Radu Construction

I contacted Radu and set up an appointment for one week later. I called twice to confirm the appointment and never heard back. I was disappointed, since I left that time open (during which I could have met with another contractor). It takes so little time to communicate with those who are counting on you to follow through.

From my first call, Radu has been nothing but professional and a pleasure to work with. Many contractors are hard to reach or do not respond back without prompting. Radu went beyond what I expected in delivering quick responses, following up on my concerns, and bringing up and addressing other problems that I had not forseen. The quote was very reasonable and included extra fixes thrown in which I greatly appreciated. The job itself, which was dry rot removal and repair, was done expertly and the finished job looked beautiful. I was very happy with my whole experience and I can say that Radu is not only knowledgeable at his job, he takes pride in producing quality work and is just an all around great guy to work with.

I searched Unilocal for local contractors, saw Radu with only 5 star reviews and hired him to repair a leak in the side of my house where the siding had left open an exposed area and due the fact that it had no moisture barrier, I was getting water leaking in (previous owner did a crappy install). When he repaired that, he said he’d use caulking that would dry clear, well it dried white and he used a hell of a lot of it. Annoying, but what could I do, it was already set so I figured I’d let that one slide and since I had already told him he could do some electrical work and build two gates for me, I figured what the hell; that was a mistake.
I had him install a driveway light which I wanted in the center of the gable. Instead, he had it offset to the right by about 6″ due to the structure of the house. Rather than ask me if I was ok with this, he just decided on his own and cut an 8″ hole into the front of my house and mounted it up anyway. When mounting two shop lights in my garage, rather than place them where we asked, he took the liberty of placing one nearer my workbench (which has its own dedicated shop light already). I appreciate that he is trying to be thoughtful, but that’s not what I asked for, so I had him move it to where I wanted it in the first place. Finally, I had him install an electrical outlet, of which, you can only access 3 of the 4 receptacles, because in spite of free space all over where he put it, he mounted it in such a way that it is behind a board and partially blocked. I’ll be moving that myself.
The two side yard gates I had him install were a total debacle right from the start. Both were built poorly, with no framework at all and both sagged into themselves after only three days. Shoddy workmanship was the rule with both of them; exposed screws, jagged and crooked cuts, reuse of old wood from who knows where, no pilot holes resulting in split wood, a variety of screws used for any given point (see the photos for what I’m talking about, but one hinge for example had some sort of blue phillips head screw, a silver one and a black hex cap, aside from missing a few), the wrong hinges were used on the front gate and literally just bent over with a lovely trailer park look to them, the list goes on.
I told Radu I was upset as I had paid him nearly $ 1,000 for those two simple gates and I told him exactly what I wanted done. I wanted both gates built with a boxed frame and diagonal supports to prevent sagging. I honestly don’t know how it is possible to be a general contractor and not know how to build a basic gate and I shouldn’t have to tell him how, that’s the whole point behind hiring a professional isn’t it? He kept asking me about letting him do our full fence line, which we also need to do, but I wanted to see how the gates turned out and I’m really glad I waited. Honestly, the quality of his work is a 2, I don’t think that’s really a debatable issue, however he is super nice and that does mean a lot, so I would like to score higher. To be honest, this is the last time I will ever use him, or any contractor ever again, it was just the last straw. Anyway, he said he’d rebuild the gates, and he did, sort of.
He built a boxed frame for both of them, but he still didn’t incorporate diagonals like I told him to, and because of it both gates still had some flex to them. I had to remedy it myself and add diagonals to both gates, which are now quite stiff but I shouldn’t have had to do that, especially after specifically instructing him on what to do. Again, don’t contractors already know how to build gates? Anyway, because he reused all the fence boards from the first gate, they had holes all over them which he just patched up by filling them with some much lighter colored wood filler. I’m not sure if that will take a stain or not, but it looks pretty bad to me, see for yourself in the pictures. He also built the gates with way too tight tolerances and did not account for any natural settling of the wood, because of that they are really quite close at the top, and not the bottom, even though they are both level gates.
Had I known then what I know now, I would not have hired him to do any work on my house, including the initial repair. I really feel bad giving him a much lower score than I know he’d like to have received, but honestly it is accurate considering the quality of work and while I’d like to give him a 3, it would only be because he is really such a nice guy, but it would not accurately reflect the work assuming a 3 is acceptable. I’m sure he would offer to come and redo it again, eat the cost, or put up all new wood, but honestly at this point I don’t want him coming back to do anything. I personally wouldn’t call his license into question, but I definitely wouldn’t hire him again.
Don’t take my word for it, look at the photos of his work and decide for yourself.

Radu has done several projects for my home: replaced half of the foundation, new plumbing, shored up the posts underneath the house and my personal favorite… installed a new kitchen, in one week, as a surprise for my wife! The kitchen is beautiful and Radu is a delight to work with! I always recommend him to my friends.

My in-​laws live in Sacramento and I needed a handyman to help them do some repairs on their house.
I’ve had a lot of experience with bad contractors and handymen. I’ve done my share of construction work, and when I met Radu Oanta he not only gave me an honest quote, but he was cheaper than the three I had already interviewed.
The house needed a ton of work after a recent purchase. The house needed some electrical work and had some roofing problems. His work was clean and he was efficient, and on time.
I was so impressed with the work I had Radu help me with another house I have in Lincoln. He added a bathroom addition and gave me a great price on the tiling and plumbing. That house also had some termite pest issues and Radu did a nice job replacing the dry rot. Radu is an A+ contractor.

Radu provided high quality work to help create our dream kitchen and bathroom space.
We will use him again. Very personable and helpful worker, I would recommend him to anyone in the area. The level of service is fantastic. Having been a customer twice now, I am consistently impressed by the professionalism of Radu’s work, he is trustworthy and stand’s behind his word and work. Thank you!