CSCI Construction

One word for CSCI Construction: AWESOME. Can I use 6 stars??? In a world of sneaky up-charges, non-responsive contractors, ooops-that's-not-included-in-my-bid, and "the dog ate my homework" type excuses for delays... we are/were over-the-moon happy that CSCI was available (and willing) to do our project. We were a stone's throw away from a complete rebuild (we're talking gutting of the entire interior and exterior, but keeping the fireplace and foundation). Like most remodels we've been encountered, there was a pretty strict budget. We interviewed 7 different firms ranging from design/build firms to pure subcontractors and narrowed it down to 4 - and yes, CSCI was on that short list. Mostly because he was not a pure sub-contractor that just managed the project... but he actually had employees that got their hands dirty. We told every firm that bid on our job that we had a strict budget (even though we knew deep-down that we were likely go over a bit). Steve was the only one that showed us where we could save in cost during the budgeting process. Removing XXX from your plan and going with perhaps a YYYY. For those of you that have not embarked on the journey of a SUPER-REMODEL/BUILD, this is a MUST. The other firms would suggest things like... "you can always break the job up into phases", or "I've never done a rebuild of this magnitude for less than xxx". Of course those statements may have been true, but with Steve, it really felt like he wanted to be sensitive with our budget while the others gave us a sense that there were other jobs that they were weighing opportunity cost on (and one thing we did not want was for there to be a firm juggling resources across 5-10 different jobs... because then we would be fighting for attention). But before we could give CSCI the nod, we had to do more homework on them. Could they actually do what we wanted him to do? We scheduled to walk through 3-4 sites as we wanted to make sure that he could handle the scope of our job... we walked through a 2,500 sq. ft rebuild in Palo Alto and planned on walking through the others until we saw the 8,000 sq. ft. beauty in Atherton (built from the ground up no less). I figured if he could do something at that scale, then our home should be a walk in the park. Before we even had a chance to tell Steve we were going to go with his firm, we had a pipe burst that leaked for 3-4 days and caused flooding in the neighbors yard (and oh yeah, a hefty fine from the water department to boot) and Steve came out and fixed it. When I asked him how much it cost, he said "Nothing". He said just felt bad that we had this happen to us. I think that was the kicker for us. So we chose CSCI... and it only gets better from there. Steve was there for every important meeting with what we called our "planning committee" so that he could get a gauge on both cost and feasibility. During those meetings, he would give a couple of suggestions here and there when the professionals got hung up (the architects, interior designers, structural engineers, etc..), but it was great that he let them work their magic. And out of respect to those professionals, he would text me later after meetings to ask if we were sure if we really wanted XXX or YYY and would suggest cheaper alternatives or give his opinion on whether that looked good. So we always had a budget watcher on our side as the professionals could continue to get creative without the hindrance of cost management. Updates Updates Updates... We told Steve early on that we wanted to monitor the progress of the entire project since we weren't living in the house yet but would be making frequent visits. Of course he had no problem with that. He even created a detailed Google Calendar and shared it with us so that we could refer back. And believe it or not, he came in UNDER schedule... that's right... ahead of schedule. Cabinets, countertops, plumbing, flooring, electrical... all of that was managed by him. He even worked with a couple of the subs that we had worked with on our own. I believe that a lot of his success can be attributed to the fact that he has most of the big stuff on his OWN payroll (which gives him a ton more control over work schedules)... and anything he doesn't have in-house, he subbed out. And I also believe that's why he was price-competitive. Oh yeah... and there was someone at the house 6 days a week! Yes... 6 days a week! No down time (which is probably how we was able to be ahead of schedule). Steve also has been back multiple times for tiny little things that would normally be an up-charge. Oops, I scratched the wall moving my new seating in or Darnit, the movers just put a hole in the wall moving the office furniture in. He came right back and patched up things that weren't even his fault. Why? Because he wanted us to have the perfect finished product. Our house looks AMAZING! If I could post more photos I would! But Houzz only allows 4 pictures.

Summary: Reasonable pricing, excellent quality, customer-focused, on-time and on-budget. Steve and his team at CSCI construction are by far the best contractors we've worked with: Hire them if you can. Steve and his site boss, Hector, listened to us during the entire process, quickly taking care of any issues, and producing high quality results. They clearly take pride in their work, and their experience gives you confidence that they know what they are talking about. We've been through other remodels and this one was far from difficult: it was an enjoyable process to watch the changes take place. Our project was a complete remodel of a 2,400 square foot two-story house in San Jose, adding a 220 sq ft master suite and bedroom. We moved the location of the kitchen in the house, added a master bathroom, added a laundry room and bumped out the master bedroom to add the square footage. We remodeled and updated every room on the ground floor of the house, about 2000 square feet, replaced windows, smoothed the walls, moved structural members and remodeled the first floor bathroom. The design was by our architect, Michelle Kusanovich (also an excellent choice), and Steve and his team worked well with her, implementing her design exactly as specified, down to the tile pattern in the bathrooms. Steve mostly uses his own employees, and they are very talented and hard-working. The subcontractors he did use were knowledgeable and did good work, each making sure that we were satisfied before moving on. We lived on the premises in the family room and upstairs while Steve and his team did their work, and they were respectful of our privacy, had a set work schedule, and showed up when they said they would. They curtained off all the living areas from the work areas with plastic. They never started before 8am, and were done by 5pm. They did work on Saturdays sometimes, but asked first. We had one other bid for our contract, from another contractor that our architect trusted (they had done several jobs together), and CSCI was both two months shorter (four months instead of six), and $20K less. We picked CSCI based on our positive interactions with Steve, and the detailed nature of his bid, but were a little nervous about his time estimates. We need not have been worried: they finished (final inspection complete) exactly four months from when they started, just as promised. As for budget, Steve has a great way of making things fit into his original estimate: we upgraded the interior doors and replaced the front door, and that was in the budget, so no extra cost. He did have to add to his bill once, but only because of large cracks in the slab, and they had to jackhammer out the slab and re-pour before we could proceed (they were hidden under the floor, so we didn't know about it before the project started). In short, we really think you'll be impressed with Steve, Hector, and their team. They have a great work ethic, and provide really excellent service.

Steve and his team were friendly, responsive, and professional. Their work was very high quality, and Steve took responsibility if problems arose. Most importantly, we always felt like their pricing was fair. Highly recommended.

Competent and professional. Full of great practical advice. More tech savvy than your average contractor. We are mid project and so far so good.

We love working with CSCI. Steve, the owner is very organized and has a wonderful team. He responds to my messages quickly and they provide excellent service. We started our remodeling project in late January of 2016 and our house was ready to move in by the first week of June. We found some structure issues while opening up more walls but Steve and his crew were on top of it and helped us fix it right away. CSCI is reliable, organized and I highly recommend them to anyone looking for contractors. We will be using them again in the future for any construction projects.

Steve is a joy to work with and we highly recommend him for your project. We started the renovation process by interviewing 4 different contractors and Steve stood out from our very first meeting. As first time home buyers, we were new to a lot of this and we are so glad to have found Steve. Steve is super easy to work with and he provided a ton of guidance on the various things along the way. Steve also helped some of the small jobs along the way without having to redo the quote for the entire project (Remodel bath, Add Laundry room, Remodel garage, Redo plumbing, etc). Steve not only focused on the project at hand, but improved various things in the house to make it more comfortable for us to live in. I'd highly recommend meeting up with Steve before finalizing on a contractor.

I have worked with several contractors on different projects and am a pretty tough critic, and I can recommend Steve without hesitation. He is professional, honest, and does great work - can't ask for much more. When inevitable issues arise (as they do in any substantial renovation project), he addresses them in an honest, straightforward way. If something isn't quite right, he fixes it. We also really loved his crew - they were professional and incredibly considerate (we had two young kids with nap schedules, etc, which they accommodated). It is never fun to have work going on in a home while you're living in it, but they made it as smooth and pleasant as possible. I would work with Steve again without question.

Steve is our first call whenever anything in the house needs attention. His team did extensive remodeling for us after we purchased the home and kept the project on time and on budget!

I'm the owner of Wholesale Windows. I've been working with Steve and Company for over 5 years. CSCI is a reputable and honest company. Construction is tough regardless even if you have decades of experience. There are just to many moving pieces- design, structural issues, building codes, materials, installation, etc. Having said that CSCI will be there if S!@# hits the fan. Trust me, something will hit the fan. We work with hundreds of contractors in the Bay Area and there is only handful that I would trust build my house. CSCI is one of them.