Eight years building on this mountain
Francisco Herrera founded Herrera General Contractors Inc to do the whole job properly — foundation to keys, every trade in house, one licensed contractor answerable for the result.
- Licensed & Insured
- Every Trade In-House
- 50-Mile Radius
- Free Written Estimates
A licensed contractor who works the job himself
Herrera General Contractors Inc is owned and run by Francisco Herrera, a licensed California general contractor working out of 601 Cedar Glen Drive in Big Bear. Over 8 years he has built custom homes from bare mountain lots, added primary suites and second storeys onto ageing cabins, and gutted kitchens and bathrooms that had not been touched since the original build.
What makes the company unusual is how much of the work stays in house. Framing, electrical, plumbing, drywall, painting and finish carpentry are all self-performed. That is not a marketing line — it is the reason our schedules hold. Most mountain projects stall because four trades need coordinating and nobody is doing it. Here, one licensed contractor sequences the whole build and is accountable for every part of it.
Building at 6,750 feet is genuinely different. Snow loads demand heavier framing than valley construction. Frost depth demands deeper footings. Plumbing has to be routed and insulated as though the power will go out for two days, because occasionally it does. Exterior finishes have to survive UV and freeze cycles that chew through anything applied over poor preparation. We build to those conditions because we live in them.
A typical 1,500 square foot custom home takes six to seven months from breaking ground to handing over keys. Every project starts the same way: a free site visit, a proper look at what is actually there, and a written estimate you can read and understand before you decide anything.
What we hold ourselves to
Six standards that apply to a full custom home and to a single bathroom equally.
Licensed and answerable
CSLB licence #1102742, active and insured. One contractor is legally responsible for the whole job.
Trades kept in house
Framing, electrical, plumbing, drywall, painting and finish carpentry — sequenced by us, not negotiated with strangers.
Built for this elevation
Snow load, frost depth, insulated runs and UV-rated coatings. The details that decide what survives up here.
Written before it is started
Scope broken out by trade, assumptions stated, exclusions stated. Change orders are priced, not improvised.
The owner works the job
Francisco Herrera quotes it and Francisco is on site. There is no handover to someone you never met.
Finished means finished
A written punch list, worked through together. We do not call it done until you agree that it is.
Verifiable, not just claimed
Look up the licence, read the scope, meet the person who will actually be on site.
Licensed & Insured
Every Trade In-House
50-Mile Radius
Free Written Estimates
Four steps, start to finish
A predictable process, so you always know what happens next.
Site visit
We walk the property, look at what is actually there, and listen to what you are trying to achieve.
Written estimate
A scope of work by trade with a realistic schedule — including an honest view on the weather window.
Coordinated build
Trades sequenced by one contractor, with the site protected and progress you can actually see.
Punch list & handover
We work a written list with you, clean the site, and hand over a project that is genuinely finished.
12 mountain communities, one local crew
From the north shore at Fawnskin through to Crestline, Running Springs and Angelus Oaks — roughly a 50-mile radius from Big Bear.
Let's talk about what you are planning
A free site visit, an honest look at the existing structure, and a written estimate you can actually read.