American Engineering Construction
Category: Home Services Contractors Contractors [Edit]
San Jose, CA 95109Serving San Jose and surrounding area
(408) 891-0385
7 reviews for American Engineering Construction
7 reviews in English
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Review from great space cape r.
Santa Clara, CA
4/9/2010
As a first time homebuyer I didn't have experience dealing with contractors and I was overwhelmed and scared when the inspector told us we needed "foundation repair". Hey I watch HGTV and I knew foundation work can be a really big problem, I was ready to walk away from the deal until my husband asked me to meet this company over at the property for an inspection and quote.
Carlos was amazing. He drew me diagrams so I could really get an idea of the scope of work and explained things in a way I could understand. After answering all of our questions, he presented us with a simple, yet professional contract and we agreed on the job.
When we realized we needed permits from the City of San Jose I got scared all over again. Here I was at City Hall being charged by the minute and not understanding the complicated process. A signature was required for the permit, but because I was not officially on the county record as home owner yet I could not sign. Carlos to the rescue! As a licensed contractor his signature was valid and with a phone call he met me down at City Hall within 15 minutes and took care of business.
The work hit a few bumps (as construction always does) when we realized there was some extra termite wood damage. But AGAIN, Carlos to the rescue! They shopped for materials, repaired the damage and fixed and cleaned everything up beautifully.
Another embarrassing speed bump happened when our check bounced because I forgot to transfer funds from our construction budget. Even though I felt so terrible, Carlos was so understanding and cool about it.
We still need to have more work done in the future, but this was job was prioritized for safety and our budget. But when the time comes we will definitely hire American Engineering Construction again to update everything.
So if you hear "foundation repair" don't fear, seriously, Carlos to the rescue! They made a horrible situation easy and painless. -
Review from Kathy B.
Piedmont, Oakland, CA
5/31/2011
I have to say that working with this company was nothing but a positive experience. My partner and I recently purchased our first home in the East Bay Hills, and after the rains last year we started seeing cracks everywhere!
We were nervous. One- because we knew this would mean something major to be fixed and Two- because we had no idea where to start, who do you call for something like that!
Long story short, we called our realtor who suggested this company from the South Bay, he said this was their specialty. Apart from American Engineering we got some quotes from other foundation repair firms, but in the end we chose American Engineering.
In our book, personal and friendly service goes a long way. Namely, Carlos was personable, confident, knowledgeable, but humble. They spoke to us in way to not make us feel stupid; but they obviously knew the jargon when it time to watching them interact with the engineer and inspectors.
Carlos and his team replaced our foundation, our house is safe and sound and we couldn't be happier! -
Review from SAM S.
San Jose, CA
9/13/2010
I was quite disappointed with this company.
I have a vertical crack on my crawlspace foundation and spoke with Carlos Jr. He arrived on time for the appointment and sent one of his employees in the crawl space to inspect the the perimeter foundation.
The employee went under the house and came up after 20 minutes and drew up a diagram of where he saw the major crack and a few minor ones.
Carlos then gave me a price to fix all of them. This was a home inspection of a house that I was thinking about purchasing and he charged me $150.
Carlos then stated that he did not have a receipt or paperwork with him and that he would send me the invoice with a report about the foundation crack. I also asked him for a copy of the diagram as well and he stated that he would scan and email it to me.
After several phone calls and several emails I finally received the a invoice and report for a different house inspection! Again I called and emailed Carlos and was finally sent a crap report that he probably spent 2 minutes on.
I still havent received a copy of the diagram. After paying him $150, he didnt return phone calls and emails were not replied to.
Customer Service is terrible!!!
Stay away from these guys!!! -
Review from Joey C.
Sunnyvale, CA
10/1/2010
Carlos and his team worked on foundation repair of our old house. We were scared to the core by the home inspector's comments about how the house wasn't "bolted down" to the foundation. Carlos took some photos, explained the (older) architecture to the home inspector (seemed like someone didn't know how to do his job) and put us at ease. Carlos is knowledgeable, his team are on time and very easy to work with. Their quote came out the best among all the contractors. We were very happy with the work performed.
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Review from Babita B.
San Jose, CA
5/21/2011
If there was an option of no stars I would have given that.
Run away as fast as you can from this so called company. My experience was extremely disappointing with him right from the get go. I was starting a new house and signed a contract with Carlos for doing the grading foundation and drainage. I did my part in checking his credentials sand saw the 4 beautiful houses from outside that Carlos had supposedly done. I did ask to speak to the owners and Carlos said that the owners were not at home ( I should have insisted), but he promptly gave me some numbers to check his references. All his references gave glowing reviews, but I didn't see the fact that these guys were not the owners of the houses I was shown .
Let me just list all the problems I had with him.
1. He lied about his work experience.
2.He messed up all the survey stakes so I had to call Survey guy again to to retake corners of the house.
3. He tried to fool me with half baked grading he tried burying roots in the building pad .
4. The foundation walls were crooked and not even square bowing at places and were 4 inches off and 2 inches off !
5.He didn't complete the jobs that he got paid for ( He was getting married so I gave him progress payment thinking he will finish the grading, which of course he did not. Still kicking my self for that)
6.He and his crew had no sense and value of time, They arrive at 9:30 -10 at the job site some times not till late afternoon just because they did not want to miss the Soccer matches that were going on which was more important to them than my project time line.
It was a first time I was building a house -on my own. I had read about this kind of people but failed to act sooner when I realized was trouble for my project.
Any way after wasting 5 months of my precious time and about 20,000 dollars I finally asked him to leave the job. Thank goodness for that!
If you would like to see pictures of the botched up job I have plenty
I hope this warning will save somebody their hard earned money.
Babita -
Review from Lauri B.
Palm Desert, CA
3/13/2010
These guys were great to work with. I'm a Realtor and called them to do some foundation work for the sellers. Out of 3 contractors called about what work needed to be done, this was the only contractor that seemed to know what he was talking about and not trying to gouge the sellers for extra work. They were pleasant, efficient and reasonable. I will use them in the future for any foundation work I need done.
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Review from Siggie S.
San Jose, CA
5/12/2010
Our renters left the door to the basement of our charming 1904 bungalow open to the ongoing torrential rains this last winter. I got three bids to repair the water damage to the retaining wall. The first guy came out and told me how great he was, all about his personal life and then pulled a large bid out from thin air. The second guy came out and again pulled a large partial bid out of thin air and said he would charge time and materials for the majority of it. Neither man would tell me what was included, just waved their hands over the damage and said don't worry. And then I got Carlos! On time. Thoughtful. Professional. Detailed. Complete. Reasonably priced. He and his team were amazing. I already have recommended him and will definitely call him again.
