Heartwood Residential

From our first interactions to the final closeout meeting, Nick and his team at Heartwood Residential embodied professionalism. We were very impressed with the time and attention to detail Nick took during his initial walkthrough prior to generating a quote. This gave us confidence that he understood what would be involved in completing our project, as well as ensuring a minimum of unanticipated issues once work started. As with all projects, there were unexpected issues, and Nick and his team handled all of them calmly, efficiently, and professionally. Communication with Nick was excellent whether it was a quick text for a small question or an in-depth conversation about the project status at our bi-weekly meetings. The quality of Heartwood’s work was excellent, and we felt that Nick and his team genuinely cared about our satisfaction with the work being performed.

Heartwood Design began the kitchen project at the beginning of our Covid lockdown. Despite the restrictions and other difficulties, crew showed up each day to work and the project moved forward smoothly. A few bumps were hit when crew members came down with Covid and time was lost, along with some communication. Through this challenging time Nick, the owner, was steady in his professional handling of everything. I always felt that he had my satisfaction foremost in his work, plus his own commitment to professional, high-quality work. He never cut corners, always saw that the project was executed correctly. We easily passed all inspections. Nick and his office were responsive and easy to work with--prompt and courteous and willing to go the extra mile to meet my expectations and satisfaction.

Our kitchen was original to the house from 1931, including the faucets coming out of the wall, old wood cabinets that had layers and layers of paint, pink and light blue/green tiles as the countertops, a small area for the fridge that was currently empty, linoleum floors, and a weird column right next to the stove that turned out to be a stubborn brick column. We really needed someone to demo everything in the kitchen and upgrade it to a functional, usable, and modern kitchen. We first contacted Heartwood Residential through Houzz and Nick was prompt to answer and schedule an appointment do discuss our project. We had already talked to a few general contractors at the time and had an idea of what we wanted to do, which included removing a wall and getting rid of that brick column. We brought up the brick column with the other contractors and each of them said it would be a structural issue and they really didn't want to deal with it even if the price was not an issue. Nick was the only one who voluntarily went to check out what the brick column was in our basement and had any knowledge of what it was for. Turns out, it's for gases to escape and ran from our basement to the attic or roof. Another issue I had with other contractors was that they really wanted my husband to be there when they came to check out our kitchen. When I asked questions or expressed my opinions, they would look at my husband to answer the question in a round-about way. My husband really didn't like them because they didn't respect me at all. I also bought the sink, fridge, dish washer and a few other items while they were on sale and one of the other general contractors made a snide comment about what I picked out. Nick and Michelle were very accommodating with including the appliances and finishes that I already bought into the design they presented and they were able to find a way to hide the brick column and come up with an elegant design to the entrance of open kitchen. When Heartwood Residential started the demolition of our kitchen, they prepped our house: covered the floors, moved furniture, sealed off other rooms so most of the dust would not get into the other rooms. I set up a go-pro to take a picture every minute of the demolition and explained that I wanted a time lapse of this whole process, and they were very accommodating -- even moving the gopro to a better angle to get the whole thing. I would ask them questions about what they were going to do in the mornings and they didn't hesitate to stop and explain what would happen that day. At the end of the day, they would clean up and put all their tools away. If there were any issues or if something didn't look right, Nick, Jamison, Brandyn, or Elliot were prompt to call or text us to get it addressed. For example, we have curved ceilings in our dining room and since they removed the wall between the dining room and kitchen, the ceiling to the kitchen needed to be curved too. The issue came up with painting the wall and ceiling different colors and the solution was to add crown molding, like what we have in the other rooms. When I insisted that we use hue LED strips to light up the bottom and top of the cabinets, he said they can make it work and they did, even having the electrician come back a few times to make some adjustments. Towards the end of our project, I went around our kitchen and inspected almost everything. Some of the backsplash tiles were crooked, there were a few scratches on the cabinets, a few cabinet doors were not straight, etc....there were a lot of post it notes around our brand new kitchen to say the least. I can say that Nick and his team (mostly Brandyn) addressed each post it note individually with me, fixing each crooked tile, each hole or scratch, or each cabinet door. One thing that did go wrong with our project a delay because wrong sized cabinets were ordered, but I guess it turned into a good thing because they were able to use some of those cabinets to build a storage cabinet that fit next to our washer and dryer. To finish the project up, Nick personally came to check each item off, moved our washer and dryer into their correct spots. Overall, we're very pleased with the professionalism and courtesy of the services provided by Heartwood Residential. They were a pleasure to work with, always keeping us in the loop with what was happening during the renovation, we were comfortable leaving our home in their team's hands while we were out, and overall attitude of everyone from Heartwood. They were definitely a pleasure to work with and will be the first ones we call for another remodel.

Never received a response for my request of a quote

In the world of home remodels and construction, family-owned Heartwood Residential is a rare gem. I retained them to convert my close-to-original, circa 1970 kitchen into something affordably modern, and from beginning to end it was a genuine pleasure to work with owners Nick and Michelle Yegge. To be clear, “genuine pleasure” is not a phrase I would have ever considered using in a sentence with “remodel” before. I mean, let’s face it . . . no matter how nice the finished product, the actual process of remodeling your home can be stressful. Amidst all of the usual hubbub of construction, Nick and Michelle are calm, thoughtful, consummate professionals with impeccable technical skills and a hands on touch that engenders trust. Craftsmanlike. Fair pricing within your design budget. Trust your home to them . . . you’ll be glad you did.

Great! Problem was identified, contractor fixed missing roof shingle & repaired ceiling

They did a very good job. I am very satisfied.

Walter did an outstanding job! I will definitely use this company in the future.

1. Awesome Man Walter is! 2. Walter was on time. He was very professional. Walter asked and made sure he was doing exactly what I wanted him to do and where I wanted things to be hung. Walter was so meticulous and it showed. I admired Walter's expertise and appreciated his advice. I cannot say enough. Thanks Heartwood Residential for having a team player like Walter. He is truly an asset to your company.

Everything went great; one can't really tell a repair was done. Walter was quite knowledgeable and professional.

Nick & Michelle are a delight to work with/respond quickly, and are very knowledgeable. Their communication is the best I have seen. They are efficient, friendly, & responsive. Nick made suggestions on additional items, which we had done. Michelle provided assistance on décor, fixture choices, paint, etc., and very helpful to me. All of their subcontractors were very reliable, took pride in their work, & perfectionists. Any issues needing attention were resolved quickly, with Nick always keeping me informed. They were able to meet our completion deadline. We are 100% satisfied with our project, and they are highly recommended!

Nick, the owner, came out promptly to discuss our options; I appreciated his willingness to help me save money (and also to tackle a small project). Walter, Heartwood's great handyman, was able to cut out our old sink without damaging the counter, saving us thousands of dollars! His installation work on the new sink was excellent, and he solved some plumbing problems we hadn't been aware of. He also installed a slide out drawer underneath the sink for recycling/trash. I would hire this wonderful company again, and plan to when I redo my guest bathroom in the future.

I would highly recommend using Heartwood Residential for any remodel or building project. Nick is an excellent communicator and an all around great guy. He provided us with a thorough and comprehensive quote with a real attention to detail. His crew was really professional and the entire project was a success. They do excellent work with a great attention to quality materials and methods.

We were looking to update our backyard with a custom storage cabinet and AC cover. Most contractors did not respond or were busy with larger projects. We received a referral from another woodworker to contact Heartwood Residential for the scope of our project. Michelle was very responsive and set us up with a consultation with the lead contractor Nick. The work began a few weeks later in early June. The main carpenter (Chad) was very punctual and friendly with our dog Ellie. Heartwood Residential worked within the proposed time frame (1 week) and charged us according to the contract. The work was gorgeous (see attached pictures).

Extremely well. My husband and I love Heartwood Residential. Working with Nick & Michelle is truly a partnership. We're so proud that the National Association of Remodeling Industry (NARI) awarded Nick's company the "2015 META Gold Award" for their masterpiece transformation of our master bathroom. See photos on this site. We interviewed 6 companies and are really pleased we selected Nick (and Michelle) - what a team! We will definitely hire them in future home projects and recommend them to all our friends. Nick is impressive: as a Master Craftsman he can step in at any point in the project to supplement his tradesmen. We really enjoy Nick's pleasant demeanor, his 'customer first' approach, and his unbeatable "can-do" attitude. We fully trust Nick and give he & Michelle our highest recommendations!

We hired Heartwood Residential in early 2016 to remodel our kitchen, refinish our floors and paint our house's interior. The kitchen remodel was completely down to the studs, and included removing a load bearing wall. Nick and Michelle of Heartwood Residential made this a wonderful process from the start. Their 'Design + Build' approach benefited us greatly. At the onset we presented them with our concept, and they made it better by adding their own ideas and vision to our's. Their communication is excellent; quick to respond and they address the issue at hand. What impressed us the most however was their diligence. After hearing many horror stories from friends of contractors who show up to work intermittently, we were pleased with Heartwood's diligence on our project. From beginning to end, only a small handful of days went by when they were not at our house completing our project. Both Nick and Michelle, their crew and their sub contractors were friendly, and pleasant to work with. In the end, this all added to a finished result that exceeded our expectations, and a process that was easy and well facilitated. We are planning on hiring Heartwood again for our next home project, and we highly recommend them to anyone.

She was polite about the quote...... [approximate cost: $180.0]

Nick Yegge is a young contractor with an eye for detail and a calm and reassuring manner. Michelle, the office manager, is good with the details of the estimates and contracts. They have provided competent "demo" and carpenter workers to accomplish a wide range of tasks. I would definitely use them again.

The quality of Nick Yegge's work is terrific and everyone who works for him is top-notch. All sub-contractors he hired were excellent too. We had a unique experience, I think, because this house was built on stilts on the ocean bluff 45 years ago with an unusual architecture. There were surprises at every turn. Nick was always honest about what he discovered and we disused how to approach the new problems as they arose. Nick always found a good solution. Santa Cruz County permitting was also a challenge but Nick would not take no for an answer and even hired an engineer to prove that what we wanted to do was not only feasible but that it would improve the integrity of the structure of the second floor loft. Throughout the project Nick was always good about keeping in contact and workers always arrived when he said they would. I cannot say enough about the quality of the work. And the results are absolutely beautiful!

The guy came by at the scheduled time and told me that one of his workers had an injured ankle. Then we talked about the job, he didn't like my idea on how to repair the post and gave me his idea. Got around to the price and it was to high so i didn't hire him. By the way he said he was the vice president of the company..

I really can't say enough about Nick Yegge and his wife, Michelle, and the quality of work that this company does and the quality of human beings they both are. I found Nick through Anglie's list, and his reviews were already good. I selected him among several people I considered for the initial work. I liked him because he seemed honest, sincere, responsible and ambitious. I have not been disappointed. The quality of his work is excellent as is the work of the people he does business with. Chad and Jason, two of his carpenters, and Nick are just wonderful. Not only are they good workers, but they are true craftspeople with an understanding that presentation and aesthetics are part of the job. Nick has also identified problems with my house, including a small termite infestation that other workers, including my roofer, missed and a pretty major problem with my roof that was also missed by my roofing contractor, who I also found through Angie's List. Don't get me wrong: the jobs didn't go perfectly. But the outcomes have been excellent and compared to all of the other contractors that I have done business with in the last two years (roofer, pool contractor, electrician, painter, HVAC sub., plumber) - many of them identified through Angie's List - Nick stands out for his honesty, truthfulness, integrity, knowledge, workmanship, aesthetic judgment and plain good sense. If Nick tells you something, you can know without a doubt that it is the truth as he sees it.

They did not give me an estimate but they wanted me to pay a fee for it. Basically they asked for a research fee which I found strange because every other contractor that have been working in my area knew what it would cost so I decided not to go with them. I felt that they were trying to get a fee. I have had several contractors and none of them asked for a fee. They seemed to do good work from the pictures on their website.

Michelle was very helpful as we were trying to organize and get our project started; however, due to restrictions in availability we did not use their services. We will continue to keep them in mind for the future though.

Nick is great to work with and does a detailed job on everything he does. Timing was right, he was willing to shop for and purchase fixtures that we wanted. He always has good ideas but is clearly listening to ours as well. Nick and Michelle have been willing to work on small jobs as well as larger painting jobs last year.

I actually haven't used them yet, but have been dealing with them via email on what work that needs to be done (haven't been able to make an actual appointment date because of my own schedule). Very courteous. I've been constantly changing the things that need to be done, adding and subtracting, and they have updated me on how they will provide service (one day evaluate vs do things on the spot vs. combo of both). As soon as I get my schedule in order, I am really looking forward to getting the work done!