Craftsmens Guild, Inc.

Pretty good

They were easy to work with and organized. The pricing was upfront and they did not stray from the price. They were very accommodating and went above and beyond in working with us.

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Should be upfront the estimate is not FREE.

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We met the brothers at the Home and Garden Show and took up their offer for a free consultation. They made a good impression at the show with printouts of excellent online reviews, before and after pictures, and of course their credentials. We had been toying with the idea of taking up some remodeling projects, and took up their offer for a free consultation. They were very good with reminders and encouraged us to keep the appointment when we had second thoughts. So we went with it. Mike visited us. We showed him our home, which included the guest bedroom downstairs, and started talking about our needs and wish lists. Before we could complete, he said we really needed a master bedroom on downstairs. We thanked him for his advice and said we were happy with the one upstairs. And tried to steer the conversation towards our needs, which were around our living space, and definitely did not include adding a master bedroom. But he kept going back and tried to convince us that that's what we really needed - resale value, Jacuzzi, luxury living, et al. After some time, it was clear that he was not interested in knowing what our needs were and only wanted to sell his vision of what our home should be. So, we thanked him. And will go with someone else.

I thought that they were pretty professional and they had some kind of unique services that they were offering. They were also offering to do the design and they had some really good ideas. The quoted price was on the high side. They were pretty prompt and they were very nice. Actually they came over a few times to the house. I think there are 3 brothers that own this and they're professional, they knew what they were doing, and they had some good ideas. I can't remember why we ended up not going with them. Overall, I thought they were pretty professional and they were customer oriented. There was a couple of times that I had to call them to remind them about my appointment but I think overall, it was pretty good. I will definitely use them for a quote.

We met Mike at the San Jose homeshow. He seemed like he had a lot of experience. We liked the idea that everything was handled in house, from design and engineering to building. Mike was great at returning calls, follow-up and making an appointment. My husband and I had basic plans we had created showing the idea of our project and were trying to get an idea of if we could afford to start the project. We made an appointment for Mike to come by. He called when he was supposed to arrive to let us know he was running late but would be there. When he arrived, he seemed like he was already off to his next appointment. He was very much in a hurry. He did a lot of talking about his ideas, but not a lot of listening as to what we were thinking. He did have some great ideas as to what he would do with the project. He dismissed the research we had already done on the project. After this brief meeting, he took the drawings we had prepared and told us he'd get back to us with an estimate for architectural and structural engineering services. He never got back to us. We didn't follow-up with him because we didn't feel like we would be a good fit. Mike gave me a call after seeing my review on Yelp and on Angie's List. He apologized for my experience and explained that his mother passed away shortly after our meeting. Due to his mother's passing he needed to take care of many of her affairs and deal with family matters. I hadn't contacted him again as I decided we wouldn't be a good fit so knew nothing of his family circumstances. He had misplaced my contact information. Once he saw this review he could find me again and called me to apologize for this experience. He offered some services with reduced rates to make up for my experience. He also asked me to update this review. I feel like Mike was sincere and apologetic and was really wanting to make things right.

Somewhat of a chocking experience.

We chose not to go with them mainly due to price. Mostly my interaction with them was that I showed them my architectural plans then they got me back a quote. It was just too high. I think they are high end home builders.

While we were impressed with the work they had done, their education, their expertise and their references, we felt that Mike Amini, the architect for the firm was a bit overbearing and more focused on telling us what should be done, than on listening to what we wanted. We thought we would find him difficult to work with since we had so many of our own ideas of what we wanted. We just couldn't believe that this would be a collaborative effort, so we declined to have him do an initial design. His firm wanted $6500 up front for design services, and we were reluctant to pay since our input did not seem to be an important priority for him. Their references and reviews were mostly excellent. I think they would have done a very good job, but we did not feel they were the right firm for us.

The design by Mike Amini is great. We bought all the product ourselves so the price was for the labor, construction and demo. The subs they hire are great. We had few issues and they were resolved promptly. Review the proposal in detail before start of the project. Craftsmens Guild are good at putting the details in the project plan, but they need to explain the cost more thoroughly up front with the customer.Craftsmens Guild are honest & nice people. We are very pleased with the outcome.

The experience was very proffesional, but do not try to change the project specifications mid way as the cost goes very high

Overall we were happy with the professional approach of the whole team. A couple of times when we had some problems, but it was resolved very quickly . The construction crew members were very friendly and efficient. One advice I would like to share is be very sure of what you want to get done before the construction begins. Any small changes later on, causes a big increase in the budget

We had an exceptional positive experience working with them. Mike Amini, architect, suggested several changes in the main floor that really opened up the house and pointed out the beautiful view we have out the rear of the house. Matt Amini, stuctural engineer, was the Project Manager. He is very much a perfectionist and all of his suggestions were excellent giving us an expert cost vs. benefit opinion based on his experience. They started the house in December, 2009 and finished it in August, 2010. Since they had to almost completely rebuilt the house, we thought that was really fast. They worked continuously and were not always running off to other jobs. Matt responded immediately to any request we had. We also found that all of the subcontractors he hired on the job were incredible craftsmens with close attention to detail. We also worked with a designer on the job which I know can be difficult interacting with contractors, but they worked together to give us the very best end result. This is a family business where they all work cohesively together. No one is pointing fingers at each other if and when mistakes are made - a big advantage of their vertical integration. Obviously, losing our house and everything in it was quite devastating to us (we are in our 60's), but working with the Craftsmen's Guild and their vision for our house really brought us out of our emotional lows. Seeing the vision they had for the house and watching it unfold was really exciting for us! The finished house is really incredible. This would not have happened were it not for the Craftsmens Guild. We are currently landscaping the house and using Matt's cousin, Parviz Emani, from Modern Construction Design, who is also doing a fabulous job! I read one of the other reviews here that was negative and, quite frankly, we experienced NONE of the problems they seemed to have had with the Craftsmens Guild and we worked with them for about 10 months! Even now - after we have given the Craftsmen's Guild our final payment, we are still adding some additional features. We call Matt and he responds immediately to our requests!

I think everything stood out, he was very professional and came fully prepared. He was able to answer all of our questions and set up an additional meeting.