"Bob's Our Contractor..."

"We had lived in our grand 1930 Spanish Colonial Revival home for many years while putting up with the decidedly uninspired original kitchen. Once we developed a vision and found a great designer, we collaborated for six months to plan our once-in-a-lifetime kitchen renovation. We came up with a period-appropriate, highly detailed and truly beautiful set of drawings. Finding the right general contractor to execute the plan was our next challenge.

Fortunately for us, Kaplan Construction’s principal, Bob Kaplan, was right in the neighborhood. He’s a second-generation builder, and he lives and breathes craftsmanship. We requested bids from three contractors and found Bob’s thoroughly itemized proposal to be both transparent and competitive. He clinched the job by offering his candid opinion about some important design choices—something almost no contractor is willing to do. So we became clients.

Kaplan Construction’s crew was professional, flexible and diligent. Bob’s foreman treated our home as if it were his own—and reminded the subcontractors of his high expectations on the rare occasions where that was needed. Bob is connected, so reaching him by email, text or cell phone is always easy. He communicates well and often. Bob also understands how to integrate new technology into a renovation while respecting the esthetic of the home. He is environmentally
sensitive—our job was among the first to fall under the 2008 City of Long Beach recycling requirements and Bob handled the situation flawlessly.

We had to make a few midcourse corrections when our old house would throw a surprise our way. (Example: asbestos abatement.) We also made the wise decision to replace our ancient furnaces with central heat. Bob handled change orders in the same transparent way as his original bid. When his costs went down, so did ours. When they went up, well...that’s how working on an old house goes. In the end, we felt that our dollars were wisely spent.

Our new kitchen turned out to be a masterpiece. You can see it in the December 2009 issue of This Old House magazine. We enjoy it every day. So, now we are repeat customers. We sought competitive bids on our latest project. You guessed it, Kaplan Construction won the job.

Bob’s our contractor."

Craig & Alicia Collins
Belmont Heights, CA