Cerletti & Kennedy Design-Build

I hired Cerletti & Kennedy for the earthquake retrofit of my home and garage. Matt Kennedy really knows his business and I was easily able to understand his explanations. The crew were all neat and efficient. I wish I had known about this company years earlier!

The Cerletti and Kennedy company is very professional and efficient with their build and design platform .They were able to help put my ideas into a plan and ultimatly a finished and beautiful kitchen and bathroom remodel.including hardwood floors.I saved money on Architects with this company and they took care of planning,the planning department and inspections with the building department of Fairfield.The whole project was made easyier as they are easy to work with.The project was beautifully finished.I highly recommend this company.sincerely James Hill. retired union electrician

It was a design and build project: a 1200 sq ft 2-story addition to an existing house - two bedrooms, three baths, family room with wet bar, and office. Also a new 2-car garage. Matt Kennedy creatively designed the connection so as to access an existing 2nd story bedroom to the new hallway which connected it to one of the two new bathrooms. Robert Cerletti chose and managed very well the various subcontractors who were mostly expert professionals in their specialties - foundation, building structure, roofing, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, stucco and painting, wood/tile/carpeted flooring, and all finishing touches. From experience they knew how to work with city planners to reduce time for permit issuances. They recommended some added special features such as crown moulding, ornate wood stair railings, custom bathroom fixtures, exterior French water drainage, and quality kitchenette cabinets in the family room. From start to finish the project completed on-time within 9 months - delayed only by some unexpected heavy rains at the beginning slowing some foundation work. Six months has now passed since project completion and I could not be more pleased with the new addition. Robert Cerletti was on site frequently, checking on subcontractor work, consulting with me for input, discussing suggestions and ideas, getting progress payments, and paying his subs on time. The project completed on budget except where I specified added work beyond plan. I highly recommend Cerletti and Kennedy for similar projects small or large.

I originally was just going to add a shower to a downstairs half bath. I guess I watch too much HGTV because the project grew to adding a shower, taking down a wall, remodeling the kitchen and redoing all the floors in the kitchen family room bathroom and laundry. I had never hired for anything like this before. I hired them through one of their owners, Robert. The bid was very fair. MY house looks like a magazine!! All work was fully completed and inspected in 5 weeks. They were so good to my dogs too. Shout out to Frank and Ruben. They know how to do everything. I can't wait until I can do my master bath. Oh, thanks to the Granite Sore in Vallejo too. Great selection.

In October 2019 I chose contractor Cerletti & Kennedy to conduct earthquake retrofit work at our single story home in Pleasant Hill. I selected them from four contractors because Mathew Kennedy (Matt) seemed to be most knowledgeable about the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) Brace & Bolt Program. He knew how to follow the CEA contract procedures so that we would be eligible for a $3000 rebate and a reduction in CEA insurance premiums. The work included bolting 48 S-shaped clips and 9 L-shaped clips which made a strong, but flexible, connection from our house concrete foundation wall to the mud sill and perimeter joist. Our contractor followed the CEA installation rules and provided sufficient paperwork to make us eligible for the rebate and the insurance premium reduction. The contractor employees were courteous, friendly, and focused. Some extra work, to secure our water heater and provide a drain pipe through our crawl space, was provided at no extra charge. My emails and phone calls to Matt were promptly returned, but the timing and scheduling of the work was delayed several times by the interference of other contract work. Even though the 2-3 day job took 2-3 weeks to complete, we were pleased with the final outcome and the $3000 rebate. All considered we would be happy to recommend Cerletti & Kennedy to our friends and neighbors.

In 2019, Matt Kennedy and his team completed an inspection of our homeà ¢à  à  s foundation bolt and bracketing and added additional bolting to bring our home up to current earthquake standards. The inspection and work was done professionally, on time, cleanly, and in a singe day. Their work led to a 20% reduction of in our insurance bill. That represented a speedy payout of this project in less than two years and the piece of mind that our home was in good shape for the next big one that will be coming.

Did a great job on my CEA earthquake Brace and Bolt job. Professional, on time and on budget.

They are on time, excellent workers, Frank and Ruben could not ask for a better crew

Mr Cerletti was more than I expected. He may not remember me but I will never forget him. He added a gorgeous master bedroom to our Pleasant Hill home, not an easy task being on a hill. The work that he did was fantastic and added 3 times his cost to the value of the house. I wouldn t hesitate to call on him for my future building needs. Thank you so much Robert!

Fixed things that needed fixing. Used subcontractors even though they said they didn't. Responded rapidly to requests or questions. Quality of work on some things excellent, one thing was poor.

Warning! Cerletti & Kennedy Design-Build was contracted to build a small half bath in our home. Install a toilet and a sink. Measurements were It took 20 days in a row to construct a lopsided bathroom in our home. How do you get a lopsided bathroom when all you had to build was 2 walls? It went in a pre-existing corner of our master bedroom. There is a pocket door that has no handles or latch so it is just a big heavy board in the bathroom that we can not use. The 2 walls they built are uneven. SMH. Because they never provided us with a correct plan we were just wondering if they may have done other awful stuff. It passed inspection because the inspectors only checked for electric and plumbing issues. The first guy they sent over (showed up an hour and a half late), was a recovering addict and that is why we stayed in our house the full 20 days without the freedom to leave. Couldn't trust these guys with anything. They came and went when they wanted. Sometimes not at all. For 20 days I could go on about other issues with these guys, but we'll just leave it here and hope you never have to go thru this.

We had an extraordinary experience with Cerletti & Kennedy. On time, under budget, excellent workmanship, prompt and professional crew (thank you, Anthony, Pedro, Leo, and Will.) Excellent selection and service from vendors referred by Robert and Matt. We're extremely happy with our new kitchen, and friends are envious, wanting to know what materials and furnishings we used. Highest recommendations for Robert and Matt. Will use them when we have another rehab project. Thanks, guys!

We made it to the finish line and we are very, very thankful we selected Cerletti and Kennedy to remodel our kitchen, dining, family and living rooms into an open floor plan. It's STUNNING! We absolutely love it! Cerletti and Kennedy Design-Build is a fine group of professionals (Robert, Matt and Crew) with outstanding integrity. I highly recommend them. They are the best.

Friendly, professionals. I plan to use them again for a bathroom remodel.

I hired them based on prior reviews and their estimated cost to complete the work. I had 8 different estimated and they were in the middle range of the estimated. They do a decent job of remodeling the kitchen and it looks good. The workers can be sloppy at times which caused delays which had to be fixed. They were no help in picking out materials or in giving suggestions on material or colors. Everything was left to my wife and myself. All they did was asked it if we chosen materials yet. They will give you a general estimate on the work but not a detailed estimated on the cost when they want an installment payment. When ask about a detail breakdown, they response is always why do you need it since the payment matches the estimated cost of the job. My thinking is what if the actual cost is less than the estimate but I will never know it. I didn't want to haggle with them so I paid it. My experience with several other contractors is that they will breakdown the cost of material as well as labor and present a bill for the installment. I believe that is a better method for clients to see what they are paying. Also beware they will push their clients to buy prefab counter tops instead of slabs. It is easier for they to work on and cuts down time.By doing so I ran into a problem with my counter top. Not only did I end up paying more for the counter top, labor cost was much high than if I hire someone on my own. They use a specific company and their labor cost is high. You should shop for a counter top independently and get estimate before going with their guy. I did get an estimate and could have saved hundreds of dollars but stayed with their guy, my mistake. I have to say if there are problems, they will fix them and try to make the customer happy. Also, my job was suppose to last 3 to 4 weeks and ended up taking 7 weeks. There were three weeks out of the 7 when a worker only came out one day. At most, their workers may have came out 2 days a week, so don't expect workers on the job most of the week.

I absolutely love my new kitchen. It's more luxurious than I thought it would be thanks to Robert and Matt. They really have an eye for beauty and I really appreciate what they've done for me.

They did a really nice and clean job!

Based on their poor performance, it is difficult to see how anyone would rate their performance with a 4 or 5 star rating. Initially, Matt & Robert offered lots of ideas and promises for our kitchen and bathrooms remodel, but they failed to deliver on those promises. Their remodel budget estimate lacked specific and accurate installation details and cost estimates. Most of their material allowance costs were low and we easily exceeded the cost when purchasing items. For example, kitchen cabinet allowance was $4000.00 and my wife was not happy with the limited cabinet choices, so we chose a different vendor and paid 2 �������� times above estimate. The bathroom tile job was estimated at $5075 (labor & material) and we ended paying $13,000.00 (labor only costs) for the new subcontractor to install. Based on my experience, I would add at least 25% over their estimate. Recommend that each task be clearly defined in both materials and labor costs. Work execution phase was poor in both work coordination and progressing the work. Robert was rarely on the job site and when he was there, he was asking for progress payments. Many times he wanted money when task was not complete or needed money to buy materials. Robert indicated that he could complete the remodel within 12 weeks with house vacated which did not happen. I should have suspected problems before job began when Robert stated that he would send two people to move our furniture out to storage box. When only one person showed up to move furniture, who was an inexperienced mover (but good worker), that left me a 70 year man to assist him. Additionally, we had an incident where employees working on remodel were not covered by Workman������������s Compensation and liability insurance. There was poor coordination when it came to purchasing material such as sinks, faucets, shower heads, tub, toilets, vanities and light fixtures that was entirely on us to buy. Make sure estimate includes an itemized list that designates who is responsible to purchase. The quality of work was below average for professional contractors. The sheetrock installed did not match up with existing walls and in one case, �������� inch of the wooden beam had to be shaved to match existing sheetrock seem. The new sheetrock covering the existing fireplace brick was not installed with furring strips (metal 2 by 4 beams) as required by installation drawing. Also, some of the new sheetrock installed was cut to butt up to existing crown molding vice fitting under the molding. As workmanship issues surfaced and a reluctance to get them fixed in a timely manner, I felt like it was time to terminate our contract. We were ten weeks into job and they had not starting any finishing work. The new contractor we hired found many more workmanship issues with sheetrock, insulation, plumbing, lighting locations and structural slope for bathroom shower drain that required rework. Additionally, we thought that we were going to

Cerletti & Kennedy worked with our vision on a major kitchen, dining and living room remodel and where very responsive to our needs and committed to the quality work we were looking for. They were very professional and knowledgeable in all phases of project from designing, permitting and construction, we highly recommend them.

Based on my experience with this contractor I don't know how anyone could give them a 5 star rating. The quality of work was average. The materials (cabinets, hardware and counter tops) were lower quality I was lead to believe they would be. This project should have taken 3 to 4 weeks but took over 8 weeks due to poor coordination and lack of onsite supervision. Many times, with no prior notification, workers didn't show up. I expect some minor issues with a remodel but I had to bring appliance installation, electrical and other issues to their more than once to get the work done properly.