Ant Builders - Shy Nair

Fantastic. Ant Builders are the best. They work with you, explain clearly what has to be done and why and then carry out the work in an efficient, clean and friendly manner. At all times, one feels totally secure with their expertise and workmanship. The job was very tricky, removing some narrow, small glass tile from a feature wall in our bathroom and replacing that to perfection.

It went very well. Shy and Alex are great to work with. We talked about what we wanted to accomplish. Shy made suggestions and gave us initial estimate, and we agreed on mutually convenient time for start and completion of the job. Work was done in a timely and efficient manner. Customer must choose floor and bathroom tiles and fixtures, but there is a contractor's discount. They are very good at follow-up and stand behind their work. We would recommend Ant Builders without reservation.

Overall a fabulous experience. Excellent communication and follow-up; crew was polite, professional and just actually nice to have around. Shy takes pride in her work and stands behind it; she encourages inspection by third party and stands behind warranty. Other contractors were daunted by the house and scope of the project; Shy embraced it and performed perfectly. We have already commissioned another project with Antbuilders and recommend Shy and her crew highly and without reservation.

The renovation went extremely well given the age of our house, the fancy tile work, and the delays caused by the glass and countertop fabricators. They were careful, efficient, gave great advice, finished on time, and were fun to work with. Their workmanship is superb, down to the smallest details. I'm not sure how they did it, but they even generated a whole lot less dust than I anticipated. Their crew members were friendly, polite, and considerate. They took care to protect our floors and our front porch (which they used as a staging area).

House was built in 1891, so not the simplest job. As part of the job, all flashing was replaced. Siding is cement shingles, which requires skilled work. i requested oversized gutters as replacement. Ant was able to make some changes to the soffit to make that possible. Porch roof was low slope, so we used ice and water shield under the shingles to add some insurance. Ant made some good suggestions to deal with things that came up during the job such as wrapping high trim in sheet metal to eliminate the need to paint.

She came in and gave a fairly cursory examination of the work to be done. Didn't really take any measurements. She quoted me a price that was $30,000 higher than any others I received. UPDATE: Yes, I had just gotten up, but, so what? I was very clear about what the work was--I had given the same talk to ten customers by that point, and clear enough that Shy was certain of what would have to be done, at exorbitant cost. Notice the ad hominem attacks here. Nowhere does she make any attempt to justify her $30K-$40K markup on the work. If she thought I wasn't clear, then she should have said so before tossing out a number like that. She didn't ask for more information, didn't ask to come back, just tossed out an exorbitant number without taking out so much as her measuring tape. And all that because I had just woken up. I'm sorry, I overslept, it happens. The high-maintenance tone of her response I think reveals a lot.

I think my first answer answers this one - we wish we had more work for them! I do want to add that we have referred them to many friends - basements, kitchen renovations, outside wordwork - I have never heard anything but rave, rave reviews. People thank me for referring them. I know I am being over-exuberant - but I mean every word!

This is the second time in two years I hired Ant Builders for home renovation--they renovated my residence in 2009 and that was a great experience. So I hired the firm to completely renovate this investment property, a four floor townhouse. Shy worked with me to design the renovation. I took many of her good suggestions on things as big as opening up the first floor to give the house a modern fee and as small as the color of the exterior paint. She effectively worked and coordinated with the HVAC and electric crews on my behalf. Looking back, I am amazed that I didn't have an architect or general contractor for this project and it came out so well. This, to a large extent, is due to the dedication and expertise of Shy, her husband Alex and their hardworking and loyal crew. The result is nothing short of stunning. After I posted the photos of the renovated house on Craiglist, I got more than 30 inquiries within three days. I had to turn down people who are willing to pay more than I asked for. The tenants still tell me how much they love the house each time they see me.

Our galley kitchen was old and falling apart. Shy, Alex and their team ripped everything out, reorganized the placement of the gas and water to a more sensible design, reinstalled the cabinets, boxed out an exposed hot water pipe, and put in a new door. Along the way they also agreed to do a good amount of interior painting and assorted small odd jobs. They impressed us every day with their can-do attitude, quick thinking, positivity, communication and flexibility. To give just one example: It turned out that through our own fault we had ordered a cabinet over the sink that was too low for someone of my height. Instead of telling us to order a new one and wait for another month, Shy instead cut it from the back so that it would be recessed and I could bend over without hitting my head. This saved hundreds of dollars and kept us on schedule and nobody could tell that anything was done without looking very closely. Shy also kept us constantly appraised of when they'd be in the apartment and If there was an aesthetic choice to be made she always checked with us first and made helpful suggestions. The workmen were polite, tidy and hardworking. The pricing was honest and transparent. The work was high quality and performed with attention to detail. In short, we couldn't be happier with the result and can't imagine using anyone other than Ant Builders for our future projects.

We hired Ant Builders to reseal and regrout a shower that they installed about 4 years ago. We were very negligent and should have called them much sooner, but Shy and Alex were fine with helping us get the shower back into the very nice shape that it was in when they first built it. In addition, we had a problem with a leaky shower head. After numerous calls and emails, Shy was able to find the part needed to fix it. She also was able to get the replacement part for free even though we did not have any of the original paperwork. As with our previous experience, Shy, Alex, and "the guys" are easy to deal with and we will continue to consider them for future work. Thanks, Ant Builders!

They were extremely knowledgeable. They were very responsive. They gave me a lot of information on the productive side like what is possible to do and what wont. I would rate them high overall. I would consider them in the future.

I contacted Shy for an estimate. After I explained the amount of work that needed to be done, she explained they would not be able to work on a project at this time because they had other projects. This is the first time we have done a renovation of this scope. Shy was very helpful in giving me pointers for how to approach the project and select contractors. She also gave me recommendations for other contractors. Thanks Shy!!! It is good to meet people who understand the concept of good customer service and are willing to share their knowledge.

As always, I can't recommend Shy, Alex, and the ANT crew highly enough. We never even think of any other company, because they are a dream to work with -- and really nice people, too!

Everything was fine. The estimate was good.

Shy's honesty is a breath of fresh air when others are ready to take your money and run. I wish circumstances were different, but there's a reason she is so backed up all the time! It seems like she just wants to make sure that your needs are met before hers. **Update (May 2015): I just saw Shy's comments from 2011 and feel bad that I didn't give her an A rating. I simply never checked the reviews until today, when I was surfing the list for yet another project. She did go way above and beyond the call of duty, which is evident in her stellar track record. I still hope that she would consider jobs outside the Beltway, because you never have a shortage of projects in a historic house! :-)

They were wonderful and definitely our second choice. We ultimately went with another contractor. They were very professional and on time. They were very thorough in their explanation. They were very well organized. They were polite and seemed to be very knowledgeable. They were very responsive and they were great.

It was such a small job that she didn't give me a quote. We've had massive work done by them and they do a good job.They are extremely honest and fourth right in what they do. They both have an engineering degree and are both very knowledgeable in how to proceed with the projects. If we had problems they come back. They structurally redesigned and rebuilt a shed of ours and also had to do electrical work connecting the shed to the screened in porch lighting. The electrician they hired didn't do a good job so they got another guy who they said was the best in the field and that they wouldn't charge anything extra, it was their problem. Their prices are fair and they do a thorough job. They are easy to work with and analyze the problems very carefully.

Ant Builders are extremely professional and very pleasant to work with. Shy and Alex tell it to you straight, have great ideas for helping you make the most of your remodel and have wonderful suggestions for other vendors to use (love our cabinets which were purchased from a place they suggested). Shy checks in on the work every day and their crew are very efficient, polite, and competent. They do a great job of cleaning up every day. Shy is very communicative about what is needed in order to get the job done on time and is very patient with homeowners who don't always understand the basics of home repair and renovation! For both jobs we have done with them, the work was finished on time and within budget (except when we added additional work to the original scope - but that is our fault, not theirs!) We will definitely use Ant Builders for future renovations.

We had several quotes, and they were the most reasonable. The owner was the one that came out to give us the estimate. He was great about making suggestions for places to go to look for things. They were very helpful.

We had a fantastic experience over a four month period - exemplary workers - hardworking, polite, clean,courteous, knew what they were doing. We lived in the house throughout the construction apart from three weeks and we never tired of the crew. They were courteous, arrived on time and always cleaned up before leaving. Shy and Alex were a pure pleasure to deal with - they listen to what you say, check every detail and offer excellent advice. They keep a constant eye on the entire project,always keeping several steps ahead. Their pricing was fair and totally transparent -- there were no surprises or hidden charges. Our sons (6 and 1 year at the time) loved them and still talk of them. We would recommend them without hesitation and have done so to friends who also have had very positive experiences. We love our house and are very happy here. Our experience was so positive that we have bonded totally with our home and love to show it off - each time mentioning our wonderful contractors!

They were outstanding. The team was wonderful. Shy and Alex were wonderful to work with. They went out of their way to make it as neat and efficient as possible. They finished ahead of schedule. They did a great job cleaning up the job site every day before leaving.

I was impressed by her professionalism and honesty and would certainly recommend her based on my experience.

The job I have is very substantial and I am going through a special financing program that they do not use. I checked their references before I brought them in and they were extremely professional, they did a very good job on putting together a bid, and they were very helpful. They actually recommended two other contractors and they ended up being the final two contractors that I had to choose from. They were very professional and when we went with the different financing option, the recommended those two contractors that work within that option. Even though I didn?t use them, they recommended contractors and suppliers that we would not have otherwise had. Every time I called them, they called back very quickly. I emailed Shy and she was very responsive. They were on time to both appointments I had with them. The contractor that I settled on told me that they?ve had very good experiences working with them and he would probably recommend them for smaller jobs.

ANT / Shy responded quickly, but when discussing timing and scope it became clear that she would not be able to meet my expectations (she had a waiting list and I wanted the work done quickly). So she referred me to a few other contractors (her competitors!) that she thought did good work and gave me tips for what to look for when selecting a contractor. Very helpful. Very professional. Would love to work with her if I could.

My email was returned promptly, and Shy indicated that he was extremely backed up with projects and referred me to another contractor who specialized in decks. I appreciated his candor, but was obviously disappointed that he couldn't take on the project.