Cerletti & Kennedy Design-Build

Cerletti and Kennedy did our kitchen remodel in July 2022. The renovation took about four months. A fireplace was removed which opened up much more space for the kitchen and living room. The structural beam issue was addressed extremely well with their engineers. We are delighted with the new layout. Everyone, including their subcontractors, from the demo to the finishing, was very knowledgeable and professional. They cleaned up at the end of each day. Robert provided the best price among the other bids we received. Matt executed an excellent design layout that was very functional and classic. He even included a walk-in pantry that I never thought would fit into our small space. Matt and Reuben have great eyes for details. Matt took the time to review the punch list with me on the final walkthrough. I would highly recommend this company.

Prompt, clean, professional and I highly recommend! The team was on time everyday. Communication was good and they came through for us very last minute.

We lately had a master bathroom remodeling project, plus bedrooms’ popcorn ceiling removal, drywall work, painting and etc.. Ruben who worked on our project deserves a special Thank-You for his great workmanship and mostly with his attitude of I-do-it-with-my-heart (that was his own words). And another noteworthy remark, as what Matt once told me what he said to his crew member, “Do it as what you would do for your own house.” Though there were some issues, such as, scheduling and delay (caused by wrong order or material supplier’s inventory), the job was well done! My wife and I are very happy with the final result! This has been the third project in our house done by Cerletti and Kennedy since 2016. That speaks volumes.

Definitely would highly recommend Cerletti & Kennedy! We contacted them for a full kitchen remodel and entire home flooring installation. First met with Matt a conscientious and detailed design engineer who listened to my ideas, did the technical drawings and measurements including brainstorming how the design would work. Matt created a wonderful design of the kitchen— cabinets, countertops, lighting, backsplash, down to the finishes, for example cabinet and drawer pulls and handles. The kitchen, including all the appliances, is beautiful! Robert gave us a bid on the project and was the contractor in charge of the crews and coordinated trades from demo to installation of plumbing, electrical, dry wall, cabinets, lighting, etc. Although there was a slight delay of a week or two the job was completed and professional done. The crews were polite, hard working and respectful of your property. The photos speak for themselves! Thank you Cerletti & Kennedy Best, Julie and John Torell

In October 2019 I chose contractor Cerletti & Kennedy to conduct earthquake retrofit work at our single story home in Pleasant Hill. I selected them from four contractors because Mathew Kennedy (Matt) seemed to be most knowledgeable about the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) Brace & Bolt Program. He knew how to follow the CEA contract procedures so that we would be eligible for a $3000 rebate and a reduction in CEA insurance premiums. The work included bolting 48 S-shaped clips and 9 L-shaped clips which made a strong, but flexible, connection from our house concrete foundation wall to the mud sill and perimeter joist. Our contractor followed the CEA installation rules and provided sufficient paperwork to make us eligible for the rebate and the insurance premium reduction. The contractor employees were courteous, friendly, and focused. Some extra work, to secure our water heater and provide a drain pipe through our crawl space, was provided at no extra charge. My emails and phone calls to Matt were promptly returned, but the timing and scheduling of the work was delayed several times by the interference of other contract work. Even though the 2-3 day job took 2-3 weeks to complete, we were pleased with the final outcome and the $3000 rebate. All considered we would be happy to recommend Cerletti & Kennedy to our friends and neighbors. David McCauley

The second time we hired Cerletti and Kennedy since 2016. The first time was addition, and this time bathrooms remodeling. We are very happy with the new bathrooms! Whoever visited our home recently have been saying, “Wow!” Job well done!!!

We hired Robert & Matt For a fairly extensive re-configuration and build. We added a new kitchen and living space, as well as bath. Matt is fun and brilliant - he was excited about the possibilities and gave us creative, yet practical suggestions in the design phase. His knowledge of materials and engineering challenges/solutions is outstanding. True, sub-contractors sometimes did not show, but in the overall picture this was immaterial. Our home was reconfigured and rebuilt beautifully, and we're very happy with the results.

Based on their poor performance, the best rating we would give is 2 stars. Initially, Matt & Robert offered lots of ideas and promises for our kitchen and bathrooms remodel, but they failed to deliver on those promises. Their remodel budget estimate lacked specific and accurate installation details and cost estimates. Most of their material allowance costs were low and we easily exceeded the cost when purchasing items. For example, kitchen cabinet allowance was $4000.00 and my wife was not happy with the limited cabinet choices, so we chose a different vendor and paid 2 ½ times above estimate. The bathroom tile job was estimated at $5075 (labor & material) and we ended paying $13,000.00 (labor only costs) for the new subcontractor to install. Based on my experience, I would add at least 25% over their estimate. Recommend that each task be clearly defined in both materials and labor costs. Work execution phase was poor in both work coordination and progressing the work. Robert was rarely on the job site and when he was there, he was asking for progress payments. Many times he wanted money when task was not complete or needed money to buy materials. Robert indicated that he could complete the remodel within 12 weeks with house vacated which did not happen. I should have suspected problems before job began when Robert stated that he would send two people to move our furniture out to storage box. When only one person showed up to move furniture, who was an inexperienced mover (but good worker), that left me a 70 year man to assist him. Additionally, we had an incident where employees working on remodel were not covered by Workman’s Compensation and liability insurance. There was poor coordination when it came to purchasing material such as sinks, faucets, shower heads, tub, toilets, vanities and light fixtures that was entirely on us to buy. Make sure estimate includes an itemized list that designates who is responsible to purchase. The quality of work was below average for professional contractors. The sheetrock installed did not match up with existing walls and in one case, ½ inch of the wooden beam had to be shaved to match existing sheetrock seem. The new sheetrock covering the existing fireplace brick was not installed with furring strips (metal 2 by 4 beams) as required by installation drawing. Also, some of the new sheetrock installed was cut to butt up to existing crown molding vice fitting under the molding. As workmanship issues surfaced and a reluctance to get them fixed in a timely manner, I felt like it was time to terminate our contract. We were ten weeks into job and they had not starting any finishing work. The new contractor we hired found many more workmanship issues with sheetrock, insulation, plumbing, lighting locations and structural slope for bathroom shower drain that required rework. Additionally, we thought that we were going to have recessed LED lights, but the electrical boxes installed were for semi-flush lights. The new electrical subcontractor removed, relocated and replaced with recessed LED lights. The new plumbing subcontractor stated that much of the plumbing work was done by unprofessional plumber. The new contractor did a great job progressing and coordinating the work, but it still took 10 weeks to complete. We are happy with our completed remodel project, but not happy with the pain and additional cost we incurred to complete.