We recently connected with John Andrew and have shared our conversation below.

John, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

When I created my company, I created it with the reminder that I am a homeowner first, contractor second. As a homeowner, I have had my own issues with contractors and I made it a priority to make sure the work my team and I did for my customers was with that in mind. For the most part, jobs have gone on without any issues, however, not all have been perfect. There have been times my team and I have been called back and we made sure to fix whatever the issue was. My slogan is ‘Making Right Decisions’ and every decision I have made was to ensure I stick to my slogan.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I have been running Level-Up Home Improvement for almost two-years now. I am extremely lucky to have the support of my wife, family, and subcontractors to support me in starting my business in the middle of a pandemic.

Prior to being a business owner, I have worked for a few companies in my day. My customer service focus came from working my way up within Enterprise Rent-A-Car to become a Branch Manager. Enterprise focuses on putting the customer first and getting the highest customer service score possible, while also sticking to the core values of the company. When I got to Toll Brothers, I worked as a Warranty Representative. In this position, I worked hand in hand with not only subcontractors but homeowners as well. When completing job walks and overseeing the work getting done, I learned how to speak to both homeowners and subcontractors. I was able to build a trust between the two to ensure the homeowners were happy with their home while holding subcontractors accountable for the work. Lastly, when I moved to San Diego, I was brought on as a Project Engineer for Dynaletric. Here I was placed in the estimating department where I further learned how to read plans & specs, doing takeoffs, and pricing out different jobs. This allowed me to see what the costs were and marking up the items quoted to ensure Dynalectric made a profit while also giving enough room for error in case something was missed while creating the original estimate.

When it comes to problems that I have solved for customers, I again put myself in my homeowner’s shoes and offer decisions based on what I would do for my own house. This does result in change orders, especially when it is something we could not see during the initial job walk. A great example of this is a bathroom floor my team and I worked on in Ocean Beach. The original plan was to install a new tile on a wood subfloor. After the demo, we noticed not only moisture. The moisture content was well above the allowed install level and the were signs of a potential leak from the shower. When testing the plumbing, we didn’t see any leaks so I placed the shower head over the shower glass and found a hole in the silicone, which was where the water was coming through. The homeowner had the shower glass installer come out to pull the shower glass and reinstall it, which allowed my carpenter to come install a brand new subfloor, which allowed my tile installer to complete his work. This did result in some change orders due to some unknown factors during the job walk, however, the customer was a lot happier and appreciated the time my team and I took to ensure the work was done right. I believe going to the depths I did to find the problem sets me apart and shows that I will do whatever it takes to make the right decisions.

My team and I will take on the smallest of jobs (painting one wall) to full bathroom, kitchen, and whole house remodels. I believe this is another area that sets me apart from other contractors because most contractors won’t take on painting one wall or even one room. Other jobs my team and I take on are drywall repairs/installation, interior/exterior painting, cabinet installs, light/finish carpentry, electrical, plumbing, hvac, demolition, awning/patio installations, landscaping, tile, and flooring installations.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

For the first seven years of my career, I was in the sales and customer service industry. To me, this was exhausting and I truly was not happy. When an opportunity at Toll Brothers opened up in their warranty department, I applied, interviewed, and got the job I was looking to get to move me into the construction field.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I was lucky enough to have the support of my family and they took a chance on my by gifting me money so that I could start out financially sound to allow me to take risks that I may not have been able to do without their love and support.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://levelupsd.com
• Instagram: leveluphomeimprovement_sd
• Facebook: Level Up Home Improvement

Image Credits
John Andrew – The pictures provided were done by myself and I have full permission to use them.