Sullivan Construction

We had John and his crew to do remodel work on our kitchen. We doubled the size so there was a lot to do, including demo of old kitchen, taking out an interior wall, adding one window and changing another. Plus we added a picture window in our living room. After cabinetry was installed his guys came back to do plumbing, hooking up of stove and under house venting.
John’s crew were very knowledgeable, courteous, clean and tidy.
Extremely happy with the time frame and work done. Highly recommended!

Original Review June 2012
We have a detached garage that we wanted to make into living space, including adding a bathroom. This included adding all the plumbing for the bathroom, the flooring, adding a wall, adding a french door, a window, stucco, and building a small redwood deck outside the french door. John and his crew did great job. High quality and beautiful work, the crew was friendly and professional, and John kept a close eye on the progress of the project and communicated with me as often as I wanted (he was always easy to reach). He was also very flexible as we made changes to the plans as we went along. And he came in within $ 1000 of the original estimate. I would definitely use him again for any major remodeling in our home. And, lastly, his estimate came in equal to or less expensive than the two other estimates I got. I have already recommended him to one friend.
Btw, I forgot to mention Rolondo. He is John’s design guy, who worked with us before any construction got started to work out the details of the design. He was excellent.
Update: September 2014
We had a problem with a sulphur smell in the remodeled garage when we used the hot water, which had nothing to do with the work that John did. I had one plumber in and he said that we needed to replace the water heater because the heater anode was corroded and making the smell. We did this — the smell was reduced, but not gone, and then it started to get stronger again.
So I emailed John, thinking that he might have some ideas, or that he would know a better plumber. He emailed me back within 10 minutes, even though he had not heard from me in about 2 years. He got his plumber involved right away, who knew exactly what the problem and solution was. John sent his plumber over within a few days, who replaced the magnesium anode with an aluminum anode which prevented the production of magnesium sulfide. Bingo! No more sulphur smell! And the plumber gave us the «family discount» since John had asked him to do the job. I am so impressed with John’s commitment to his customers. Again, I highly recommend him, and have been recommending him to friends since he did the work on our garage.

Sullivan Construction did a complete kitchen-​remodel for us.
This kitchen remodeling experience is as smooth as any remodeling can go. John, the owner, gave fairly accurate estimates on when the job would start and when it would end, and he delivered. He coordinated the entire process well and checked in at critical points of the process to make sure everything was moving along according to plan. The pricing was also very competitive; I’ve interviewed over 5 contractors.
Ruben was the foreman, and he worked with Liborio for the most of the job. Extra people came in for the demolition and the cabinet installation. Tiling and countertop were sub-​contracted out. But most of the job was done by team Ruben and Liberio.
I highly recommend Ruben and Liberio. The quality of the their work was top-​notch, and their communication was professional. Ruben listened to every request and either performed it excellently or explained clearly and patiently why it was not a good idea to do. Whenever I approached to speak to him, he stopped working immediately, looked me in the eye, and listened attentively.
I’m very satisfied with the new kitchen. Not only does it look fabulous, but I know that high-​quality work and craftsmanship have gone into it.
I highly recommend Sullivan Construction with John and team Ruben and Liborio.

We contacted John to help repair a 2^nd floor deck that had wood rot. After receiving some very high quotes that included ripping out our ceiling beams and some very low quotes that had us scratching our heads we found John @ Sullivan. He provided us with options and explained the pros and cons clearly. I found John to be very ethical and honest. They repaired our deck and I can tell you, that thing will NOT move for the next 50 years. It was very well done. They were on-​time, on-​budget and do very good quality work. By the way, the neighbors that hired the cheap contractors now have decks that are warping already!
Thank you John and Sullivan Construction!

We a a few small bathroom fix-it’s.We really appreciated the quick response and time in which the job started and finished. The tile guys were clean and considerate. They did a wonderful job can’t tell there were repairs done. Even surfaces and grout matched perfectly. Sullivan is welcome to use us for future reference. Thanks so much!

We just finished having John Sullivan and his workers remodel our kitchen, original bath, remodel our bedroom, create new bathroom and tile our floors. the difference in our home is… so amazing. it took approx. 4 months and this could have been so stressfull but his workers were so nice, professional always cleaned the site at days end when i know they must have been so tired and ready to go home to their families. we highly recommend John Sullivan Construction. thankyou. mary ellen

I have a rental house in San Jose. After a long term rental we got the house back. My first task was to determine what needed doing so we hired an inspector. After 25 years we expected to need painting, floor coverings, some other minor issues. Instead we found we had dry rot in the floor, all the flooring squeaked, the bathrooms needed overhaul for low flow toilets, the closet doors needed to be replaced, the entire plumbing (50 year old house) system needed to be replaced, the heating system should be replaced and on and on.
John’s people were able to solve most of the problems, but more importantly, he was able to help us find other people to fix problems that his people would not want to solve.
Yes the project took 7 months. Yes I fixed more things than I thought in the beginning that needed to be done. But I am very happy with the result and my new tenants seem to like the home too.

Our experience with Sullivan Construction is now nearing two decades. Over a number of jobs at several properties in the San Jose area, my wife and I have found that for projects ranging from, say, reviving falling-​down fixer-​uppers to the almost-​too-​small-​too ask-​a-​construction-​company-​for type, John Sullivan always responds, listens to your needs, helps refine the goals, explains clearly that which he intends to do, and then quotes it in a comprehensive, thoroughly itemized list. we have found the bidding to be competitive and value-​focused.
The net line of success, for everyone, is whether you get the job done to the set criteria of satisfaction, to meet value expectations. In our experience, Sullivan Construction has delivered outstanding results. I say this based on their thoroughness, punctuality, meeting deadlines and goals, performing work to specifications, and comprehensive communication throughout the project.
The permanent crew is well skilled, and Raul leads projects through with competency.
Subcontractors share in the mindset of work excellence and value. We have received valuable advice and expertise to help through with projects from these competent subcontractors.
Oh, did I say that the Sullivan staff go full-​scale to make sure that your floors and property are protected, dust curtains installed, and that they remove the debris? They do, and very well at that, conscientiously, every day.
Fully recommending Sullivan Construction for your evaluation.

I hired Sullivan to do a full remodel of my kitchen and master bath. The estimate I got was one of the least expensive, but also most detailed (5 pages of line-​items) that I got. Construction took about 10 weeks.
I’m really happy with how it all turned out. Construction took about 10 weeks. The quality is great and it all looks beautiful. John’s workers were all prompt, reliable and professional. Both the cabinet and tile subcontractors Sullivan works with delivered quality results as well. There were only a couple of minor hiccups, and they were dealt with promptly. Work has been finished for a month as of this writing and I’m really enjoying my new kitchen and bath. I would recommend (and have already recommended) Sullivan Construction without hesitation.

Last year I needed to fix up an older condominium. Sullivan’s itemized proposal was very clearly laid out and specific to everything we discussed. I could clearly see how each decision impacted the bottom line. Surprisingly this was not the case with some of the other quotes I received.
New floors and baseboards in kitchen and bath; kitchen countertops; painted cabinets; new kitchen sink, faucet, garbage disposal; microwave & new wire & circuit to it; new toilet; one door and door stops at a closet opening; replaced all the doors with panel doors (LOVE THESE!) and installed handles; added crown molding at kitchen cabinets; new outlets & switches; new light fixtures.
I added some extras as the job was going along. If I saw a problem with anything I called John and it was fixed or redone. He was usually available by cell or he would return my call the same day. All of his workers are very nice guys and good workers and the place ended up looking TERRIFIC!
Other considerations: 1) this condo was empty at the time the work was being done.
2) I stress out about little things and John is really easy-​going. During the whole process I found this annoying at times… but TWO people who stress out would definitely have been worse. and 3) his proposal for the work was reasonable and I found him easy to talk to and easy to work with.
I hired him again to do work at the home of my mother who is in her 80’s.
They replaced the back door to the garage, they vented the dryer to the outside, and raised the first of two concrete steps to the front door by several inches to make them equal height.
John suggested hand rails and their placement at the front porch which we had him install,. She is OVERJOYED with how easily and securely she can step up to her front door now.
The workers were kind and considerate. They worked a very long day but made sure things were right before leaving.
She and John got along great and she is very happy with everything that was done.
AND…I did not have to worry about any of this :-)

We hired John to do a major renovation on our «fixer upper». My perspective is that regardless of how good the construction is, if the finish work isn’t good you will be disappointed. My husband and I have some differing opinions on this. I used an A, B, C, D, F grade for each component to try to be more objective.
Job Scope: Removed supporting walls and added support beams. Full kitchen remodel. Both bathrooms were reconfigured and basically rebuilt from scratch. All new windows were put in. New flooring throughout. New mudding, painting and finish work. A very very big job.
John is a very amiable guy. Nice to work with. His crew, in this case, Raul, was also a very nice guy.
*Communication: C. I don’t feel the communication was as good as it should have been. When issues were discussed, John would say little, give an affirmative nod, but not a clear discussion on plan of action. Sometimes, issues were discussed multiple times, and to this day not all are resolved. Unfortunately, my husband paid in full prior to resolving all issues. Although John came back himself to work on stuff a few times, it was always after a phone call and he has not returned in good faith in over a month to finish his work.
*Timeliness: B. The timeline of the job was under estimated, but there was some scope creep. The job finished 2 months after projected. It wasn’t that there were days with no workers, so it seems like it was just underestimated. Still — a B on this. They worked hard.
*Business sense: A. John gave a detailed estimate of the work with detailed line items which my husband really liked.
*Core team work ethic: A. Raul and the crew worked hard They were on the job every day and always busy.
Inspections: We had no failed inspections. A
*Structural Construction: A. Structural construction seems sound. Plumbing works. All the lights work. Tubs don’t leak. Windows open. The house passed all inspections. We trust the Raul’s electrical work and plumbing.
*Finish Carpentry. C. The cutout for the window needed to be enlarged to accept larger windows. These cutouts are not square nor is the new window sill level. This became apparent when we put blinds in. Many of the outlets are not straight/​level. The cutout for the new crawl space in my closet floor is jagged with gaps. The crown molding and baseboards are with gaps and cracks. A mudding repair to fix water damage to bathroom drywall has uneven/​wavy surface and it was not sanded smooth prior to painting.
*Mudding: B+ Ben was the mudder. Nice guy. Unpainted mud samples were left on a small piece of wood — 3 choices. We picked the one that was orange peel. I had orange peel in my condo, so had an expectation. As it turned out, my condo had knock down and the house did not. The thickness of the mudding was varied throughout. The ceilings looked great but the walls had some sections with much heavier mudding. Ben was very responsive and came back and redid one room which was exceptionally thick. He also did a great job on the smooth mudding.
*Cabinets: A — we LOVE Keith at Seqouia cabinets. Couldn’t say enough good about him.
*Granite Install: B. CR Marble. They did a good job with templates and cutting. They double checked with us before making the cuts, avoiding errors. After install, the black flat granite had a white residue on it which was not seen at the store. And it was getting water marks. They ensured me it was sealed,. ?paint? ?sealed in dirt? They came out and cleaned it with granite pledge. To this day the granite has a whiteish discoloration to it and only looks sleek black immediately after the granite cleaner is on it. It stains easily as if not sealed.
*Tile: C-​. Dave’s tile. We planned layout together. The guest bathroom looks good but the master does not. They never wiped up excess grout off the wall. There were pock marks and pinholes in the grout. The custom glass tile piece was put in unevenly. The grout is discolored.
*Painting: F. Rolando’s. First, Rolando did none of the painting himself and wasn’t on the job. They did not sand down filler in the molding so the surfaces look rough. The did not caulk the gaps in the crown well. They did not cover the floor and got paint everywhere. They did a poor caulk job between the hardwood floor and the base board. We asked them to remove it but they didn’t take it up cleanly. It is really unsightly in many places. We aren’t sure what was with the quality of the primer and the paint. The paint peels and chips off the walls even though it is fresh mud. They got paint all over the hardwood floors and tile. The more they tried to fix it the worse it got. And the lines are not great despite tape (bled through etc). We had to fire them.
*Flooring: C. The floor had many paint spots on it which did not get cleaned up before finishing. There are gaps that did not get filled. For some reason it is scratched in many places, There are squeaks developing in the new floor.

Sullivan Construction just finished remodeling both of our bathrooms. While it’s never fun having construction going on in one’s home, this was a nice experience. John, the owner, is a very pleasant man to work with. He listens carefully to what you want done, takes notes, gives good suggestions, itemizes his estimates and numbers his different proposals so there’s never a doubt which proposal you’re working from. His prices are very reasonable and he doesn’t go looking for «extras» to tack on to his original estimate. His workers were very knowledgeable about every aspect of their jobs; there was nothing they couldn’t do: plumbing, electrical, wall texturing, painting, etc. They always started the day by putting down protective coverings on the floors leading to the rooms being remodeled. In the master bedroom, they protected the bed and dressers, nightstands with plastic coverings. They cleaned up nicely at the end of the day and did anything you asked of them (such as hauling away cardboard boxes from the bathroom fixtures, etc.). John hired great subcontractors (tile, cabinets, countertop fabrication, and shower doors). Each of these people provided excellent products and were easy to work with.
If you’re considering remodeling your bathrooms, Sullivan Construction is definitely the company to consider. You’ll be pleased with the quality results and the price you pay. We will definitely call him again for any future work.