Berkeley Craftsmen General Contractors Inc

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.

Dream team. Mark, Trenton, Andrew and Michael were incredible and we honestly could not have asked for a better team. We hired Berkeley Craftsmen to do our second floor home addition in Rockridge. They were amazing and made our renovation project an *enjoyable* experience. Our project was done a month EARLY and on budget. To top if off, their work and attention to detail was incredible - we wanted to maintain many of the original craftsmen details of our home, like wood floor detailing and window trim, and they were able to do so throughout. Their subcontractors were great, communication was just right and execution was seamless. Updates were provided on a consistent basis and we were notified immediately if any issues arose and given several options for solutions. They were so knowledgeable and hardworking - we trusted them implicitly. We were so pleased with the process and couldn't be happier about the finished product.

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 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.

Well, I rarely write one of these kinds of evaluations, but I have just finished a major remodel of my Berkeley shingle home in North Berkeley, with every room touched, and I had a GREAT experience. Berkeley Craftsmen, owned by Michael and Mark Butler, brothers: On time, on budget, great subs, excellent foreman at the property daily, fabulous communication, excellent business office, fun collaboration between Berkeley Craftsmen, Amato Architects and me in terms of some of the smaller design decisions, fast completion of that final ‘punch list’….what more could one want?! Fabulous!

Berkeley Craftsmen did a total renovation of our kitchen. This included widening a doorway and installing new windows as well as the usual. The custom cabinets came out beautifully, the tile work installed perfectly, the existing cherry floors were sanded and refinished by their sub-contractor beautifully. The entire crew was professional, efficient, friendly and a pleasure to work with. From the initial design considerations through to the finishing touches we were exceedingly pleased with Berkeley Craftsmen and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.

We hired Berkeley Craftsmen for a major remodel of our duplex. The house originally had two equally sized units (one upstairs, one downstairs), and through the project we created a larger unit (downstairs plus 1/2 upstairs) for our family and a smaller unit (1/2 upstairs) to rent. The project involved demolition, substantial engineering and reframing work, total replacement of plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems, building two internal staircases, adding one bathroom, remodeling two existing bathrooms, remodeling a kitchen, adding three new decks, and lots of interior carpentry details. We had a great experience in all respects. The results are amazing. We would work with Berkeley Craftsmen again in a heartbeat. The team is full of kind, hardworking and talented people. Michael and Mark have a ton of experience, love their jobs, and are about the nicest people you will ever meet. They helped us make all the hard decisions by listening to our thoughts, proposing creative solutions, and providing timely information about costs of different options. Communication was excellent all around, including clear instructions from them on exactly what we needed to do to keep the project moving. José and Andy, the lead carpenters on our project, cared for our house like it was their own and worked hard to make sure the project moved forward as quickly as possible. We saw a lot of those guys, and couldn’t have asked for nicer, more helpful, or more talented carpenters. We got to know a lot of the subcontractors as well, and without exception they did great work with care and dedication. The subcontractors clearly have an excellent relationship with Berkeley Craftsmen and went above and beyond for our project. We agreed on a budget at the start of the project, and that’s exactly what they charged us. The invoicing was clear and transparent. Thank you Berkeley Craftsmen!

We hired Berkeley Craftsmen to do a major house remodel and addition. Either we got lucky or they are that good. Our old 2-storey house, built in the 19th century, still looks the same on the outside. Actually it looks almost the same inside as well but the plumbing, the heating, the electrical and everything behind the walls has been renewed. The visible changes inside and out were done with a lot of care to make sure the character of the house remained the same. They even found a guy who does ironwork to put in a railing on the front steps that looks like it has always been there--a sign of true genius in my opinion. The whole project got done on time and on budget. We are delighted! I guess they really are that good.

Great construction work and project management throughout the process. Communication, project closeout and wrap up was disappointing. Would recommend generally.

Berkeley Craftsmen handled a large renovation project for us in 2009. We remain thrilled with the results. In the ensuing years we have been reminded how lucky we were to make the choice to hire Berkeley Craftsmen. A few times when we have needed advice or a referral for some small additional work, Mark Butler has been incredibly quick, gracious and helpful in pointing us in the right direction. More than a few times he has stopped by to survey what we're up to before making a recommendation. A few weeks ago Mark reset the bar for standout help. We suddenly had a few cracked glass tiles in our shower. We weren't sure where to start in figuring out what was going on. A day after we emailed Mark asking for advice he swung by the house (and to be clear--he is way too busy to have done this easily) and ended up diving into our uncomfortable crawl space to check if there was something funky going on with the foundation, or a leak. Luckily, nothing major was found. But we still needed to replace the cracked tile. Since Berkeley Craftsmen had done the original work, Mark insisted his team would handle the repair. What we thought would be a fairly quick project became a bit more involved than any of us anticipated, but Andy, who is on the Berkeley Craftsmen team, was fantastic throughout. In typical Berkeley Craftsmen character, Andy went above and beyond. We were responsible for picking up some new grout. We thought we had matched the color of the existing grout, but after installation it was clear we were more than a few shades too light. It was our mistake, and we just figured we would have to live with it. But Andy would have none of that. He took the initiative to to order grout stain that he knew would be a good match...and a week later he returned to finish the project. We can't tell where the new tiles meet the old tiles. If you're looking for not just quality workmanship, but quality human beings to do that work, you need not look further than Berkeley Craftsmen.

This was the second time completing a major remodel. First time, I couldn't wait to push the contractor out the door and I still roll my eyes when I think of him. Second time around was like night and day. Mark and Michael Butler and their lead Jose were just wonderful. I can't say enough good things about them. Their attention to detail was amazing. They were very transparent, I knew exactly what was happening and when. And most amazingly, even though remodeling is stressful, I felt comforted knowing that I was in good hands because they dealt with City of Berkeley, the subcontractors, and I didn't have to stay up at night wondering if they were cutting corners. If I ever have to go through another remodel, I won't hesitate to contact them.

Berkeley Craftsmen made our new addition project a huge success. I'd definitely recommend them. We added a new master bedroom/bathroom suite and a small family room, plus a small deck in the back. - They are up front and honest about costs and contract provisions. They did a lot of work up front with us to make sure we had the project scope priced out correctly. He was able to work with us to find ways to reduce costs, but also helped keep us from making penny wise, pound foolish mistakes that we'd regret later. - THEY WERE ON TIME!!!! The project took the amount of time they told us it would. And the handful of little punchlist items got taken care of promptly. - They also helped us to help them stay on time. They gave us a schedule of when we needed to make certain decisions by so that they could procure the right materials. And by planning ahead, we were able to minimize mid-stream design changes and the associated costs to redo work. - They are courteous and friendly. They really understand that when they come to work, they are in your home. They minimized interruptions and work to tie into the existing house, worked around our schedule, and kept our living space clean and usable. They were always willing to answer our questions and address any concerns we had.