CAT Construction

I have worked with Graig on many high end remodels and other projects He is a great contractor from earthquake retrofit to fine finish interior trim work always taking pride in every job he does. I would highly recommend him for any of your construction projects.

As the proud owner of a 100-​year-​old home, I’ve dealt with many contractors. Among them, Craig Trotter stands out for his interest in restoration, broad knowledge and skills, reasonable pricing, and personal qualities of persistence, humor, and teamwork. Whether my house needed structural repair, or recreation of period detail, Craig had the experience, confidence, and contacts. I was also pleased by his ability to reuse materials. He took a pair of salvage-​yard exterior French doors, resized and fitted them perfectly to an odd-​size opening in the garage wall adjoining my patio, insisting on adding quality hardware. Every time I go outside, I appreciate that instead of just ordering custom doors, Craig cared enough to work with discards until they turned into functional and beautiful pieces. For this and many other unusually good jobs, I would definitely hire CAT Construction again

As an architect I collaborated with Craig on several projects, and find his work to be thorough, well thought out, and proper. He will pull together and manage an appropriate team to address complicated construction requirements and follow through to complete the agreed-​upon scope of work. He asks first if he prefers alternative methods to achieve a design objective, and has shown good sense and broad experience when we have those discussions. Craig is a hands-​on carpenter, and can do furniture-​grade custom work and repairs if the job requires it.

Craig did earthquake retrofit work on our house, working on the foundation & structural supports on the back wall that supports our 3 story house. Then he did lots of remodeling on the lower floor. He worked well with the architect & the engineer. He made sure he understood what was to be done, why, and how best to do it. Craig did most of the work himself — all the structural stuff, as well as installing new doors & windows, and finish carpentry. He hired & managed subcontractors to complete flooring, tile, and plaster work & made sure it was all high quality. He built a custom cabinet & towel rods to complete our remodeled bathroom. We are continuing to enjoy the work that was done & feel we’ve done what was needed to be ready for the next big one. It’s not easy to find someone to do quality work at a fair price, and in a timely fashion, but that is what we got!

We are extremely pleased with the interior finish carpentry which Craig did on the complete rebuild of our North Berkeley house in 2003. Having had contractor/​carpenters in the family who built houses by and for Maybeck we appreciate his attention to detail, his skill at fine carpentry, his use of specialized tools, and his experience. For example, all his wood window and door trim is expertly turned and beveled. All the trim and hardware was perfectly fitted. All the custom door and window fittings and tolerances are perfect 12 years on. No adustments have had to be made. Our guests continue to exclaim over the attractive appearance of his fine work incuding a custom fireplace mantel and surround designed to match the original period of our home (1924). He worked closely with us and was responsive to our input throughout the project. We would not hesitate to engage him again.

I have worked with Craig on several challenging projects that required a good degree of skill in interpreting plans and determining the optimal approach for construction. On all the projects that we worked together on, I found Craig to have an excellent grasp on the details and specs, thoughtful in his approach and planning and highly skilled in construction. I would highly recommend CAT construction.
Kamal S. Obeid,
Civil and Structural engineer.

I needed a new deck and side stairway for my house and I wanted to support a local East Bay contractor. I shopped around for a decent bid and ended up with CAT Construction. I am glad I ignored the previous reviews regarding CAT construction and Craig. The work he did was great and completed on time. He suggested certain materials and made me aware of the differences and the qualities in each. He was very professional onsite by keeping his tools and the workspace tidy when leaving for the day. He listened to my small concerns and addressed them in a professional manner. I was looking for someone who could build a quality deck and re-​build our back stairs at a reasonable price and that is definitely what I got! It’s been almost a year and I still love my deck!

I am so glad we ignored the previous reviews regarding CAT construction and Craig, because we could not be happier with the work that he has done for us. Maybe he is not the most personable person (we thought he was nice) but we were not looking for someone who received the personality of the year award, we were looking for someone who could build a quality deck and re-​build our back stairs at a reasonable price and that is what we got. It’s been over 6 months and we love our Oakland, CA deck! Hope this review does not get buried along with his other good reviews.

Craig is a VERY dangerous and hostile man with NO people skills!!!
He has a VERY big temper and thinks he is gods gift to earth :(He verbally assaulted my husband by calling him many bad names one morning. My husband had asked Craig to move his illegally parked work vehicle, which was in the middle of the road, he did not have his flashers on and it was totally blocking my husband from leaving our parking space. He got in my husbands face and really gave it to him. We LIVE in this area, Craig was merely working on one of his projects (I might add for almost a year)! He would consistently block people in with not one, but two work trucks and give MANY people who live in this area attitude. WTF, you have NO right to break the law while doing a simple, crappy construction job. This guy is a class act JOKE :)
PLEASE don’t use this loser, to add injury to insult, his personal style looks like he is stuck in the ’80’s ;)

I recently had the displeasure of «meeting» Craig Trotter, owner of CAT Construction, who’s been doing some work at my neighbor’s house near Park Blvd & Hollywood here in Oakland. Describing him as extremely unprofessional would be an understatement. After two or three mornings of double parking his truck in front of my car so he wouldn’t have to walk more than 20 feet to inspect his work site (there were plenty of open spots on the street for him to park), I had the gall one morning to ask him to move it so I could safely get into my car and on to my own job. The next thing I know the guy is in front of my car screaming at me like he has no idea why his obnoxious parking could be a problem. After pointing out to him the other available (legal) spots he could park and why this was a problem he continued to berate me, moving right up to my car window, leaning in, and screaming profanities in my face in a blatant attempt to intimidate and bully me. Not wanting a fight or to ruin my day over a parking dispute I backed off my request — especially since it was clear this asshole had no intention of respecting it. Not surprisingly he defiantly walked off to get on with HIS all-​important work and refused to move his truck. Before he did I asked him if he lived at the neighbor’s house. He said he did. He doesn’t. If you’re considering hiring Craig to do a job I cannot attest to the quality of his work. On the other hand, if you’re not the one actually paying him, be prepared to be treated like you’re one of his subservient workers — with nothing but contempt and disrespect. Needless to say I won’t be considering CAT Construction for any work on my homes or recommending him to any friends now or in the future. I look forward to seeing him leave my neighborhood.