"Never before have I encountered such a responsible, caring and competent team of amazingly-considerate individuals, or known the relief to be experienced when one has full confidence in the people responsible for carrying out a major retrofitting job. A labor-intensive, enormous undertaking went smoothly, and all necessary consultations took place either as situation called for or procedurally. When one may trust to 100% reliance in a company that is fair in all respects, one is lucky indeed. This has been my experience: genuine care, full responsibility, excellent communication."

—Rebecca F.

"I am a residential designer and a licensed General Contractor and have used Live Oak Structural on 5 different projects over a period of 4 years. I have always been pleased with the quality of work, their time management and their professionalism. Their bids for work have consistently been less than other structural repair companies which I attribute to the efficiency of their work force and the extensive experience they have in this field. I also appreciate the "Can-do" attitude of Will, Live Oak Structural's Project Manager. Will takes time to assess each situation carefully and often presents alternative, and usually more affordable, solutions. Change orders, while few in number, have always been drafted in a timely manner so that there are no "surprise" costs at the end. I never hesitate to use Live Oak Structural on my projects or recommend them to my clients or friends."

—Matthew

"I have been a client of Live Oak Structural for over 25 years. They have been exceptionally good in their work which includes inspecting and maintaining my buildings in the east bay. Live Oak does their work in a timely manner, and is most helpful in every way. I recommend Live Oak Structural without reservations."

—Marc, Berkeley CA

"I was more than happy with them. They replaced part of our foundation, and they were clean, on time, their crew was great and there were absolutely no problems. What more can I say?"

"I was so impressed with their knowledge about decks and foundations. They caught something that the original designer of the house missed, and added some support beams under our deck that serve as part of the foundation. They were responsive and I was very happy with them."

"I love them! They've done work for my mother, my uncle, and on two of my projects. I'm an architect, and they do things right. Will is a ‘can do' kinda guy, and their work is always top of the line. Their workers are very respectful, and the communication between the crew and the office is great."

"The terrific staff of Live Oak Structural has provided us, for 20 years, with service and workmanship that are nonpareil. We recommend them without qualification. When work needed to be done beyond the scope of Live Oak Structural's area of expertise their referrals were always of the highest professional caliber."

"Live Oak came and did work on my house when I was about to buy it in August 2006. The contractor, Will, pointed out that we needed more support in our basement as they had removed structural supports. He also did a very thorough examination of the house and was informative and helpful in explaining everything that was going on in the house, what I needed to fix, what could wait, and how these things would affect the price of the house in the future. It was my first house and I was worried and nervous and he made me feel that everything would be alright. They ended up replacing supports in my basement and did the work while I was out of the house, were very professional and kept the area clean. I have also read multiple positive reviews on Berkeley Parents Network. They have come out since then to do a pest control inspection and I wouldn't use anyone else!"

—Andie

"This company really saved us a lot of money when they rebuilt our deck and replaced a leaky kitchen window. They were more affordable than the other 3 contractors that bid on the job and not only that, but they were very easy to get a hold of and ask questions about my house along the way. I will call them again when I'm ready to fix our foundation!"

"Live Oak Structural was very professional. They were on time and completed the deck beautifully. All the boards were perfectly straight and the site was thoroughly cleaned. We were very happy with the work and would recommend them without a doubt!"

"Overall the experience was a good one. My house needs quite a bit of structural work, but I have a limited budget to do repairs. Live Oak worked with me to limit the scope of the project to what I could afford and what would be best for my house given its needs. The work was done very well and the crew and supervisors were responsive and friendly. And my project involved a substantial modification to the original bid because it turned out that I needed significant work done on the framing, but Live Oak worked with me on the pricing of this as well. I plan to use this company again in the future, as I believe that the quality of their work is excellent and the pricing seems fair."

"Live Oak Structural worked on three separate jobs at the same time. We moved into a new house, and two inspections highlighted damage to the deck. The supporting girder had been damaged by a fungus infection and a powderpost beetle infestation. The concrete pillars also looked a bit soft to me, and looked very unsightly. Live Oak Structural provided a quote. They gave a little discount because they had two other jobs with us. The crew were excellent and did a sterling job, even with safety issues such as putting up a barrier to stop us walking out of the door on to the deck during the time of construction. Knocking down those re-enforced concrete posts can't have been easy but they managed it without a problem. It was fixed price, inclusive of the City Of Oakland building permit application and cost. We didn't have to do anything other than pay and be happy with the work. There were no surprises, and no issues. The other jobs done during the time were: earthquake retrofitting and foundation repair."

"They did a good job with the framing, insulation, and attaching the concrete flashing to the foundation with re-bars. It was also fixed rate and remained that way despite an issue they uncovered another with the foundation. The flashing gently slopes to avoid rainwater collection. And I'm not sure how they did it, but when they replaced the stucco the textual appearance matches the old stucco perfectly. Live Oak Structural did everything, including getting the council permit for this part as well. We had no issues. The crew (3 men) were very polite, well behaved, arrived at the same time each day, knew their business, followed instructions, achieved a lot each day, and also tidied up after each day."

"We employed Live Oak Structural initially to do this work. The way we did it was to: hire an engineer for the calculations; hire Live Oak Structural (LOS) for the building work; and apply to the City Of Oakland council for the permit and overseeing. It all went smoothly, and they worked very well with each other. Live Oak Structural removed the existing framing on those four walls (inside & out), replaced them with better, stronger framing, shear walls, and various braces - all according to the structural engineers plans. They took down the interior moulding, put it back up, replaced the sheet rock, and primed it so the house looked just as good as before. Although no-one will offer guarantees there is definitely a sense - having seen the difference between the old & new structures -that the house has a better chance of surviving an earthquake. Live Oak Structural took care of everything. No issues came up for us at all. They paid attention to detail, meticulously followed the plan and it was on time. It was fixed price and remained that way. We are very happy with the quality of work done, the time it took, and the cost."