SOD Home Group

We had SOD builders come out and estimate for painting our 2500 sq ft home in willow glen. After waiting 3 weeks for the appointment, they were able to come out and provide the estimate. There estimate was 3x higher than any estimate we received. So I can not rate there work, as they were not competitive. We received estimates for painting with the same paint and colors from $4000-$8500. SOD builders came in a little under $18000. I am sure they do great work, but in the end, is it work paying 3x more?

They appear to be a competent contractor, but I couldn't accept their contract terms which had me paying for every element of the job in advance. I learned long ago to never give up my leverage with a contractor and to only pay for work when it is satisfactorily completed. So I went elsewhere and am, so far, completely satisfied although the job is in the very early stages.

I did not use them because, they higher than I was expecting. They were on time and I would use them again.

Sent Oren the plans, complete plans for the job. From the plans he though we were adding a new kitchen, this was not the case so immediately I was skeptical. Got a revised quote of 140K but it excluded all windows, doors, flooring, quite a lot of stuff. Not a very good experience.

Did an almost complete, major remodel of the entire ~1600 sq ft house build in the 50s. It would have been impossible to live in the place during the remodel. So one of the criteria was that the bulk of the work would be done in 3 month. They managed to keep it to 3 month from move-out to moving back?on time. A major accomplishment for a project of this size. They came in and did the demolishing in less than a week. Worked Saturdays and sometime Sundays to meet the schedule and assigned as many people as necessary. Did most of the work with their own people but brought in contractors for some jobs. All very professional. Some of the details were finished after we moved back in. We kept finding small things after moving back we didn?t notice before and they and fixed all the things we mentioned. No cost overrun or surprises after the contract was signed either. Actually, quite the opposite. When we ran into a few problems, which you invariably do with bigger construction projects like this, SOD would immediately take steps to address the issue to our satisfaction (e.g. wrong color paint and a window). When there was a problem the responses was immediate. After moving in we had a bit of water running from a pipe coming out of the wall on the floor in the bathroom one evening. I called and they had a crew of 3 guys ringing the doorbell 20 minutes later at 9:00 in the evening. I have a detached Garage in bad shape as well which was not part of the project (quote), but they removed the siding and put on stucco and a new roof anyway. Also, additional lights (I have all LED recess lights) and bathroom fans were added later at no extra cost when I simply asked for it. Even fixed my shower faucets after all the work had been finished 3 month or so after we moved back in requiring to open the walls again. Something I had forgotten to ask for. SOD clearly showed they are an experienced company with a lot of know-how. Easy to work with. This is the company we'd like to work with again because they always covered our back with honesty and sincerity. They were easy to reach and responsive. And the online web site for communication and email works great as well. And I was really impressed with the quality of the work I can't say enough good things. I just know that we made the right choice! Hire these guys if you have a job to get it done. I would again.

SOD is a customer service first company, a culture and approach that is insisted upon by the CEO, Oren Dragen. SOD uses only a few, if any (depends on the particular job) subcontractor,s and the majority of the work is performed by its own employees which is a huge plus for any major project. SOD and Oren will make sure that you are completely satisfied with the work, and will stand behind it even after the project is completed. The SOD employees are easy to work with, accommodating and well-qualified to do the job, starting with the Northern California foreman, Hector. Our project itself was well organized in its progression and completion (uses Basecamp as a project manager application) with the only delays coming in regard to the epoxy floor in the kitchen which required a speciality subcontractor. That being said, SOD made sure the subcontractor completed the work to our satisfaction, and has since then been training its own employees to install concrete epoxy floors for future projects. The price was very competitive (we received 4 estimates) and did not change over the course of the project. When we remodel the upstairs baths and bedrooms in the future, we fully intend to use SOD again.

I left a message on their website, and next day I got a phone call to follow-up. The experience is very decent at first. They told me that they are very busy, and therefore the earliest day to estimate would be three weeks later. (Note, estimate, not the start date). Since I am going to renovating a old house which require lots of work and would cost me 150 to 200 thousands, I asked whether it's possible to send someone to "help" me or "guide me", or at least to take a look of my property so that we can sort of knowing the budget. I was told that there will be a follow-up call next day. It never happens. Follow-up phone call never arrived. Even worse, I then tried several time to reach them, via email, via phone number they left on my voice mail, and their website. NO one works. I can't believe that their phone number is "unreachable". You can't leave a message, and it's just beep beep beep when you try to call them. Basically, they just cut off all the communication channel. I'm really wondering why they still receive such an appraisement. Honestly, I am giving up on them. I can't imagine that I hire a GC but I cannot reach him at all. Yes, they probably do a good job, but they are way too busy. I would be panic to work with them given things. Good luck if you want to give a try. Just add a follow-up: They call me on Tuesday after seeing this review. I'll update the review after the job is done as a whole.

They were very prompt in responding to let me know they were busy and booked for weeks. I really appreciated the honesty so I could move on to other providers.

Although we decided not to go use them for the job, we were very pleased with their professionalism, following through with the appointment for the estimate and with follow-up calls. If a need for their services arises, we'll definitely give them another try.

I called these guys in July to give me an estimate. The office staff was very responsive and professional, so my first impression was good. However, it was all down hill from from there. They were very busy at the time, so the estimator couldn't come out for nearly a month. I patiently waited, and the estimator did eventually come out. I took some time off work to meet him, and showed him the projects that I had in mind. That was the last time I heard from him. I never got an estimate. The office staff contacted me a couple of times to see if I was still interested in hiring the company, and I told them that I never got an estimate. I never had a chance to hire them. Pros: Excellent office staff Very responsive to phone calls and e-mails Cons: If they are busy, it'll take you a long time to get an appointment The estimator may waste your time, and never give you an estimate

We were pleasantly surprised by how smooth the process went. It took about 2.5 weeks from start to finish, which was important to us because we wanted it all done before the Thanksgiving holiday. They worked weekends to meet the schedule. I was impressed by how organized they were, compared to other contractors I've used. I love that SOD Builders uses basecamp (online tool) to communicate the schedule and all project management details. It kept everything running smoothly, even when i had to be out of town. Michal, their designer, is great to work with. She helped us with some key design decisions. Oren and Hector are very responsive to requests. Generally, a very professional crew (they taped my floors, cleaned up after they left), but i had a few run-ins with some of the crew on minor things (not leaving on time at night, installing the lights wrong, missing a few details). In all cases, it was addressed and corrected. Overall, we are very happy with the work they did (on time, on budget) and will have them work on our master bath next.

We are extremely happy with Oren, Michelle and all of SOD crew members. So we have just purchased our new home, which needed serious updates to make it look like our home. We decided to start with the kitchen, which was outdated and closed, and the master bathroom that looked like it came out of the 70's. We called a few contractors we found and the third meeting was with SOD, well Oren & Michelle came and there ideas just blew us away. Michelle asked us our likes and dislikes in the old kitchen and while questioning us, really got what our vision was, her ability to point out some of the things that we couldn't see was just great. Oren was straight to the point, didn't promise anything he couldn't provide, I really liked the no bulshit approach he had. ( some of the others bidders made us feel like they would promise anything just to have us sign a contract ). SOD also re pipe and rewire the whole house. they also upgrade the main electrical panel to 200amp. Oren did an amazing job on our kitchen, opened up the space to the living room, and I just love that I can show off my new kitchen every time I host a party. I must say that since day one they make sure that the house is covered with plastic, paper and they make sure to keep the site clean every day, even that we are not living at the house! Their crew were professional, on time and we always knew what was expected to happen. The office always updated us on the schedule on daily basis (they are using some kind of online project management software). Now we are done with phase one which was the kitchen addition and the next step will be master bath.... I can't wait!!! I must say their bid was not the lowest one we got, but it was worth every penny more we spent. I would update once our bathroom will be completed ;) Thank you everyone for an amazing job!!!

Repaired hole in bath ceiling after new fan was installed. Dry wall work was excellent...like art---matches perfect! Very professional, bonded and insured. Would highly recommend.

We did not use them for anything. Their estimate was along the same line with the company that we hired. The estimate process was fine. We did not go with them because we did not really like them personality wise.

It was perfectly fine. They sent out somebody who was pleasant and professional and he generated a quote.

Those guys are okay. They are pretty good. They were timely, they showed up on time, they got to explain the products that were available like the options like the designs, what probably wouldn't work as well, the time and the things involved. They were just informative, very thorough, no pressure and laying up the options.

We are in the beginning stages of the project, and are impressed thus far with the quality of work. Oren, in particular, is quite good at engaging to make sure that the quality and customer service is there. The workers are exceptionally neat (which has been fantastic since we've been staying during the remodel). We will provide additional details when the project completes, but so far - so good.

I found them on Angie?s List. They came out and was just throwing numbers out. They did not give me anything accurate. The approach was not satisfactory. Everything else was fine.

Oren and Michal, his designer, were fantastic to work with. Oren and Michal both met with us to walk through our home and understand the project we wanted to do. Oren's bid was competitive, but the biggest reason we decided to hire him is because we could see how passionate he is about his work and we felt that Michal's vision was a perfect match for the look and feel we were going for. Michal was very helpful in the planning phase and helped design our kitchen layout and cabinets, as well as our master bathroom. She was also extremely helpful when it came time to start picking finishes. She totally understood our style and helped us narrow down design options. In addition, she was not afraid to let us know when she felt that we may be making choices that we could regret. We greatly valued her opinions and support! We had bought an older home that needed a lot of updating and improvement, so the job was quite big. Luckily, we were not living in the home during the remodel. However, we stopped by to check the progress at least a couple of times per week and were always impressed that the workers cleaned up after themselves each day and stored their tools even though they knew we weren't living there. Whenever we did see the workers, they were always pleasant and courteous. About mid-way through the project, Oren's foreman leading up our project left the company. This caused some delays, but the new foreman, Hector, was even better than the first and did everything he could to help make up for lost time. We had told Oren from the beginning that he could take his time because we weren't in any hurry to move in (we were living at my father's house so that I could take care of him until he passed away from cancer). The project was completed about 2 months behind schedule, but we had added some work to the original scope and wanted Oren to take his time to make sure everything was done exactly how we wanted it. We have now lived in our home for about 3 months. After we moved in we began to notice certain issues and defects and kept a running list of items to be fixed. Oren sent his crew back out about a month ago and fixed everything on our list with great attention to detail. We could not be any happier with our "new" (old) home! We have worked with other contractors on smaller projects at our previous homes before and they always quoted us much lower, but the final bill was much higher and the quality of the work was lacking. We paid Oren exactly what he originally quoted us and are very happy with the results. We would highly recommend Oren for his professionalism, attention to detail, and passion for his work. He is an honest person and demands the same level of honesty and quality from his crew.

They do not cover the Hayward area.

They were prompt and very courteous. They followed up well. It was them and another company that were the first two in a 10 mile radius that we were so close in choosing for the job. It was like one in the same company. They were very good and I had no problems with them. I would definitely give them the opportunity to quote again. They were like a $1000 less than the other company, but that excluded the electrical panel.

SOD were very responsive when we asked them for an estimate. Their estimate was inline with competitors. We didn't choose to go with SOD in the end, as we changed our plans. But I would recommend them for other people to try out.

SOD Builders was the one-stop shop to my dream house. With a complete team of project manager, designer, architect, licensed plumber/electrician, tile/floor specialists, painters, carpenters... they can put together pretty much any requests that you may dream up for your projects. The one thing the owner, Oren, kept saying throughout the project was "whatever you want we'll make it happen" and they really did all they could to try to make them happen. SOD Builders provided high-quality work, expert advice and top-notch customer services. They are very flexible to unexpected changes and always accommodating to the needs of the customers. When I picked out floors and tiles, Adi, the project manager, helped me looked all over California to find the best prices for the materials. When a part of the fireplace did not turn out look like the design I had in mind, they immediately sent a team to rebuild the area to make it look like exactly what I wanted. There were many examples like these throughout the project. I would highly recommend SOD Builders to anyone.

They quoted us about $15000, which was in the same range as the other quotes we received. They were very professional. The sales person that came out did a computer rendering and showed us sketch of different ways we could remodel our bathroom. That was very useful and none of the other contractors that came out had that so that was a plus.

SOD Builders, Inc were good, like, we were just looking at the expenses with the other builders. So far, I would rate them an 'A' for overall experience. Yes, I would consider getting another estimate in the future.