Good Guy Builders

I worked with Good Guy Builders (GGB) on a medium size home renovation in Healdsburg. Scope of work included: Complete renovation of all three bathrooms, Installation of new hardwood floors throughout house and new banister, Painting throughout house, Installation of new larger patio door, Tiling the mantle, Installation of new fence, Ripping out several built ins, Electrical, Plumbing, and several other smaller items.

PROs:
-Quality: The quality of Good Guy Builders work is A+. I really had zero complaints and they far exceeded my expectations on quality. Some places they really excelled -- tiling for the bathroom (I picked a really finicky Moroccan tile to install and they did so beautifully), flooring, banister (I gave them a picture of what I wanted and they truly replicated it), painting. Because GGB employs its people, versus subcontracting, it has a lot more control over quality and timelines.
-Communication: I texted or emailed with Mark several times a day for months and he would respond same day and most of the time within a few hours at most.
-Customer Service:
*When I was first looking for contractors, I started by soliciting references from friends and acquaintances but I couldn't find anyone. I then resorted to Google and Yelp, hence how I found GGB. I ended up going with GGB because I had a good feeling that Mark seemed like a good guy. And I'm glad I was right! You don't need to be worried about Mark stiffing you or abandoning you mid project.
*There were two or three very minor mistakes done. GGB fixed them immediately at their cost no questions asked.
*When I had a concern about cost, Mark asked me to propose what I would need to walk away satisfied. He accepted my modest proposal without negotiation. I'm sure if I asked for more there would have been negotiation but I'm happy he didn't try to nickel and dime me.
-Daily Reports: I wasn't living in the house at the time of the renovation but I would try to come up at least once a week. In lieu of being there full time, having the pictures from the daily reports was very helpful.
-Timing: The project took a pinch longer than expected but to be fair I kept on increasing the scope of the project. My one requirement throughout the project was that I wanted to spend Christmas at the house, which Mark was able to accommodate. There was still a punch list of items but it was livable during Christmas. A true Christmas miracle!

What to do next time:
I don't want to call these Cons because these likely apply to every contractor, so these are more learning experiences.
-Price:
*GGB is definitely not a budget contractor, but the quality was great so I suppose you get what you pay for. In hindsight, what I would have done was ask for a budget on each major bucket of work rather than a lump sum budget. I kept on adding work as time went on, but without updating the master budget, which left me a little surprised at the end.
*GGB charges hourly. On the one hand, with an hourly charge there's no incentive to cut corners. On the other hand, it's easy to exceed budget expectations. I'm not sure which system is better, but just know what you're getting yourself into.
*I ended up using GGB for the entire scope of work because it was easier to have GGB just manage the whole project, particularly when it was crunch time, and there were a lot of workers on site. However, I would consider outsourcing certain parts of the work to other vendors, not for quality (because GGB did a great job) but just to see if I could better manage the cost. Mark was very open from the start that I didn't need to use GGB for everything.
-I purchased as much as I could myself -- all fixtures, flooring, tile, etc -- and while being able to leverage Mark's contractor discount. I liked doing this because I liked having more control over the ordering and timelines of materials and of course the benefit of credit card points.
-Make sure to think about labor costs in addition to materials costs. I used a small Moroccan tile for two of the bathrooms. The result was amazing and GGB did a great job but it took a long time to install this tile. I wish I asked Mark in advance about labor time for different options because I would have possibly considered a different tile. Not their fault, just a learning experience for the future.

All in all, I would 100% use Mark and GGB again in the future. Their work was impeccable, and while any renovation is going to be stressful, I think it would have been a lot more stressful working with anyone else.

I hired Mark and his crew to remodel a bathroom initially, and then ended up spending around 300k to do several large projects, the largest of which was the kitchen. I forgot to take a before picture on the kitchen, so there's nothing to compare it to, and the work took a VERY long tome to finish, and there were multiple problems along the way, as is normal for very large jobs, but Mark always made things right eventually.

Yes, I got impatient with how long things took, yes there were times when I was upset with them, but overall I am willing to give them 5 stars.

One of the things I liked that I had not seen with another construction company was their daily updates. Every day, or most days anyway, after the work was finished the workers would take pictures of the progress, send them to Mark and then Mark would put it together with the progress report and send to me so no matter where I was I would always get an email with pictures and updates.

The way they do business, which is labor only, plus materials at cost, seemed like a good arrangement, and made clear there was no funny business going on.

There were some disappointing things that happened but Mark always did his best to make sure we were happy, even going way out of his way to redo some things that weren't done right at first.

I also liked how he places cameras facing the areas where his guys are working, so they can review footage if there is any issues. That protects everyone. Good job Mark. Excellent business model.

Anyway the kitchen went from a walled off confined area with little room for a table, to WIDE OPEN to the living room and entryway. Mark helped me decide where to put everything to maximize the preservation of the views and worked with both my wife and I to make sure that aspects we wanted were incorporated.

Also of note is the macgyver type craftsman John, who got to flex his creative muscles on helping with a specialized part of the job that stretched his abilities! He did a wonderful job and we are happy.

Overall I highly recommend Mark and Good Guy Builders.

"Competent, reliable, honest" is Good Guys' motto, and it speaks truth. I would add "Responsive as any contractor you've ever met!" SO important!!!

GGB answered and responded, when other contractors couldn't bother to call us back. Their large team was out in no time, getting to work in just weeks after signing the contract. They executed our design effectively, resulting in our home now feeling like our home. Any setbacks we brought up were handled professionally, helping reduce the stress that any non-trivial project can bring up. We appreciate their work and would contact them in the future!

Good Guy Builders did a great job on a bathroom remodel in my home a few years ago so when I decided to do a more extensive remodel of my outdated kitchen, they were the ones I contacted. My wish list included a multifunction kitchen with an upgraded cooking area, bar/wine section, desk workstation and a large island that served as a prep space, storage and seating area for four - everything and the kitchen sink.  The owner, Mark Dziuk, and his crew didn't bat an eye. Instead, his team of highly skilled tradesman brought my vision to reality. Even though I was offsite during construction, Mark efficiently managed the project and provided me with daily updates of the work performed, hours worked and photos of the progress. This allowed me to make timely adjustments to the work order as well as monitor my budget throughout the process. Super pleased with the quality of work, transparent process and excellent communication.  The project stayed close to the estimated budget, was completed more quickly than projected and I'm ecstatic with the finished result.

Mark did a great job on helping us renovate our kitchen, bedroom and deck. He's knowledgeable on home construction and we will hire him again.

After having had three other bids, I decided on the Mark and the Good Guy Builders to fix/remodel my dad's house in Petaluma and they did a great job! Mark worked with me to get the most done within our budget. He kept in good contact with me and I had updates consistently on the project while I was out in Colorado. For everything that had to be done and having to deal with some difficulties and miscommunications, the end result is just what I was hoping for. Thank you to Mark and his team of "good guys". I'm very happy to have gone with them, they were the best decision!

My husband and I were in a horrible car accident this past June and I sustained crushed feet. I realized pretty quickly that I was facing many months in a wheelchair and that our home was filled with obstacles. While in the hospital, I called several contractors looking for support to do a bathroom remodel on very short notice (as I really needed it completed before I could return home and shower). Everyone I called was either booked out too far or they didn't return my calls. Mark answered the call on a weekend and he was the first willing to listen to our situation and needs and then agreed to do everything he could to squeeze our project in to his already very busy schedule. He and his crew were prompt, reliable and always professional. Mark provided nightly emails with pictures and reviews of what was completed each day and he was always easy to reach by phone or text to answer questions or check-in. We are happy with the job they completed, turning our raised bathtub into a beautiful walk-in (roll-in) shower. We highly recommend Mark and his team. And I will be forever grateful for Mark's empathy and willingness to make it all work.

Wow what can I say, where to start? I feel as if we have adopted Mark into our family since one project has led to the next and next. We hired Mark to do the impossible renovation, with some pretty unconventional style requests that took a lot of ingenuity to bring to life. Our project is 100 times better than I imaged it could be. Since our mini house make over is completed we have hired Mark back to install doors and build in custom frames around them. Then retaining wall work. Then Install and plumb a custom coffee maker. The list goes on and on. It is years of projects just getting handled one after another with the result always the same. Quality Quality Quality and working with us when cost cutting was in order on projects. I recommend him to all my family and friends. The only downside is sometimes you have to wait to get on the schedule but he is worth the wait.

Mark (the "Good Guy") is:
Prompt
Punctual
Reliable
An excellent communicator
Skilled
Meticulous
Conscientious
Thorough
Creative
Reasonable
Practical
Adaptable
A Good Guy
We had a general idea of what we were after, but were unsure what the possibilities were. Mark was good at patiently explaining various approaches and coming up with ideas and considerations that hadn't occurred to us. The end result is wonderful. We've already recommended him to one of my neighbors, and are going to invite him back to install a new floor for us.