Meet the San Francisco Team Behind Benson ADU San Francisco
We’re a small crew that does a big, complicated job: turning backyards, garages, and side yards around San Francisco into real living space. The people we send to a job site are the people we’d trust on our own homes, and every one of them has been background-checked, shows up in uniform, and understands that a written price means something. We’re part of the Relay Home Co. family, founded in 2006, but this team is local, and we operate independently under the same standard: do it right, or make it right within 365 days, in writing.
Our People
Troy Eastman, Owner & Lead Builder
Troy runs the day-to-day at Benson ADU San Francisco and has spent the better part of two decades framing, finishing, and troubleshooting residential projects across the Bay Area. He’s the one who walks your property first, asks about the way you actually live, and tells you straight whether a JADU conversion makes more sense than a detached Abodu prefab for your particular lot. He’s a licensed and insured builder who believes a written guarantee belongs on every project, not just the easy ones. On weekends, Troy can usually be found arguing with a sailboat in the Berkeley Marina or attempting to grow tomatoes in a fog bank. He’s the one who takes your call, and he’s the one who signs the paper.
Marcus D., Senior Installer
Marcus has been with the Benson San Francisco crew for eight years and leads the framing, foundation, and site prep work on most of our ADU builds. He’s certified in both conventional site-built framing and prefab panel assembly, which means he can move fluidly between a custom room addition off a Sunset District home and a factory-built Cover unit being craned into a Presidio Heights backyard. Marcus is obsessive about level, plumb, and square, and he’s the one who double-checks every setback line before we request an inspection. If you hear someone on site muttering “measure twice, cut once” as a mantra, that’s Marcus. He also bakes a sourdough that would make any North Beach bakery nervous.
Elena R., Service Coordinator
Elena is the voice on the phone most days, and she’s the reason nothing slips through the cracks between the first estimate and the final walkthrough. She coordinates with suppliers like Plant Prefab and Tuff Shed, keeps material delivery windows tight, and makes sure every permit document lands where it needs to go. Elena has been with the company for five years and knows the Bay Area’s permitting quirks well enough to set realistic expectations without promising timelines we can’t control. She’s originally from San Jose, keeps a color-coded schedule that would make an air traffic controller proud, and is on a first-name basis with the morning shift at three different hardware suppliers. When you call to ask “when’s the crew coming back,” Elena has the answer.
Daniel K., Apprentice
Daniel came to us two years ago out of a pre-apprenticeship program at City College of San Francisco and has been learning from Marcus and Troy ever since. He handles site prep, material staging, and a lot of the detail work that makes a finished ADU feel intentional: trim, hardware, paint, waterproofing. Daniel is working toward his general contractor’s license and studies code requirements on the BART ride home. He’s also the one who remembers every client’s dog’s name. The patience of a future builder, the knees of a current one.
One Standard, Every Job
This is the part most companies gloss over, so here it is plainly. Every Benson ADU San Francisco project, no matter the size, runs on the same set of rules. We put a written price in your hands before any work starts, and that price doesn’t shift when we find a surprise behind the drywall. If something isn’t done right within a full year, Troy comes back and makes it right, no invoice, no argument. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it’s stamped on every project in writing. Every crew member walks onto your property background-checked and in uniform, so you always know exactly who you’re opening the gate for. We build with brands you can research yourself: Abodu, Cover, Dvele, Mighty Buildings, Boxabl, Plant Prefab, Tuff Shed, and James Hardie cladding. No mystery materials, no take-it-or-leave-it product. Just a crew that knows San Francisco lots are tight, slopes are real, fog moves fast, and every square foot counts.
If you’re thinking about an ADU, a home addition, or a room addition anywhere in the San Francisco area, call us at (424) 328-5746. Elena or Troy will answer, and you’ll get a straight answer about what’s possible on your property. Estimates are free, and the price comes in writing.
Written by Troy Eastman, Owner & Lead Builder at Benson ADU San Francisco, serving the Bay Area since 2006.
