ECS Construction Inc.

I’m glad I used ECS Construction for a master bath remodel. The project entailed changing the layout by replacing the bathtub, shower, and vanity and adjusting the closet entrance. Eric at ECS efficiently scheduled the needed subcontractors in a seamless sequence and helped with advice and minor adjustments along the way. My home was protected from the dust and mess with coverings and temporary plastic walls. The demolition, preparation, tile, plumbing and electrical was competently performed. I am stunned by the transformation – the shower is new, modern, beautifully enclosed by glass and significantly bigger. Gone is the track home look and in it’s place is the custom European style I wanted. My advice to homeowners with a similar remodel is to plan well in advance for all the fixtures, measure and measure again to ensure they’ll fit and allow flow, and finally to use ECS Construction. This was successful for me.

I generally do not write reviews of my service providers, but ECS, and its principal Eric Stevens, did such an outstanding job, I feel obligated to give them the credit they deserve. In short, I cannot overstate how pleased we were with the contracting job they did and how highly I recommend them. We found ECS on Angie’s List and contracted to have it take out existing windows and replace them with about a 15 foot expanse of bi-fold doors. Now that the project is complete, you cannot tell that the doors were not an original part of the house. But, it is not only the end result that satisfied us, it was how the job was accomplished. We wanted as little disruption from this major project as possible and ECS gave us a very aggressive schedule from demolition to final completion, less than a month. That schedule was strictly met. Coordination of nearly a dozen different stages of the project (demolition; framing; door installation; lathing, plastering and fogging the outside stucco; installing indoor dry wall and molding; painting and finishing the interior surfaces; and laying of indoor tile) went smoothly, with no delays between the various steps of the project. That efficient coordination was so unlike our experience with other contractors on other projects (who often left us waiting weeks to get the next step of a project started) that it alone speaks to ECS's merit. In addition, the quality of the work by ECS was outstanding. One of the subcontractors mentioned that Eric was a perfectionist and we found that to be true. Every element of the reconstruction (the style and color of the new doors, the texture and color of the new stucco, and the interior repainting and wall resurfacing) perfectly matched the existing surfaces. I cannot imagine a better job and a better result. Although we requested few changes and adjustments as the project was underway, our experience with ECS in that respect was far different than with other contractors. In the past other contractors either found reasons why a change could not be done or used the change as an opportunity to add an exorbitant extra charge. Not so with ECS. ECS made every adjustment we requested and addressed every concern we had quickly and with never a mention of any additional cost. Finally, one more thing illustrates ECS's merit. In our original contract/estimate, there was $2,500 included for architectural review and consulting. The architect came out during demolition to review the existing wall to determine whether additional support for the doors was needed and later provided plans for obtaining the necessary building permits. We assumed that the $2,500 was spent on those services. However, when we were making our final payment to ECS, we were informed by Eric that the architect's services cost less than he anticipated and we owed ECS more than $1,000 less than estimated. I cannot imagine that many contractors would have volunteered that information and reduced the original estimate. One last thing is also worth mentioning, during the project, ECS twice paid for cleaning crews (something we had not anticipated) to thoroughly clean the part of our home affected by the construction. This unexpected service made the disruption associated with the construction easier to live with. So, in short, if you are interested in finding a building contractor who is highly efficient, does outstanding work, and is honest and trustworthy, we highly recommend Eric Stevens and ECS Construction.

ECS was very professional. They stuck to their quote and were able to handle a number of job additions and various time constraints throughout the project. ECS was easy to get a hold of when I had questions and made sure everything turned out as planned.

I describe this townhouse that is for rent as "stunningly redecorated." On 8/14/2017 I described the progress of the job to date. The job was finished mid-November 2017. The property has been totally transformed, as you can see from a few of the before and after photos. It took 3 1/2 months, but this was a major job. A new shower was added and the place was taken down to the studs downstairs. Two significant electrical and plumbing issues also had to be remedied. The contractor was in constant text communication with the decorator & my daughter on hundreds of decisions that needed to be made. The contractor was extremely responsive, calling back whenever we were at a fixture store or Home Depot on specs. He cooperated with the HOA when approval was needed. He regularly sent photos of progress. Respectful and listens to suggestions. Worked well with team. Workers adhered to set work times and parking restrictions. Neighbors never had an issue. I was thankful to have selected ECS because I know he does the job right. This made a huge difference because we were not on site.

Going well to date. Another 6 wks to go probably.

We did not sing a contract with ECS

During bidding, ECS had the highest bid out of the four contractors I spoke to, but it was also by far the most complete bid. All of the other contractors would have required extra work by me to coordinate various aspects of the project. Once we started, the project went great. Eric managed everything while asking me for input whenever appropriate. Just the right amount of involvement for me in my opinion. He was in constant communication regarding the schedule, and what teams would be at my house on what days. Everyone was always on time, which was great since my own schedule is pretty hectic sometimes and I was trying to schedule additional projects around the remodeling work. Some additional issues were discovered after tearing off all the old exterior of the walls, as I expected given the age of the house, and the ECS crew was able to handle all necessary repairs for me at a very reasonable cost. Most of the smaller stuff, like some additional stucco repair and fixing some exterior faucets, was thrown in at no additional cost. Eric was always happy to take feedback from me on the few occasions things weren't going how I had wanted or planned. I got zero pushback. He also did a good job of explaining my options when hard choices had to be made. He made his recommendations clear, while not forcing me to choose one way or the other. The end result is my house looks great, like it's brand new. Overall, I was very pleased, and thought it was well worth the extra cost to work with a true one-stop shop and experienced contractor. My only complaints would be that Eric sometimes tried to sugar-coat small details that didn't go as right (when a new sliding screen door didn't slide as smoothly as I liked, he suggested you don't want it to slide too easily or it would slam), and he failed to warn me about a few side effects (our existing blinds had to be replaced after we discovered they don't fit in the window frames with the new, wider windows, for example. Should have been clear from the beginning).

The ECS Construction Inc. did a great job on my kitchen remolding. Eric is a very thoughtful and organized manager. He managed every detail along with the project, always planned ahead of the next step task and made sure everything stayed on schedule, very professionally. The other techs working on the project including the countertop fabricator, the plumber, the drywall specialist, all did excellent professional work. We are very happy with the result, and will definitely recommend them highly to anyone.

Eric impressed us at our first meeting, promptly understanding our needs and suggesting ideas to assist our decision making process. He quickly provided printed plans, then made modifications to satisfy our special needs and budgetary restrictions. So, out of the four Angie's List Remodel Contractors we had considered, Eric (ECS Construction) was our choice. There were no second thoughts for the plans were effected efficiently and expeditiously by Eric and his very dependable and professional subcontractors. The work proceeded on one bathroom at a time. Hence, we were able to stay "at home" with a minimum of inconvenience to us. Eric communicated with us frequently, keeping us appraised of day--to-day progress, work schedule and any need for input from us. Over-all, our experience with this contractor was a very pleasant one and our new bathrooms are beautiful. My wife and I highly recommend ECS Construction and we would contact Eric for any future project.

Excellent. Eric was very responsive. The workmanship was fabulous. We are very pleased!

ECS runs an excellent crew with good supervision. All crew members were polite, friendly and neat. The job was completed on time as contracted. Very little to be done in terms of a punch list.,

ECS and Eric did an excellent job with great attention to detail. They were on time and on budget. They were sensitive to cleanliness and cleaned up after themselves. The work product was outstanding and exceeded our expectations. We have used ECS Construction twice for projects and would use them anytime. We also would highly recommend them to others.

I interviewed and had quotes from 4 contractors. ECS (Eric) was the lowest and most complete. He was able to offer design ideas that helped steer me in the right direction and helped save cost. His sub contractors - from the demo guys to the finish carpenter - were top notch; respectful, clean, and high quality tradesmen. Did not have a problem with one of them. Eric himself is easy to work with, super knowledgeable, and exceptionaly responsive. He even finished on schedule! By far best contractor I've used.

ECS Construction exceeded our expectations. We received high quality service from the owner and his subcontractors. Amazing attention to detail and incredibly responsive. I would further define ECS Construction as trustworthy, courteous, creative and hardworking. The owner kept an open line of communication at all times, and he and his team worked hard to not only complete the work on time but also make sure the renovation went as smoothly as possible. Remodels are stressful! The owner was easy to talk to, reasonable and never lost his cool The finished product was everything we hoped for and more. Price wise, I would rate ECS as somewhere in the middle...not the most expensive or the cheapest. But the cost was well worth it in the end. We are very proud of our new kitchen, balcony and first floor remodel and plan to use ECS in the future for our second floor guest bathroom and landscaping projects.

We felt that ECS was very professional and competent. The project went on a little longer than scheduled, but that is because the workers had to replace some major plumbing that had become clogged which was not anticipated. ECS workers were very open to our suggestions. The contractor, Eric, worked with a wonderful cabinet maker who was able to duplicate cabinets that we had in another bathroom in order to maintain the modernist style of the home.

We got estimates from two other companies and ECS was lowest. As well as being lower in cost, Eric had other ideas and suggestions that helped us make decisions. We found that Eric was very flexible in listening to our ideas and then using them or explaining how it might not be the best direction to go. He never talked down to us as if we were the dumb, unknowing consumer. Everything was done to Code and with future use and wear in mind. I saw that in areas where it could have been easily passed over, the team reinforced supports and posts, which I was happy to see. We were impressed that with as many employees as we had at our home at various times, each of them was courteous and professional. The workers also cleaned up at the end of each day. ECS removed our old wooden upstairs deck that had become unsafe due to time and water damage. They removed the sliding glass door that led out to the deck and replaced it with a sliding window and wall. Downstairs they took our two old sliding glass doors that led out to the back yard and installed two new sliders that we purchased at Home Depot. They also installed a wooden header along the back of our house in anticipation of having a patio cover installed later on. All this work required new stucco across the back of the house. All this work was done nicely and looks great. We had purchased a new kitchen interior (cabinets, sink, refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, etc.) from Sears and Home Depot. We needed ECS to install that for us after I removed the old kitchen and had the City haul it away. ECS had to do some plumbing and electrical work which also included removing drywall and the old drop ceiling with fluorescent lights. They installed the cabinets, appliances, etc as well as new LED can lights. Everything looks great. We found that our roof being 28 years old needed to be replaced and ECS took care of that, too. They removed the tiles and old felt, as well as a couple of plywood sheets that had rotted. The fascia boards facing the daylong sun also needed to be replaced. They then covered the roof with new felt and put the tiles back, replacing any broken or cracked tiles with new ones. Finally, we had our downstairs floor done with ceramic tiles. I removed the old oak plank flooring on my own and Eric's team did the ceramic tile installation. We are pleased with the care they took to place the ceramic tiles on the level and in such straight lines. Great job. Incidentally, Eric loaned me his electric jack hammer to help with the floor demo I did to save a few dollars. We still have some work to be done in the yard, both front and back, and we expect to work with ECS on those projects.

We hired Eric Stephen/ECS Construction to replace our old wood shake roof with an asphalt shingle roof, repair and paint the exterior of the house including stucco, wood trim and some wrought iron fencing. An unrelated plumbing problem occurred before the roofing work began. ECS Construction also took on the plumbing job involving extensive re-piping of plumbing leading to the house and to the irrigation system. I was extremely satisfied with the entire project and happy with the high quality of materials and workmanship and the restored curb appeal of our house. If I had to use one word to describe Eric Stephens it would be conscientious. All of my concerns were respected and addressed. I felt included and engaged in every aspect of the construction, both structural and aesthetic. It was essential that the roofing material be appropriate for adding solar panels and that it be durable and long lasting, and that the appearance was contemporary and appropriate for the neighborhood. Our house is considerably below street level, the roof being the first thing one notices on approach to our house. So a great looking roof was important. All of the above was accomplished. The work began on time and continued on schedule. The workers showed up on time and were very respectful. I felt entirely comfortable with the crew having complete access to my house inside and out. They were very good at cleaning up the site daily before end of day. Communication between contractor and crew was excellent with no fear of misunderstanding. Throughout the project, I was impressed with Eric?s knowledge base, diligence, attention to detail, and genuine concern for my satisfaction with every aspect of the project. When needed, communication between the termite company, solar company and ECS Construction went very well. As anticipated, there was extensive termite damage requiring replacement/repair of much structural and decorative woodwork. This and any other additional work required was thoroughly and honestly discussed with me including pricing so there were no surprise costs and I believe the original and additional work was fairly priced. Any inadvertent collateral damage was taken care of to my complete satisfaction and at no additional cost to me. After the project was completed and paid in full, I noticed a couple of minor touch-ups that needed to be done and these were taken care of expeditiously. I am hard-pressed to find any cons. I strongly recommend Eric Stephens/ECS Construction and am planning to hire him again for a future kitchen remodel.

We hired Eric Stephens/ECS Construction in the spring of 2013 knowing we were embarking on a major remodel ? and requiring us to move out while the work was being done. From the very beginning, we were impressed with Eric?s professionalism, congeniality and honesty. He suggested we work with Josh Ecke/Alpha Design Studios as architect, and we went with that. We wanted to be personally involved in much of the design and Josh was great to work with ? our sense of aesthetics meshed well and he came up with some great ideas, especially considering the limitations of our lot lines, septic requirements, etc. Eric was involved in every step of the process, also came up with great solutions and spoke his mind when something didn?t seem right, design or construction-wise. Eric found that in addition to the design changes/additions we wanted, the house itself was in need of structural reinforcement. From the bottom up, the entire structure was made more solid ? the foundation and subfloor were reinforced, as well as the exposed beam system supporting the upper floor. The plumbing and electrical systems were completely replaced. While this remodel ended up to be quite a bit more expensive than the original estimate, we were informed by Eric along the way of the changes that needed to be made in order for the structure to be sound and to meet the code requirements. Our situation was further complicated because our septic system needed to be completely replaced and relocated ? which added time and expense to the project. We are very happy with our house. There was much attention to detail on the part of Eric Stephens and the subcontractors. The quality of work was excellent.

Eric is professional and his work meticulous. His sub contractors were friendly and professional as well. They left the work site picked up at the end of the day. We now have a beautiful outdoor entertainment space. This is the second contract we've completed with ECS Construction. In 2012 Eric remodeled our entire home inside and out while we were living out of state. I visited about four times during the project but never felt out of touch. Eric was in constant communication via text, phone and email. The kitchen and three bathrooms were gutted and redone with extensive changes to the master bathroom, including walk-in closets, marble counter tops, tile flooring, new fixtures and the repositioning of everything to make it work. The new kitchen has a great walk-in pantry that I'm really happy we added. Will I contact ECS Construction for the next project? Absolutely.

Eric was very on top of every aspect of the job. Also found ways to save me money without sacrificing quality.

We decided to remodel the kitchen and master bath of our mid-1980s 3 bd-room PUD in Carlsbad. We had a decorator/designer, and we interviewed 4 contractors, two of which were on Angie's list. ECS Const. Inc. was one of the bidders, and Eric Stephens came out to review, get specs and drawings and make the bid. We originally wanted to just re-face the kitchen cabinets, but after Eric's suggestions, and a review of costs differences, decided to go with all new cabinets. Eric's bid was a little above the mid-point of the bids from other bidders when taking the changes into acct. Eric arrived promptly, listened carefully to our desires, and had good suggestions to make the plans better. E.G. we added LED lights instead of using existing florescent lights above and below cabinets. Eric's bid timing fit our plans, and they began within a week of signing the contract. The demolition went well and his subs that did that were prompt, curteous, and respectful. AML Leon was quick and efficient, and cleaned up as they went along. They began August 11th and had it not been for a water leak that I found below the slab, they would have been done in about 6 weeks. The re-pipe of the water lines added 10-14 days. The tile, cabinets and counter top subs did very good work and cleaned up as they went along. One of the subs that repaired and painted the ceilings and wallboard was an artist, and his work is the best I've ever seen. You cannot tell that there were ever any holes in ceilings or walls. All the subs that Eric used were diligent, and communicated well, and arrived and left when they said they would. Eric was on top of everything, communicated with me and the designer, and was a very open and easy going contractor, with good business practices, and skills. I've remodeled other houses, and built a new house on a lot in Colorado, worked with architects, and interior designers, and I would put Eric Stephens in the top two or three contractors I've ever dealt with. I would recommend him for the most complex or routine job, no matter where, and he was a pleasure to do business with. And his prices for add-ons was fair, and he did small things without nickel and dime cost adds. I completely recommend Eric Stephens and ECS for any construction job in the San Diego area.

Emailed ESC through Angie's List to ask for an estimate and after no response for a couple days I went back to Angie's List and used the Schedule Now feature to get their attention. Eric responded that he would call me to discuss later that morning. When he called I explained that I had phase 1 of a renovation started by another contractor and there were things left undone and things needing fixing, as well as I needed to start phase 2. He scheduled an appointment to come out then on the morning of send a message through Angie's list saying he wasn't going to be able to provide an estimate because "Fixing someone else's bad work can be a real nightmare".

Everything went very well. I was pleased to use this company for my recent remodel job. Consisting of a bathroom renovation, painting throughout, new hardwood, carpet and tile installation. Eric brought in a team of experts to do a quality job in each of these areas. I was happy with the outcome.

Eric Stephens is the main guy at ECS Construction and he has a stable of experienced subs that he uses seamlessly as if they were part of his own company. We received bids from 5 contractors. Most of the contractors had a similar price to ECS (but one was way higher). One of the key reasons we chose Eric is his communication. This proved to be a wise choice. Always checked in with us every day. Eric gave great ideas, both in the bid phase and as the project progressed. He gave us suggestions but always allowed us to make the final decision, making sure we knew the tradeoffs. Eric worked with us on areas we wanted to do some of the work ourselves to save on cost (for example, some of the demo work and some of the painting). Worked around our schedule (e.g., did not take both of our baths out of commission at the same time). Minor issues were resolved quickly and efficiently. He took responsibility as needed through the project. Subs were very efficient. They will work the weekend if needed. The tile and cabinet subs especially took a lot of pride in their work and it shows in their excellent detailed work. All subs (except electrician) were very good at cleaning up after themselves. Excellent at keeping his promises. Ideally everything would be in writing, but with Eric we knew he would stand by what he promised us if there was any confusion in the original contract. Did not try to say small changes were ?extras? (did not try to nickel and dime us with small changes). Notified us in advance if he saw any potential hiccups or issues that came up during construction. Gave us options and if we were uncertain told us what his recommendation would be. In areas where we were very particular about what we wanted, he made sure to meet our requests. During the bid process, other contractors tried to persuade us away from some of our trickier design requirements (e.g., installing pocket doors, rerouting the dryer vent, installing a whole house fan in the garage, installing greywater piping) but Eric instead had dealt with most of these issues in the past and had superior solutions in every case. Most of the other quotes were very close to ECS (though one was much higher) so it came down to communication and ability to meet our demanding requirements. We are glad we picked ECC, because ECS exceed in both of these areas. His planning and attention to detail were essential for the project staying on schedule and also meeting or exceeding our high expectations. The only negative comment is that the electrical sub did not do a good job of cleaning up after himself. Considering the scope of this project, that is incredible that is the only negative aspect.

ECS Construction was awesome from my first contact with them through the job?s completion (October/November 2014). Initially, I selected 3 contractors, all with excellent reviews on Angie?s List. I checked each with the BBB and contractor?s license boards; I also did basic Google searches. My husband and I then met with each to get estimates and a feel for the people involved. We chose ECS Construction from among the three, and we are so happy that we did. From Day 1, we liked Eric. He was very professional?on time, efficient, listened carefully to what we had to say about we liked/didn?t like about the house, understood our budget and timeframe, etc. After the initial meeting, he provided us with a detailed estimate that was accurate and offered creative solutions to some of the ?problem areas? in the house (where we didn?t know what to do and asked for help). Once we reviewed the estimate, he was willing to make adjustments to accommodate our ideas and budget constraints. He then provided us with a detailed, professional contract that remained accurate throughout the renovation. Any additions from us (Can we add quartzite boarders and drainage to the patio? Can you paint the gates too?) or due to unanticipated problems (Eric?s crew discovered some structural issues with the house that could not have been seen or anticipated by anyone before removing windows.) were addressed both verbally and in writing. Throughout the process Eric checked in with me on budget, and we never once disagreed on the numbers. In regard to subcontractors, everyone Eric used or referred us to was awesome. For example, the tile work (floors, showers) was completed by Anthony Navarrow. Anthony was a true craftsman. Not only was he professional (on-time, efficient, careful), he was creative and solved problems while keeping the overall beauty and quality of the finished product in mind. At times, this meant more work from him. The same is true of every subcontractor Eric used. I?d have to write a book to thank them all, but here are a few: Fermin and his guys from AML Leon Construction did a ton of work on the project. They replaced all of the windows (new construction, not retrofit), they framed closets, and they repaired many, many problem areas. They also did tons of work on demolition and general reconstruction. Importantly, they uncovered some unanticipated structural issues with the house (for example, previous owners had hap-hazard popped windows into walls without headers). Not only did they bring the problems to our and Eric?s attention; they offered good solutions and fixed the issues. Fermin was simply awesome to work with throughout the remodel, and he had to deal with the ?thousand? little issues/questions/problems/additions that always come up in these projects. I don?t want to make this too long, but again, the sub-contractors were all great?plumbing, electrical, wood flooring, shower glass and mirrors, electrician, painters, etc. The subcontractors always chose to ?do the right thing? and obviously took pride in their work and wanted us to be happy with the results. In terms of professionalism, timeframe, and budget, I have to commend Eric and ECS Construction. Communication was accurate and easy throughout the entire project. Changes were discussed thoroughly and in writing. My requests for unconditional lien releases from subcontractors (before final payment) were met with zero hassle or concern. Payments were always within (or below) legal limits and handled in a very professional manner. Of course, any major renovation on a budget with a tight timeline has an element of stress, uncertainty, and surprises; but start to finish, ECR Construction was awesome. We are extremely happy with the results. We highly recommend them, and we would use them again.