More work. Faster. For less. Done better.
That combination is supposed to be impossible. It isn't. We removed the five things that make remodels slow and expensive — and kept the carpentry.
- CSLB B-2 licensed
- Building since 1998
- Oakland & the East Bay
- ★★★★★ on Google
- No markup on your materials
The part nobody believes
Pick two, they said. We ship all four.
Every contractor asks you to choose: fast, cheap, or good. That trade-off is real — but only if you're running a general contractor's business model. We aren't.
We're a B-2 remodel outfit, not a GC. We work on what already exists: tile, cabinets, flooring, trim, and the plumbing and electrical that go with them. No ground-up builds, no permit queues we can't control, no four subcontractors to chase.
Narrower scope means a leaner crew, fewer handoffs, and a schedule we can actually keep. That's the whole trick — and the next section shows you the five moving parts.
The system — five moving parts
How we get more done, sooner, for less.
Each part removes one specific source of cost or delay. Together they're why our bid comes in under a GC's and finishes before theirs starts.
You send photos. We send a number.
Text or email us pictures and a short description. You get a rough estimate back — not a calendar invite for a site visit three weeks out. If the number works, we schedule. If it doesn't, you've lost ten minutes instead of a month.
How estimating works →
We stay inside a scope we control.
Surface and remodel work — improving what's already there. That means minimal permitting and almost no upstream dependencies: no engineer's stamp to wait on, no inspector gating the next trade. The work starts when we say it starts.
Class B vs. Class B-2 →
You buy the materials. At your price.
Most of our clients already know the tile they want and often have it in the garage. Good — buy it yourself and keep the 10–20% a general contractor would add on top. We bring the labor, the tools, and the opinion about whether it'll work.
What we install →
One cross-functional lead. Not four subs.
The person who sets your tile can also move the outlet and reroute the drain. There's no waiting on a plumber's Thursday, no tile guy blaming the framer, no coordination tax buried in your bid. One lead owns the job start to finish.
Why one lead beats a crew →
We stay on site until it's finished.
No bouncing to another job for a week and coming back. Once we start, your project is the project — which is also why the punch list is short. Nobody has to rebuild context after a nine-day gap.
Our scheduling rule →
The impossible math
We didn't find cheaper labor.
We deleted the line items.
Here's what a general contractor's invoice is actually paying for. Cross off the parts that aren't carpentry, and the price drops without the quality following it.
The actual work, done by the people doing it, at the speed one focused crew can move. Same tile. Same waterproofing. Smaller bill, shorter calendar.
Recent jobs
Bay Area work, start to finish.
Floor & shower surround
Full tile floor plus a new surround, glass enclosure ready.
DitraHeat large-format floor
Heated uncoupling membrane under large-format tile.
Book-matched shower surround
Complicated tile, grout, and environment. It held.
Kerdi pan, bench & notch surround
Not our favorite system — but we know it well.
Duplex kitchen cabinets
Two units, new boxes, counters and hardware.
Epoxy over existing tile
Resurfaced instead of demoed. Faster and cheaper.
Fireplace & hearth reclad
New surround and hearth, original firebox kept.
Kitchen cabinet install
Full run of uppers and lowers, scribed and levelled.
Hexagonal mosaic floor
Tight cuts around a small footprint, clean grout lines.
What we handle
Seven trades. One crew.
This is the range one lead carries onto your job — which is exactly why nothing sits waiting.
Right-sized contractors
Hiring a GC for a bathroom is like chartering a 747 to cross town.
A Class B general contractor is built for ground-up construction. That machinery costs money whether your job needs it or not. Here's the honest split.
Call a Class B general contractor when…
- You're building new, or adding square footage
- The job is structural and needs engineering
- Four or more trades must be sequenced with permits
- You want one entity carrying the whole project's risk
Call us when…
- You're improving what already exists
- It's tile, cabinets, floors, trim, or a bath or kitchen refresh
- You know roughly what you want and may have materials
- You'd rather it be done in weeks than quarters
From our Google reviews
Clients who kept calling back.
★★★★★Over the years I've worked with Zack on a range of projects — building and installing shelving and dressers, installing faucets, and more.
Erica Maybaum
★★★★★Zack framed out windows, painted inside and out, and impressively solved a problem I had in the back yard with two stumps.
Sally Renata
★★★★★I referred my client to have a very outdated townhome in Danville updated. It took a bit longer than we expected, but the results were better than we expected too.
Tall Curvy
Start here
Send photos. Get a real number.
Text or email a few pictures and a sentence about what you want done. We'll come back with a rough estimate and a date — usually the same week.
510‑927‑6300CSLB B-2 licensed · Serving Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, San Francisco & the greater East Bay · Building since 1998