Lee Tollefsrud

We used Lee for a living room remodel, which turned out to be a bit tricker than expected. He nailed it — to the point that we paid him extra (on top of a fixed bid job)
We refreshed our primary living area this winter. The job included wall cabinets that we fabricated offsite, new fireplace surfacing, wall tiles that were placed on top of old brick, some audio-​visual cable runs, new lighting, and more. We remained at home during the remodel, and were hoping to minimize the impact on our living area while the work was being done.
Lee went above and beyond on the job. He was patient, meticulous, thoughtful, and creative. He was considerate of our living space. He cleaned up at night. He communicated with us in the right cadence. He stuck to his original bid despite some changes along the way. He worked with some very tricky custom wood tiling that would have driven a lesser person mad. He took pride in the job, and didn’t fold in the face of some significant job challenges. He was courteous to me, my wife, our kids, and our nanny.
I highly recommend Lee if you have a job that needs to be done RIGHT. Lee is a good guy that does good work — which seems to be scarce these days.

Lee completed an extensive multi-​faceted project for me this summer: new deck, complete kitchen and dining-​room remodel, solar skylight install, half-​bath install, and washer-​dryer re-​locate and install. Thank you, fellow Unilocalers, for helping me find him because he did an excellent job, is 100% trustworthy, a joy to work with, and his rates are extremely fair for such high quality work, follow-​up, and attention to detail. He personally does a lot of the work, and is particularily gifted in lighting design and finish carpentry. His mad skills really shone with measuring for and installing new Marvin tilt-​pac windows — not an easy task on an old house completely lacking in right angles. Speaking of mad skills, though reluctant because he had never worked with this material before, he installed an American Tin tile backsplash behind my stove, and did a superb job matching the edges to the scalloped line of the cabinet skirts.
Lee chooses sub carefully for quality and integrity of work. Example: my 1924 built house’s oak floor was in rough shape, almost splintered in a few area, with water damage from decades ago. I ended up opting for all new oak strip flooring throughout. One morning on my way out the door I ran into his flooring sub John, who stopped to chat while his helpers set up. In the course of our conversation I found out he’d done floors for lots of ultra-​high-​end properties including those of some well known bay-​area billionaires, and often gets called in after ‘the other guys mess up’. So. I asked himH a. Why don’t those big shots just hire him from the get-​go?, and b. How in the heck did my little shotgun shack in the flats rate his bid?! He said it’s because those big contractors play games and waste his time, but not Lee, he said Lee is a straight-​shooter who never bleeps around so he’s always happy to do a job for him when available.
It’s your lucky day if your project ends up being a good fit with Lee. I’ve been in my little bungalow here in Oakland for 20 years, and now with this fab remodel job, I’m all set to enjoy the next 20. I’m already compiling a list for my next project and hope to hire him again should I be so fortunate!

Lee just completely renovated our bathroom; he did the carpentry and electrical work and provided the plumber, drywaller and tiler as subcontractors. We could not be happier! Work went smoothly, all workers were pleasant to work with, everyone was on time and careful. They did a great job of protecting our house (the hallway floors) from damage. Lee pays attention to detail and has a nice eye for aesthetics. His price was not low but was fair and honest — and you do get what you pay for! I hope to use him for future work we might want.

Excellent attention to detail, thorough until completion, Skilled, trustworthy and reliable, Lee’s professional expertise and friendly demeanor make it a pleasure to get all the little domestic fix-​me-​ups done, making a world of difference in day-​to-​day life.
I highly recommend Lee for handiwork, reasonable pricing, and also for solid advice on estimates and recommendations/​solutions that work best for my family’s Home. I’ve known Lee for almost 10 years. Yes, you should call him right now.

After an (only) bathroom renovation, Lee is still my favorite contractor. Our small bathroom had cracked violent violet tile, battered/​abused fixtures and a creaky floor by the toilet that screamed «wood rot!» Lee undertook to do a studs-​off renovation. He sistered the damaged joists, and brought plumbing and wiring to code. The entire job was done on time, with permits, looks beautiful, works great and was within the budget, even with additions/​extras. Very happy with my updated and serene aqua blue bathroom :-)

Lee was really easy to work with. He connected us with SBK in Oakland, and the combined outcome was just the kitchen remodel we hoped for.

Lee has done an outstanding job for us. We’ve been using him for several months since we bought our home in early December 2012. He is incredibly patient with our indecision at times (first time homeowners). And, he always keeps his word and follows through. I feel very comfortable with whomever he assigns to various jobs, etc.
Right now he’s helping us with our back yard deck (a deck extension using Trex composite decking) and it’s looking great. He’s also helped us with our low budget upgrade of an 80’s bathroom. Everyone did a great job and he came to look at all work and checked quality and how we felt about the jobs each time.
Also, Lee has a really good strategic, artistic mind. I would HIGHLY recommend hiring him from any design standpoint. I trust his judgment. I cannot wait till we have enough to do some real big jobs here — Lee will be our guy.

Lee recently remodeled our kitchen and we were very happy with his work. He pays close attention to detail and has a good eye for aesthetics which I found helpful. The price he quoted us was very reasonable and he continued to be very fair with cost changes as they arose. He does very good work and I would highly recommend him.

Lee does all of our carpentry work. He built us a new fireplace, remodeled a bathroom, replaced the fences and all our handyman work. His work is exceptional.

Lee has done beautiful work on a number of carpentry projects in our home including deck stairs, a new front door and designing and executing a handsome fence. He is time conscious, communicative and reasonable. All three experiences with him have been 100% positive.

Lee does beautiful work. He created a frame for a doorway in a tricky place that had previously had no door, then fitted a new door perfectly into it. He wrote me a very clear estimate, itemizing everything, showed up on time, did careful work, cleaned up meticulously, and then charged me $ 80. less than his stated price, because the door wasn’t as expensive as he’d originally estimated. He can do carpentry, plumbing, bathroom and kitchen remodels, and he’ll be at the top of our list for the next household project!
his email is: