Building Solutions

I came to Building Solutions with a very small budget and a very old house. I arranged an evaluation with Lavinia, who was pleasant, professional, and very helpful.
Between the initial conversation and the meeting, I spoke with a couple of other contractors about the project. They were lovely, competent people who knew their trade and made efforts to plan within our budget. I’ll admit, however, I ended up feeling somewhat dizzied by the discussion of what they thought needed doing.
Then I met John.
John arrived with Lavinia on the appointed day and I was almost immediately impressed with the depth of his knowledge and the thoroughness with which he examined the house. I am pleased to report that he also spent his time speaking *to* me — I know that doesn’t sound like a lot, but almost ever builder/​carpenter/​electrician/​plumber/​etc. that I’ve ever met has mostly talked to whatever project they’re looking at rather than me. Lavinia, too, was careful to spend time and focus on both me and the prospective work. All in all, I felt very comfortable speaking with both of them.
I know, I know: too long, get to the point.
So, he did a walkthrough of the house. Having done so, we started talking about budget. As I said, my budget was *not much*. John leveled with me: a contractor will take between ten and twenty percent of the budget to cover profit and overhead, on average — given what I was trying to accomplish, he told me, it may be worthwhile to consider saving that 10−20% and putting it toward the work itself. And that argument made a lot of sense.
I thanked John for his advice, feeling more overwhelmed than ever, but like I’d been given a fair assessment, at least. I put my notebook down and started to move toward shaking his hand and thanking him for coming out.
«You’re going to want your notebook for this part,» he said.
Curious, I picked my notebook up. Perhaps he had a recommendation?
John then spent the next hour or more talking me through the steps I would need to take to accomplish what I wanted while being my own general contractor. He gave sound, knowledgable advice without overcomplicating things or talking down to me. For an hour or more. An hour or more of time for which he would not get paid — an hour or more in which he was, effectively, losing money.
I was blown away. By which I mean, really, really impressed (and pretty grateful, too).
Of all the contractors I’ve spoken with, John is the person who impressed me the most — both in terms of knowledge and in terms of being willing to spend time helping me even when there was nothing in it for him.
I recommend him (and Building Solutions) wholeheartedly. If you’re not convinced, ask them to take a look at your project — it may well turn out that their evaluation makes a world of difference.

Oh, let me tell you about some «money saving» ways they can save you money.
We told them the city (San-​Francisco) said «no» to a rear deck because our lot was too short. Building Solutions said they didn’ t see why we couldn’t have a deck. So they did expensive drawings and went down to the building department with them and guess what the building department said? «NO»
Maybe they should have just called them?
Here’s another one:
They had already determined our original drawings were inaccurate so AFTER they designed the attic rooms they decided maybe they should come over and go up into the roof to check the dimensions. Well guess what? Yes they had to redraw the attic rooms…
Here’s another:
We started getting billed for organising the contactor «party». This is where contractors come to your house and look at the design and final decisions are made about your build. TWO Building Solution people have to be there ALL day and get paid. Well we said it was a bit premature because our design wasn’t finalized. Just as well we stopped that shinaniganz ’ cos this was after they knew our budget wasn’t big enough to cover the scope of work.
Well I could go on and bore you some more. But you get the picture.
AVOID!

When planning a major remodel or construction project, often a person can feel like they are wading into the great unknown, where every day is going to bring a new cost and problem and there is no way to anticipate how the project will go. What I loved about John and the entire staff at Building Solutions was the dedication to clear communication and meticulous planning. Their process is designed to ensure that everything that can be planned for, will. Their pricing/​estimating process is as detailed as it can possibly be. The project manager assigned to your job will always be available and communicate exactly what to expect and when. BSI is a very busy firm, and they handle jobs large and small, but their staffing system is top-​notch and allows for every client to feel like they are the top priority. I can’t say enough about how comfortable it made me feel to know that the only surprises were going to be revealed by my house — not my contractor! Luckily, our house cooperated :-)
BSI works with many subcontractors regularly — but their process does include a competitive bidding component. Their long term knowledge of area subs means that they have a very good idea of who is going to provide the best value and the highest standard of work, and our finished product shows it. Still, they were willing to work with one sub that proved to be difficult to manage (after I obtained the bid on my own) — and they made sure the job was done to their specifications. It was a TREMENDOUS relief to have them as my advocate. Professional all the way.
We LOVE our new kitchen and would not hesitate to call BSI for any future renovations. Thank you, John, Shawn, Bob and Crystal!

I very strongly recommend John at Building Solutions, not only as a design/​builder, but a very knowledgeable consultant.
First, he handled making a few improvements and repairing some damage in my 1890s house in San Francisco. The quality of the work was top-​notch, and his crew even cleaned up and vacuumed every day before they left.
Next, we asked him to help us assess houses we were looking to buy. He’s an absolute expert at seeing hidden potential problems in a house that no one else would see. He steered us away from some houses that could have had serious issues, and we ended up buying a house that was very well maintained and totally approved by John.
That was five and a half years ago, and we’re still very pleased with our choice and very grateful to John for his invaluable advice. I can’t imagine buying a house without his expert opinion.

Finding a good contractor is not easy. I have had bad experiences before and many friends and relatives have told me horror stories of jobs that went on too long or over budget and I believe generally the problem stems from bad communication between the client and contractor. I liked that with Building Solutions I only had to deal with one point of contact; my project manager. He did a great job breaking down my options and costs. He was super friendly while also maintaining a very professional demeanor.
We took an active approach in the design of my kitchen and dining space and had great help fleshing out my ideas and predicting the viability of my designs. I am so happy with how my kitchen and dining room came out and glad I chose Building Solutions to bring my ideas to life!

A Response from the Owner of Building Solutions on 4÷17÷2013:
Thank you for your feedback, Mandra. We sincerely apologize for the apparent miscommunication in our brief interaction. It seems that the impression that was conveyed was that we did not consider your projects worthwhile. Please understand that our intention was to serve you as best we know how; and to us, that means helping you get the job done at the best price, with the best fit for your needs, even if that’s not us.
After our initial phone call, we took the time to discuss the projects you informed us of (1. house painting, 2. deck repair, and 3. tree removal), and ultimately decided that we could save you some money by referring you to a different licensed contractor who is also a painter, whose overhead is next to nothing, and whose hourly rate is less than ours. We felt this was a good match for you as all you needed was a painter, a gardener, and a handyman for the deck repair. We assumed that you would appreciate the advice as well-​intentioned.
If you knew me, if you knew my business philosophy, you would know that what has occurred was an unfortunate misunderstanding and NOT the result of any arrogance or unwillingness to assist our clients in any way we can. Indeed, it’s not unusual for me to show up to an initial visit and end up talking the folks there out of a project that would not be in their long-​term financial best interests. I have found this approach works out best for everyone.
I hope your projects turned out well, and I thank you again for your feedback and sincerely hope that you accept my apologies for our miscommunication.
–John Fraine, CEO
After reading owner comment I responded:
1. The projects I informed everyone of was ONLY PART of what we wanted done and had someone come out to assess the work we wanted you guys would have found that out.
2. Well intentioned would have been for someone to come out and take a look and then suggest other options and not to push someone else off on calling us back to say that their boss has rethought our project proposal (after an appointment had been made) and tell us that we should look at other avenues of service. I would have been happy if anyone had respectfully came out and explained it like you said you had done with others requests for your services.
3. I love that you posted a response to this almost a YEAR later. Just saying.
Maybe you should not attract the interest of regular home owners at the Marin Expo and instead make it really clear from the first person they talk to that you do ONLY large scale total remodels and construction, period. Problem solved.

Building Solutions helped us with a conversion of our carport into a master bed/​bath in 2010 as well as many infrastructure upgrades including seismic upgrades, plumbing, gas lines, electrical, etc. They gave us a spreadsheet with the costs broken down by category. The work was top notch. There was never any doubt that the final product would be great. They have many eyes on the project and nothing gets by them. They also do the project a lot faster than many contractors I have seen because they are very good at scheduling sub-​contractors at the appropriate time and work efficiently. They tell you up front the amount of money you will spend on Building Solutions employees for each part of the job and they keep their employees on schedule. You know before you start what the costs will be. Prior to starting the project they provide a detailed spreadsheet with every single cost detailed and a timeline for the entire project listing what will be going on every day. We had three bids from subcontractors for every subspecialty before we started so we knew we were not overpaying. Since completion we have had a few glass tiles in our shower crack. Shawn from Building Solutions and a tile guy came promptly to our house a day or two after I called (which was over two years after the project was completed) and they spent most of a day fixing the tiles in the shower for no extra charge. Everyone who works for them is very professional. It is nice to know 100% that the job will be done correct and that they stand behind their work as well as the work of all the subcontrators.