New Key Construction

Monica Voicu Denniston on New Key Construction

TL;DR: Don't give these guys your money. Strong sales pitch, but the reality did not match what was promised.

In late 2024, my husband and I met with Reggie Keding to see if New Key would be a good fit for a major renovation on a 1950s ranch-style home we had just purchased in Pleasant Hill. We loved the idea of working with a local contractor and were initially impressed by Reggie's communication, professionalism, and assurance that he could accomplish everything we wanted within our substantial 6-figure budget (with mid-range fixtures and finishes, which we agreed to). We signed a schematic design agreement, writing a 5-figure check and trusting that they'd deliver on those expectations.

We had an initial walkthrough with Maya, New Key's designer, and were excited about her ideas. Reggie encouraged us to "dream big" and share inspiration. However, the vast majority of our emails to Maya went unanswered, and there was very little collaboration or back-and-forth during the design process. After raising concerns, we were shown interim designs that were largely based on our own ideas and didn't add much new direction.

A few weeks later, we had our formal design presentation and were beyond disappointed. All three options ("good, better, best") felt underdeveloped and missed key priorities. For example, two versions did not include vaulted ceilings in the main living space (which we had clearly identified as a must), and even the top-tier design featured a very small kitchen window despite the home's natural light and backyard views. Some design choices also introduced significant added cost without clear benefit, such as removing a load-bearing wall where simpler alternatives seemed possible.

But the kicker was the price to build New Key's designs: even the cheapest "good" design came with a price tag of $1.2 million to build, pretty much doubling our budget and definitely overvaluing for our PH neighborhood.

At that point, we lost confidence and decided to part ways after the initial design phase. While Reggie remained professional in tone, we did not feel the process or pricing aligned with what had been communicated at the outset. We lost a 5-figure design fee and about 3 months in the process, having to start over with a new architect and builder.

Now, a year later, I'm writing this from our fully remodeled home, which includes everything on our original wish list. After starting over with a new team, we were able to complete the project close to our original budget--nowhere near the $1.2M estimate we were given.

Losing the time and design fee was painful, but in hindsight, it was better than continuing down the wrong path. I would strongly recommend that anyone considering New Key get clear, detailed pricing expectations early and proceed carefully.

Ruby Gill on New Key Construction

We hired New Key Construction to renovate the interior of our most historic (1850 construction) Masonic Building in California.

Their entire staff, from Reggie (the owner) to Connor (foreman) to Elle (project manager) are professional and great to work with.

Elle’s attention to details during every step of the project yielded a beautiful outcome, and rendered the project a huge success. The building will be featured in one of our upcoming quarterly magazines, and we are delighted to showcase it, post renovations.

Mark Sithi on New Key Construction

We worked with New Key Construction to remodel our backyard workshop and transform it into a 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom ADU for my parents to retire and live in.

New Key did an absolute outstanding job and we are so happy we chose them for one of the largest investments we've ever made.

- Quality Work - Reggie and his team do quality work; they do not cut corners, and they will always lean to do things the right way that is safe, compliant, and functional. You can feel the quality when you walk around; there is a meticulousness to the work that is hard to find anywhere else.

- Project Planning - We were assigned a project manager and a foreman who kept us updated very frequently on the state of construction. The work was completed on-time if you account for the realities of construction which were largely due to supply delays and/or the occasional coordinate of some competing work. To convert a workshop (where we literally stripped it down) to a livable, high-quality ADU in 5 months is impressive! Also, they showed up on-time every day and if they were going to be late (or not come), we would be told.

- Culture - Everyone that works at New Key Construction was a pleasure to work with; they hire people who care about the work they are doing and make an effort to get to know you. We could tell the employees enjoyed working at New Key, and it shows in the work.

We looked at several companies before choosing New Key. I wholeheartedly will say it was worth it - you get quality work, quality communication, a 10-year warranty, and people who legitimately care about you and your home. You won't regret it!

Paul Boccellari on New Key Construction

After researching and interviewing several local contractors in the Pleasant Hill area, we chose to work with Reggie and the New Key Construction team to complete our kitchen remodel and update the flooring in the main areas of our house. From the start, Reggie was responsive and thoughtful in his approach to our scope of work and dedicated a lot of time to thoroughly review our wishlist, budget, and timeline as the project took shape. He was open, honest and realistic in every conversation and made us feel comfortable and ready for the work ahead.

Elle was our Project Manager and did a terrific job organizing the build schedule and juggling all of the moving pieces from start to finish. Even with covid-related material delays, she pushed hard to keep our project on track and stayed in constant contact with all of the vendors and contractors involved. She was quick to flag any issues that came up, explore solutions when needed, and took the time to make sure we were happy as the project progressed. She and Reggie were receptive to feedback and accountable when issues arose (fortunately, all were relatively minor).

It is evident that the New Key Construction team has a great working relationship with their subcontractors. All of the subs were friendly, timely, clean, and produced high-quality work. Having lived in the house while the work was completed, we could see first-hand that no corners were cut and nothing was overlooked! As an added bonus, they utilize the Buildertrend platform, which made it easy to track our finances, view when specific work was scheduled, and stay aligned on change orders.

It is obvious that Reggie and New Key take pride in their work and truly want what’s best for their clients. We had a great experience and love our new kitchen and floors!

Ashley Ortega on New Key Construction

I bought an older home in Concord and moved in only to discover, during an easy re-flooring project with New Key Construction, that the old owner improperly installed appliances when I purchased that led to months and months of water damage in my kitchen! I was panicked - we had already spent a lot of money on the house and now we were looking at extensive water damage and mold in two major rooms of our home.

Reggie and his team helped me every step of the way. Because we were already working together on my flooring project, I didn't event think about calling anyone else. Reggie helped me coordinate with my insurance company and get the coverage I deserved, and what could have been money out of pocket, got covered and helped me totally rebuild my kitchen (where the water damage was) into a gourmet MASTERPIECE. This kitchen was so outdated when I moved in - I hated it. Now, it's my favorite room in the house and it raised the overall value of my home so much. Reggie and the team also helped me update my bathroom as well as my master closet (a custom job). After pics posted here.

If you're looking for an honest contractor to help you remodel your home, I strongly recommend Reggie and New Key Construction.