Butel Construction Inc

Tom and Shai were very good at communicating with us during initial estimate process and making sure they understood what we wanted, as well as helping us understand what the process would be. The workers were conscientious about protecting the rest of our home during the demolition and painting process. We had an unexpected extra expense when it turned out our floor tile contained lead and needed special hazardous material handling during demolition. Excellent workmanship for the tiling and painting. There were a couple of minor flaws that were corrected when brought to their attention. Our remodeled bathroom looks beautiful! The only thing that would have made the experience even nicer would have been if there was some kind of daily or almost daily e-mail or text update as to what was going on and what was happening next, since we both work during the day and were not there to observe.

Overall, our experience was excellent and we are very happy with their work.

We hired Butel as the contractor to do a large master bath remodel.  We had a cad drawing of what we thought we wanted and pictures to show them.  Shai Butel, the owner, met with us initially to understand our needs and make suggestions.  Once demolition occurred there was a structural issue that Butel guided us through and problem-solved with sound advice.  The quality of their work is very high, every person who works for them is polite, clean, helpful, competent.  They have "teams" in each area of expertise--plumbing, electrical, tile, paint, etc. with a foreman overseeing the project.  All teams were very good--Angel, their head tile installer is an artist!  Meticulous, great pride in his work, very friendly, communicative and easy to work with. 
I chose my own cabinetmaker for the vanities  and glass company for a glass wall and doors that we wanted, and Butel accomodated those choices and collaborated well.  
We made a few changes along the way, and Butel graciously accomodated our wishes and opinions, and we felt like the associated costs were reasonable and communicated promptly to make our decision-making informed and clear.  
Everyone we dealt with was trustworthy and respectful about being in our home, and we felt like us, our pet, and our belongings were all respected and safe.  Now at the end of the project, the bathroom is gorgeous and we are extremely pleased.  We definitely made the right choice in terms of an expert contracting firm.  Highly recommend!

We have worked with a number of construction groups over the years to renovate or build our homes; but when we were looking to find a superior company in our new city to help us restore the exterior of our 100+ year old Craftsman, finding Butel was like striking gold! Butel's service is seamless from start to finish?from the person who assessed the job to the foreman who was regularly present and hands-on to the crews who were skilled, hardworking, courteous and careful of our property?to the owner, Shai, himself, who was always very accessible and involved in the process, regularly coming out to review the work and discuss our level of satisfaction. In short, EVERYONE involved was dedicated to getting the job done exactly as we wished. That meant showing up each morning, ready to work AND staying on the job until it was done. It also meant?and this was going beyond the call of duty?their being abundantly patient and supportive of our struggles to finalize some details, such as selecting just the right coordinating colors for the trim. And at the end, Shai came out again to walk the property, getting input and pictures on any detail that might have been overlooked, so that he could send out his 'detail specialist' to take care of it. Beyond the quality of the work itself, we were also so very impressed with the integrity of the owner and those who work for him. At one point when there was an honest misunderstanding about how we wished some of the window frames finished, the immediate Butel response was NOT to blame either crew or client, but instead to focus on getting it right. This, as much as the quality of the work itself, showed us that Butel truly is client centered. It made us feel as though we and Butel were a team and that they cared just as much as we did both about the process and the end result. And speaking of results? Hardly a day goes by that someone passing on foot or in a car doesn't stop to pay us some compliment on the home's beautiful new exterior. As you can imagine, Butel is our new go-to company; and we can't wait to get started on the other projects we have lined up for them! Thank you, Shai and every member of the Butel group for doing such a beautiful job on our home! See you soon!

Butel construction did a full remodel of our kitchen after a flood that had destroyed the floors, walls and some of the cabinetry. ?Shai Butel, the owner of the company, worked within our budget to create the kitchen we wanted. ?He was patient and creative with how to use our small space to make it feel big and beautiful. ?We were working with our insurance company to finance this job. ?Shai was great at speaking to the adjuster and negotiating the things we needed in order to create a wonderful kitchen space for our family. ?All of his workers were pleasant and professional, arrived on time and did the work they needed to do. ?In addition, they left the space clean when they were done. ?In moments when we didn't know which way to go with the job, Shai made suggestions and worked with us to find the best solution. ?He listened and worked with our vision. ?Honestly, we could not have asked for a better experience with this job. ?We highly recommend Butel construction and would use them again in the future.

the job was quoted as taking three weeks and it got off with a bang.  demo complete in a day.  basic wiring and plumbing were held up for three days because of the need for a new drain pipe in tub (from second floor) and a dedicated power line to breaker box.  first inspection was completed quickly after which tub was installed and shower stall was cemented to prepare for tile.  company avoids use of cement board under tile which is commendable.  carpentry was required to reposition the tub and remove some wall insets to maximize the space of the room.
about a week prior to job commencement date, we were able to contact joseph at y.s. design to begin talking about materials.  tub and shower valve are necessary immediately since they must be installed in the early going but in that first meeting, at our house, we were able to pin down most of what we wanted since we had notes and pictures already as well as an able guide.  other items were established in a subsequent house call.  joseph is a very pleasant and enthusiastic guy.  he lugs hundreds of pounds of catalogues around ranging from bathroom furniture to tile and everything in between.  as the orders were determined, they started showing up often very early in the morning.  trucks would park outside of our house on several occasions until 7 when delivery people were authorized to make drops.  item selection was made extremely easy by this system (for those of us who do not get a big charge about laboring over bathroom outfitting).  y.s. design has a relationship with furguson fittings in pasadena. we did comparison shopping on the internet and their deals were generally favorable.
back in the bathroom, tile in shower and on floor went in.  then toilet.  walls were skim-coated, vanity and cabinet wall-hung, paint and poof!, it was beautiful!  whoa, slow down.  this is not to say that those who choose to remodel will not endure doses and doses of dust and will be consigned to constant cleaning thoughout the duration of the job and will, of course, be without the use of their facilities.  if there is one thing that could be improved by any crew, it would be dust management.  this is perhaps impossible...  short version: we had use of the bathroom in fifth week of the job.  not surprising because of extra work required.  and it was impressive and beautiful.  everything was done with care.  the new location of the vanity covered a small portion of the h/vac duct which was originally covered by a stamped steel grate.  solution was to cut down the grate and weld it into a 3/4 scale version complete with consistent border.  very impressive.   only issue was that as the job wound down and there was less and less to do by any tradesperson, the house calls became less reliable and further between.  given the economics of this kind of business, which relies on maximizing work and schedules for its subcontractors, this was forgivable.  it took a bit of nagging for information though.  miguel, the project manager, was responsive and efficient.
all workers were pleasant and business-like.  company drops a port-potty on site.  
fixtures, tub and toilet and vanity were stock items and medium-priced.  
very pleased.

We selected Butel Construction for our bathroom remodeling?and building a powder room based on the wonderful work they did for our?daughter?s major remodeling. Butel's team is a professional group of people. We in?particular were impressed with the brother project managers, Miguel and Jose.?All of the tradesmen were selected and scheduled carefully. We had at least six?teams in our house alternating daily. Major work was performed by the following?tradesmen: plumbers, electrician, dry wall, tiles, and painters.? The work was completed on time (4 weeks), and?the quality was excellent. We only paid extra fees for the asbestos removal,?which we suspected at the beginning, would be needed. Other than that, all the?requested minor corrections and additional work were done without delay and no?extra charge or negotiation. We highly recommend Butel construction to anyone.

When we were searching for a contractor on Angie's List, we came across Butel after seeing their high ratings and glowing reviews. After meeting with 5-6 different contractors and getting estimates, we felt the most comfortable with Tom/Shai at Butel Construction. Although, Butel did not provide the cheapest estimate for our project, they were however, the most honest and helpful. We quickly realized that they understood exactly what we wanted for our remodel project, and did not try to upsell us or convince us to do more work than our budget could afford, like many other aggressive contractors have done to us. Butel even gave us helpful advice on how we can save costs on this project, recommended materials to purchase, updates needed to pass city code, and answered all of our questions regarding the process. After a background check that turned up clean and checking with their references who gave sincere positive reviews, we felt very comfortable and trusting of Butel to do our remodel. Once we started the project, we worked directly with Miguel and Shai and their various crews. As stressful as any remodel project can be, they were consummate professionals and managed the entire process smoothly. They were always on-time, always responsive, efficient, good at solving unexpected problems, and kept the job site as clean as they could. From day 1 to the completion of the project, they ?were on task and did an excellent job all around. We had a very tight timeline to get this project done, and they not only stayed within budget, but also completed the project on time without issue. Miguel, Shai, Tom and the team are just awesome to work with and we highly recommend them for any project big or small. It's not often you can come across such sincere and hardworking people, so we're very glad we picked Butel. Based on this experience, we will definitely hire Butel Construction again for our future projects!

7/25/2014
We hired Butel Construction to do a complete remodel of our 2500sq house. It is a 1926 duplex that we wished to convert into a single family house, 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, and a beautiful 400+ sq kitchen and new roof. I interviewed 4 contractors from Angie's List. I actually liked them all, but Butel stood out for us. We simply felt we could trust him. I work full time so I cannot micromanage this. I needed someone I could trust to do right by us and not look to cut corners. This is our first construction project, so we were wary of contracts and loop holes and ambiguous language.
Since I have a few friends who did home construction projects I asked them to help me review the paperwork. They were very impressed with the detail and structure of the proposal. We started May 1st and we are almost done with stage 1. I forgot to mention that we insisted on living in the home during the entire project! While everyone warned not to do so, we are quite happy we did it.
Butel's subcontractors have been clean, meticulous and very friendly with us and our family. You can clearly see quality of work and the subs always go the extra mile to make sure things are done right the first time. I will update the review as I go along and hope to attach pictures as well.

Pretty terrible all the way around.  Unprofessional moody foreman, prima donna subcontractors, bad workmanship. Started in August of 2006, and what was supposed to be a 2-3 month job took over 6 months.  A nightmare to go through the winter eating off a 2 burner hotplate in our garage.
The counter tops had to come out 3 times. The first time they tried to jack them up with a car jack of all things!!  Almost ruined our new marble floors, and to this day there are stress cracks in them.  By the 3rd time of getting the counters wrong, we had them back out the fee so we could order and install them ourselves separately. 
The Orthodox Jewish owner was nice, but he was absent most of the time.  I would have to sum it up by saying  these guys were the "Wise Men of Helm" for kitchen remodeling!
UPDATE:  The stone floors have developed wavy stress cracks all through them.  (Probably from that car-jack incident). We will need to make a claim on this within the year, as we have a 10- year warranty.  The nightmare did not end!
UPDATE TO OUR 07/17/2014 REVIEW: We gave them a D then, and now they have graduated to an F. We filed a CSLB claim within the 10 year period for the ruined floors, which were stress cracks under the surface caused by sub-floor failure, This condition was "latent", which means the cause was beneath the surface, and not able to be determined by the naked eye. That should have been covered by a 10 year warranty. They argued it was not latent but "patent", which means the cause was obvious to see (bad workmanship!), and therefore only covered by the original four year warranty, and that meant we were too late. So they refused to rectify it or pay the claim. The CSLB ruled that because Butel was disputing the terms under which we were filing the claim, they could not rule in our favor, but said we are within our rights to sue in small claims court. We would have had to spend ever so much more for forensics, to prove the condition of the sub-floor to be faulty and not obvious to the naked eye. They had us and they knew it. Instead of being decent business people by admitting their bad workmanship and offering to meet us halfway on the price to rip out all our failed floors, Butel's wife, an attorney - how convenient! - lectured me about how much she knew about the law and how little I did. These people are the worst...stay away.

Butel installed two new bathrooms in our home after demolishing the old ones. They were very professional throughout and a pleasure to work with. It's been almost a year since they finished the job, and we've been very impressed with their workmanship -- no complaints! They were mostly great at communicating when they were going to arrive. The new ducting and humidity-sensitive fans are wonderful. Little things like caulking and grouting were done right the first time. In those few cases where we had questions or needed touch ups, they were right there. We especially like the new custom master bathroom cabinets: they were very fast at creating them, so fast it gave us pause; but these cabinets are excellent, very high quality and just what we wanted. We would use Butel again.

SPECTACULAR RESULTS!!!
We are very demanding and detail oriented homeowners with high expectations for our remodel project.
From start to finish, BUTEL CONSTRUCTION has exceeded those expectations.
I interviewed 6 different contractors for our job.  The thoroughness with which Tom prepared the bid was impressive. He answered all of my questions in detail (and good humor) and provided several revisions before we agreed on the scope and cost of the job, and he did so in a timely fashion.  Not only was I provided with a solid, detailed bid, but also a substantial
number of references that I spoke with personally. All of the reviews were glowing. I also met with Shai Butel at one of their ongoing projects. After speaking with the homeowner, seeing the workmanship, and speaking with Shai about my
expectations for our own remodel, I was completely confident that I had found the right people to work with.
I LOVE IT WHEN I'M RIGHT!
 The original remodel plan and budget was modest, and our intention was to do the work in two phases a year or so apart.  Phase 1---kitchen/dining/living...Create open plan by removing 2 load bearing walls, build custom cabinets, install new
floors, new windows, LED lighting. Once we started demolition and saw how great everything was going, we decided to go ahead with Phase 2---bedroom and bath, and added central air and heating.
We negotiated a fair price for the additional work and with minor exceptions, there have been few surprises in terms of unexpected costs.
That is not to say that the job has gone flawlessly. We definitely experienced our share of difficulties, delays, and unexpected challenges.  Shai and his team have handled all to our complete satisfaction. After hearing so many remodel horror stories from friends, we consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have found such a reliable and honest general contractor to work with.
Butel's crew and subcontractors have all been friendly and efficient, and pretty good about keeping the job site clean. Their work has been meticulous in detail, and on the rare occasions that we were unhappy with the way something was done, project manager Miguel or Shai Butel himself made certain that the problem was addressed immediately.
SHAI BUTEL has been a pleasure to work with.  As GC, he's part builder and task master, part diplomat and therapist...and is equally comfortable in all roles. At the end of the day, he is a solidly GOOD GUY!!! The integrity with which he conducts
himself and his business is really a rare find in a contractor at any price.
We are finishing the job this week and my husband and I are thrilled with the results. BUTEL CONSTRUCTION has helped us transform our cramped, dated 50's Venice bungalow in to an amazing, modern space...the dream home we imagined it cou

We met and got quotes from four different contractors before deciding to go with Butel Construction. His pricing was on the higher end of the scale but he was an open book in encouraging us to see his other completed projects. We were also looking for bathrooom-specific contractors but there were not many to choose from that had enough pictures we could look at. Working with Shai Butel himself has made this renovation process bearable due to his professionalism, respect (for me) and communication. I can't emphasize how important the communication is when you are dealing with all the unknowns that come with a first-time renovation. I have learned and experienced a great deal of how a home holds itself together and how this reno process works through watching the construction, talking with Shai, his sub-contractors and his direct employees. And the bottom line is that I have enough faith in Shai to call him again on another large project. I've already called him on a smaller project (laundry pipe setup) about a month after the first one was done. Second bottom line- there was not a point where Shai told me we were going to have to pay more than his estimated price (excluding materials or additional work requests). I doubt that's standard among contractors.



 



Now I should note that working with Butel Construction was not all jelly beans and rainbows, and in fairness to Butel, I'm certain this does not only apply to Butel. I've had a considerable amount of restless, anxious nights and my gray hair count had accelerated. I tried to stay on top of everything, even though that's what the contractor is for. But it is a bit foolish to think that your contractor has your dreams in mind, and more importantly, contractors are not designers. There were many times where I noticed something that did not seem right- a pipe was out of place, or something did not appear to be installed correctly. Often, I let it go after a conversation with Shai. After all, what do I know about construction? But other times, I realized I should have followed through more thoroughly because I did have a point...for example, in our guest bath, we had bought hardware for a hand-held shower head but the piping was completed for a stationary shower head high on the wall. Then cementing and tiling work was done. Now the hand held shower does not reach the lower parts of the tub (we planned on bathing our newborn in the tub). Should Shai have asked us more questions about our hardware purchases, or at least taken a good look at our list (from Ferguson) we had provided to him? Probably. I do understand what happened- his guys were on autopilot with the rough plumbing.



There were many positives about our reno. Shai has an excellent tile guy, Angel, who very methodically plans out your tile for the best looking and most functional layout (after you tell him what layout you want of course). I'm a meticulous guy and I had not realized how much thought and planning went into this. Our vanities were custom built and his sub-contractors also did an excellent, clean install. Same goes for the countertop, shower glass and full vanity-wide mirror installs- impressive how such big pieces fit perfectly in place. He also has a great finishing guy, Jose, who is extremely meticulous (as per my request) with the paint and hardware installs- he also generally seems to know how to fix/adjust anything to your liking. Once again there was a lot I kept an eye on and always ran home from work on a major install day. This is important if you're a picky guy like me.



On a more personal level, Shai is someone I would do business with. He is not out to get you. He is not out to take your money. He stands by his work (he'll come repair any of his work if something needs fixing). He is honest and he is fair and you can tell he is also good to his employees. That's a pretty high standard for an industry where not suing your contractor is a good reno experience.

Still finishing the process. I love them! I am very happy with their services. They pick up for me at different locations and complete the work to my satisfaction. Beautiful work.

Shai Butel was very helpful in all of our dealings.  He got things done when he stated that they would happen and we created to-do list and path that allowed us to do the work in a three month period.  We were very happy with all of the work done in the house and the people who performed the jobs. The framers, the demo, the painters, Jose and tom the salesman and Anthony in the office all worked in unison to help us have a stellar renovation.  We permitted all the work and we were so smooth in sailing that sea of city inspectors that i always recommend the permit process to friends renovating for liability purposes.
Except for one aspect the drywall we felt that was a weak spot.  You can't have it all!

We had a very positive experience with Butel Construction.  They demolished an old, poorly built addition, and replaced it with a beautiful two-story addition that includes 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, family room, a laundry room, and a study
hall.  They were a pleasure to work with, and they finished on time and in budget. They kept the site very clean while they were working (we continued to live in the home during construction), and I was very happy with all sub-contractors. As we have moved in and settled in, we continue to appreciate the high quality, solid construction.
Shai Butel takes great pride in his work, and it shows in both the quality of the job as well as in his follow-through.  His initial quote was competitive, but slightly higher than other quotes we received. However, when we looked at the breakdown, his quote included a lot of things other bidders left off to keep their price down.  As a result, his quote was actually more
accurate and fair than the others.  When he finished our job, he asked me to contact him directly if we had any issues
at all.  And, one year later, we are still in touch, and he still helps me out when little things pop up.
One nice thing about working with Shai is that he is a problem solver.  Whenever I talk with him, my stress level decreases.  During a big job, sometimes the little things really stand out.  I had my heart set on old-fashioned glass doorknobs for our interior doors.  But, after I bought them all, it turned out that they did not fit the holes pre-drilled into our doors.  I am still not sure how he did it, but without making a big fuss or charging me extra, Shai just made them work so that I would be happy.  I still appreciate it every time I turn one of those knobs.
We have also had good experiences with Tom.  He oversaw a previous project that we did in our kitchen in 2009.  He has an amazing eye, and he helped us turn a teeny galley kitchen into an inviting open space- without actually changing the footprint (It was like a magic trick).  He was also great about helping us choose a combination of pre-fabricated and custom cabinets so that we maximized our kitchen space without inflating our budget. 
I recommend Butel Construction very highly; they are very honest, easy to work with, and very fair.

Working with Butel was amazing; we had a tiny window of time and they somehow managed to do 14 days worth of work in 10. Their communication was very assuring, and they were so understanding and helpful, even when we were busy and disorganized. Everything looks amazing! We can't say enough good things, in fact we've already recommended them and plan to use them again in the near future for some bigger projects.

They weren't perfect but they came back and fixed things up. At least when we had a problem they came back and fixed it. I would have liked faster response time and better scheduling.

I had a recent issue with one of the ceiling fan lights they had installed.  I called them about the issue and they came right out and fixed the problem at no charge.  They were very helpful and I was very grateful for them.

We were renting the place and now we are selling it so they were doing some work to get it ready for sale. I was not there when they did the work but I did a walk through inspection when they were finished. They did a really great job and were meticulous. I was very happy it. When we reached out to a number of companies, they responded first and had very good communication and that was also good. We would definitely use them again in the future if needed.

Absolutely fantastic service.

I needed to remodel my 50's style main bathroom and Shai and his team did a very good job.  Tom, who is Shai's partner, came out to the house to give me a quote. I had already interviewed two other contractors and Butel was the third. Tom brought up some technical considerations and possible solutions that the other contractors did not even mention. I knew at this time that they would do quality work.  Shai and his team exemplify the best in customer service.  If I have any issue, I send Shai a text and usually the next day they're here to take care of it.  The skilled folks who come to the house are generally courteous and do great work.  There was a few weeks delay due to the custom cabinet design not having started early enough and the drawers had to be refinished because of scuff marks during transport but the end product was very good.  If you're like me and the quality of the work is of utmost importance, Shai is your man.

I did not have them to do the work. That would have been May of last year. It was probably, something around $70000 or $75000. I do not know if they have anything specific about them, but when I did my search on Angie’s list, I have my criteria and they had good grades, went quotes by things been reliable, and done some little work. I met with one of the sales reps, I thought it was a kind of a hard fail which I did not like and would never appreciate in this kind of situation whether it also notch money and time. And so, I think, that might have been one of the higher factors on my negative list. I do not recall any specific characteristics of that company that would have stood out among the others, other than the fact that they had some experience doing that kind of work they went quotes by, had good rating, some others, I think, pretty positive reviews. Again, that is in several months ago. I do not remember the exact detail. They get back to me. I do not have the real basis to determine that. I have to find it very difficult to grade professionalism that I will need actual work been done. It is probably not indicative about the staff or the cool work. I am not really sure, I am trying to recall, and I do not even remember the name of the person I spoke with. So, maybe, I could not say definitely. Not at this point. I will prefer to do that when I am prepared.

Garage construction.

Shai, Jose and Miguel did an excellent job! I was nervous about adding laundry machines to a bedroom closet and how it would look, but it is obvious the job was completed by professionals and looks great. Shai and team knew about my concerns and gave me their suggestions on how to keep the closet and bedroom looking good and even took a couple extra days for me to receive the machines and demonstrate what the end result would look like before finishing the job to ensure I was going to be happy. Access to a neighboring unit was required to complete the job and Shai even took on unrelated extra work for the neighbor as a result and to keep everything running smoothly. The team was punctual, responsive and did great work. It seems like the team went above and beyond to address any questions or concerns I had (mostly from me just being nervous). The finished project looks fantastic - much better than I imagined. Would highly recommend Butel Construction to others and would definitely call Shai again for my next project.