Christopher J. Fenech – General Construction

Very Expensive. Asked 30k for a small bathroom remodeling. Most general contractors charge 5k-​8k. Don’t be fooled and find someone else. Use the money you saved and buy a car.

We used Chris to remodel our bathrooms. He and his crew did a great job! The bathrooms unfortunately look better (and high end) then the rest of our house! :)
We especially appreciated all the people he contracted out to do specific jobs. They were always courteous and on time, very skilled in their craft, and most importantly efficient and thorough.
Would definitely hire again! Very professional, and knows their stuff!

I’d highly recommend Chris. He remodeled the back part of our garage to convert it into a bathroom and laundry room.
We initially chose Chris as when estimating the project he actually spent a lot of time asking detailed questions, and getting some of his key guys in to estimate the trickier aspects of the project. Then when his bid came in, it was both competitive and impressively detailed… it was easy to see what was included and what was not.
The plans we had drawn up were deliberately light on detail so that our contractor would be able to creative in solving some of the space constraints we had. Chris was always open to proposing creative solutions, discussing alternatives or explaining why something would not work. If there was additional cost he was clear about why. The end result was something we are really happy with.
Throughout the project Chris communicated really well, he called ahead to let us know when he’d arrive, and on the rare occasion when he might be late. And he did the same for his sub-​contractors, we were never left wondering when the next person would show. The team Chris works with is awesome, every one of them who worked on our project was a true professional.

Left Chris 3 voice mails. He didn’t have the professional courteous to call me back? Why would anyone want to hire him as your contractor?

Chris did some structural work in our closets. He was on time, gave a reasonable estimate and did a fantastic job. He cleaned up before leaving each day. Very considerate and skilled– and a hard worker! I would use him again!

Chris did a great job with our den remodel. He asked a lot of questions, so there were no surprises. What wall do I want the lightswitch on? What color hinges do I want on the door? Which direction do I want the windows to slide open? Thank you for asking! Some people might not like being asked so many small detail questions, but I was so happy he did because I am super picky.
The pocket door to our bathroom settled a month later and wouldn’t latch right, and Chris came to fix it for us no problem. Yay Chris!

We chose Chris to handle our bathroom remodel, and we were very happy with the quality of his (and his subcontractors’) work and also with his pricing. We plan to work with him again in future remodeling projects.
Great things about Chris:
— He’s detail-​oriented. Chris worked up the most detailed proposal of the three contractors we interviewed. It had line items for all the key costs, which gave us confidence that he had really paid attention when discussing the project with us.
— Chris charges a very fair price. Of the three bids we received, Chris’s was the lowest. (We would have chosen him even if it weren’t.) I think part of the reason for this is that Chris’s bid was detailed enough that he had a better idea of the true costs.
— He’s a straight shooter. He’ll tell you what works about your plan and what doesn’t. When he thinks you should reconsider one of the choices you’ve made, he’ll let you know. We were grateful for this.
— He makes steady progress on the job; there were very few days where no progress was made (except when waiting for materials). Some days only a few hours of work was accomplished, but that’s bound to happen when subcontractors have multiple jobs to work on. On the whole I think Chris did an excellent job of keeping things moving.
— Chris is a really nice guy. Friendly and personable.
— Most important, Chris and his subcontractors did very, very good work. We are quite picky about the details, and we were very happy with most things the first time. When we saw issues, Chris was great about fixing them up to our liking.
Things to look out for:
— The main reason our project didn’t finish on time was waiting for materials. I strongly recommend you purchase materials in advance, before your project starts, but after checking with Chris that your materials makes sense.
— If you use exotic or rare materials, there may be special issues to think through. Make sure Chris and his subcontractors have weighed in. We had some trouble with a made-​to-​order glass tile (we hadn’t ordered enough, the color wasn’t right when it arrived, and there were concerns about mounting shower hardware on the glass), but everything worked out OK in the end.

I highly recommend Chris Fenech as a general contractor.
This is the 5^th house that we have remodeled in the past 15 years — so we’ve learned about good and bad contractors and Chris is definitely one of the best. He took what was once a horrible storage room, ½ bath and laundry in our basement and created a beautiful guest bedroom, full bath and modern laundry. Walls were taken down and put up, tons of plumbing and electrical were done, a concrete floor was dug up to access the plumbing, etc… Noone can believe it is the same space. Chris is a perfectionist (like me) and the finish detail is beautiful!
One important thing to look at in a general contractor is his subs — does he use lots of different people? etc. — Chris’s guys are great — electrician, plumber, sheet rock, etc. They have worked together a long time and work well as a team — with Chris running the show. Chris just finished our basement 2 weeks ago — and it went so well — that we hired him immediately after to remodel our kitchen. And we’re off to a great start!

What’s great about working with Chris is the years of experience and the honesty in his prices and workmanship. He knows all the codes front and back, will help you on projects he’s not even involved in through great contacts, and keeps you up to date on all the progress.

Chris is an amazing contractor. He does beautiful work, and was great with all my concerns. He was willing to work with me and figure out what I really wanted done in my home. He was also very patient with me, because I really didn’t know what I wanted to do, considering this was my first remodel. He also knew all the places to send me to (Cabinets, Countertops, Tile, Floors, ect.) Thank you Chris!

Chris did a fantastic job on a bathroom remodel for us. Our bathroom passed all of its inspections with flying colors — no easy feat in San Carlos, I hear — and we’re still very happy with our experience working with Chris, his quality and the price two years later.