The Sutton ADU San Francisco Guarantee
When you spend six figures on a detached ADU or room addition in San Francisco, “we stand behind our work” should mean something specific. For us, it means this: you get a written price before we start, a crew that arrives background-checked and photo-badged, and a year of accountability after the final walkthrough. We call it the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it’s stamped on every project. If something in our workmanship fails within one full calendar year of completion, we come back and fix it. That’s not a verbal assurance from a salesperson having a good day. It’s a written guarantee from a company that’s been building in California since 2006. Miles Hartwell, our owner, signs off on that standard personally.
What’s Covered
- Workmanship defects for 365 days. The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers defects in workmanship for one full calendar year from project completion. If framing settles wrong, flashing leaks, or a door stops closing true, we return and make it right at no charge.
- Written pricing before any work starts. You receive a line-item written price before we mobilize. No surprise invoices, no scope creep passed silently to the bill. If something changes, you hear about it from us first, in writing.
- Free second visit if a repair or build element fails. If something we touched fails within the guarantee window, you get a second visit at no cost. No haggling, no deductible, no “we’ll see what the warranty department says.” You call, we schedule, we show up.
- Crew you can identify at the door. Every technician is background-checked, identity-verified, uniformed, and photo-badged. Your project manager sends you the name and photo of each crew member before they arrive at your San Francisco property. You’ll never wonder who’s in your backyard.
- Honest guidance on ADU product lines. We work with Abodu, Cover, Dvele, Mighty Buildings, Boxabl, and Plant Prefab systems, plus Tuff Shed conversions and James Hardie cladding. If a particular product doesn’t fit your lot, your budget, or San Francisco’s permitting reality, we’ll tell you before you spend a dollar.
- Clean, orderly job sites. We treat your property like it’s still yours, because it is. Daily cleanup, protected walkways, and a final site clearing before we call the job done.
Our Satisfaction Promise
Here’s the process when something isn’t right: you call us. A live person answers, every time, 24 hours a day. Not a voicemail tree, not a callback queue. You describe the problem. We assess whether it falls under the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If it’s a workmanship defect, we schedule the correction at your convenience and send a crew you already know from earlier in the project. If it’s something outside the workmanship scope, we still help you identify the issue and connect you with the right fix, often guided by the manufacturer’s own warranty when a prefab component is involved. The point is that you’re never left holding a problem alone after we’ve left the job site. Miles Hartwell’s position on this is simple: a contractor who disappears after final payment isn’t a contractor, he’s a problem. We don’t build that way. We’ve been doing this in the Bay Area since 2006, and the most common source of new work is a prior client’s neighbor, friend, or family member. That only happens if the first job stayed right.
Licensed & Insured Backing
A written guarantee only matters if the company behind it still exists when you need to use it. Sutton ADU San Francisco operates as part of the Threshold Group family of home-service companies, under what we call the Threshold Standard. That standard includes state licensing and insurance backing for every project we run in San Francisco. Licensing means we answer to the Contractors State License Board, not just to our own conscience. Insurance means that if something goes wrong on your property, you’re not the one absorbing the cost. We’re licensed and insured, and we’re happy to show you proof before you sign anything. The paperwork is the foundation. The 365-Day Done Right Promise is what we do on top of it. Together, they mean that the guarantee isn’t just a sentence in a proposal; it’s a system with teeth.
What the Guarantee Doesn’t Cover (Straight Talk)
We’d rather tell you now than surprise you later. The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers our workmanship, not normal wear and tear, not maintenance issues, and not manufacturer defects on prefab components. If a Boxabl panel delaminates or an Abodu module has a factory flaw, that falls under the manufacturer’s warranty, and we’ll help you file and manage that claim. The same goes for appliances, windows, and doors we didn’t build. What we built, we stand behind. What someone else built, we’ll help you hold them to their own guarantee. And if you modify or alter our work, or hire another contractor to change something, the workmanship guarantee on that portion ends. That’s not fine print designed to escape responsibility. It’s the honest boundary of what we can control.
Why We Put It in Writing
Most ADU contractors in San Francisco operate on a handshake and a hope. The project goes well, everyone’s happy, nobody thinks about guarantees. The problem shows up in month fourteen, or in month six when a French door starts binding, or in month two when you notice a drywall seam cracking. That’s when the handshake turns into a shrug. We put the promise in writing because we’ve seen what happens without it. The Threshold Standard exists for exactly this reason. The name Sutton is an old English word for a south farm, and adding a second home to your lot is that kind of settled, rooted decision. You don’t rip out a kitchen you’re going to sell next month. You’re building something meant to last decades, maybe for aging parents or a kid coming home from college. A one-year workmanship guarantee is the minimum floor for work built to last thirty. If we’re wrong, the free second visit makes it right. Call (831) 272-7212 to talk through your project and get a written quote before any work begins.
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Guarantee
The Promise covers defects in workmanship for one full calendar year from the date your project is completed. That includes framing, drywall finishing, flashing, trim work, door and window installation, and any other element our crew built or installed. It does not cover manufacturer defects on prefab modules or components, which fall under the manufacturer’s own warranty. Call (831) 272-7212 and we’ll walk you through exactly what applies to your project before you sign.
You call us. A live person answers. We schedule a visit, assess the issue, and determine if it’s a workmanship defect under the Promise. If it is, we fix it at no charge. If it’s a manufacturer issue, we help you file the claim and coordinate the repair. Either way, you’re not left alone with the problem. That’s the whole point of the free second visit.
Only if you change the scope. Your written price covers what we agreed to build, and we don’t pass surprise costs to you because we estimated poorly. If San Francisco’s permitting process requires a change, we’ll show you the reason in writing before proceeding. No silent change orders, ever.
Yes. We’re licensed and insured, and we’ll provide proof before the project starts. The Threshold Standard requires it. Your homeowners insurance is still your policy and your asset, but our coverage means you’re never the first line of defense if something goes wrong on our watch.
Written by Miles Hartwell, Owner at Sutton ADU San Francisco, serving San Francisco since 2006.
