Ant Builders - Shy Nair

Shy and Alex were extremely helpful in selecting appropriate windows for my home. I couldn't be happier with the selections - the improvement was immediate and dramatic (just in time for winter!) Shy and Alex were sensitive to constraints on my time and budget. They were willing to discuss all the questions/options I could think of - and quite professional in entertaining the sensible ones and politely dismissing the rest. During the entire process any deviations, questions or problems were immediately communicated to me and quickly resolved. It is a pleasure to recommend ANT Builders.

They were knowledgeable, flexible and incredibly helpful, and efficient. I would use them again in a heartbeat.

Unbelievable! Alex and Shi were fantastic. Our house, built in 1918, has been remodeled over the years and until the existing bathroom was gutted and the wall removed, we had no floor plan. Alex and Shi were flexible and offered great suggestions including the sky light and the attic entrance. We did not hire a designer--we created the bathroom as we went and we are very happy with the result. The project took longer than anticipated but not because of Ant Builders. The added time was due to not knowing what we were dealing with until the demolition was complete and then delays in obtaining the fixtures. The Ant Builder workers were punctual, polite, and neat. They laid down drop cloths each day--they even gave us a zippered dust barrier to protect our bedroom. The very last thing they did was a thorough washing of the floors. We give them an A on everything except price, which was not bargain basement, but we got more than we paid for. EXCELLENT.

Shy and Alex were great. Their estimates were on the ball and they always showed up when they said they would. Their work was good and their crew always cleaned-up after themselves.

First class job, first class owners and workers - a pleasure to work with the work done for a very reasonable price. Ant Builders has two crews and works on jobs start-to-finish before taking on more work. Both Alex and Shy were extremely helpful and flexible when changes had to be made. They kept us from making serious mistakes. Example: We had purchased an in-wall toilet to save space. Before installation, Ant Builders warned us about the 6 inch studs that are required (good bye to the space saving idea) and the difficulty in having the fixture serviced. Every day they laid fresh cloths on the floor and cleaned up thoroughly. After the job was completed - Ant Builders scheduled a cleaning lady to come in the house and put the house in its original condition! I have never even heard of this kind of service. We will be getting our hall bath done soon and Ant Builders will be the ones doing it.

Shy explained that her company does not do concrete work so they couldn't do the foundation but could do all the carpentry and roofing. I said that was what I needed and she set an appointment for Alex to come out to give an estimate. As soon as Alex showed up, even before we had gone around to the addition, he made it clear he did not want to do the job. At one point during our discussion he said he was trying to get away from jobs under $5,000. I asked him if he were to do this job what it would cost and he replied $16,000-$18,000. Then he changed reasons to something about not wanting to split crews. Bewildered, I called Shy the next day and she said she would come out personally to give an estimate. We set an appt. for 6:30 that evening. When I got home to meet her there was a message that she was not coming. I still have no idea why they behaved this way but the making of appts. for work they have no intention of performing, is extremely wasteful and inconsiderate.

They did a really beautiful job, and we are very pleased with it. Shy was the main contact person and never hesitates to call back asap when you have a question. She was delightful to work with. I put my son in charge of designing the entire bathroom, including selection of tiles (Jerusalem Gold from Israel) and design of the layout and selection of all the fixtures. Some things were not delivered on time but Ant Builders were gracious in telling us to just let them know when some things arrived so they could come and finish. Next time I would tell my son not to trust suppliers who assure you that something would be delivered in a "week or two", and would wait until everything is there before starting. But these were suppliers my son chose and had nothing to do with Ant Builders. I did what I thought all homeowners did -- provided cold drinks for Shy and the men. They were extremely appreciative, because apparently it is surprisingly rare, even though so easy and so inexpensive.

Alex and Shy (and the guys) were excellent to work with, they were good at communicating, helpful with suggestions and ideas, addressed any questions or concerns, followed through, timely, continuity of work, trustworthy and very obliging. We planned, and were very involved in the design of the space and selecting some materials. The contract they presented to us was clearly written, thorough, with milestones for payments. The guys were skilled and efficient (a master electrician commented on the quality of the electrical work), and Alex and Shy were detail oriented and kept an eye on the work. They pulled permits when necessary, they even corrected mistakes made by previous remodelers. When we found that we could not install a 3/4 bathroom as planned, they worked with us and we installed a full bathroom instead. We would hire this company again, and we are hoping to hire them again to redo our kitchen and possibly our other bathroom.

Alex and Shy spent a considerable amount of time helping us figure out how to save money on our small job; a job that turned out to be too small for them to take! We were impressed with all of our communication with them, and appreciated the professional advice they gave us.

Outstanding, they were prompt efficient and cleaned up after themselves. It really is a very nice job. Very responsive to customer needs. They finished earlier than the contract had stipulated and the company managers were on site every day just to make sure things were going well.

Their service was prompt, thorough, convenient, direct, affordable, and high-quality. Alex and Shy are fab as are their crew, I wish I had the money to have them remodel my kitchen, too! :) We love and appreciate the end product. The work completed was slightly more than the original estimate, but that's because I asked for them to do a few additional things that they quickly accommodated without a problem and gave me a very reasonable price for.

Ant Builders (especially Alex, Shy, and David) did a fantastic job from start to finish. After months of a frustrating search for honest, reliable, reasonable contractors, I found Ant Builders on Angie's List and seriously have nothing but positive things to say about them.

This company is amazing. Our friends used them when they found them on Angie's List and we hired them. They are honest and easy to work with. We held them back when our materials were delayed and they still managed to come in and finish the work in five weeks. Alex was always on the job and it was nice to see the owner there everyday. Roberto and the whole crew were polite and did some really nice work. They are a small company but with a huge heart. Ant really surprised us by being on time and within the budget. We have a five year old that messed up the paint job while they were working and I thought that we would have to fix it. A day later I saw Roberto having it fixed and I told him it was our fault. Not a huge repair but the little things with this company just add up. I will definitely call them again.

I had to have my parents house on the market by Labor Day. I had no intention of doing the whole house, but after they started I told them to gut the bathrooms. If I could have afforded the entire kitchen I would have let them do it. They started the first week in August and finished in 3 1/2 weeks. When testing the toilets an unexpected blockage developed in the bathroom under the concrete after the ceilings were installed and they had to rip out more drywall to get to the sinks and hall bath. As a result, all the upper floor baths got totally new drains for the toilet, sink tie ins and tub/shower. All new PVC drains were tied to the main. I had ZERO worries throughout the entire process. I can't say enough about the outstanding workmanship of the crew, Roberto, Jose, Beto, Antoni, Naun, Carlos, Javier and Pedro. I can't say thank you enough to Shy and Alex, who know my taste so well that I never had to set foot inside Home Depot or Lowe's. The house got raves from the neighbors.

We initially hired Ant because Alex was located close by to our house. Since we do investment properties we have used him several times to do work for us. He is honest and the work always comes in on budget without any surprise add ons. Robert and Javier who did the work were always polite and always on time. No missed days here. They work fast and we had our house ready for rent within 19 days which was under what he promised. After dealing with a few contractors before and having issues, we only contact Ant. Alex is probably the only contractor that you will have to chase down to pay money. We always had to remind him that the payment was due! It is good to see the owner of the company visit the project everyday.

Renovation went quite well. Alex did an estimate forwarded a contract and indicated when we would fall on the schedule. Work commenced on the day it was a scheduled and finished on the date it was expected too. No problems with the workmanship and we were kept informed of everything as we went along. They also had no problems dealing with the family dog and bird.

I made an initial appointment with Alex, but he phoned me the same day in the morning and told me that he needed to reschedule because he had not realized how far he would have to drive to get to my house and that he would be late for his next client. We rescheduled for the next week (he gives estimates on Fridays only). Next Friday he came on time. After I described what I want to be done in the kitchen, he gave me a total estimate on cabinets removal, installation and floors and wall tiles installation of $23 - 25K(they don't do countertops). This estimate was for labor only, it was not itemized, and, in fact,it was not even written down. During our conversation Alex raised several concerns about moving the microwave which were completely dismissed by all other contractors I talked to afterwards. The visit lasted about 20 minutes.The only explanation I have for this outrageous experience is that Alex was not interested in the job, and that was his way of getting out of it.

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being completely perfect, I've give it a 9.75. Very good communication, checking in, responsiveness, helpful suggestions, controlling costs, quality of work and materials, addressing any questions or concerns, follow through, timeliness, and continuity of work. I planned, and was very involved in selecting some materials and getting some appliances to keep costs down. Again and again, Ant met or exceeded expectations or promises. Few wrinkles were rather minor and quick to fix.

The company chose to blow off their appointment with me in favor of another appointment. I found their attitude and behavior unprofessional and disrespectful. As a business owner myself, I keep my word with my clients and always keep my appointments. My word is important and an appointment is giving my word to someone else, my commitment to someone else. I understand that they received a job that they could not refuse. I am sure I would not have refused a large job either. At the same time, they should have come to my home as committed, determined what my needs were and then given me an option of waiting until their other work (if I chose them to do the job), or finding someone else to do the work. They should not have blown me off without even determining the needs or value of the work to be done.

Ant Builders started with the deconstruction of the bathroom, the entire bathroom even the ceiling. The tub was removed and replaced with a tiled walk in shower. Old wood floors were removed from the unit and replaced with new wood floors. A custom book shelf was built in the living room. Ant builders were open to new ideas and even presented design ideas during the process. We would highly recommend Ant Builders to everyone; they are conscientious, accommodating, professional and friendly. Our project had a month allotted for completion, but we were very pressed for time due to a scheduled move and Ant Builders went above and beyond to finish the renovation early. We would definitely hire them again for any work we need in the future.

Awesome. Shy was our project manager, and she was attentive, responsive, and detailed. The project came in on budget, and was completed quickly (3 days for the roof, 2 days for everything else). We've had no leaks and this roof will last a while. Highly recommended.

Alex (owner) and Shy (estimator and project manager) provided a detailed estimate of our work. They worked with us to help bring the costs down. They set what seemed to us to be a not so realistic schedule, which they claim that they strive to meet their schedule by not overloading themselves with too many projects at a time. They and their crew are pleasant to work with. They removed all their trash as they went along. They kept us informed of their progress, were at the site everyday except Sundays. The work was well done. They resolved two problems with the custom cabinets that could have caused a delay in the project if we would have had to reorder replacements. They cut left over tiles from the floor to create a backsplash behind the stove. If we felt something was not to our satisfaction, they had no problem redoing it. Our project was on time, even early with the exception of one window that had to be reordered 3 times. The window company's fault.

They were great! Let me say that at the beginning so the small problems that we had don't color the report. My wife and I met with Ant Builders at their house and talked with them extensively about the project, they provided drinks and even offered dinner (a great beginning). Their estimate was much lower than the other contractors we looked at even with the amount of work they proposed to do. They did all of their work on time and called often (but not always) when they had questions about the work. As I said above, we did some work ourselves and they worked well with us and our schedule. We sometimes slowed their work down, but they didn't complain much about this. Sometimes they paid very close attention to detail (construction of our kitchen island), but other times they didn't do such a good job (cleaning after themselves/cleaning the floor stain off the walls/baseboards). They did a great job overall, however I don't recommend them for refinishing floors.

The bedroom sliding doors to the patio roof was elevated to allow space for sloping of the roof for water drainage. The did this extremely well, putting in new modeling and painting. After the door was lifted a new sloping roof was installed and two different surface layers were put on to seal the roof. The other project was the installation of new roofing for the house. This included a large flat area plus slopping shingle sections in the front and back. Appropriate new flashing was installed. Pictures were taken to show all the work done. These projects took 5 full days. On the weekend there was heavy rain which tested the roofing. We discovered one leak in the patio. Alex and David returned and realized that more flashing was needed to cover the entire balcony. I also added to the additional project two downspouts to draw away water that was coming off the house. This new work was completed in a day. All this work was done with exceptional skill in roofing and metal work. Bravo!

The contract was clearly written, thorough, with fair milestones for payments. The renovation represented a large commitment for us, but Alex and Shy were extremely professional in their presentation and made us confident in our choice. The finished basement exceeded our expectations in every way. Their crew was skilled and efficient, and Alex and Shy were detail oriented and demanding at each step. The workers were always on time, and Alex and Shy communicated well and always made themselves available for questions. They pulled permits when necessary, and worked well with city reps. In our minds, their most distinguishing characteristics were their work ethic and integrity. From early on, we realized that they would build to the highest standards, and make sure that we were happy with the outcome.(We re happy to share pictures of the basement/bathroom). We would absolutely work with them again, and recommend them to our neighbors and to Angie s List.