Kraus Associates, LLC

It was a pleasure working with Charles and his team. I look forward to working with them again in the future.
Oct 21st, 2020

We are working through a full 1890s house renovation as diy homeowners. The best advice we received in the beginning of the process was to have a set of plans drawn up for the project. Even though we knew what we wanted to do, these plans have been invaluable when communicating with the building inspector, electrician, plumber, and other trades we have had to bring in. We have been able to rely on the engineers sizing and sign off of carry loads and beam sizing as well. We are 2 years into our project and continue to reap benefits from working with Charles in the early stages!!
May 16th, 2020

When you set out to design and renovate your home, it is all incredibly daunting. Deciding who to work with for the next year - trusting their decision-making, oversight and craftsmanship, and knowing they will be steering the ship that is your budget - is the most important decision you make. We couldn't be happier we chose to work with with Charles Kraus. Through the whole process he was professional, encouraging and realistic, and completely transparent. It was easy to connect with him to make a design change. It was easy to call him with a quick, panicked question. When decisions got tough, we knew we could trust him to sit across the table from us and hash out the details, always keeping our interests in mind and knowing he would be honest. We had a list of wishes that ranged from "make the house more climate resilient and environmentally friendly" to "a bigger kitchen, but not too big" to "a secret passage between the two bedrooms." We had strong opinions about materials that were used (and not used). And if Charles didn't know exactly what technology would perform the best for our project, he wasn't afraid to ask someone with more expertise. Honesty and integrity were daily assets for our job. Large renovations can't happen without hiccups and stress. But there wasn't ever a day we doubted our choice to put Charles Kraus in charge of our project. And here we are, back in our house, which feels delightfully like we never left, but now is just better, a true fit for our family
Apr 7th, 2022

We found Charles Kraus before we bought our home in Wellesley, MA, since the houses we were looking at needed some degree of remodeling/update. Charles is a builder and an architect, which means he can design the remodel and generate a proposed scope/budget for the work to be done. This made the whole process seamless, and in fact, Charles joined me for the house tours before buying, so that we could have a realistic estimate of cost/time needed to make it our home. Our plan for the remodel was extensive, including opening up the kitchen/living area, remodel all existing bathrooms, adding one additional full bath, absorbing two small balconies into their respective bedrooms, re-design and redoing all bedroom layouts with updated closets and bathroom entry/flow, all new floors on all floors, changing out most windows, mudroom redesign/build, and many other steps. Charles is smart, experienced, professional, personable and very straight-forward. He worked with us super transparently from the start, throughout the process, and all the way through the close. He listened to our needs, always has good ideas that can be implemented, and does them extremely well. He worked with us through the design needs, brought up any unforeseen issues through the build, and always kept a calm and solution-minded demeanor throughout. Quality and value are high on Charles' priorities, as he would for his own home. Him and his team managed all the subcontractors, and were extremely caring about the fact that this was our home they were in. The level of care is very high with Charles, and he treats it like his home. In fact, multiple times through the process he suggested what he had done to his own house and what he recommends for ours. He also recognizes that money and budgets do matter, and worked hard to not overshoot on the budget. We would strongly recommend Charles and his team for any project, and look forward to continuing to work with him as our house plans continue to grow.
Jun 16th, 2021

We hired Charles to be the architect and ultimately the builder for our home renovation, which included moving walls, new kitchen, new bathroom, gutting existing bathrooms, etc., and he and his team were spectacular! We know quite a few people that have done renovations, large and small, and we are the only ones that can say we actually enjoyed the experience. Charles was very transparent, responsive, attentive to detail, and had great suggestions whenever we needed his input. When the inevitable hiccups came up along the way (mostly things outside of his control), he was quick to keep us updated and provide suggestions on how best to move forward. His estimates were spot on, he and Bob kept our place clean while they were working, and even though we dragged our feet on some of the design decisions, our project was completed on time and on budget. All in all, were very pleased with the result and would hire Charles again in a heartbeat.
May 27th, 2019