It’s a new tradition! We want more transparency in construction business, so we are posting these authentic interviews with customers to show everyone not only the goods, but sometimes the bads. We believe it doesn’t hurt us to talk about the truth as it sets realistic expectations and it keeps us motivated to improve our process.

Our project in Fremont, CA with Arti was to remodel their family’s kitchen and first floor flooring. We also redid part of her ceiling to make it level with the rest of the kitchen/family room. Arti was referred to us by Sandhya, who’s a Realtor in the SF Bay Area. Great agent if you are looking for one.

Han: How would you rate us from 1-10?

Arti: I’d give it an 8. But there’s definitely room for improvements.

Han: What are the things that we did well?

Arti: I think you have a really good crew. They are really really good. When they are here, they are on time, early in the morning. They’d do their stuff, clean up and leave. I think the crew is solid. Their skillsets and time management. That I’d definitely recommend.

And also right from the beginning, right, Jin has been extremely responsive, you have been extremely responsive. We like the fact that you guys are using modern tools like Monday.com and document everything along the way. We also like your material shopping list that helps us figure out all the details.

Han: What about some of the stuff you think we can improve going forward?

Arti: In terms of improvement, it’s good that you have Jin as the construction manager, you as the program manager, and you guys respond so quickly. But the communication between you, me and the crew sometimes could be off. Like the renovation timing, there’s that time where you and the crew were not saying the same thing, which was confusing for us. The lighting change order was not communicated well, we wish that we were informed with all the options earlier. There’s also that time where I thought we were meeting at the countertop store, but there was miscommunication about the plan.

Lastly was that the crew was using our backyard to cut tiles, wash paint brushes, which I understand — they need a space to do that stuff. But I guess I would have hoped that we have communicated earlier about those details beforehand so that we can maintain a degree of cleanliness around the house.

Han: Alright, thanks for sharing your feedback.

Arti: Absolutely.

We have already updated our operation process to address the 2 main problems that Arti pointed out. 1) Communication, we are planning to do more daily progress summaries with each crew at the end of a working day. 2) Cleanliness, although the jobsite is bound to get messy during construction, going forward we’ll create a list of items that helps homeowners make choices on designating a spot on the property for operating machineries, washing paint brushes, etc. Hopefully that gives the homeowner enough of a heads up and they can plan accordingly.

Overall, it was a good project. We are happy that Arti is happy. She’s planning to redo her staircase with us and maybe some more work around her house. On to the next one!