SF Design Build

Jessica and Rudy are talented, hardworking and likable people. During the planning phase Jessica listened well and offered many thoughtful options for our renovated kitchen, kids rooms, laundry, office, and entryway. They took time to meet with us as needed and incorporate our feedback to Jessica’s designs. Neither Jessica nor Rudy seemed frustrated or overwhelmed as we expanded the scope or changed our minds about layout. They have remained engaged, professional, and focused on our project, budget, and timeline.
SFDB communicates well and is especially great via email. Rudy gets back to you once he has an answer or a solution. He juggles multiple job sites but our needs were always met, and he gives you his complete attention until all of your concerns are addressed. This is a great feeling to have from your contractor.
The men on Rudy’s team are talented and courteous. Everyone was professional, punctual and accommodating. Friendly to the kids. Our new neighbors even commented on their kind and considerate demeanor. This is a group that seems to know and enjoy each other after years of working together, communicates well and gets along. This vibe gave us a lot of confidence about the integrity of the work site.
We would not hesitate to recommend SFDB to anyone. Jessica is an imaginative, collaborative architect. She produces multiple drawings to choose from, and never gets «married» to any of them. Rudy and his team are extremely talented, personable, and flexible. I don’t think there is any problem they can’t tackle, and they were willing and able to incorporate new ideas well into the construction process.
We would choose SFDB again in a heartbeat.

Jessica, Rudy and the rest of the SF Design Build team transformed our 1920s condo into a beautiful, open-​space concept home that we relish each day. This was no easy project, involving the rearrangement of many walls, remodeling the whole kitchen, installing new windows, new lighting, new cabinets, adding a half bath, and creating an in-​unit laundry room.
Jessica was incredible during the design phase — she listened to our desires/​goals and guided us through a range of options to achieve them (many of which were creative solutions we never would have thought of and other designers we talked to never suggested). They helped pick our materials, handled all of the permits with the city for us, and helped us think through trade-​offs and alternatives as needed. Jessica was extremely patient helping create multiple budgets, and explaining ways we could cut costs while still achieving our underlying vision.
Rudy and his construction team were easy to work with and they made the construction phase as smooth as possible with a strong attention to detail and great communication. Our neighbors got to know them, and they did a great job keeping positive relationships in the building. Changes were quickly implemented and roadblocks were well navigated. Rudy and Jessica work extremely well together and when we had a roadblock with our HOA they coordinated all the right people on a call to help explain and show how everything was to code and within our HOA guidelines. They are the team you want. We would work with SFDB again in heart beat!

SF Design Build completed a design, hardwood floor installation and full kitchen remodel that included removing a wall. What an incredible job they did. With the design, Jessica was an indispensable help with the layout and materials choices. The construction was amazingly easy. Rudy made sure the job was done right and on time with a focus on quality and detail. Changes were quickly made and any issues were easily resolved with no drama. The work crew was courteous and ensured the place was clean every day. After the job was done, any additional related work was completed timely and without question. Because of their great work, my neighbors and our condo association have used SFDB for other work. I will definitely be using SFDB for my next project and highly recommend them.

SF Design Build recently completed a full kitchen remodel in our home. It was a large project — involved taking out a load bearing wall, new cabinets, new floors and putting in a skylight. We were incredibly pleased with their work. They were conscientious, respectful of our space and showed great attention to detail. They respected our opinions regarding fixtures, flooring, etc., but were also not afraid to offer their own thoughts/​ideas (which we found very helpful).
We highly recommend SF Design Build and will definitely use them again for future projects!

SFDB recently completed an extensive remodel of an entire floor in our Bernal Heights house over the course of 6 months. They removed a wall and replaced it with a support beam, remodeled a kitchen (involving moving our water and gas lines), remodeled a bathroom, cut some skylights into the roof, installed a new roof, built a balcony, and much more.
We interviewed 3 design/​build firms — SFDB threw out the most interesting design ideas in our initial meeting, so we went with them.
Price — Their prices seemed competitive — it would be hard to compare apples-​to-​apples for a project that we knew would evolve as we went along, but I spot checked a few of the more concrete tasks (like putting on a new roof and digging a sewer-​lateral line), and their prices were in line with other contractors. I say ‘competitive’, but construction isn’t cheap — some materials like windows seemed very high. That’s probably just what they cost, but I would have liked SFDB to give me a high/​medium/​low quality/​cost options for some of the larger items.
Organization — Rudy (the owner) was always on top of things, visiting the job site most days. We’d spend a hour every other week talking about projects and asking what needed to be polished, and he’d do a great job of helping us visualize options. He was also great at navigating the permit and inspection process. The laborers were friendly and highly skilled, but spoke varying amounts of English. They went out of their way to help us through it — a couple times we had plumbing issues that were unrelated to the new construction, but they snaked out the drains. I thought we’d be uncomfortable living downstairs while they worked upstairs, but they were great. Note that SDDB is a smaller firm — in some phases we wished they could have applied 10 guys for 3 weeks instead of 3 guys for 10 weeks. Last note — we were responsible for picking out maybe 40 things along the way (paint color, appliances, door handles) — it was never super clear when all these things were due — a tracking spreadsheet might have helped.
Quality — Everything came out great. The workers paid attention to all the details, especially on some of the more unique features of the house. They painted, and repainted, and repainted until they got things just right. After 6 months of work, our ‘punch list’ of things to polish was less than 10 small items — which they took care of in a day.
I’d work with SFDB again, and highly recommend them!

SFDB recently completed a small but complex remodel/​expansion of a bathroom and walk-​in closet for us and we couldn’t be more pleased. There was a significant amount of both infrastructure/​foundational work as well as fine finish work.
It was easy to work with them on reducing and increasing scope with no complex change orders.
They were also extremely helpful in moving us in and out of the bedroom and arranging carpet installation, none of which was in the original SOW.
The work was high quality and everyone who has seen it has been very impressed.
We’re looking forward to working with them on several future projects, which is really the best recommendation anyone could give.

SF Design is in my neighborhood and initially that is why I chose them for my bathroom remodel. Jessica, the designer, listened to my ideas and concerns and designed a bathroom that is simply wonderful. She worked with me and helped keep my champagne ideas within my beer budget. She and Rudy, the contractor, submitted a bid that might have been a bit higher than others; but, even when the project went over in the time estimate, it stayed within the budget. One of the delays was the inspection process — multiple inspectors coming on different days and nothing could be done that week.
The two main workers, Samuel and Cesar, were friendly and polite and cleaned up everything at the end of each day and reseated the toilet so that, despite spending my days at a friend’s home and taking my showers there, I was able to come home each evening and sleep in my own bed.
My bathroom continues to get raves from everyone who sees it and I am very happy.
I had a question about the lighting just this week and Rudy came right over and looked at it for me. A good neighbor and a good contractor.

We recently completed our 3^rd large scale project with SF Design Build … first a major remodel of our condo in 2008… then a major seismic upgrade for our entire building in 2010… and now a complete exterior painting and new deck construction and maintenance completions for the entire building (a three story structure in NOPA). Basically they went over this entire huge building tooth and nail fixing and updating every inch. Our 87 year old wood construction building is now in near perfect condition. We keep returning to Rudy, Jessica and the SFDB team for the simple reason that they are honest, professional, thorough, budget-​wise and conscious and have excellent follow up. The quality of the work by Samuel, Hugo, Ceasar, Eric and the others is excellent. These guys are real craftsmen and it shows. What a pleasure to see their finished work! All of the workers are company employees and have been with SFDB for all the years we have used the company. No day hires! We bid this work, as we did our other projects, and SFDB once again came in competitive. (they were not the cheapest but also held an advantage over «just» painting contractors because as a general contractor they have their own scaffolding. the other painters bid the work then had an «add on» for scaffolding that in some cases could add $ 5k to the cost.) they completed the work on budget. No gimmicks, add ons etc. during the work they found that some planking on one side of the building had been repaired poorly many years ago and had to be replaced. this added about 3 days to the job with some cost increase but they showed how it was necesary. One of the best things about SFDB is that there are no surprises. They work entirely through the project with no gaps or no show days. they clean up EVERY DAY and leave the work site as accessible as possible, respecting the owners living space. I would highly recommend SF Design Build. Like the PGA ads on television … «These Guys are Good…»

We used SFDB on three occasions. The first was a living room remodel and some minor leak repair. The second was a bit larger and included the master bedroom which required structural reinforcement. The third included the main bathroom, hallway, kitchen and dining room. This was a massive project which included pulling out walls, moving doorways, installing support beams to the foundation, and re-​routing gas, water and electrical lines. Their prices are a bit higher than other contractors but you definitely get what you pay for. They stay on budget and on time. Their organization, attention to detail, dependability and most importantly their quality is superior. I would highly recommend SFDB for any work on your home.

I am so glad my friend recommended SFDB, because the work they have done in my spa turned out better than I expected, at a very reasonable rate. At first, I wanted to go the cheaper route, calling some labor people I knew in the past and trying to do everything on my way. After I spoke to Rudy, everything changed, I felt he was very understanding and knew exactly what I needed and spent hours designing and going over all the fixtures, tiles, and flooring with me, according to my taste.
He just knows what works and now that I have a beautiful spa, I know that the work they have done will last for a long time, because everything is functional, good quality and very professional.
I got a great deal considering the amount of time he spent coming in the construction site every day, even on Saturdays.
Oh, another detail, the labor guys are also awesome! Hugo, Gilberto, and Samuel always cleaned up after their work and were very competent.
I highly recommend San Francisco Design Build Co.

I have had the good fortune to have worked with SFDB on two occasions. The first time I had a fireplace redone and railing for a staircase installed to replace a pony wall that I was no longer willing to look at. This was a project that several other contractors weren’t even willing to take on, but Rudy and his team took a look, said «no problem» and came back with a reasonable quote. I gave them a picture of a railing design that I liked and SFDB had it custom made. Everything, fireplace and railing turned out exactly as anticipated and with great attention to detail.
The second time involved the complete remodel of two separate bathrooms. Again SFDB impressed me from the beginning. While other contractors generally came forward with somewhat vague proposals pointing out how this or that could pose a problem, this was never the case with SFDB. As a previous reviewer pointed out, problems don’t seem to exist for Rudy. He quickly analyzes any potential design or construction issues and will immediately propose solutions. Jessica worked with me on all the details of ordering tiles, fixtures, etc. and drew up painstakingly detailed construction plans. Consequently, SFDB’s proposal was detailed, transparent and accurate. All phases of the planned construction and time lines were clearly laid out. Consecutive changes, initiated by me, were captured and immediately incorporated. Communication from beginning to end was always timely and everybody was always very responsive.
The construction itself went smoothly and the crew was a pleasure to have around. They always showed up on time, were extremely friendly, would not even hesitate to help my wife with her shopping bags and always left the construction site clean in the evening. Of course, most importantly, the quality of their work was excellent. I am not an easy-​to-​please customer and there were some eclectic design issues to deal with, but everybody went above and beyond to make it happen. No surprise that all city inspections passed without a hitch as well. I am definitely pleased with the outcome. Some time after the project was finished, Rudy came back to make sure that everything is o.k., that there are no cracks in the grout lines, etc.
I would definitely recommend SFDB to anyone taking on a home remodeling project.