CMRS Construction
About us
Women majority owned & operated boutique construction company, specializing in remodels, 203K construction remodels, decks, all the way to handyman projects. In house design services including colors, sourcing, 3d Concept drawings, architectural drawings, city permit processing. . 203K approved Additional email - [email protected]. Angies List Award winning.
Business highlights
29 years of experience
Services we offer
Home rejuvenation, bathroom remodel, block walls & concrete drive ways.Solar panels, cabinet installation, ceiling fans, concrete repairs, deck repair & rebuilding, demolition, doors, drywall patching, fencing, garage remodel, hardwood floor installation, heating & air conditioning, installation kitchen remodel, insulation, interior & exterior painting, interior and exterior painting, lighting, plumbing, pressure washing, tiling, water heaters, windows
Amenities
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
Reviews
4.7211 Reviews
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 82% | ||
| 10% | ||
| 4% | ||
| 2% | ||
| 2% |
Showing 1-25 of 211 reviews
Brenda H.
Feb 2015
unknown
Margareth K.
Aug 2014
Good we had new footing put in and new beams and joists replaced.
Charles L.
May 2014
The CMRS generally did a great job, they took care with the project and I felt they looked out for my interests. The project took a little longer than anticipated and communication at times was a little spotty, but their pricing was competitive and Daryl and Randy were great to work with on a personal level, so I am satisfied with how things went. The bathroom came out looking great!
CARL L.
May 2014
I contacted three contractors, all of whom received A ratings on Angie's List, and only CMRS promptly returned the phone call and provided an estimate. While there were a few glitches, as there will be with any project, CMRS met my most important needs: they started the job when they said there were going to start, and they produced a quality product. Their communication was excellent, as both Daryl and Liza returned e-mails almost immediately. I will definitely turn to them again when we are in need of a contractor.
Claire O.
Apr 2014
It was okay. It was kind of medium, not horrible but not great either. The pricing was pretty good. We got 3 bids from 3 different people and they were not the cheapest, but they weren't the most expensive. They were kind of middle of the way.
Response from CMRS Construction
"Thank you for taking the time to write a review, whilst we are disappointed at what was written when we thought everything went very well."
Khristopher K.
Apr 2014
They came out before the work date to do an inspection, take measurements etc and get any last minute detail. They arrived on time the day of work. It turned out to be a bit fussier than originally thought. Daryl did a superb job on the finish. We forgot to discuss a handle...we purchased one and he came back and installed it without any issue. We are extremely happy in all aspects with CMRS and will look to use them for more work in the future.
Response from CMRS Construction
"Thank you for taking the time to write the review"
Douglas S.
Apr 2014
It was a terrible experience. They did nothing of value for the money. I was expecting a more detailed drawing or representation, and it was a rather cartoonish representation of the back of my house. I would advise them to make it to the potential client, exactly what the work product will be, and will look like. I would tell my neighbors not to bother.
Response from CMRS Construction
"We have checked our database leads back to October 2013 and have no record of this client every contacting us, we think he has the wrong company, we have written to Angies List and asked them to supply proof that he in fact purchased this with us and that we visited him both Daryl and I have no memory of this, we have not provided 3 d drawings for clients on a deal for over 3 years. We think he has the wrong contractor"
Jennifer T.
Mar 2014
It went okay. I don’t remember the specifics of it but there were some things that I think they could have done better. From what I remember there were things that crept up along the way that I kind of asked them to look at from the beginning and those were little things.
Response from CMRS Construction
"We are disappointed to see that [removed member name]said she would not hire us again, she was a very nice person and we all got on well, we were doing some deck repair work on her home as she wanted to sell it, she did not want to replace it totally due to cost, so hence we repaired the obvious things, sometimes when you remove boards etc you find rot that you were uanble to see prior to that, perhaps this is what she meant about the things that came up. Unfortunately you cannot quote on what you cannot see."
Bridgette V.
Mar 2014
The job was a little tougher than they thought. It is an old house and not very straight walls, etc. The 2 tile guys took their time in getting the job done. The hex tile on the floor could have been neater. A part of their grouting was redone because they used the wrong color grout on the base board area. But overall it was a good job and i appreciate that they worked on such a small job and got it done within my schedule. The company seemed pretty busy. The company's regular employees like Randy and Raul are good to work with. The owners are responsive. They did a job for me last year, too.
Arturo E.
Feb 2014
Other than price, it was great. The quality of work was great.
Vivian R.
Jan 2014
During the kitchen reno, they replaced the cabinet fronts on everything. They looked lovely but then I tried to open them and use the sliding drawers and the wheel mechanism now catched on the newly installed hinge in every single cabinet. They had previously worked just fine. They first, ridiculously, tried to claim that I should have specified that we wanted to cabinets to work post install. We had to argue with them about the fact that they made our kitchen less functional... This is only one example. They installed the marble countertop without regard to the entry doorway and the direction it swings and now it is impossible to open without the tongue of the door scraping along it... Very poorly planned and executed on their part. At that point there were too many screw ups and they were starting to refuse to fix items and were acting like we were crazy for requesting fully functional installations/renovations... At one point after the kitchen 'looked' finished I tried to turn on the under-cabinet lights that had been installed and realized they had not been put back in.... When I brought this to his attention he had the nerve to argue with me that there had never even been lights there... I had to go out to the pile of demo'd items and literally dig through it to show him the lights that his men had trashed and not replaced before he would remedy the issue...Tons of stuff like that... Promised more than their small team could handle. Might be better on small specific projects and if you are there to oversee at all hours (my husband and I both work long hours). One last example of how inattentive the head contractor is --- after working with us for over a month, meeting face to face at least a dozen times --- he approached a female house guest that was staying with us and proceeded to talk to her like she was me for a good ten minutes before he called her by my name and our house guest understood what was going on... Not good.
Juanita T.
Nov 2013
He was very accommodating and made good suggestions as to color. I am very happy with the results.
Response from CMRS Construction
"thank you so much [member name removed]"
Chris D.
Oct 2013
I've used CMRS in the past for smaller projects, and decided to go with them for a larger garage repair from earthquake damage. Their prices are very fair and the work is usually of good quality.
The problems I had with them was communication and professionalism. The length of the project was supposed to be 30-45 days. Although there were some additions to the overall project, the time reflected did not meet the scope of the additional works. The project was 2 weeks overdue and that delay was not necessary. There were spans of 3, and 4 days where no workers would show up when they were supposed to. Understandably, these are subcontractors with their own schedules, but the inability to get these guys to show up at a specified time was problematic to say the least. My job requires me to be gone from home for up to 5 days at a time, and although CMRS was willing to work around my schedule very well, they failed to keep me updated regarding the progress of important stages of the project when I was gone (which was one of the only stipulations I had of the company admin department). So I would come back home and see that no work had been done and have to call or ask via email why the work wasn't complete. Very frustrating. I do give them kudos for working on weekends and after hours to complete phases of the project.
Also, the bookkeeping was a mess. The original estimate included a number that seemed to be pulled out of thin air. I asked for a more detailed estimate to include materials, hourly pay, etc, and barely received something that was useable. Numerous times they tried to charge me the incorrect amount for different stages of the project. It looked like they had a spreadsheet to keep track of expenses, but at times they couldn't even interpret their own numbers. Other times, they made mathematical errors and didn't even know it, or one person would tell me an amount was due and another person in the office would give me a different amount. Thankfully I kept track of my own expenses and corrected them when necessary.
For the most part, the quality of work done was great, such as framing, cement work, stucco finishing, and general construction. But there were some areas where I had to prompt them to finish, or correct work that they thought was complete that actually wasn't (i.e. door trim and baseboards). Small oversights in the electrical work led to a small electrocution on my part when flipping a switch. Had they talked to me about it beforehand, it might have been prevented. Also some of the estimates of electrical loads were incorrect, leading to misinformation down the road. For example, I was wondering how much electrical load the entire garage could take, and was told 20 amps, when in reality, it had a 30 amp breaker, which could have been communicated had they checked the breaker panel. This tells me that the information I was getting, was at best, a guess, and not knowledge based on professional opinion.
Overall, I think that CMRS is great for smaller projects such as window replacements or ceiling repair, or maybe a bathroom remodel. However, the company barely has the resources or administrative expertise to handle larger projects. I know they hired a new administrative worker, so hopefully this might improve the quality of the experience in the future.
**UPDATE**
So a year and some months later and there are still repairs being done to the original work. Despite CMRS saying that they go around and ensure that all of the finishing is complete, we are still finding drywall work that was not complete,. The drywall subcontractor left clumps of drywall mud on the window sills and left exposed mesh on some of the walls. In other places the drywall wasn't installed properly and had started cracking.
The original GFCI electrical outlet that was installed also blew due to inadequate weather proofing, prompting me to cal them to replace it. The new outlet still has not been weather-proofed, despite many promises to do so.
There was also a failure of the original extraction pump for the garage after minimal use. It backed up our sewer system into the house and caused raw sewage (fecal matter, etc) to back up into our dishwasher and spill all over our kitchen floor. It took a few weeks for CMRS to dig up and remove the old pump, order a new one, and install it (not sure they knew what they were doing). They also had to finish filling in the underlayment for our (expensive) artificial turf which was dug up for the original extraction pump. Again, this is more than a year after the original work was done.
The main contractor is very flexible when it comes to additional repairs. He is hard-working and wants to please the customer. I even admit I had them come once while I was gone but forgot to unlock the door. My mistake completely. Unfortunately, the subcontractors he hires create more work in the end with shoddy original workmanship. Knowing what I know now and all of the additional trouble I have had to go through, I must say that, unfortunately, I would not hire them again.
The problems I had with them was communication and professionalism. The length of the project was supposed to be 30-45 days. Although there were some additions to the overall project, the time reflected did not meet the scope of the additional works. The project was 2 weeks overdue and that delay was not necessary. There were spans of 3, and 4 days where no workers would show up when they were supposed to. Understandably, these are subcontractors with their own schedules, but the inability to get these guys to show up at a specified time was problematic to say the least. My job requires me to be gone from home for up to 5 days at a time, and although CMRS was willing to work around my schedule very well, they failed to keep me updated regarding the progress of important stages of the project when I was gone (which was one of the only stipulations I had of the company admin department). So I would come back home and see that no work had been done and have to call or ask via email why the work wasn't complete. Very frustrating. I do give them kudos for working on weekends and after hours to complete phases of the project.
Also, the bookkeeping was a mess. The original estimate included a number that seemed to be pulled out of thin air. I asked for a more detailed estimate to include materials, hourly pay, etc, and barely received something that was useable. Numerous times they tried to charge me the incorrect amount for different stages of the project. It looked like they had a spreadsheet to keep track of expenses, but at times they couldn't even interpret their own numbers. Other times, they made mathematical errors and didn't even know it, or one person would tell me an amount was due and another person in the office would give me a different amount. Thankfully I kept track of my own expenses and corrected them when necessary.
For the most part, the quality of work done was great, such as framing, cement work, stucco finishing, and general construction. But there were some areas where I had to prompt them to finish, or correct work that they thought was complete that actually wasn't (i.e. door trim and baseboards). Small oversights in the electrical work led to a small electrocution on my part when flipping a switch. Had they talked to me about it beforehand, it might have been prevented. Also some of the estimates of electrical loads were incorrect, leading to misinformation down the road. For example, I was wondering how much electrical load the entire garage could take, and was told 20 amps, when in reality, it had a 30 amp breaker, which could have been communicated had they checked the breaker panel. This tells me that the information I was getting, was at best, a guess, and not knowledge based on professional opinion.
Overall, I think that CMRS is great for smaller projects such as window replacements or ceiling repair, or maybe a bathroom remodel. However, the company barely has the resources or administrative expertise to handle larger projects. I know they hired a new administrative worker, so hopefully this might improve the quality of the experience in the future.
**UPDATE**
So a year and some months later and there are still repairs being done to the original work. Despite CMRS saying that they go around and ensure that all of the finishing is complete, we are still finding drywall work that was not complete,. The drywall subcontractor left clumps of drywall mud on the window sills and left exposed mesh on some of the walls. In other places the drywall wasn't installed properly and had started cracking.
The original GFCI electrical outlet that was installed also blew due to inadequate weather proofing, prompting me to cal them to replace it. The new outlet still has not been weather-proofed, despite many promises to do so.
There was also a failure of the original extraction pump for the garage after minimal use. It backed up our sewer system into the house and caused raw sewage (fecal matter, etc) to back up into our dishwasher and spill all over our kitchen floor. It took a few weeks for CMRS to dig up and remove the old pump, order a new one, and install it (not sure they knew what they were doing). They also had to finish filling in the underlayment for our (expensive) artificial turf which was dug up for the original extraction pump. Again, this is more than a year after the original work was done.
The main contractor is very flexible when it comes to additional repairs. He is hard-working and wants to please the customer. I even admit I had them come once while I was gone but forgot to unlock the door. My mistake completely. Unfortunately, the subcontractors he hires create more work in the end with shoddy original workmanship. Knowing what I know now and all of the additional trouble I have had to go through, I must say that, unfortunately, I would not hire them again.
Response from CMRS Construction
"There is quite a few contradictions in this review, however a few things are correct. Firstly there was quite a few revisions to their original quote and client requested breakdown of materials/labor hours etc, which cmrs does NOT provide, it appears that even with the revisions the customer did not read their quote properly and even admitted at one point that he did not read it properly, hence there was some additional works added to the project once started which added 2 - 3 weeks longer, so in fact the project was NOT 2 weeks late. Yes, there was some days when no one was on site, and exactly as the client says we were waiting for our sub con's, and certain projects cannot be continued until other projects are completed, there is an order in which things must be done. Yes, there was one mistake with the excel spread sheet math recap of payments, a "sum" had been deleted reflecting that client owed us $1000 more, which was fixed. The project looks fantastic, even the client agree's and is of a high quality. We did work weekends and after hours as the client did not wish to get permits so we made all efforts to keep the project low key. I was not aware of the electrical problem, however I do know that their home is very old and requires a new panel in order to support the additional wiring required for the garage renovation. It is also quite normal at the end of project to go around and ensure all finishing is completed and we did not forget anything, ie; door trims etc....unless there was a baseboard in the toilet area, there was no other baseboards quoted to be installed, perhaps we did this as a free bee at the end of the job. I don't know why he had an issue with communication, we replied to emails from the client late at night / weekends etc etc...there was a few times where our onsite crew, had to double check with the office regarding scope of works, this is quite normal. All in all the project went very smoothly, I just don't think a lot of customers really understand what it takes to run a construction company, they think it is all as simple as the 30 minute DIY shows, that spend hours and hours of planning behind the scenes and have unlimited labor and budgets to do the projects. it is not REAL....."
Jim K.
Oct 2013
The job went well, from the initial visit to scope out the job and give an estimate, to the initial work of removing the affected wood, and the final visit to apply the filler material to restore the original contours.
Pernilla R.
Sep 2013
These guys are amazing. I had several estimates to fix my leaking shower and build access to my basement. Daryl gave me the best estimate and came up with some great ideas about how to fix things. An old house has many secrets that you don't find until you start to demo. Especially my house built 1922, that was a rental for many years with deferred maintenance. All was dealt with and and with creativity.
Liza was great at keeping you up to date what was going on and when they were coming with frequent emails and quick to answer any questions i had. All workers were very nice and professional.
I give thenm A+ for staying within budget, communication, craftsmanship, creativity and completing the work. This is only the second time I am using Angie's list and could not be happier.
Liza was great at keeping you up to date what was going on and when they were coming with frequent emails and quick to answer any questions i had. All workers were very nice and professional.
I give thenm A+ for staying within budget, communication, craftsmanship, creativity and completing the work. This is only the second time I am using Angie's list and could not be happier.
Response from CMRS Construction
"Thank you so much for your review, it was very nice working with you"
Marianne K.
Sep 2013
They finished remodeling a bathroom that was started by another contractor. Some costs are a little expensive - like they charge me $50 to rehang a door. Also the cost to move a light a few was probably a lot more than most other contractors would have charged me. I would compare prices as much as possible. The project took over a month and I heard lots complaints from them about how they typically wouldn't take over an unfinished project. It wasn't the ideal situation for either of us. The work they performed was okay and they were very professional...and always organized.
Response from CMRS Construction
"[member name removed] is correct it is very difficult finishing up someone else's work, we are perplexed at her comment regarding our pricing being high, we provided quotes for every step along the way, in order for her to have the option to accept or not. She requested numerous additions and changes from the original scope hence the project taking longer. The finished product looked great and she was very happy"
Lisa D.
Aug 2013
I recently used CMRS to replace a garden box window in my kitchen. It is an old house and an odd sized window and I am happy to say that Daryl and CMRS did a great job. They were very responsive via email and we were really impressed with the quality of the work. The finish work turned out great and we couldn't be happier with the final product. Daryl and his workers were always very courteous and did a good job cleaning up the area every day that they worked. Would definitely use them again.
Response from CMRS Construction
"thank you so much for your review"
LESLIE D.
Aug 2013
CMRS came in with a bid that was about $10,000 less than what we were quoted by two other contractors. When I first met with Daryl he walked me through everything that would need to be done and really thought about the best and most cost efficient way of doing things. Everyone else wanted to bring in a crane to lower the beam in, but he was sure that they could do it with a few extra guys. The whole thing went off without a hitch and they were even able to save the deck planks and reuse all of them. We had to do this as quickly as possible and Daryl and Liza were both very understanding and worked with us to make sure it all went smoothly.
Response from CMRS Construction
"Thank you so much (removed member name), we hope you sell your house for the price you want...all the best"
Vickie W.
Aug 2013
The contractors arrived within the window expected - and were courteous and professional throughout the work. They spent the time to troubleshoot issues to make sure the installation was secure and the job well done. One of the brackets that held up the AC unit was not installed flush to the exterior building wall - we caught it before the second contractor left (Raul) and he redid the work so that it was done correctly. They only issue which turned out to be not an issue is that when Raul arrived first to install the custom cabinet doors - he wasn't told that the cat doors needed to be installed - but once he got confirmation that was supposed to happen he got it done on the spot.
Response from CMRS Construction
"thank you so much for your review"
Irene G.
Jul 2013
He repaired my my fireplace, and he did a wonderful job.
Janie M.
Jun 2013
Called CMRS to see if they would do a small job and they were more than happy to come out and take a look and give us a quote. The price came in within our budget. They were great with communication and the job was done as promised.
MJ G.
May 2013
We had CMRS Construction remodel our garage and put new floor in the bedroom. Service was fine not the best. The garage area we had a studio/office added. Bedroom had new tile floor put down and ceiling fan installed. At first work was going ok, when the job was getting close to finishing it was harder to get them to show up and finish the work.
Response from CMRS Construction
"thank you for taking the time to place a report (removed member name) it is appreciated. Good ness had to believe we did this project some 2 years ago, I do recall there was a few additional touch ups at the end of the job that we had to return a few times ago, it was really more about the customer not reading the quote properly and thought certain things were included whilst they were not but it all got completed 100% and looked great."
Bridgette V.
May 2013
Was pleased w final outcome. No surprises and they were fair. Good workers. They should have spent more time upfront understanding what I wanted done and figuring out details. They took 3 weeks for a small bathroom; I think this is slow. But they were professional and overall responsible.
Michael R.
Apr 2013
started great... I was worn out by the end. I felt like I was working for them... NOT the other way around.
Response from CMRS Construction
"This report is to be expected, (Member name removed) was refered us by his bank as he had sacked the last contractor for his 203K project, the budget was very very tight, (Member name removed) was not correctly informed by his HUD inspector as to what to expect for the price. He required us to get at least 3 electrical quotes and he ended up going with our original sub con, which delayed the project some 3 weeks, (Member name removed) is a school teacher and used to heavily supervising his students, NON of our staff or SUB contractors wanted to work there, despite his report, he stood over our team 24/7 and reported to us daily with questions or concerns, he was more concerned with the process than rather the end result which is FANTASTIC...even he admits this. To get a F for responsiveness we find amazing as we answered 1000's of emails over the project all weekend and as late as 11pm with prompt replies, NOW we know why the other contractor probably walked away from the job, (Member name removed) actually did not understand what the scope of works with, he re inspected his counter top 3 times after signing off whilst he was already used to it. YES there was tools missing out of this garage, which has never been locked prior to our arrival, he kindly allowed us to stage our materials etc there....we felt terrible something went missing however he had tree haulers and other people on site and anyone could access this area from the street, the $200 was a token , we have never had anything removed from any of our jobs sites in the past 10 years. If (Member name removed) read more of our reports including on yelp he will see that we do numerous projects now for $25000 - $80000 etc so this was NOT considered a large job. (Member name removed) has also forgotten Liza's attention to detail in assisting with design idea's for his new bathroom to save him money. Any customers are welcome to speak to ANY of the CMRS employee's and sub con's to clarify the experience of working with (Member name removed). Liza mentioned to him many times to relax and allow the process to be completed, and that anything not to our usual high standard at the end of the project would be corrected, all works were signed off by the banks FHA HUD inspector and all works were signed off by the City of Sth Pasadena. We were also very glad to be finished with his job, he was A BIG headache."
Lauren D.
Feb 2013
Overall I had another great experience working with CMRS. This was the largest home improvement project that we had embarked on and Daryl and his crew did a great job. The project did take 2 months to complete even though their estimate was for 1 month but... it rained a ton and the job ran through the holidays so the delays were completely understandable. The quality of work was great and we couldn't be happier with our backyard transformation.
Response from CMRS Construction
"thank you (Members names removed) for your repeat business."
Licensing
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FAQ
CMRS Construction is currently rated 4.7 overall out of 5.
CMRS Construction accepts the following forms of payment: CreditCard
Yes, CMRS Construction offers free project estimates.
No, CMRS Construction does not offer eco-friendly accreditations.
No, CMRS Construction does not offer a senior discount.
No, CMRS Construction does not offer emergency services.
No, CMRS Construction does not offer warranties.