BIG RED CONSTRUCTION

They did good work.

This company strives for excellence in all that they do, and they achieved that with the work that they did on my house. The general contractor, Kathy Kovell, was an outstanding manager. She carefully explained all aspects of the work and the associated costs and was sensitive and response to my concerns as more and more damage was revealed and the associated costs rose. The team leaders, Ramon and Guillermo, were highly skilled and very personable. The work was done at a very good pace, and the quality was excellent. The exterior paint work was also of high quality.

Starting a remodeling project whether small or large is a daunting process. You hear one horror story after another from friends, magazine articles to news reports, etc. So, who do you choose? We had joined Angie's list about a year ago, but had not used the service. We went on and read the reviews and called Big Red Construction. Kathy Kovell, the owner, called us back and we made an appointment. She was punctual and was very knowledgeable in discussing how we wanted to update the kitchen. We were given a packet of information which included work she had performed and the names and phone numbers of previous customers for references. She took measurements, etc., and about two weeks later came back with a plan and estimate. Though we never checked the referrals, which I know we should have, we were so impressed with Kathy that we decided to proceed with the remodeling. Work started 9/4 and everything was completed by 9/10/13.
In the kitchen a huge florescent light was taken out and recessed lighting put in. They had to match the texture on the ceiling and paint. They put in pendant lights, under counter lighting, changed electrical outlets, and helped put in the new gas oven, which required electrical modification. The kitchen was then painted a new bright color. Very professional staff, who were very concerned with keeping things clean. Any kind of construction causes a significant amount of dirt and dust and we were concerned our hardwood floors might be damaged. They covered them completely and not once scratch.
Because of the excellent work in the kitchen we decided to proceed to have the roof in our family room redone. Initially it was flat, and hadn't been angled properly so the water was sitting and we had a significant leak. It wasn't a small job, but the roofers showed up on time every morning and worked all day.
We would definitely hire Big Red Construction Company again.

We wanted a complete remodel of our kitchen.  Big Red Construction is run by women who understand how kitchens function. We hired them for this reason and because they are local and top-rated by Angie's List.  Their bid was much higher than others
but we wanted the best, most up-to-date kitchen possible.  At the end of the remodel, we were very pleased with their work.

However, Big Red has its own basic crew that does demolition, site prep, basic carpentry, and painting but hires subcontractors to do the plumbing, electrical, cabinetry, counter top and flooring. This drives up their price. We had some problems both with their crew and the subcontractors.  The cabinetry company delivered some of the cabinet doors cracked and the electrical subcontractor was inexperienced and made some mistakes.  Both the electrician and cabinet maker had to return to our house more than once to correct their work. Also, another electrical contractor that worked for us a couple of years after the remodel said that the ancient wiring between the appliances and the breaker box should have been replaced when the new appliances were installed because it was not up to code.  However, the county inspector did not catch this and the wiring worked.   Another serious problem was also detected months after the remodel: the carpenter who worked on the flooring left wood scraps on the ground under the kitchen.  This could have brought termites and required me to crawl under the house and clean up the area.

There are many positive aspects in working with Big Red.  A talented person is assigned to work with you and to handle problems, keep materials flowing, and to show you the options in the available materials for your personal selection. The Big Red crew is efficient and friendly - easy to work with.  The kitchen they produced was beautiful and had several new functional aspects.  On the other hand, after using the appliances for a short time, we came to regret taking their recommendations for vendors.  Friedman Alliances, the store that Big Red had recommended, in particular, was unsatisfactory.  They were considerate and helpful until they had our check.  After that, they were cold and uninterested in our assessment of the appliances or our difficulties in making them work correctly.  Most of the problems that we had with the appliances were caused by the poor quality of the appliances that Friedman offered, particularly with General Electric products. In our opinion, the quality of the merchandise at this store was generally mediocre at best. In any case, we would strongly recommend that future customers of Big Red or of any other contractor be wary of recommendations of the contractor and constantly check every aspect of the work as it is being done and to read every available assessment of the quality of the appliances before they are selected.
 
 

We didn't get a change to use them but I'm going to say I enjoyed the experience of dealing with her because even though that wasn't quite for us at the time, she gave us referrals to other folks that could help us out, and I thought that that was really special. Everything went through, but at that time it wasn't in our budget. She went and let us know straight up. It just seemed may be it was going to be a little bit more than what we were asking for. If I have to rate her on just her personality, and professionalism, I would give her the highest rate. She gave us several referrals. It seemed like the next day, I had it in my e-mail.

Kathy Kovell and the entire team at Big Red Construction (BRC) are wonderful. From the minute I met Kathy to discuss the scope of work to the end of my remodel, some five months later, I was impressed. I chose BRC to do my house remodel because she was the only contractor who, I felt, wasn’t lying to me to get my business. I had stated in each interview what work I wanted done, in what time frame and at what price. The others fell all over themselves to say they could meet my wishes (which even I knew were unreasonable); Kathy was the only one who said she couldn’t and then went on to explain why. The other contractors would have set me up for disappointment, anger, and frustration. With Kathy and the BRC team, I knew from the get go what to expect, when to expect it, and at what cost. She gave me her word, she gave me a written contract regarding cost and timing, and then she stuck to it. We only got off track when I changed the scope of the work, which happened…..ummm…...more than once. Hey, when you find good quality AND someone you can trust, you want to maximize the experience, right?
I liked Kathy and the team so much (here I gotta’ give a shout out to Eric and Jonny, the two who did the bulk of the work. They ROCK!) that I expanded the scope of my work considerably. The quality of the work is outstanding. If it isn’t perfect, it’s fixed. That level of quality is called “the Big Red Way”. I loved doing walkthroughs with Kathy, and hearing her say “that dog don’t hunt” to work that didn’t meet her expectations. And if work didn’t meet my expectations, it was fixed with alacrity and a good attitude.
What struck me, in addition to the overall quality, was the attention to detail. It wasn’t just a window that was replaced. Then they spent time re-stuccoing the outside of the house. Then the wall was painted, corner to corner, inside and outside the house. It wasn’t that hardwood floors went in—a vapor barrier and insulation was placed underneath the house to protect the new floors. It wasn’t just that I had two French drains installed. Then I got new sod front and back because the drainage work damaged the lawns. When some of the sod didn’t “take”, they came back and replaced the grass. It wasn’t just a new shower going in, Kathy added a “hoof”, a small ledge perfectly placed in a corner so I could place my foot there when shaving my legs. What male contractor is ever going to think about the body mechanics of a woman trying to shave her legs in the shower? The house was also clean every time I returned home. The team was respectful of my space.
Kathy and the team are accessible and responsive. If you have a question for Kathy, you can contact her and expect a response PDQ. She has emailed me back between 4:30a.m. and 8:00p.m. I never felt neglected. BRC isn’t cheap, but the quality is worth it. I felt very comfortable having them in my house. Did I mention they are responsive? I came home one Friday evening and I couldn't turn on the washing machine. Turns out someone forgot to plug it back in after using the outlet for something else, but I couldn't figure that out. Kathy had someone at my house within 45 minutes of my and quot;help!and quot; email. Yeah--7:00p.m., Friday evening, Eric comes in, smiling and friendly. and quot;No problem, I'll fix whatever it is.and quot; Boy, did I feel like an idiot when the fix took about a nanosecond. And then he wouldn't even take a six pack of good beer as a thank you!
I’ve told everyone I’ve met who has even hinted about wanting work done on their house to give Big Red a call. I cannot recommend Big Red highly enough. I have a contractor for LIFE.

They were perfect. They were wonderful to work with, I would use them again in a minute, I didn't mind having them in my house, and I didn't mind leaving them alone in my house. They were incredible. They are not the cheapest out there but I think I got more for my money.

This was the best experience I've ever had with a contractor (and I've had many). It began with a review by Big Red's owner, Kathy Kovell, who inspected the house to determine why a couple of my interior doors were no longer closing properly. Kathy pinpointed the issue quickly (improper grading combined with a very wet winter and spring) and recommended regrading to avoid further problems. She recommended a roof inspection (also recommended when I purchased the home), talked me out of a stucco repair that was unnecessary and expensive (appreciated!), and agreed to provide an estimate on painting my living, dining and family rooms.

Kathy and the whole Big Red team were excellent about explaining everything they did every step of the way. My roof did need repairs and some new attic vents - the reasons were all provided and I felt very comfortable with them. Everyone who worked on my house was a true professional and all had worked with the company for an extended period of time. I did choose to go ahead with painting and the work looks just beautiful, with great attention to detail. Kathy actually provided access to a wonderful designer at no cost who helped me pick out paint colors and a lighting fixture. I'm terrible at making decisions like this, so it was a huge help! And they installed the light fixture at no cost. There was absolutely no hassle while the painting was going on and I could swear Eric left the house cleaner than he found it.

Big Red's not the cheapest contractor (hence, the and quot;Band quot; for price) or the most expensive, but if you're talking value I don't think they can be beat. True professionals with a very strong customer service orientation. I will be working with them again and definitely recommend them.

We actually called them yesterday for some more work. We were very pleased with them. They have painted exterior and interior, put in about six or eight new windows, cleaned up messy electrical wiring in the house at least in two occasions, helped restore our bathroom with some new toilets linoleum, redid the walls, cleaned up leaks and grout. They also re-roofed the whole house, dismantled our chimney and insulated the roof. There were three roofs, one fireplace and one chimney in this house. They have brought in outside plumbers to help with odds and ends. They are very pleasant to work with and all workers I assume go through some kind of training. They are extremely graceful when they get into your atmosphere. They are very quiet, clean and kind. They are really wonderful. Their prices are high. When I first found them I took bids from three people and they were definitely the highest but I like their presentation so much and their guarantee's. In fact we developed a problem after one window went in which they thought was the window and they replaced it twice but it turned out that it didn't fix the problem. We had the house painted once years before they painted it and it was like day and night, two different qualities. Their quality lasts longer and it was just beautifully stripped and cleaned. The other one is just kind of spray painted.

We purchased a new home in Alameda with a horribly dated master bathroom and a wall between the kitchen and living room that just cried out to be opened up for a for a bar counter. The owner of Big Red, Kathy Kovell, agreed to come and talk about what could be done and give us ballpark prices prior to us buying the home, which counted for a lot in our book. When we received their formal bid on the job, it was the highest of the three that we received, but the professionalism of Kathy and her staff, as well as the glowing reports from the references she provided convinced us that the extra money would be well-spent. We are first-time home owners and have never worked with contractors before, so wanted somebody we felt confident would work without hassles or supervision. This was probably a relatively small project for them, but Rene, the carpenter who was put in charge of our work, was here every day, on time and ready to work and he really impressed us with his work ethic and attention to quality and detail, and friendly demeanor. He is a bright young guy who really knows his stuff. There were a few snafus along the way, mainly with subcontractors. To Big Red's credit, when errors were discovered, they were immediately and without debate addressed to our satisfaction. When you see the "A" ratings on the other categories above, you know that it means "perfect". "B" just means something not quite perfect, but still very good. I would definitely recommend Big Red for projects such as ours.

They did excellent work. They have an engineer that helps with the design and signs off on all of the work that must be reviewed. They have been really good to work with and I enjoyed all they did for me. I would recommend them to others.

They did an excellent job. I'm very pleased with the work they did. It looks great and the quality has also been satisfactory. I have used them before and they did great work then. I would recommend them to others.

They do excellent work. They are professional and have been good to work with. The company is well run and their crews are good craftsman. Any of the work that they have done for me has been excellent. I would recommend them to anyone.