Ron and Ruth talk about their kitchen remodel, bathroom and bedroom addition in Yorba Linda, CA.

RON: Hi, I’m Ron. This is Ruth, Egigian. We live in Yorba Linda, California. We’re here talking because we had Richard Louis Construction as our contractor. We didn’t see him for the architectural part but that was a mistake we made. It would have been better if we would have gone with him.
He did an incredible job.
Our house was about sixteen hundred feet before he came and started doing the work and when he finished we added on just under twelve hundred square feet. It was a much bigger job than we had ever thought it would be. We had to do a lot of geologic work because we went over a certain number of square feet.
We’re here really because we really appreciated all that he did for us. He did an incredible job. I met with him in the beginning. I had gotten in a couple of bids. The other bid was from a close friend and I’d thought they’d be much closer but, Richard’s was almost half of what my other friend was. And when I sat down with Richard we talked about all the different parts. He suggested a number of things that at first I said no, I don’t think we’re going to do this. But later on I would come to him and say you know I realize that now is the time to do it. And he was always very helpful. I always waited for the boom to fall. I thought that when you added later the price is going to be doubled. But he was always very reasonable.
Before we started we went over the payment plan and as we looked at the payment plan I was hoping to have a little more of a chunk at the end, and he was really really cooperative, reasonable. He explained the places where he had to pay his people.
As we went into the construction, it started out in the summer. I’m a school teacher so I was here a good part of the time. But everything that we did was always on time. He was here often. If he wasn’t I knew he wasn’t gonna be here. All of his people who worked for him…I felt very comfortable with! My wife felt very comfortable with them, and, all the work that he did was just fantastic. We were very, very pleased with all that they had done, right up to the end.
My wife felt very comfortable with them, and, all the work that he did was just fantastic.
There were some things I asked Richard if I could do just cause I like to have my hand on a little bit of it. I don’t want to just have people work for me and I don’t do anything and he allowed me to do that. And he was very patient with me.
I have nothing but positive things to say about Richard Louis. He’s an awesome person, he’s honest, he’s trustworthy.
I had no doubt that what we were having done was being done correctly. And all of his people did well. The only problem we had at the very end that had nothing to do with him. It was the people…there were the groups I was allowed to go and contract on my own and some of those problems were still there. And honestly, if I had to do it over I would’ve had him do all of it even if it cost a little bit more.
Every time I’ve had a problem…I had a question at the end I’d call him. It could be weeks later and he was always right back over and he took care of me at once. So, I really appreciate it and this is just a way of saying thank you.
This is my wife. She has some things to say, I think.

RUTH: Hi, my name is Ruth, and I can tell you a little bit of the woman’s side of it. I am an instructor…a teacher and I teach at a community college. I do really well when it comes to teaching, but when it comes to thinking about what it is that I want in my house I had zero experience. And I’m not creative. I’m creative in my teaching but I am not one of these people who can put the colors together, or even knowing what it is that I want done. And so, the challenge for me, coming in was, what is it going to look like because if I was going to rely on my ability, or my inside, or my gifting, it wasn’t there.
You would think normally a woman knows exactly what they want. I didn’t. And so, one of the things that I found with Richard is that he really helped me through the process.
We were building a room addition to house our parents, to house my parents actually. They’re in their eighties. And so, we had to think about things that were not necessarily just for us. Or for our two children or even for our grandchildren. But for them. Things that have to do with them being handicapped and needing things to be a certain way. So, we’re not just planning for a couple or a family…we’re also planning for senior citizens.
Richard made it very, very positive!
And so, through the process. Richard made it very very positive! And helped me walk through it giving me ideas of things that we could do that were not just going to be good for us but for everybody. As a result we’re very happy with, what we have.
I mean this kitchen is great! We can entertain, we can have our family over, we can have our friends over, Super Bowl. There’s room for people to move around. Anybody that comes into our house…their comments are, “Wow”.
People will say to us, “Aren’t you having any issues…like…your contractor? You know?” Huh? We like our contractor. We like him. He took us to his home and he showed us things that were possibilities. He opened his home to us and said maybe you could do this. Oh, that’s a great idea. Even the wash room, all of that, came from, right?
Anybody that comes into our house…their comments are, “Wow”.

RON: Yeah.

RUTH: His wife opened their home to us so that we could gain ideas. And I’m very, very thankful. Really thankful. We have called him – like Ron says – for things that other people did, and he has always returned our call. The crew that he contracted also were wonderful. They were men who I felt comfortable having in my house. I mean they were with us for awhile.

RON: Yeah.

RUTH: You know, they were working on the addition and I remember looking out of this window and they would say to me, “Good morning Mrs. Ruth!” And it was like, ah, people! But they were very gracious and we would have lunch together with them.
I, as a woman, I never felt that I was not safe.
With the people that he picked and his son Richie was also amazing. Very kind, very courteous. I don’t know. What else I could say?

RON: Richard also was awesome.

RUTH: Yeah.

RON: Everything you see has just been wonderful. You don’t see a lot. If you went into our laundry room, something that I’ve always struggled with in every house we’ve had is, phone lines. We always have to go up in the attic to fix them or under the house. He showed me at his house he had a panel in the laundry room. And so I set it up the same way. I have all our cable and our phone where I just walk into the room, open the panel, and I can make it so there’s two phones in the house or one phone. I can switch cable around.
Little things that you don’t think about, he has a lot of insight. But again, he doesn’t charge you ridiculously. It’s just phenomenal. And we so appreciate, just all the time that he put into our home. He made it really good. My in-laws came in and there were times when they had some things that they were thinking, well gee, we’d really like, you know, closets that look this way and he didn’t just make it look this way – he was also adding things we were surprised with. We didn’t even know they were going to be included. So, we were very pleased.
Everything was above and beyond what we expected.

RUTH: One of the things that of course was unexpected is that people get cancer. And after we did the room addition my parents decided they wanted to retire in Argentina. That’s where I was born. Shortly after they left I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer which is a very traumatic and challenging experience. And, I’m bringing this to tell you that, while my parents lived in their room that was assigned for them, I ended up moving into that side of the house. And, I was there, um. What? For, through my chemo, as far as,

RON: Yeah.

RUTH: That’s pretty much where I lived.

RON: Yeah.

RUTH: And being in that room, I was so appreciative because first my parents had lived there and of course I’d go and hang out, but being there, in my bed, for like six months it was there I went through my chemo. Even that, the way that that room was made. In how, comfortable I was, I didn’t even have to come to the rest of the house because I had everything I needed in that room so. I got, all of this to say, that through the different seasons that we have been with Richard, um. As he’s seeing us and planning. With us living here with my parents having moved and with me, going through what I did.
We could not have asked for a better, person to walk it with us.

RON: Definitely. So. We wish you luck.

RUTH: Yes. And, um, you can always come and, talk, take a look.