A & J Carpentry Services

Rob does excellent work. Meticulous attention to detail. Friendly and easy to work with. Not sure what happened with Mike and Ariel (see Unilocal reviews). It’s too bad they had such a bad experience. I’d definitely give Rob another job, if we were looking for a contractor. We’ve always been happy to work with him, and very satisfied with his high quality workmanship. He is honest and sincere. Couldn’t imagine him ever ripping anyone off. Rob’s a quality guy. Highly recommend.

Hired Robert for a large flooring project in Los Altos… 20“x 20″ porcelain tile on the diagonal
2500sf…He physically worked and Managed two other crews also on the project
Result; straight lines and flat tile. good craftsmanship
Hardworking, punctual, honestly, is what your going to get from this guy
No altercations, attitude, negativity
In fact it was a pleasure working with Robert.
Might be a long haul for you but would love to have you back for additional projects!!!

We hired A&J Carpentry last June (2015) to remodel our Master Bathroom and Kitchen of the house we were planning to move into along with my wife’s parents. His estimated timing (2 months to be completed) was good and his rate was close to what we had for our budget so we went with him as well as he WAS a ‘friend of a friend’referral. The project started off great… pictures of the demo being emailed to us while we were on vacation and then all of the demo work being done by the time we returned on July 9^th. It looked promising!
The job started to drag on, meanwhile we had been cutting him (Robert Gil, owner of A&J) checks whenever he asked for «more money to pay his guys»…unfortunately «his guys» were rarely there. I know because I would drive by the house on a daily basis. He would continuously say «oh, there is a lot of behind the scenes work that is being done». We ultimately had to move in to the house on Sept. 19 to force the issue because work had come to a stand-​still! We informed him of our move in date to which he acknowledged «it will be done by then… It was not even close! People, we did not even have HOT water or a functioning kitchen and Master Bathroom until OCTOBER 16! This guy actually was combative and abusive with the way he talked to us, his CLIENTS!!!
This man would promise things (dates, sub contractors showing up, other fixes that he would do, etc.), and when they did not happen or no one showed up, his response was the same EVERY TIME…“I never said that… I would never say that!» …or «90% of the delays are out of my control!». I mean it’s really unbelievable what this person was thinking was acceptable.
So here we were at the end of September, down to the FINAL installment (10% of total project cost and this was a $ 50K budget), having NO running hot water, a non-​functioning kitchen and non-​functioning Master Bathroom (oh I forgot to mention that We have a 7 year old and now 18 month old daughters)! I mean this guy had the audacity to claim he had a right to the final payment, to which I CONTINUALLY (to deaf ears it would seem) reminded him that «No you do not… not until this project is completed, inspected and PASSED. It was unbeivable that he was even trying to argue that he had a right to this $$$ when on his contract it states «IT IS ILLEGAL FOR THE CONTRACTOR TO ACCEPT PAYMENT FOR WORK THAT IS INCOMPLETE…» …to which HE replied «oh that’s JUST general contract MUMBO JUMBO.» I kid you not folks. I kid you not!
There are so many instances on this project that would amaze you like most of his sub contractors having to redo things over again because THEY said that «Robert didn’t tell us that» or «Robert told us to do it this way». AND on the flip side, the Robert would tell us «my contractors don’t like to work for you because there’s always changes.» Seriously, I cannot make this up. Who tells their clients this?! He also had the nerve during one of our arguments, to tell me that I «know nothing about managing people»! This guy has no ideal who I am and what my background is! Oh and BTW, I’ve managed a full-​time employees for over 10 years, LOL. It’s mind boggling because we had detailed plans drawn out for both the Master Bath and the Kitchen which included precise measurements and indication for all light fixtures, etc… also all of our cabinets for the kitchen were ordered from IKEA and DELIVERED from them in TWO Days! They sat untouched in the Living Room for at least TWO MONTHS untouched!
…he agreed to replace the Marble countertop in the Master Bathroom because it did not match the backsplash they installed the week before… so we get home and his tile guys (from Fresno!) are out cutting the marble, BUT the are cutting a backsplash piece to replace the backsplash and NOT the countertop! So I call him and I end up having to yell at this guy at the top of my voice just to get a word in edgewise because he just continues to talk and doesn’t let you talk! He seriously told me that «hey it’s Saturday and I’m officially closed and don’t even have to talked to you… I’m off today»! To which I replied, «I would like to be off today too, but I’m working on my own job and on top of that doing your job too because your guys are not doing what they are supposed to!!» So we got shafted with the countertop that he said he was going to replace but did not. Shall I go on?‘
After that Saturday verbal phone altercation, we had him sign (in front of a third party) an addendum which basically gave him the option of taking his tools out of the garage that day and not get the final $ payment OR he had one week to finish everything that was still left to do… he chose to finish. At that point he was just trying to get things done… the WORST tiling job in the kitchen AND bath backsplashes you can imagine! He did it himself! The icing on the cake is that his cleaning folks scratched up ALL of our hardwood floors! We have been forced to take things to the next level.

This Company was selected by my neighbor to just put up a new fence. Easy, right? Well the removal of the old fence and the construction of the new was done by absolute amateurs with limited supervision I was leaving town for a week and could not be there.
When I got home the fence had over 100 nails that missed the main beams and were sticking through over an inch. High, low and on top. The cement around the posts was left 4 inches too shallow and below the surface of the existing cement driveway. That was finally fixed after repeated complaints. The fence boards were placed at random spacing distances, not up against each other. Some were ¾ inch apart. When I mentioned that, Robert the owner said it was from the wood shrinking… in one day. How do you deal with someone that ignorant. The only way to fix this was to rip the top boards off and redo all the boards. He refused. The worst was the final 6 feet going to my metal posted gate. It was 2 feet shorter than the rest of the fence! My whole side RV section and kitchen window was in plain view of a main cross street. He refused to replace that section the correct way. He just built a long box section to make it higher.
My neighbor payed the entire amount before I returned home, so there was little I could do but take photos of the monstrosity, and plan out how to fix some of it.
This was the worst workmanship anyone could possibly imagine. I would not let this company put a rope swing on my tree! Just a mess! Oh… I paid top dollar for this mess…$ 920 for my ½ for an 80 foot section!
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Rob and his team did a great job painting our house. He took the time to listen to what our concerns were and offered his professional opinion on how to proceed. He assisted in helping us pick our color based on colors in the neighborhood and we love it! He connected us with great individuals who replaced our gutters and fixed our garage door. He was reliable, consistent, professional, and finished on schedule. Price was reasonable and the job was certainly worth the cost. My husband and I would certainly endorse him for any work you would need.

rob and team are fantastic and are easy to work with. Rob is a pro and a perfectionist and go the extra mile to ensure the task gets done right. his price is reasonable and worth every penny. he is also reliable and shows up on time as promised. in a world where contractors can be flaky, rob blows away the competition and is the very best. he has our highest endorsement.
note, even though his residency is in modesto, we are based in danville and he services our area /​contra costa and beyond.