About
Built by someone who swung the hammer
Elusive Construction is a licensed general contractor in San Jose. We build new homes, ADUs, additions and whole-home renovations across Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
The Founder
Alfredo Flores
Before Elusive Construction, I was the guy swinging the hammer. Years in the field — framing, finishes, the whole thing. I learned construction from the bottom up, which means I know what a shortcut looks like because I've been asked to take one.
The years before the license
None of these are Elusive jobs. They are from the decade before the company existed, on other people’s sites with other people’s names on the hard hat — which is the point. The license came in 2023. The trade came a long time before it.
That is roughly a decade of it, and it is the reason the company is built the way it is. Every rule further down this page — the written change orders, the crew standard, the deposit — is a thing I watched go wrong on somebody else’s job first.
The longer I was in the industry, the more I saw what was going wrong out there:
- Homeowners ghosted by contractors who quoted once and disappeared
- Lowball quotes written to win the job, then ballooned with surprise change orders
- Projects abandoned halfway through
- Crews treated like they didn't matter
- Corners cut that the homeowner wouldn't find out about for years
So I started Elusive Construction with a General B license, my own truck, and a plan to build a real company rather than a guy with a side hustle. The first six months I was still in the tools. I got out deliberately, because a company where the owner is the bottleneck isn't a company — it's a job with extra paperwork.
Since then it's been about building the parts that don't show up in a bid: project managers, subcontractors held to a written standard, and real systems. Matterport 360 scans so nothing gets measured twice. BuilderTrend so you see your project daily, including when you're not in town. Written change orders so nothing moves on a handshake.
We're a builder, not a design firm — but that doesn't mean you're on your own for plans. We coordinate the architect and structural engineer who produce your stamped permit set, and we price and manage that as part of the job. On ADUs we can start from a standard design and a materials list. What I won't do is sit and pick your finishes and cabinet doors with you — that's interior design, and I'll tell you that instead of taking the job and figuring it out later.
Why We Started
Two reasons, and they're connected
For the crew
Too many companies underpay and don't invest in their people. A crew that's burned out cuts corners — not out of malice, but because nobody treated as disposable does careful work. Our subcontractors sign to a written standard with eight non-negotiables, including current license and insurance before the first payment goes out.
For the homeowner
No lowball number that grows later. No verbal changes. Nobody disappearing. You should be able to see your job daily without asking, and know exactly what triggers every payment before you sign anything.
How We Work
Five things we don't bend on
The proposal is part of the product
Line-itemed and specific, with allowances shown as allowances. If something can't be honestly priced yet, we say so rather than burying it.
Nothing changes on a handshake
Every scope change is written, priced and signed before it's built. How change orders should work →
$1,000 deposit, then milestone draws
The maximum California law allows, then payment that trails completed work rather than leading it. The full schedule →
You see the job daily
Photos, schedule and selections through BuilderTrend — the same view we have.
We tell you when it isn't us
Trades we don't self-perform get subcontracted to someone licensed for them and supervised by us. If a project genuinely isn't a fit, you hear that early rather than after a deposit.
On Site
What our jobsites actually look like
Not staged, not stock, not AI. These are our builds mid-construction — the stage that decides whether the finished photos are worth anything.
Judge For Yourself
Don't take our word for any of it
Verify the license
CSLB #1112902, active, with a $25,000 bond and current workers' compensation. Here's how to check any contractor →
See a job mid-build
Including the part that went wrong. On a Milpitas addition the plans called for building on an existing slab that turned out not to be one. What we found and what we did →
See our numbers before you call
Published ranges and a cost calculator, no email required. Work out a range →
Tell us about your project
Book a 30-minute discovery call and we'll tell you what's realistic — scope, budget and timeline — whether or not we're the right builder for it.