Jon Braham – JB Builders

In fall 2014, Jon rebuilt the front stairs to our 130 year-​old house. Working on an old Victorian takes lots of patience and creativity, and fortunately, Jon has a lot of both. He is also one of the most professional contractors we have ever worked with: he was extremely timely, prompt and reliable and worked full days. He also maintains really good housekeeping at the worksite. If he couldn’t make it to the house one day, he let us know… contractor we’ve worked with just wouldn’t show up.
But even more importantly, there was constant dialogue about the progress of the project, we collaboratively discussed issues that came up and agreed upon solutions. Jon has a lot of good ideas and is an excellent problem solver (again, of which there are many in an old house). His strong attention to detail is a real plus as well: there are personal touches on the staircase that make the staircase look very classy. We literally smile every time we climb our front steps. His prices are right on target and extremely competitive.
After the staircase was complete, he moved onto the restoring the front façade of the house: adding back historic decorative and window trims, opening up the doorway to its historic configuration, and waterproofing the entire front façade before it was painted. He collaborated with the painter on the waterproofing and worked overtime to ensure all improvements to the structure itself were completed so that the painters could remain on schedule.
Jon is a top notch contractor. His professionalism, attention to detail, friendly nature and great communication skills really set him apart from others. I would definitely hire him to do additional work and would highly recommend him to others.

Jon was truly amazing. He has now renovated our entire condo in three separate projects (two bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen, living room, hallway). I had never done a renovation before our first project, and Jon spent a huge amount of time helping me plan everything and making sure that I felt comfortable with the process.
Through all three projects, Jon was incredibly professional, organized, and such a great person to work with. He was excellent at communicating progress and any snags as soon and as clearly as possible. He answers all of his emails and texts promptly, and I never felt like I couldn’t call him about anything. He is an expert problem solver, and was really helpful for coming up with new ideas that I hadn’t even thought of yet.
On all three projects, he finished on time (except the kitchen, which was the fault of the cabinet manufacturers) and within the budget. We had gotten other estimates that were lower, but with all of the horror stories I have heard about projects costing twice the budget and taking three times as long as planned, I felt like his budgets and timelines were the most realistic. And they were. In addition, Jon took care of all of the permitting and inspections, and the team of subcontractors with whom he has long-​term established relationships was great.
After working with Jon for three years now, our condo looks AMAZING. He has terrific attention to detail, as well as the ability to keep the big picture in mind. I would absolutely hire Jon for any renovation project, and would recommend him without reservation to anyone.

Horror Story. Poor expectation management. Fortunately parted ways before too much work was done.
We hired Jon based on the glowing reviews. It felt like a good idea at the time.
Jon engaged and promised to start a small part of the project right away.
Months later he came back and said «it would just be a good idea to wrap that little job into the larger work». He then pushed off the start date for that larger work by six months (!).
He was ineffective with any electronic communications in any medium. He reqired in-​person meetings or one-​hour phone calls to make progress. That may have been the conflict in cultures. He was ineffective in telling us deadlines or clear ‘if-​then’ statements. With him we engaged substantial subcontractors for preparatory work. With these contractors, he started to tear up the place (walls, floors, ceiling) to explore what is possible.
He only gave «uncomfortable» and «anxious» about the permitting process. Then he started complaining. While I am on vacation and thirty (30!) days before demolition start, he says that he has taken on other work and isn’t now available. He says he doesn’t know when he will know. It takes twenty-​five minutes to get that he is just backing out and leaving us hanging. Most, if not all of the that (paid) work with him and his subcontractors was wasted and time was lost. ‘Disappointed’ is the most generous that I can generate. More appropriate:
Unprofessional. A mistake.

Jon came into our remodel project after we had already removed our kitchen, but had no real plan on how to get through the actual remodeling job!
Jon took the reins, made a plan, and in a mere 6 weeks, we were through demo, reframing, plumbing, rough electrical, sheetrock, and trim work.
Our 1000 sq. ft. 1^st floor is looking awesome, and has been done beautiful and by the book because of Jon’s extensive knowledge and diligence.

We hired Jon to come in and do a full kitchen remodel and some structural work in our ceiling/​crawl space. In our preliminary discussions, Jon was very thorough and honest about our options, took the time to answer all of our questions, and was never condescending if we didn’t understand something, or if we had suggestions that weren’t feasible. He was timely with his estimate, and his price was fair.
A kitchen model can disrupt your life in a major way, but through the project, Jon was easy to have around the house and took every step to make sure that our floors were protected and that as little dust as possible made it into the rest of our living space.
Along the way, there were a few small bumps, as there are with any job, but Jon worked with us to make sure we were happy even compromising on costs… and ultimately we’re incredibly happy with the end result. We’d happily recommend JB Builders to our friends and anyone looking for an honest, reliable, and affordable contractor in San Francisco.

Since my original review Jon has completed two additional projects for us. We had him handle all the construction issues that were required to turn our 2 unit building into condos and he was fantastic! There are many inspections and permits needed and with Jon’s expertise we sailed through with a minimum of cost and bother.
Most recently we hired Jon to do a complete remodel of our kitchen. He took it down to the studs and then turned our sad eyesore into a spectacular room we never want to leave. We had a small window of time to turn the place around and Jon rose to the challenge. He and his crew worked tirelessly to finish the job on time and with very minimal overages. The additional costs were due to some water damage under the floor and some issues with the ceiling — nothing Jon could have foreseen. I appreciate his willingness to do what it takes to make the job happen and stay on track. He’s also a great sounding board for design ideas and cost-​saving tips. Jon’s attention to detail and thorough, thoughtful, tidy work habits make him a joy to have around.

Jon is the best. He was the contractor for my salon and art gallery. He is excellent listener and made my vision for the space a reality. His work is impeccable and he gets the job done in a timely manner. He is upfront about all costs which are reasonable. Jon is easy to work with communicating clearly about each step of the process. I would highly recommend Jon.

Jon is great. He’s very knowlegdeable, his work is impeccable, and his rates are fair. He also goes out of his way to inform you about your options and to help out if you need him in a pinch.