Crest Construction

The first appointment they gave me an estimate of $17,000 for the one bathroom and they we applied for financing in the amount of $24,000 just in case we ran into problems. I was told that I had the financing with GE Capital Bank for the entire $24,000. They started work the next day with the demolition and found mold/mildew in the walls and this prolionged the work because they said they had to run 3 big machines for 1 full week in order to remove the mold/mildew. They charged me for removing the mold from 2 separate rooms even though the second bathroom that I needed to do because of the mold/mildew. Then while they were in the attic doing the rewiring on the bathrooms they said I needed to redo the wiring for the rest of that section of the house and be wired for smoke detectors. I did know that it would be better if I upgraded the electical panel because of the size of my home and while they were up in the attic a second time they said that I needed to redo the entire electrial wiring or my house is likely to burn down. Because I am 70 years old I was not going to climb in the attic to check and they knew that.. In the end it cost me $60,430.00 and I took out all the money available from my 401 K. The "project managers" were never on time or did not show up and rarely ever called. They greatly inflated the cost and gave me the least costly ofr fixtures. During all this they tried to get me to also install solar heating and then changed to solar pool heating but after I looked at all that was done and the total cost I said they would never do any more work on my house and I am still waiting for them to come and fix the door bell and one toilet that keeps running. My experience with Crest Construction was not enjoyable. I did file a complaint with Construction State Licnencing Board and when I asked they said there had never been a complaint filed against this company. I just went on to YELP and there are numerous reviews that warn against using this company. Sorry I did not use something like this to check out thecompany.

Beware Crest Construction and Studio by Design ? total rip-off. Don?t waste your time and don?t waste your money like I did. I?ve seen their operation. Sadly, it was too late for me. Hopefully not for you. Most of their office in Valley Village is for their army of sales people who are cold-calling random homes in Los Angeles looking for remodeling jobs. They also have a corporate office in Marina Del Rey. They will tell you anything to setup that first appointment. In my case, they offered ?free plans? as part of their estimate. Since we were looking at doing an extensive remodel anyway, I was taken in by the offer. We needed plans to get bids from contractors. I should say that when they call the first time, they don?t say they are with Crest. I believe they used the name ?A+ California Builders.? They?re giving a fake name so as to not spoil the good name of Crest Construction, which is a joke. The phone bank is just them. First they sent over a project manager, but he didn?t know anything about the free plans thing. He explained that they say a lot of different stuff on the phone. Still ? he wanted me to agree to some terms that I rejected. Another phone call from them the next day and I was told a ?supervisor? was going to come over now instead. Turns out ? just another project manager. Still, the new guy took $1,000 off the price of the plans, which would be free only if we signed with them to do the full remodel. Only a little money up front was needed for a deposit. Seemed like a good idea at the time, and I was really anxious to get the project going too. I should also add that we already knew exactly what we wanted. We had taken measurements and had drawn up what we wanted in a design. Moving our master bathroom, moving a couple walls, reshaping our living room ? it was a big job and we?d given it a lot of thought. What we needed was the design turned into plans, and then the plans shared with contractors for bids we could evaluate. Still ? once they got started, they wanted to change the design. Their ideas sucked, and after much back-and-forth, they finally presented us what we?d been asking for from the start. With each version they sent over, they wanted to submit to the city (Culver City in our case). They were so anxious and they tried guilt to get us to approve unfinished plans. They?d tell us they already had everything printed, or these delays would mean getting the remodel slower, and not to worry ? we could change stuff later. Really?! But eventually they did give us what we wanted in the design, and when we approved that, they quickly submitted to the city before we saw the final set of plans. They began to bid for the construction part of the job ? always trying to pressure us to move faster. In a meeting to talk about details (tiles, colors, tubs, and so on), they presented us with some pictures of other jobs. We were unsatisfied with their attention to detail. Samples of their work looked cookie-cutter and rushed. When asked for references, they provided people who were happy with the work, but the work done was far less than what our job entailed (handyman level tasks rather than ? a remodel at our scale). When we finally saw the plans that had been submitted to the city for approval ? they were lacking. No plans were submitted for the electrical work we wanted (where the lights and switches were to go). They left out the existing fireplace that is to be demolished. They didn?t note which walls were shear walls that they planned to cut through. I?m not a contractor and those we?ve spoken to have all been appalled by what?s missing and just wrong. In the end, I didn?t get the plans we wanted ? and they refused to give us the CAD files (that we paid for) so that we could have someone else fix their work rather than having to start all over. In summary ? stay AWAY from Crest Construction, and StudioByDesign (their architect). Go with someone who doesn?t need to resort to the telephone banks, but has actual experience and references.