None that I can think of. He and his organization are really that good. We’d hire them again in a heartbeat, and recommend them to anyone wanting to do quality work on their home.

John and his crew are trust worthy and honest. I wanted a new look to the front of my house, John worked with me and gave me options and took his time to find something that work given we had an older house and the dimensions had changed. Their quotes are always on target there is no-​one coming back to me later saying ‘oh by the way’ we need this from you still because …
Crew would turn up when they said they would — in fact sometimes earlier than that! The work was completed when they estimated — on time, on budget what more do you want?

We hired Hammerschmidt as a the general contractor to put a new room in our house by installing a new floor over our existing living room. Had an excellent experience working with John Hammerschmidt and his staff. Quality of the work was good and the people he hired were solid. Work was done mostly on time and within reasonable range of the original estimate.