Acme Builders Inc
About us
Acme Builders Incorporated is a full service general contracting company. We take pride in attention to details. We answer email promptly. We're not a huge company and to tell the truth, don't want to get too large. We have 4 employees and on small projects, we do almost everything in-house, but the larger the project, the more we subcontract in order to get your project done in a timely manner. We try as much as possible to do just one project at a time, and the owner is on site pretty much every day. In the vernacular of this high finance corporate world, we're a Mom and Pop shop. We are licensed with CSLB #926393 bonded and insured. (Actually we used to have a lower license number but got a new license number when we incorporated). The owner was fortunate enough to learn the fine tradition of carpentry under the gruff sharp eyes of older East coast master carpenters. He started on high end custom homes an worked on affordable housing projects. After a couple of years of this he moved to Boston and did commercial projects, from laboratories at MIT to retail shops downtown. He then moved to a heavy equipment operation, doing pipeline and infrastructure projects. This was followed by an all to brief period of working for an engineering company in Hawaii, and then it was grad school and almost a decade of totally different stuff, from journalism to interactive programming to the seemingly inevitable dot com web times. We bought a fixer upper Victorian and, well, fixing up stuff is kind of fun. And it's meaningful work. We pride ourselves on having the best equipment. Even jaded building inspectors have commented on it. We are tool junkies and all incoming employees are asked to show up at their interview with their tools. The quality and condition of a journeyman's tools tell you a lot about their work. For most projects we give free estimates and don't charge any initial service fees. And to tell you the truth, we really love catching homeowners when they are still planning their project. We can help you pick an architect or draftsman, an engineer, and even project financing, and help you through the challenges of zoning and building permits. If you are thinking about a kitchen or bath remodel in particular please email us and we'll send you our planning checklists. If you mention Angie's List we'll give you $100 (or 10% if the project is under $1000) off. We have 4 employees and on small projects, we do alomst everything in-house, but the larger the proejct, the more we subcontract in order to get your project done in a timely manner.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Additions, Bathroom Remodeling, Cabinets, Commercial Tenant Improvements, Countertops, Crown Molding, Deck Repair, Decks, Drainage, Fences, Finish Carpentry, Flooring, Foundations, French Doors, French Drains, Gates, Kitchen Remodels, Master Bedroom Suites, Restaurant Remodeling, Seismic Retrofit, Structural Framing, Victorian Restoration, Window Installation
Amenities
Emergency Services
Yes
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
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We met with Paul and he put together an estimate for the entire project. This included demolishing and rebuilding the main deck and the deck along the back of the house. In addition, we decided to shore up the third deck which was sinking into the ground due to poor original construction. During this part of the process we decided to spend the money and go with Redwood decking.
The first step was getting the permits and having some drawings done which took some time. Permitting is never a quick process and it took a month or so to get everything in place. During the permitting process we met Mike, the foreman, who really knows the building trade.
With permits in place, Mike and his crew showed up and got to work demolishing the main deck. I was amazed at how fast they worked! I could swear that it took them a few hours to completely tear down the deck. This main deck was in very poor condition and had not been built very well. The crew also demolished the deck along the back of the house very quickly. One thing that stood out about the work crew is that these guys really worked!
Once demolition had been completed, I met with Mike to discuss rebuilding the decks. He had some excellent suggestions including putting a set of drains under the deck along the back of the house. Yes, this cost a bit extra but it will be well worth it in the long run as water is now drained away from the house instead of pooling next to the house. I also had some conduits added under this deck for landscape lighting, etc.
The construction phase of the two decks went very quickly. The new main deck is seriously built and uses huge footings that should support it very well. I can stomp around on the deck, and it doesn't even budge!. During the construction process, Mike always called to ask questions and to see if I had any questions. Paul was also easily reached if anything came up. The deck along the back of the house is gorgeous and really improved the look of the house. The third deck turned out to be a bit tricky since the crew tried to jack it up only to have the jack sink into the ground more! So, Mike and his crew designed and poured a really big footing for this deck and were then able to raise the deck three inches (!). This deck received a new main beam. It is much more sturdy now.
Mike is very detail oriented and added lots of little things that should ensure that the decks will last a long time. For example, where wood will bear on wood, material was installed to keep the wood surfaces away from each other. All wood ends that would touch soil were treated with preservative and then wrapped in foil material. Mike also had the crew add a concrete gutter where the deck will meet our rock stairway that we'll add in the future. The quality of construction is top notch. Mike noted that Redwood decks require routine care. We recently prepped and then stained the Redwood decking and it looks fantastic.
During the main deck construction, Mike asked if we were happy with the way our large A/C unit was mounted. The original mount was a piece of flimsy plywood on top of some posts and the sheet of ply was then nailed to the house. The whole unit looked like it could fall over at any moment. Mike suggested pouring a concrete pad for the A/C unit and mounting it on that. We agreed to have the AC unit put on a pad. The extra cost was not that much and it was WELL worth it. Our AC unit is much more secure and the installation looks professionally done rather than the half-baked plywood method that was there originally. A nice touch to the concrete pad is the large lip at the back to prevent rocks and dirt from sliding down the slope and into the AC unit.
This was a large project that went very well thanks to Paul, Mike and his crew. At no time did we feel pressured to spend more money than we wanted. Everyone was very honest and upfront. A large job such as this is not inexpensive, however, the construction quality is excellent and we can now enjoy our decks!
Licensing
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