Akos Construction

Truly Exceptional. Akos Construction helped my wife and I remodel our 1920s home. We cannot speak highly enough about this company and would recommend it whole-heartedly to anyone looking to remodel their home. When we bought our home, we knew at some point we would need to remodel. The plans for our remodel were extensive. We were remodeling our kitchen, adding a master bathroom upstairs, remodeling the existing bathroom upstairs, adding a new and expanded deck, and the list goes on. With a set of plans in hand, our architect recommended Akos Construction, which is operated by Isaac Frost. We did not know it at the time, but we essentially won the lottery when our architect made this recommendation. Akos Construction is everything we could hope for in a contractor. Its employees are truly wonderful people who cared for our home like it was their own. The construction work was done meticulously and anytime there was the slightest problem, Akos Construction worked until it was perfect often going far beyond what we had hoped for. Akos Construction made sure that the subcontractors met its high standards and were paid on time. Everyone who stepped foot into our house was respectful, kind, and dedicated to making sure we loved the outcome. Akos Construction set an extraordinarily high bar for itself, and somehow it made it look easy when it cleared the high bar. We are so thankful!

A kitchen and dining room remodel that got pushed into Fall due to Covid with three kids in online school, two parents working from, a dog and a cat ALL here in a 1400 sq ft house. Sounds like a nightmare, but it was so incredibly smooth and pleasant to work with Isaac and his team. Not only was it NOT an intrusion to have them in our home, we enjoyed getting to know the team. The workers were incredibly clean, organized, careful, safe, and thoughtful. It's clear that excellent planning went into our project along with the highest attention to detail and quality. Our tiny little cave kitchen is now an open flowing space. They preserved the original art deco archway in the space and widened it and it looks amazing. They had great subcontractors and managed them with skill and care. Everything looks gorgeous from floor-to-ceiling. We can't recommend them highly enough.

AKOS took our semi-finished 900 square foot, 2-room basement and completely transformed it into 5-rooms, that now feels like the perfect complement to our upstairs. They added: a bedroom with egress window; full bathroom with shower; family room with built-in bar; laundry room with built-in storage; utility room with new gas furnace and tankless hot water heater. They re-did the plumbing, electrical, windows, gas line, stairs—and overall completely transformed the space and utility. As homeowners, our basement project pre-work took about a year before the demo actually started. That included coming up with our project desires, a budget, researching contractors, getting estimates, hiring a designer, and refinancing our home to pay for it. Even though we had already undergone a remodel of our kitchen, we learned a lot about major home renovations during the course of this project, and AKOS’s experience and knowledge was a huge asset. Here are our words of wisdom for hiring a general contractor. Go with your gut (even if it means paying more) and hire a company you trust. Look for someone who is a responsive communicator—this is really key! You want a company who hires quality subcontractors, is transparent in their planning/work schedule, and takes responsibility when things don’t go as planned. We can attest that AKOS fit the bill in all of theses areas. From the beginning, Isaac Frost (co-owner) was fantastic to work with. The first estimate he presented us with was broken down so we could clearly see areas of the project we wanted to devote more resources to, and ways we could contain costs. Once we decided to hire AKOS, we revisited this document a lot before signing, and Issac was willing to work with us to get the scope and budget to a point we where we were all happy with it. This included agreeing that we would hire the painters, and do some purchasing of materials ourselves. Once the project began, the majority of it went pretty smoothly and stayed on schedule. Jim Satterwhite (the other co-owner), came by the job site regularly to make sure things were on track and to answer any questions, which was very reassuring. There were a few tweaks to the design along the way—related to structural barriers in the bathroom that came up after the demo—but AKOS gave us sound options and worked very well with our designer (Adapt Design) to modify the layout to our satisfaction. It’s worth noting we had zero permitting issues, in part because AKOS is part of the FIR (Field Issuance Remodel Program) with the City of Portland, so permit/inspection hold ups were never an issue. A huge part of the success of the project goes to Jaycob VanAuken, who was the AKOS employee on site daily for the duration of the project. He was always extremely respectful of our home, and he takes great pride in his work. He did the demo, framing, built the stairs, hung the doors, coordinated subcontractors and materials, installed just about every cosmetic detail (floors, trim, mirrors), and probably did a million other skilled, detailed things that have to happen to redo a 900 sq. ft. basement! What was really important to us, since we were living upstairs, was that things were kept as tidy as possible, and Jaycob always swept up and cleaned the area at the end of the day—things like that make a difference. He was good at letting us know what to expect for the upcoming week, and if a decision had to be made, finding out what the options were in a timely fashion, so work could move forward. He also did several cool custom carpentry items, including: a movable bookshelf to hide the main water shut off; a recessed medicine cabinet; a laundry shoot to replace the old one; and a bedside table made out of wood salvaged from the old basement shelves. The communication between all of the AKOS employees seemed to flow well, which was helpful when change orders happened. We had less than ten COs, and all were explained to us verbally before we signed off on the work, and then captured in writing. A few times the CO Log and invoices were a bit delayed, but we always got it sorted out via e-mail quickly. There was one bad apple subcontractor out of the bunch (EcoPlumber), but the others used for drywall, electrical, etc. were fantastic. They assured us that the problem plumber was no longer with the company, but we can’t in good faith say we recommend that subcontractor, as things consistently did not go as planned with them. The flip side was that AKOS took responsibility and remedied the issues—including replacing a damaged shower door and poorly installed shower handle—no questions asked. We were always confident that they had our backs, which is just what you want when trusting someone with your home, and a huge investment of your time and money. Bottom line: if you’re looking for experience, professionalism, excellent communication and high quality work, we recommend AKOS.

My wife and I have been through a number of renovations of varying sizes from simple "facelifts" to full on down-to-the-studs rework, so we've had a lot of experience with contractors and contracting firms. This project was a kitchen remodel, but it went far beyond replacing cabinets and adding new countertops. This renovation included removing load bearing walls, adjusting outside structural walls, moving gas and plumbing lines and significantly changing the flow of the home. This was, by all measures, a substantial undertaking. We were lucky enough to visit Isaac Frost on a separate project before ours began and he quickly put our major concerns to rest. He is extremely trustworthy and genuinely interested in doing great projects and building amazing spaces. As importantly, and what became quickly apparent, is that Akos has the skills to pull it off. Our kitchen remodel began with a vision that they created after interviewing us and gaining an understanding of what we wanted. My wife is a professional chef and this was to be her dream kitchen, so she wanted both the aesthetics as well as complete and total functionality. The resulting design included a beautiful six burner stainless steel stove and a ten+ foot island that combined a hard surface (quartz) with a nine foot piece of solid walnut that would easily seat four or five and provide significant work and entertaining space. Jim Satterwhite was our project manager and someone we got to know well because he was always either at the site or at the ready when we called on him to discuss anything. He showed unequivocal patience, knowledge and understanding as we contemplated the most minute of details, like whether we needed to shift the island down six inches once it was already partially in. He understood that ultimately this was a kitchen we were going to use and live with and he went above and beyond to make sure that all of our concerns were heard and addressed. Fast forward to the end of the project and the results far exceeded all of our admittedly lofty expectations. The "chef's triangle" (the configuration of the sink, refrigerator and stove), coupled with the expansive work areas provide practical functionality, and aesthetically, it is as stylish as any kitchen I've seen. The walnut cabinets and quartz countertop work perfectly with the space and with the Thermador appliances. I write this review nearly four months after the completion of our project, which has given us an opportunity to use the space and reflect on what we'd do differently, given the opportunity. The ultimate tribute to Akos is that we wouldn't change a single thing. The costs they provided with their initial designs were accurate, despite the inevitable findings of a 75 year old home once you start opening walls. Time estimates were clearly communicated and constantly met. The entire Akos staff acted in a completely professional and transparent manner, in addition to making themselves constantly available. The design was beautiful, but it pales in comparison to the actual finished product. I would, with absolutely no reservation, use Akos again for our next remodeling project and would recommend them without the slightest hint of hesitation. We love using and showing the result of their hard work in our home and cannot thank them enough for their efforts. Joel Lieser

We have had the opportunity to work with Akos on multiple projects; both small and large. Their attention to detail, ability to communicate and overall great attitude make working with Isaac, Jim and the rest of the team a real pleasure. It is apparent to us that they care both about the finished product as well as the process to get there. We highly recommend them.

I've hired Akos Construction for several projects - on two different houses - and highly recommend them. I trust them implicitly. They pay attention to details while never losing focus of how things fit together into the bigger picture. Not only are Isaac and Jim outstanding craftsmen, but they are also truly enjoyable to work with, which is huge. In any remodel, the journey is where your focus will be until your project is complete, so having respect for and trust in your GC makes all the difference. Akos has approached each of our projects with the same level of professionalism, energy, drive, thoroughness and follow-through. Difficult project details and unexpected challenges were overcome with grace and tenacity and on budget! From tackling tricky carpentry work to providing creative design solutions, I have been really impressed with Akos. Having hired several GCs in recent years, with very mixed results, Akos Construction is the only GC I will refer fellow homeowners to. I value effective communication and believe the remodel experience, while inherently stressful, doesn’t have to be unpleasant. I believe it’s possible for the client/contractor relationship to be one of teammates and have truly found this to be the case with Akos.