Building Doctors

Dan and his team are amazing. Did a major energy upgrade at my silverlake home inclusive of injecting insulation into all exterior wall joints, sealing all attic and crawlspaces and upgrading our hvac system in our 1925 craftsman home. Dan knows his stuff as my home is at least 20 — 30% more efficient than it was prior. Used to be a 10 degree temperature swing from outside my front door to the interior of my home. Not anymore.
Dan also knows how to navigate the rebate and incentive programs through the city and state agencies.
If you are thinking of upgrading your home to be more energy efficient, call Dan and the Building Doctors.

Thank you Dan, Mark Hensley & Building Doctors! I am a sustainability (green) consultant. I am helping a client achieve a green building certification for their newly built homes. One of the necessary tests is a blower door test, to test the airflow/​exchange in the building. I had originally hired someone else to do the test, however that person cancelled last minute and the clients schedule was VERY tight. I was a bit frantic when I called Building Doctors on Friday to tell them that I needed the test done on Monday. Dan quickly facilitated the meeting on Monday with Mark. Mark was great, very thorough and explained the results in detail. The test is somewhat simple and straight forward but I will definitely call Mark/​building doctors in the future for my clients green building needs. (3^rd party tests, energy audits & most importantly green building upgrades/​retrofits). #HIGHFIVE

Building Doctors did an energy audit of our 1940s house, reducted, reinsulated and installed an entirely new HVAC system – two actually – for our 5000 s.f. property. I can’t recommend them highly enough. The house is strange, with big gaps in the roof that needed to be insulated, an unconventional layout, and some unpleasant surprises (a dead rat in the uptake vent; 60 years worth of rat feces raining down on the workers). The most important thing to know about Dan Thomsen is that he is very smart, committed to doing what makes the most sense logically, financially, and environmentally, and governed by integrity. We spent more than we would have with another contractor, who recommended that we only reduct the top floor «because the bottom floor is a big pain» and I know that in the long run we will have saved not just money but regret for not having taken the right path from the start. That said, Dan also knew where we could save money, and COMPLETELY HANDLED the energy rebate from the government. Who does that?! (Check came directly to us, but he did *all* paperwork and the city inspector who came to evaluate the job told me that Building Doctors’ work always gets approved, which he said was not true for most of the jobs he inspected. A rare, excellent, responsible contractor. You won’t be disappointed.

These guys were AWESOME! If I could give 10-​stars, I would. Friendly, Honest, and Professional. They restructured our vent system and now our HVAC is running properly. BD saved us from this heat wave!

We hired Building Doctors to do a sizable energy efficiency upgrade project. This included work in the attic, crawlspace, and major garage work to insulate, control temperature, control sound, etc.
We are very happy with the service Dan and Building Doctors provided. The initial consultation was much friendlier and honest than the competition. We felt much more secure with Dan’s knowledge and the quality of his initial assessment.
The project expanded as we decided we wanted to do more work than originally planned in the garage. They were accommodating and the project rolled out smoothly.
Dan did a tremendous amount of research to ensure I was getting the noise reduction for the garage I was looking for. I wanted insulation, new walls, sound reduction, higher efficiency, and temperature regulation. After much research and consultation we moved forward with the agreed upon plan and it was executed well.
Dan and his team were willing to come out as needed for small finishing touches, questions, etc. They certainly went above and beyond on multiple occasions.

Thanks very much, Building Doctors for the outstanding work.
Let me start off by saying that I decided to wait a year before writing this review just to see how the improvements to our house paid off and to see if any quality issues came up with their work. The year has passed and the work they did is worth every dime!
We hired them to do an energy audit on a 1932 house we had just bought. It’s our first home, so we bought a fixer-​upper, which meant we had no heating and cooling. The place was hot in the summer and cold in the winter… no fun.
The audit price felt expensive at first, but that’s before I understood what we were getting. The information about energy efficiency, and the level of detail they provided in suggestions for improvement was really quite awesome. The services they priced out for us were nicely tailored to our house and there were no hard sales pitches. Instead, they simply just armed us with information and we did the choosing. They made it clear that no project was too small, and helped us prioritize.
In the end, we enrolled in a city pilot program for heating your home using a tankless water heater, had them install AC, and made major upgrades to our energy efficiency, including air sealing and adding insulation. I can’t express enough how much those last two improvements (sealing and insulation) made a difference. Building doctors told us it would, and they weren’t kidding.
Because we wanted to claim state and city energy efficiency credits, there was quite a bit of paperwork, but they handled nearly everything. For any forms or surveys that we needed to complete for the pilot project, we were given a heads-​up well in advance. And the end result was a big payoff in savings.
The crew are friendly, hard-​working, and dedicated. They are a small business with a focus on doing the right thing.
As with all projects, there is room for error. And their one mistake was a worker who missed a large section when insulating one of our walls. But on the exit energy audit, they caught the mistake themselves and came the next day to fix it. I wasn’t thrilled about the mistake, but extremely pleased with the response. They could easily have let this slip by… and they didn’t.
I’m pretty particular about knowing all the details, and they answered every question with a tremendous level of knowledge. If you have an interest in energy efficiency, and knowing the nuts and bolts, these are your guys. Their owner, Dan, is a pro and a leader in the field. And the best part, he’s involved in the project through most every step. On the last day of work, Dan came out and helped his crew finish with some insulation work. Yep, he was up on the ladder himself getting it done.
Last thing: If you decide to try a big box store to install heating or AC, you’ll really miss out on a first class experience with this team. We called Sears and had them come to do an estimate before hiring Building Doctors, and it was clear the only aim of that sales team was to sell us the largest heating and cooling system they could, while telling us that everything they sold was «efficient». In the end, we ended up with an AC and heating system that was half the size (and cost) of what Sears would have sold us, and it works perfectly.
Overall, we couldn’t be happier with the work.

I was fortunate enough to win a home energy audit from these guys.
The audit was extremely thorough and showed me some options as to what we could do make our home more energy efficient.
We opted for wall, attic, and crawlspace insulation.
The work took a few days longer than expected. But they did a really good job.
Would I use the Building Doctors for another job? I plan on it.
Thanks guys!

Here’s an update. The owner contacted me after seeing my Unilocal review. Apparently, he had sent a new estimate, but e-​mailed it to a different customer by accident. He was apologetic for the oversight and asked me to reconsider the Unilocal review. He also noted that half of the cost of the audit would be refunded if we had them do additional services. I didn’t realize that point and it does seem reasonable.
So, my assessment would be 4.5 stars. Since Unilocal doesn’t allow us to give half stars, I’ll give them the benefit of a doubt and raise it to 5.
We have been toying with the idea of having them do some work. If we do, I’ll update this review with more info in the future.

Dan is a fine and extraordinary knowledgeable gentleman. I needed some assistance regarding air conditioning and he provided both the service and the support that I needed. I am very grateful as I couldn’t find anyone generous enough to take the time till I came upon Dan. He and his people get the job done quickly and provide the information that you need to make an informed decision by educating you, the homeowner. A very good thing, indeed.

Dan and The Building Doctors did extensive surgery on my house! It’s a 1923 Spanish (no insulation). The BDs gave me new Heating and AC, full insulation in the attic, walls, crawlspaces etc. My electric/​gas bills are substantially lower but most importantly, my house remains at a comfortable temperature all the time and I rarely use the AC/​Heat. Previously, it would be unbearably hot in the summer (even with the AC on full blast) and when it was cold outside, the heat would have to run ²⁴⁄₇ since it escaped almost immediately upon turning off the furnace. Their crew was great… very respectful of my belongings. I was able to take advantage of the Energy Upgrade California Program. Dan and his staff handled most of the paperwork. I am a REALTOR, so I am constantly asked for referrals. I have and will highly recommend the Building Doctors.

The Building Doctors performed a thorough energy audit in my home and identified problem spots I was never aware of. Their report was so easy to read, and outlined the most cost effective fixes. They completed the ones I chose, and my energy bills dropped over 40%!
These guys were so nice, extremely knowledgeable and their crew took great care of my home when they were working on it. I would recommend them to anyone who wants to save some money on their bills and finally have a better more optimized home. We were so excited that this worked.