Reviews
Xaman E.
San Francisco, CA
Have you ever been in a bad situation, needed help, found no one, and then someone showed up and bailed you out beyond even what you hoped for? Yeah, me neither – until a couple of weeks ago.
My mom drove her car into the side of the house taking out the garage door and a chunk of the wall next to it. So, now they have a gaping hole in the house with heavy rains expected that day. It was Saturday about 1pm and I needed someone to come over and seal up the damage to keep the water out. I called ten of the highest rated contractors on Yelp. 7 didn’t answer. 2 said they were too busy to help. Only one, Diviney, said ‘Send me a picture, we’re busy, but I’ll send someone out there to seal it up.’
At 3 o’clock Diviney showed up. Without fanfare, he got to work. I was expecting him to just hang a tarp over the cavity and call it a day. Nope. Three plywood boards, a circular saw, a couple of beams, a tarp, and 2 hours of work later, he had it sealed up. Yep, 2 hours, and not a minute was wasted. The work he did was thorough and high quality – everything was measured, nothing was sloppy. And nothing was getting past the barrier he built. I asked if it needed to be as robust as he was making it and he asked simply “Do you want strangers coming into your house?” Uh, no, please carry on.
When he was done, I, extremely relieved, asked ‘how much?’ He said he was there just to do the work and left. A text from their office later that evening simply asked if we were satisfied with the work. Dude, you were the only ones to show up in an emergency, you built a structure that was more robust than the original garage door, you left without mentioning payment, and you want to know if that was satisfactory? Serious?
A week goes by, then two – no contact from Diviney. I call to ask them if they have sent their invoice, after all, the address is on the side of the house. It becomes clear from the conversation they had no intention of sending an invoice – ever. I had to insist that they send one.
5 stars is not enough. This level of dedication to the customer is what builds dynasties.
Olet A.
San Francisco, CA
Our house is old and needed minor repairs here and there. One of those minor repairs was what looked like a leak right above the front door. It manifested itself through peeling paint and surface discoloration. It was more obvious whenever we would have rain or significant moisture. And with reports of an El Nino year, we thought might as well get it done before it gets any worse.
So we went through a couple of contractors recommended by family and friends. Either they charged exorbitantly or were flakey. It was after this that we went to Yelp and looked at what was available out there. Diviney Construction came up and the reviews which were very positive. So, why not give Ivan a call?
We called Ivan and he promptly answered letting us know that he was on his way to a job and could stop by to take a look. What? Wait…a contractor who could come by and take a look on the first call? Okay, so he came by and looked at the wall above the front door and did some poking around. He then gave us a brief summary of the strategy he would use in order to find and repair the leak. He then gave us a general estimate which included how many days’ work, how much per hour, etc. We did the math and thought it was reasonable and gave him the green light.
Sixto and Luis, Ivan’s two employees, showed up on time and started putting up partitions to isolate the front door and the affected walls. They laid down protective barriers on the floor, moved furniture and then started working. Since we were off that day, we saw how relatively clean they went about working. Cutting through stucco generates a lot of dust but most were contained within the plastic barrier. Ivan came by later that day and helped.
They were a good team – Ivan, Sixto and Luis. We were impressed with their workmanship. We can only tell you how great Luis and Sixto were in doing the job and cleaning up after themselves.
The job was done within the time described by Ivan. Oh, by the way, Ivan is very prompt in communication using email, cell phone and text. Very conscientious, that Ivan! His bill, while not tiny, was very reasonable.
I asked for and got a recommendation from Ivan for a roofer who would replace the gutters. Ivan would not have given us this recommendation if he didn’t know how they worked. Look for another review for that one!
Ivan, Sixto and Luis are gems and we think we’ve found our contractors. Just don’t move, Ivan, ok?
Michael E.
San Francisco, CA
Do yourself a favor and include Ivan on any job you put out for bid… I had he and his crew do a fairly large concrete patio, retaining wall and planter job in my back yard and the results were top notch. When the job was complete and I asked him to address a few minor items, they were resolved promptly and with a smile. He does great work at a reasonable price and is a pleasure to deal with. I will call Ivan first with any future work needed!