Ward Construction

Best O.

We had a very good experience with Ward Construction. Reliable and hard working crew and a very communicative owner who oversees your project from beginning to end. They did a major retrofit on our house.
They were very accommodating, returning several items to their pre-construction status. This included a step that had to be rerouted because of a new concrete footing. Of course, there always are some unknowns with a project. In our case, they hit bedrock which necessitated a jackhammer for some excavation. We were worried about the extra cost but they did keep an accurate record and it wasn't excessive. Art Ward, the owner, who was always available for communication. What pleased us the most, is there were never any interruptions on the job, the crew was here every day and completed the work in a timely manner. The icing on the cake was receiving a hand written thank you note from the owner, Art Ward. How often do you receive such a personal touch? We happily recommend Ward Construction.

Laura D.

My husband and I spent 2 months planning for the foundation work with Ward Company. We committed to do the work with them, spent 5K in the engineering report and agreed on a bid to move forward. We were pleased and ready to do the work until we got an email from the owner that in just 1 line stated the price increase of 50% on what we had agreed on without any change to the project just a matter of their misunderstanding of labor and cost. My husband followed up with a phone call to understand what happened. They didn't care about the position they left us in. Sarcastically they wished us good luck and that was the end of our interaction with them. A big waste of time and money!

Mary I.

Our basement in Albany was experiencing flooding, and the drainage around our 100 year old home was not working. Also our foundation needed reinforcement and upgrading. We chose Ward Construction because they could solve ALL these problems for us! They replace our foundation along two sides of the house which involved jacking up the house. And they designed a deep drain system around the house that went under our large deck without removing any of the deck boards. That was huge for us, as the other quotes we received involved removing 6-7 deck boards along the full length of the house. They were very professional, even started work early, kept us informed every day of progress they were making, as well as any issues that came up. They completed the job on time, and were flexible about replacing our fencing and gate in a new configuration. I definitely recommend Ward Construction! Mary I.

Richard H.

Terrible company with a terrible owner. And extremely expensive. Had french drains installed in September of 2016. We've had nothing but trouble since then. The sump pump they installed keeps failing. It can't keep pace with the rainfall and the pump activation switch keeps burning out within a year or two. I had to pay for pump replacements 3 times in 4 years, so I finally bought my own utility pump and keep it running alongside the 'official' pump Ward installed. That's the only way I can keep the official sump pump from burning out. So every winter I now have to go out in the pouring rain and insert the utility pump, plug and unplug it, etc every time heavy rain starts. Why did I pay almost $13,000 for this system if I still have to trudge out in the rain in mud every winter to drop in my own utility pump? Have gone back and forth so many times with the owner Art Ward, and he won't do anything to fix the underlying problem, which is an incorrectly designed system. Don't use Ward construction, go with someone cheaper, more reliable, and who takes more accountability.

Michael g.

Ward construction was a very competitive bidder and because of their experience I knew I made the right choice. They built a complex four pier partial foundation with haunches on a circa 1929 four-plex on a hillside lot. There was minimal interior disruption, and the building site, both inside and out, was left neat and clean. Their work was on time and budget. Their interface with my structural engineer and Oakland Building Dept. was seamless and without issue. I would highly recommend Ward Construction to anyone needing these kinds of services.

W G.

The work by Ward Construction is beyond impressive.  Our complete foundation replacement for a small home was finished in exactly 30 days.  Each Ward Construction staff person was professional and knowledgeable - and it's a bonus when Art comes to the site!  Their thoroughness to point out some plumbing pipe corrections meant everything could be accurately finished.  We also had a drainage system installed to eliminate rain water collecting after the foundation replacement.  

The job Ward Construction completed was pristine, passing all the City code inspections.  Others may do good work but Ward Construction is top-notch!

Chris J.

We had Wards construction replace part of our homes foundation and install new drainage. The crew was very hard workers, very polite and cleaned up on a daily basis. Art Ward always kept us informed and updated in regards to the various stages of the project. They did a great job and I highly recommend them.

Doug V.

Rick came out to talk about some drainage issues and in doing so, directed me to a less costly solution that didn't give him a nickel of business - so I can't speak to his work but him being a straight-shooter and not directing me to what brings him a profit is worth five stars alone.

Selena E.

Art Ward and his team provided drainage around the entire perimeter of my home as well as seismic retrofitting. At the time our basement was allowing water entry every time it rained and in one portion of the basement wall there was marked leakage. We had just purchased the home and the large basement space had to be left all but unused. Since the work was performed, two rainy seasons ago, the basement has been bone dry. His team was pleasant, helpful, respectful of our space and on time with the work. The price was very competitive and we are thrilled with the excellent results.

Darrell M.

I hired Ward to install a new drainage system, per Engineer's design, on two sides of my house. One was abutting an uphill slope with very tight working quarters . The drainage for the other side of the house, running continuously from the uphill side, required removal of an old sump basin and concrete with installation of sloped concrete to facilitate drainage away from the house. In addition, they replaced an old ornamental cinder block wall adjacent to the house with a keystone wall of just under 36"" height. The crew consisted primarily of three individuals, one of whom was Victor the fore worker. They worked steadily, and were supplemented as needed by other workers who brought in gravel, hauled away waste, and assisted in other phases of the work. Ward was the most expensive contractor from whom we received bids, but they had worked a lot with our engineer and seemed to be comfortable in that relationship. We wanted the job done properly. Overall, I am very pleased with the result and with the process of getting to that result. They worked efficiently, kept mess to a minimum, and communicated well. So I give them 5 stars, with one footnote. Their standard contract, at least for comparatively small projects, is written to protect their interests in the event things go south. Unless you have at least six figures, and perhaps mid to high six figures going into your project, I don't think they will budge from that language. It is troubling if you understand the law. In our case, we had to get the work done and finding reliable licensed contractors in this field willing to take on less than six figure projects is not all that easy, at least where we live. So we swallowed hard and everything worked out very well. I would expect that to be the case almost all of the time. But do make sure that you have a lot of details of what you want and need to have done included in the contract price, because add ons will, well, add on to the contracted price. By the same token, in our case they determined a more efficient way to perform part of the task and gave us a small reduction in price. So they aren't quite ready for sainthood, but I would use them again without hesitation.