De Mattei Construction Inc

A driver for this construction company almost ran me over as I was walking in my neighborhood. Even after he saw me he just kept going. I would not trust this company.

Unfortunately, a very disappointing local San Jose company. We live in the Rose Garden neighborhood, and would have loved to promote this neighborhood business. We found them overpriced and arrogant. They essentially lost interest, but did so in a condescending and diminishing manner, after we asked if they could do a major remodel in two phases — which we did with another team in the end, with great success. Save your money … there’s many others who do exceptional work for far less, and with a much better attitude. We ended up with a beautiful home completed by another contractor.
As for the reviewer who gives them 5 stars while commenting that things such as a basement that flooded, two floors full of cherry wood that had to be ripped out and redone, etc could have happened with any constructions company … hmmm, not a company that is worth anything.
Edit: We paid De Mattei $ 1000 on what was essentially a blueprint floor plan of our existing home. My comments are retrospective, written after I have gained experience as a homeowner who has remodeled one home, and built another from the ground-​up. I realized what value and professionalism are after working with other contractors, other design teams, and other construction companies.

John, I appreciate your comments and concern. You asked me to contact you however did not provide a way to do so. I did have an inspection on the property and no I am not an interloper. I can give you a perfect example of the quality of work that I am referring to — when you re-​stuccoed the house your sub stuccoed the rain gutters into the building and buried the ends in stucco which probably has nothing to do with CA building code but speaks to the quality. There are other issues but the remodel was done in 1998 — I doubt seriously De Mattei would do anything to correct them now.

If you’re considering hiring De Mattei — DO IT! It’s the best investment in our home that you can make!!!
De Mattei Constructioin is hands down THE BEST CONTRACTOR ON THE PLANET! :-) We LOVE De Mattei!!! And after you hear our story, you’ll love them too.
It took us 2 years, 3 months to get permits to re-​model our house in Palo Alto. Then, we endured 2 horrible contractors who left our house half built and not up to code. For example we had 22 windows on the 2^nd floor that couldn’t open because the slope of the roof was too low! We had steel beams sticking out of the basement floor that we didn’t need! We had no way of getting heating and plumbing to the 2^nd floor!
Our house was like one of those horror shows on HGTV — and you think, geez, those poor people. I was crying so much, my eyes swelled closed. It was the most emotionally and draining experience of our lives.
And then we got smart and hired De Mattei. De Mattei came in and saved the day! Within WEEKS of taking over the job, we had wall, windows, roof — it was a miracle. Not only did they fix everything the previous contractors did wrong, but they help us improve our design plans. Like adding closets, arches, windows, central vac, intercom system, media wiring, etc… all the little things that help make a house a home.
We love De Mattei Construction! I call them the matrix of construction, because with De Mattei on your side anything is possible. My family and I are forever grateful to De Mattei.
Hiring De Mattei is the BEST decision we ever made. They live to build. They are responsible, knowledgeable, kind, smart — and know what it takes to build a great house.
We actually passed the FINAL INSPECTION with the City of Palo Alto on the FIRST try. Which never happens. But De Mattei did it! :-)
Our house appeared in the PALO ALTO WEEKLY in the House and Design section.
Thank you De Mattei, we love you!

John, that is not at all true. I was hoping to work with De Mattei, but Bill wasn’t going to have it. I was told that I wouldn’t be able to afford them and that De Mattei would be at least $ 100K over any other estimate. Seems like Bill definitely didn’t want my business…

DeMattei is building a house for our neighbors across the street. We live on a very narrow street in Barron Park, Palo Alto, and they have done an amazing job of managing the construction site so that there has been minimal impact to our peace of mind. Quiet, orderly, considerate – they are a very impressive outfit! We were dreading the noise and heavy equipment vehicles that would be here for close to a year but we have been pleasantly surprised.

Having heard all sorts of horror stories about remodels gone wrong and incompetent contractors, I was dreading helping my parents with their bathroom remodels. After interviewing four contractors, we selected De Mattei — their bid was right in line with the others, not more as I expected. The project was completed on time (even though some of the fixtures we ordered arrived later than expected) and on budget. Change orders were handled quickly and without a fuss. The employees of De Mattei and their subs were a pleasure to work with! They showed up when they said they would and cleaned up after themselves. If we had any questions about materials or design, they had ideas and sources. If we had any questions about billing, they were very good about following up with the subs. And they handled any necessary permits and were on hand for city inspections. Can’t say enough nice things!

You’ve just spent a year or more of your life gathering your finances and working with friends, drafting people, architects, and the like to come up with your dream home.
It’s now time to pick a construction company. So you go and get 3+ bids. They’re all horrifically expensive and you can’t imagine spending that kind of money on a rebuild/​remodel. You don’t want to go with the cheapest, you want to go with the bid that is the most realistic, so you start really looking at their numbers. And realize that while DeMattei is one of the highest priced ones, they’re also probably the most accurate and thorough bid of all of them.
You engage them to build/​rebuild/​remodel your home. And then the fun really starts. All the decisions, all the timelines, if you’ve got to project manage at all at work or other parts of your life, it’s mind numbing to have to do it when you get home each night. You’ll be taking days off to shop for plumbing. You’ll be spending your weekends combing through magazines for colors and fabrics.
If you just sit back and let the construction company build your house and don’t get involved, you deserve what you get. It doesn’t matter who you hire – if you care about the outcome, you have to check in on the progress, check up on the details, double-​check things that are important to you. Because who is living in this house after they’re done? You.
When everything is going right, you could have hired the cheapest, slickest construction company on the block. But when everything is going wrong, that’s when you want a multi-​decade, family business to stand behind you and make things right.
DeMattei was that company for us. We hired them because they have decades of experience in this industry, because we wanted to be part of the DeMattei family of homes, and because when things went wrong – and they always do in one form or another – we wanted a strong, stable company that was willing to stand behind their work.
And let me tell you: things went wrong on our project. We had vents that were put in the wrong part of the roof. We had a basement that flooded. We had two floors full of cherry wood that had to be ripped out and redone. Was it infuriating? Absolutely. Were we cursing DeMattei’s name? You bet we were. Could this have happened with any construction company? Probably! But here’s where the rubber met the road: Unlike some others, that would hide behind contracts or plain not answer your calls, DeMattei responded RIGHT away, stood behind their work, made their subcontractors fix it, made sure everything was back the way it started, and didn’t charge us a single penny.
THAT’S what you want in a construction company. When crap happens, they whoosh in like Superman and MAKE IT RIGHT NO MATTER WHAT. Don’t pick a company just because of how they do when things go smoothly, pick a company because they save your ass when things fall apart. THAT is the true measure of a construction company. And for THAT I recommend DeMattei as a 5-​star company. You will NOT go wrong with them.
You can see pictures of our beautiful rebuilt home at:
…A