Sustainable Design Companies in Opal Cliffs

“During the 13 month construction our neighbors would comment, "Your contractors are doing a good job on your house and we're impressed that they are respectful of the neighbors. I like it that they don't play loud music and clean up every day." We were happy to hear that. We are even happier with the results. As the first house in Santa Cruz County to be built (technically remodeled) to the Passive House standards, we enjoy a very comfortable temperature throughout the house AND use much less energy than similar houses in the neighborhood. The biggest challenge was the air tightness requirement for Passive House certification. This was tested with a blower door to verify that the house achieve 0.6ACH50 (131 CFM in our case) which is VERY tight. Achieving this level of airtightness in the house that was originally built in 1922, where we kept the original foundation and framing, has not been done before. Santa Cruz Green Builders also installed the first Heat Recovery Ventilator in this area. The professional who came to commission the HRV commented that our installation was one of the better ones he's observed. So, the point of this paragraph is Santa Cruz Green Builders is not afraid to take on new challenges and achieve amazing results. When you hear the words "green building" it may bring the image of a certain contemporary aesthetic to mind. But our house has the curve appeal of a nice old house -- a 1922 bungalow that has the arts and crafts styling with details in the window trims and flared skirt look on the siding. On the interior we are very happy that Santa Cruz Green Builders talked us into keeping the original floors and refinishing them. The tight grains of old fir is appealing and the polished distressed wood brings out the period style. They carefully deconstructed the house so that original base boards, doors, etc. were re-used. We also selected finishes that reflects the old arts and crafts style. When people come to our house they can't tell what's original and what's new. We like that. True to their name, Santa Cruz Green Builders walk their talk. I can continue with other elements like structured plumbing, gray water, insulation, recycling, etc. If you're curious about that please visit my blog http://http://midorihaus.blogspot.com/”

“Sal and his team did a fantastic job on our kitchen! Our kitchen need a full upgrade - new cabinets, floors, countertops, applicances, lighting, etc. QA Builders were always professional and kept the job moving along so that it could be finished in a timely manner. Sal was very responsive and a great communicator when we had questions. Also, the team always showed up on time and left our place clean before they left each day, which we really appreciated. We are thrilled with how beautiful it came out, and definitely would use them again.”

“Bridgford Construction is amazing! They built the kitchen of our dreams. The attention to detail was unparalleled....and they were on time and on budget. I would recommend them (and do!) to anyone.”

“We purchased a house from Aron Developer last year and we're very impressive on the high quality and great post-sale experience. 1. High quality: Aron Developer built the house with high quality materials and equipped with top brand appliances. Not to mention the whole design of the house is just terrific! 2. Great post-sale experience: Aron Developer provides 1-year warranty and they provide great post-sale experience. Many thanks especially to our point of contact Yunesh! Yunesh is polite and friendly, and very responsible and patient on helping us to solve all the issues we had in a prompt manner.”

“Tom was professional in his approach to providing an accurate scope of work and contract price for my home renovation projects. Tom ran his projects very well in meeting the schedules. I am very happy with the services provide by Tom Schaub and will certainly use him again for future projects. I would also recommend Tom to others for similar home renovation projects.”

“We have worked with Bill Fry Construction on several projects now and we are always impressed with their meticulous attention to detail. They are wonderful to work with and are great when it comes to communication in regards to the clients needs and wants. We are always honored to be able to work with them and clients are always happy in the end!”

“We first encountered this company at the Sunset festival and were looking for someone to do a small project for us because we had really disliked the contractor who had just done our kitchen. They said they were more than willing to do something small so they redid a bathroom in our guest cottage and did some framing for a spice cabinet in our kitchen. I really like their appraiser but find her to be a little alarmist in terms of what problems we might encounter with permitting. (I guess it's better to be that way than to say "yeah, this will all be no problem" and then we have a lot of problems.) She had some great ideas about how to do our shower that wouldn't have occurred to us. The people who actually did the work were extremely fast and easy to communicate with. They were very available by text message and actually made great use of technology. The timing for the remodel worked out such that we were out of town while they were doing the majority of the work and they were happy to send us photos and questions by e-mail and text so that we could coordinate. I am not very picky about design and so I hadn't even thought about colors to paint the bathroom when they were done. I asked them to just pick something that looked nice and they were happy to just pick a neutral color and go with it. The shower had some leaking problems after they installed the doors but they happily came back without complaining until it was fixed to our satisfaction. All in all we were so happy with the service we got that we have asked them to help us do a much larger remodel of the entire house. Hopefully that experience will work just as well!”

“I highly recommend Palo Alto Building Company as a general contractor. I had the pleasure of working with Mr. Chris Loops on our home renovation in 2015. I can recommend him highly and without reservation. Throughout the course of the renovation, Mr. Loops was a consummate professional. He was accurate in his initial assessment of the scale and cost of our project. He was clear in his record keeping and time log. He chose and managed the sub-contractors well. There was no better intermediary for ensuring our renovation projects were always running smoothly and at peak times. He was a great coordinator and leader with his subcontractors to follow his lead. This is because Chris exudes a level of knowledge and expertise that simply inspires trust. Our job was done with care and precision. He is a gifted carpenter and the custom cabinetry he designed and executed are perfect. What I appreciated most about Chris was his keen ability to get answers. What he did not know off the top of his head, he knew exactly where to go. I never waited more than a few minutes to hear solutions about location, equipment, cost of materials, labor and time management. With Chris on site, my day-to-day operations were always in good hands. In addition, he is extremely clean and tidy in the workplace. Chris along with his professional staff never left the worksite in disarray. They vacuumed all drywall dust daily. Mr. Loops took special care to prevent any of the job dust from trailing throughout the house. The only complexity in working with Mr. Loops is that, as he himself will tell you, good work takes time to complete. Patience is required when you work with a perfectionist. Our project took time to complete, but the estimation was 100% accurate. Palo Alto Building Company under promised, and over delivered in every aspect of the project! We had a wonderful outcome and a work of art to enjoy now.”

“I am an interior designer who assisted clients in finish selection for a large home plus in-law apartment that was constructed by Yang Construction. The attention to detail shown by Yang Construction is unmatched, and my clients were pleased with the communication from Sam Yang regarding scheduling.”

“I was hesitant to go with JSM Homes as this was a large investment for me with financial risks. Fortunately, their service, competency and construction was top notch. The project was completed within the estimated time frame without any problems whatsoever. They actually exceeded my expectations which is impressive as I'm a perfectionist.”