Crowworks Construction

Their quality work Crowworks brings is truly outstanding. They are true craftsman who take enormous pride in their work, and do whatever is necessary to make things perfect. Not to mention Crow's unstoppably positive attitude and legendary joke-of-the-day to look forward to every morning. During the design process, Crow can be a real out-of-the-box thinker, but also treats it as a completely collaborative process that's ultimately about making the client 100% happy. He's always been flexible and receptive to changes along the way. Where this meant additional cost, he's always been very upfront and clear. We've all heard all the nightmare stories of contractors that can't set expectations. Crow has given accurate estimates with every project - almost to the day. Very few people can handle everything from highly artistic design & sculpture, to the more mundane such as bathroom tile selection, and actually execute it flawlessly. Overall, I would 100% recommend Crowworks for your design and contracting needs, especially for anything leaning towards the artistic end of the spectrum.

Crow and Andrew did an amazing job on our home remodel. They have excellent communication and coordination skills, great design skills, and superb craftsmanship. They were a pleasure to work with and the result was exactly what we were looking for. We really appreciated their design work for our dining room and our bath room. They both have a strong commitment to quality while always keeping cost aspects in mind.

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Crowworks did an amazing job with my kitchen remodel. The team is skilled, honest, and an impressive value. They completely
gutted my original 1950s "horseshoe" kitchen and I now have a galley kitchen worthy of magazine covers! The installation, which included extensive new plumbing and electrical, lighted cabinets, and a wall of glass tile, was impeccable, gorgeous, and completed on a reasonable timeline.  We met several times before work started to plan out the design and I greatly appreciated how collaborative the entire project was ? my questions were always answered promptly and thoroughly and I felt that my frequent input was heard with respect. They were very careful with my indoor cats and I had no worries about giving them my keys and even leaving on vacation in the middle of construction. I have already hired them for my next project, turning my garage into a home gym, and we have started planning a future bathroom remodel.

We had Crow and Drew return to do another project for us because the first one turned out so well. This project was adding a shower area in a bathroom.  We use them because of their truly impeccable craftsmanship, attention to detail and reliability.  They are easy to work with, they make sure we love what they're doing at all phases in the project and it is truly a pleasure to have them help fix up our home. They are capable of anything! Thank you Crow, for another great job well done.

This crow flies straight, a perfect line??..

We are thrilled with our new kitchen!  Crow listened to our ideas and needs, expanded on them, and refined them into a dream kitchen that we could not have imagined ourselves.  His process is iterative and highly creative.  His greatest strength is his ability to form positive and trusting relationships with his clients, vendors, and bureaucrats.  The latter is extremely important in achieving project approval and passing myriad inspections.

It was a pleasure to have Crow and his associate, Drew, in our home.  They were both great communicators and teachers along the way and they allowed me to be involved in several aspects of the work.  As a result, I learned some skills that will help me maintain and keep our home safe in the future.

In addition to creating a great kitchen, CrowWorks resolved an electrical problem we were having with lighting switches in the hall and bedroom that had been driving us nuts for years.  

There are other qualified contractors out there who could have done this work and met our expectations but I am happy that I went with my intuition when I hired CrowWorks.  Our parrot, who hates nearly everyone, loved Crow at first sight.  Our dog, Al, who loves everyone, couldn't wait to greet Crow and Drew when they arrived promptly at 8:00 each morning.   We're really enjoying our new kitchen and happy that the remodel is complete, but we'd do it all again in a heartbeat!

Both Crow and Andrew were extremely professional, punctual and efficient.  The job required a lot of creativity and patience, which Crow had in abundance.  He offered helpful suggestions to make the move work.  He continually kept me updated on progress and let me know what was left to do.  We had to be at our jobs while the project was being done so Crow just came and went as needed (and graciously reminded me every morning not to set the home alarm system!).
Also, many other contractors did not think there was enough space for the move.  Crow, however, measured the entire area and figured out a way to maneuver the fridge into the space.  I asked several contractors for estimates and most were not even close to the estimate Crow gave me.   Crow's price is extremely fair.
Thanks to Crow, our kitchen has a lot more area in which to install cabinets and the fridge is now in a custom built space.  Custom built space for the fridge looks like it has always been that way!   Clearly Crow is a perfectionist and it is reflected in his finished work. The finished project was amazing!!
In addition to the project for which we asked, Crow and Andrew took care of a very inconvenient plumbing problem under our house. When they noticed the funky smell in our garage (we didn't know where it was coming from and kept looking for problems somewhere in the garage), they invstigated and found the source of the problem.  A main pipe, located under the house, was old and corroded to the point it had a hole the size of a half dollar in it! It had been leaking for sometime and there was a large puddle of stagnant water.  This leaking pipe was completely unrelated to the project they were hired to do.  Crow and Andrew took the time to replace the corroded pipe, clear out the stagnant water and put kitty litter under the home to sanitize the area and absorb the excess water and smell.  
I will use Crow for any additional projects we may have in the future.  He has a wait list but it is more than worth the wait!   I simply cannot say enough good things about Crow!

From the first visit we could tell that Crow was excited about the project and could envision it pretty much exactly like we could.  The west side of our house was crying out for a deck! We are not designers and so we put our ideas out there and Crow ran with them.  We knew that working with the city of Berkeley would be tricky but Crow was a pro.  Plans had to be changed and edited often but he kept up in the loop everyday.  He arrived at our house everyday at 8am on the dot, or called to say that he was at a store or permit office, etc and what he was doing and why.  There was never any question as to what his intentions were.  The house is older (1928) and so inevitably issues arose which delayed the deck but Crow was nothing but professional and understanding of our budget.
Crow is friendly, funny, professional, punctual, and caring. I would recommend him for all your household remodeling and updating needs.

He did a good job. I am satisfied. He is very good. He is like 6 months out with jobs. He has a lot of work.

I phoned Crow to receive an estimate  on a fireplace. We wanted to put stacking stones over an ugly brick fireplace and have it ready for an gas fireplace insert.
Crow phoned back that same day and was able to come and give an estimate the next day.
He was full of ideas and energy. We told him what we were thinking about and  he gave his ideas and thoughts about what would and wouldn't work. He picked up right away that we liked a more natural look than modern.
The ideas he gave us fit in with exactly what we have envisioned. He even used a piece of walnut my dad had dried from 1980's and made it into a free hanging mantle, hand shaped by him and sanded and stained by his excellent helper Shannon.
The fireplace is the center of our living room and add so much to it.
Crow was honest, tidy, and showed up on time. He communicated everything he was doing. When he picked up the rock the first time and brought it to our house, we all decided it was not what we had expected, so he took it back, and found another rock, much better. He was asked if we liked what was being done and offered to change anything we didn't like, but he didn't need to change anything. He also tells a clean joke of the day.
I told him I wanted to make sure that I could hang Christmas stockings on the mantle and the last thing his helper, Shannon, did was to add small hooks underneath the mantle for the stockings.
He said more than once he wanted to make sure we were happy with his work.+++++
We intend to hire Crow again for a number of projects we have lined up. Totally recommend him.

The remodel took approximately six weeks, from start to finish.  At the initial consultation, Crow immediately understood what I and my husband wanted and impressed us as a friendly, intelligent, and problem-solving person.  When I told him the limits of our budget, he discussed ways to reach the remodel goals without breaking the bank.  During the remodel, Crow was a consummate professional--creative, friendly, extremely knowledgeable, attentive to every detail, and scrupulously honest.  He showed up punctually every day and worked straight through, without taking breaks.  He minimized the mess that the remodel created in other areas of the house and garden, and he took care to ensure that our indoor cats didn't escape during the coming-and-going of workmen and materials.  He billed us weekly, at the end of each week for the work performed that week, giving us a detailed accounting of labor and a complete set of all receipts.  He was consistently upbeat (he told us a joke every day) and was pleasant to have in the house (our most nervous cats even grew accustomed to his presence).  He made the process easy, taking cues from us, then doing all the legwork so we didn't have to wade through catalogs or search for stuff online; he asked us what we liked (for example, cherry wood and real stone), he went out and found that stuff (for example, gray-green slate tiles, a cherry wood vanity, and fixtures to match), and then he checked with us to ensure that we liked what he had found. He was also observant: he noticed that my husband loves Jules Verne and the movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and he designed the bathroom around that theme, giving it a subtle Verne-meets-steampunk look. In the few instances where I felt inspired to search for something on my own, Crow happily incorporated what I found into the design.
The project ended up exceeding the initial estimate by $2,000 and took one more week than expected, but that wasn't Crow's fault. About $1,000 of the excess was caused by my decision, partway through construction, to use slate tile on far more surface area than originally planned.  Approximately another $1,000 was caused by the unexpected illness of Crow's right-hand man, who was diagnosed with cancer a week into the project and had to be replaced by another man.  In any case, Crow isn't one to nickle-and-dime a person; he was mindful of the cost and time over-runs, kept us informed, and, in the end, put in more than a day's work of free labor taking care of final details.

He was very good. He showed up on time. He did some extra things I wanted done.

Crow arrived exactly at the time he promised and provided professional work.  He reviewed the scope of work with me prior to beginning, protected the cabinets and floors in the area where the work was to be performed and kept me updated on his progress.  The final product was water tight, the plumbing is now very well organized and the electrical is now properly installed with a GFI power source.  Crow is proud of his work and showed me many fine looking examples of kitchens and bathrooms he has remodeled.

Excellent communication, job started  when promised.  Every step was discussed ahead of time.

I contacted Crow about a potential bathroom job. Currently, we have a half bath connected to a master bedroom and a full bath connected to the main house. The two are connected to one another via a pocket door. We'd been hoping it might be feasible to separate the bathrooms (take out the connecting door) and to transform the fairly small half bath, connected to the bedroom, into a full bath with a shower. We didn't really even know if it would be possible in the small space.
Crow arrived at 8 pm (his time for consultations) and spent about an hour with us. His ideas were fantastic. After asking us what WE wanted -- the kinds of colors we imagined, and the feel we were looking for, he painted a picture for us that took everything we wanted as a starting point and made it truly special. It was more than something just minimally functional -- which was really all I thought we'd manage, given the space. He had a vision for something that combined form and function in which he thought of innovative ways to add storage space while at the same time keeping the space from feeling too crowded and adding just the right amount of elegance (a couple weeks later I am still excited about the sink/counters he described to us -- a curved corner unit in the small bath with small open cubbies and a floating cabinet unit with a fantastic, single-piece sink/countertop flanked by cylindrical lights in the large one). His ideas were modern without feeling at all out-of-place in our '50's-modern house.
I should note that the job I contacted Crow about is one that, because we'll be out of the area for a year and renting our house out, we won't be able to have done for just over a year. For projects that far in the distance, Crow charges a consultation fee--which he doesn't for more immediate work.
Though the project is still only in its conceptual phase, and I won't be able to vouch for the construction itself until we have the job done (which I hope very much we will, and by Crow), I highly recommend him for his design work. He has a wonderful eye.

My wife and I hired crow and his assistant at Time and Material at 2 different times for a total of about 6 weeks for our basement remodel. We would work on the weekends and when he was away as a cost saving measure. He never had a problem working around our schedule and budget. At one point we were even working side by side. Crow was easy to work with and incredibly helpful, talking us through the details as well as lending us advice and even tools for our part of the project.  He was always punctual, professional and in good spirits. The work he did was very high quality and always passed inspection on the first try. He made it a priority to fully understand our vision and stick out goals as well as offering useful design ideas and workarounds for things that would not have worked out as we had envisioned. They worked quickly with a normal amount of unexpected hold ups (a day lost due to existing gas leaks in main line).  He has an artistic background and a great eye for design as well as a craftsman's skill. He worked up to the point of dry walling the entire room and framing the new doors and we did the rest.

The only criticism I could give is that as we went to do the final trim we found slightly off-level and off-square framing which caused us some difficulty. Though it is near impossible to get it perfect in that 1920's basement and, to be honest, he had to pull down and reframe much of the framing WE had done to meet code, so I don't fault him for doing it quickly. Also, although Crow is VERY affordable, he spent a good amount of time at the hardware store, buying things on a daily as opposed to a weekly basis. I was not there to oversee him, but I make this guess based on the number of receipts I would get with his weekly invoice  (one time 11 in one week). You might find you can get an even better value if you can do some preliminary shopping yourself.

Overall he was a great deal and great to work with.  I would hire him again and recommend him to anyone for almost any home improvement project. He is busy, so expect to know the exact start date and project time to get him on the books.

Crow is an excellent craftsman.  He is very punctual- starting exactly at 8 am and working all day. Once you give him the job
  his start and finish times are very close to his estimate.  I have since called him back to do other repair  work on my garage
  and he was very fast and efficient in completing that job also. I will continue to use his services - and getting excellent results.

Throughout the process Crow was professional, friendly and a wealth of information and stories. He also very generously offered supplies that he had on hand from previous projects (he gave us a faucet for the sink and some ceiling trim for free). After the project was finished he was generous with his time to advise us concerning an electrical issue that turned out to be a problem with the neutral in our main service. The price was more than we'd hoped for, but it included fixing issues in our existing gas lines, and improper venting on existing plumbing, and repairing a hole in our stucco.

Crow was a delight to work with. The finished project was very close to the projected budget, it was done on time and we are thrilled with the results. We ended up feeling like we got so much more for our budget with Crow than we could have with anyone else. This is in large part because he did everything in his power to help us get the second bathroom we wanted on the budget we had. He suggested places we could go to find the best deal on materials and saved us hundreds of dollars. He was very clear about what would add significant cost and what would be the more economical route. He was excellent about communicating at each step in the process, both about the budget and the timeline. I never felt like there were any unwelcome surprises with Crow. We really liked that Crow was on-site each day with one (very nice, respectful and professional) assistant. There was a reassuring sense of accountability since he was doing half the work himself.
I would definitely hire Crow again and I will highly recommend him to friends and family.

Crow is an EXTREMELY skilled craftsman, designer, and overall general contractor. We never had a doubt that any of the work he did for us was less than top notch. He handled all of the permits, helped us choose cabinets, fixtures and floor and was always willing to talk through any questions/changes of plans we threw his way. He has an eye for detail and for making things really flow and come together. We are thrilled with the job he did for us.

In addition to his excellent work, Crow is really a pleasure to work with. His communication skills are excellent, and we always knew what was happening and when. I would enthusiastically recommend Crow to anyone who is looking for a contractor, for projects large and small

It went great.  He's a great listener, and finished on time and on budget!

Every time he has done an excellent job. Always thorough, quick, and completely reasonable in terms of price.

Right from the start Crow gave us great advice about different options and how we could stick to our budget. He was very respectful of our need to keep costs down, and helped figure out how to do things so that we could save money. For example, Crow took out a medicine cabinet that had been built into the wall, and when he installed the new cabinets he placed them so that they covered the hole the old cabinet had left, so that we wouldn't need to deal with fixing the hole. He gave excellent design advice and was very patient about helping us select wall color. He was on time every day, returned my phone calls immediately, explained things to the extent that I wanted them explained, was cheerful even when having to reinstall the toilet every night (we only have one bathroom), and was nice to my kid. And the bathroom looks beautiful -- very professional work.

He was so nice and professional. I had no way of knowing the fix was simple and am very appreciative he took the time to help me.

I was very happy with the high quality of Crow's work, his design sense, and the smoothness of the whole process. Crow was very attentive to both practical details (e.g. shelf heights and my kids' heights) and aesthetic details -- he totally understood what I was looking for. The bathroom and kitchen turned out absolutely beautiful -- even better than I envisioned -- and are also much more functional than before. I liked the way Crow involved me in design decisions but also offered excellent advice and suggestions. In addition to his fine workmanship and design sense, I was grateful for Crow's attention to staying on budget, his excellent communication and people skills (e.g. negotiating between my husband and my differences of opinion!), and his cheerfulness and easiness to work with. I had never had any major work done on my house before and I was expecting it to be a big hassle -- lots of decisions and lots of disruptions -- but Crow made the whole thing easy -- even fun! Everything was always cleaned up at the end the day, and throughout the kitchen remodel, I never missed a night of cooking. I really liked the way that Crow could do all aspects of the projects, from design to plumbing. I hope to bring him back to work on other rooms in the house and I'll recommend him to my friends.