Acha Construction

I worked with Javier to do a job renovating my older house built in 1934. He had to take over last minute for a contractor that backed out, and he was very gracious and helpful considering he had to start from scratch and quickly. The house needed significant dry rot repair, a completely new kitchen, plus many other things freshened up, repaired, or replaced. What I liked about working with Javier is that he is not your typical bossy «I know what’s best» contractor, he listens to what you want and provides feedback about whether or not that is feasible, without being arrogant about it. This was a difficult job for him due to financial constraints on my end (it was a 203k rehab loan and the bank was really slow to disburse funds) but he made the best he could of it and I’m glad he stuck with it.
The biggest visible part of the job was the kitchen, which had been stripped to the studs by the previous home owner and had to be completely redone. The kitchen gets compliments from everyone who sees it. I have a job that sees me spending time in many other kitchens around the Bay Area and I think mine can now compete with some pretty nice ones. The only aspect of the rehab that has not been fully up to expectations is the paint on the exterior of the house faded badly, but it appears to be an issue with the paint itself, and the paint company has offered to repaint the house after coming out to inspect it. Overall, I think given the financial constraints he had to work with the end result on the renovation is as good as one could hope for. Thanks Javier!

spoke with Javier about a job at my house… long story short, he agrees to do the job on a specific day, he calls the day before the job to «probably» cancel, doesn’t return my phone call for 5 hours… End of story he didn’t do the job because I found someone else as a contingency. I’m basing this review only on the interaction I had with Javier. I’m sure he does great work but unfortunately due to certain circumstances on his end he had to cancel.

I have a bathroom remodel I need done for my tenants and called on Thursday morning and expected a return call. I called again on Saturday morning and still no return call.
Apparently this guy is too busy to return calls and obviously does not need the work.
I won’t try him again.

We had used Javier over 15 years ago to completely remodel a 1940’s era kitchen in our Alamo home. He also did some seismic repairs as well. We were completely happy with the work he performed. We recently contacted him again to do a complete make over of a 700 sq. ft. space that we use as a guest room.
Once again we were completely happy with the work performed by Javier and his excellent crew.
The highlight of the work performed was the stunning redo of the bathroom. It was a complete demo of the old bathroom and the results were fantastic. Everyone who has seen it and remembered the old bathroom were amazed at the results.
Some specific highlights of the work performed on the project:
All of the workers Javier used on the project were outstanding. They were, polite, skilled and cooperative.
Javier was always available at critical points in the project.
We were especially impressed with the painting that was done. It was equal to that of any painting contractor.
They always completely cleaned up and hauled away all trash. Not a trivial item.
They performed several tasks that were not included in the work order. In one case a sofa bed delivered by Ikea for the room was left unassembled even though we had paid Ikea to do so. (still have not resolved this with Ikea). Javier’s workers put it together for us.
In another case; we had ordered carpeting from Home Depot and they were to move the furniture out of the room and remove the old carpeting. They showed up a day late with only one installer. It was clear that one person was not going to be able to do all of that. The installer left without notice even though Javier’s crew offered to help him. In order to keep on schedule Javier’s crew removed the old carpet and moved all of the furniture out of the room.
Home Depot did show up the next day with 2 installers and because they didn’t have to any other work got the carpet installed. Probably would not use them again.
In conclusion we would not hesitate to recommend Javier to anyone who wants a quality remodel experience.
Pat and Pam M

I have hired Javier and his crew on several occasions, first to remodel our outdoor deck and patio (depicted on his web site) and then to install barn-​style and French doors in the interior of the house (photos uploaded here), and recently for some painting and glass work. Unlike many in the construction business, he is personable and an absolute pleasure to work with. He is patient and has a wealth of information and experience to help with your design, and his work is artisan quality at an affordable cost. He worked with us and we got EXACTLY what we had envisoned at a reasonable cost and time frame. He will be our go-​to guy for all home construction or remodeling in the future.

Javier and his crew are top notch. In an industry that can be flaky, overpriced and lacking in quality, he goes against the grain.
He helped convert our office to a nursery and remodeled an old shed/​studio into a beautiful space. The new structure is now the perfect extension of our Mid Century home, creating a whole new indoor/​outdoor living space. It serves as a library/​office/​lounge/​sanctuary and sleeping quarter.
Given the age of the structure, shoddy add-​ons over the years, Javier uncovered plenty of surprises along the way. In every case he was transparent about the cost, options and timing and provided a great solution. His ability to take an extremely out of plumb structure and make it right was amazing.
Javier listened to our needs while providing valuable feedback along the way. In the end he transformed a dilapidated structure used for storage into something worthy of Sunset Magazine and did it for way less than the cost of doing a tear down and rebuild.
We would absolutely recommend him to our friends and look forward to engaging him again on future projects.

What can I say! My wife and I love the remodeled bathroom they gave us. For such a small bathroom what a lot of work. It would have taken me 6 months to do what they did in just a couple of weeks. Javier gave us the wainscote treatment on our walls that we wanted and it just looks great. Javier is just like me when it comes to making it right the first time; he even put down a sheet of masonite to protect the floor that we wanted to keep. So if you are looking for a carpenter you can work with and who has all the skills necessary call on Javier and his crew at Acha Construction.

We are nearing the end of our home repair job with Acha Construction. I recommend them highly. I hired Acha based on a personal reference from a friend and it couldn’t have gone better (well we wouldn’t have minded the termites never showing up!). The owner, Javier Acha, does a lot of residential remodeling and repair work in my home town of Albany, plus in Berkeley and Oakland. He lives in Vallejo but knows the permit processes and issues in the East Bay well.
We needed a complex dry rot repair on our residence with all of the uncertainties attendant with the full extent of the damages not being entirely defined until the walls were opened up. A BIG PROBLEM was that the particular wall was between our bedroom (in the front of the house) and the front sidewalk about 12 feet away! Definitely the work needed to be done while we were on vacation! I got a quote on a time and materials basis and was at that point dependent on the contractor to get the job done without taking advantage of us. No problem.
The job became much larger than originally envisioned but we are very happy with the results. Javier sent us videos and phone pictures to us while we were off on vacation and we felt fully in the loop. He does a good job of explaining costs, options, ways to keep expenses down and how to match classic East Bay home styles. He did a great job keeping work areas clean and furniture protected. Please give him a call if you need high quality work done.

I used ACHA Construction company’s services for two bathrooms, a studio and stairway remodeling of my craftsman house located near Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. The proprietor of ACHA construction Javier was a real professional and easy to work with. He always answered his phone and text messages. He accommodated all design and construction requirements we came up and made valuable and creative contributions to the final product. Javier is a meticulous and detail oriented craftsmen and made all the efforts to please us with his work and to keep up with the vintage characteristic of the house. As the general contractor he planed and coordinated the construction operations with his subcontractors and managed to complete the remodeling on time, against a very aggressive schedule, and with our full satisfaction. Javier’s price was very reasonable and he used very detailed, easy to follow spread sheet. The change orders due to unforeseen conditions or per our requests were also reasonably priced. Being a professional engineer with extensive construction experience myself I did appreciate Javier’s work more profoundly.
I will use ACHA construction for all our future needs and recommend them highly to anyone who is looking for an excellent contractor.