Hantel Kitchens & Baths

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Gave me an evaluation and was very professional and efficient. They have a great reputation and I can see why. I will definitely use them when the time comes.

We are very pleased with the final result of the project. The quality of the work appears to be excellent overall. The cost however was on the high side and Hantel is not the most economical contractor. In addition to reviewing the Angies List ratings before starting, we talked to others who had used Hantel, and we saw the work he had done for them, and we knew what kind of experience those individuals had had with Hantel during their projects. Mr. Hantel did the design work himself, and made very good suggestions to overcome some difficult design problems with this condo kitchen, including relocating the door from the kitchen to the dining room. During the project, Mr. Hantel and his associates were responsive and once the work began, they worked almost everyday to bring the project to completion in a timely manner. Looking back, things went well. The project contract was a and quot;fixed priceand quot; rather than a and quot;cost plusand quot;. However, I would never have accepted Hantel's contractual terms if we had not had the direct benefit of the good experience of others nearby. In particular, Hantel insisted on 50% payment to begin the project. a 'progress payment' of 40% after cabinet bases were set, leaving only 10% payment at completion. This is of course, in contrast to what Angies List and most other prudent advisors recommend whereby one should never pay more than 30% up front. However, Mr. Hantel would not compromise on these payment terms. His explanation was that he needed more cash upfront to purchase the materials for the porject. However, when I agreed to 50% upfront to fund materials acquisition, but 30% for a progress payment, and 20% at completion, he would not agree. Nor would he set a firm completion date, even when I allowed him to pick it himself, but he only agreed to work to finish the project as soon as possible. Time was critical to us, since we were continuing to pay rent on an apartment until the project was completed. He previously employed a trained designer to provide design services before we met him, however, he has let that person go, and now does the designs himself. His design fee ($1000) paid upfront, and non-refundable if he does not do the work, seems somewhat high. We had two change orders during the project, and he charges a $75 change order fee for changes initiated by the customer plus the additional costs for materials/labor. I had some concerns in this regard, causing me to lower the ratings overall. The first change order was simply for a filler strip to go around the refrigerator and minimize the gap between the appliance and the cabinetry, and this charge seems excessive ($150 total). The other change order involved the fireplace gas line installation work. Mr. Hantel said (and wrote into the contract) that the installation MAY require removal of the marble, and if so, a change order would be required, AND that the marble might be damaged in the process. However, the subcontractor went ahead without my approval and removed and broke the marble before I was told that removal (and a change order) would in fact be required, so I did not have the option of declining the work, resulting in more cost ($1,143) for new marble/installation. I attribute this to a break down in timely communication on the part of Mr. Hantel with his subcontractor and me, and I believe the work should not have been done without my authorization of the change order first.

Our experience with Hantel was a positive one.

Unqualified and overpriced for large, professional job. Hantel refused to replace faulty Silestone countertop until they were paid in full. We would not pay the remaining 10% until the job was finished, as per our contract. They sued us and took us to arbitration. The arbitrating judge ruled the countertop needed to be replaced. Once the job was completely finished with the new countertop installed, we paid the remaining 10%. This job, including extra costs spent on lawyers and arbitrator, took over two years to finish.

Met w/ company for estimate of work desired. Satisfied,meeting set to choose particulars including tile, fixtures, tub, and deposit given. Ivory tub chosen to match existing sinks and toilet. Received estimate with fixtures selected and communicated amount was out of price range. Asked designer to search tub alternatives that would fit budget. Designer found tub in price range and sent documentation w/ MODEL NUMBER ONLY for approval. Company did not provide or use full product description sheet that they typically use. We were under the impression that it was different brand of tub but still ivory color as requested. Lower priced tub approved and installation date set. April 15th, installation began and concluded on April 22nd and during this time we had little to no access to bathroom. Majority of work was completed while we were out of town, from April 15th- April 20th which included the ACTUAL TUB BEING SET.On the evening of April 23rd project was complete and all equipment cleared from bathroom. It was at this time that it was discovered that tub was NOT ivory but stark white and was obviously not consistent in color with other fixtures.Next morning designer was contacted regarding the mistake. Designer indicated that she was unable to help us resolve this and we would need to communicate with the owner, Bill Hantel.Phoned owner that same day and was told that "it was a miscommunication and for us to think about it overnight and contact him the very next day with our recommendation as to a resolution". As he requested, we thought about the options and researched the cost involved with replacing 2 sinks and 1 toilet to match the white tub. I will add that this was NOT 100% acceptable to us as we desired to have ivory fixtures to match the decor in our bathroom that we had recently redecorated. This was our attempt to compromise and be reasonable with the unsatisfactory results.The next day we contacted the owner with a recommendation that we would pay the remaining balance less $700 to cover the cost of replacing the sinks and toilet. The owner responded that this was not acceptable and asked for a meeting in-person to occur the very next day.Hoping that there would be SOME compromise, my husband took off from work and met the owner at his office where the owner communicated once again that he was not willing to budge on the price.The owner offered to install new fixtures at no cost ONLY IF we purchased fixtures through him! My husband countered with a $500 deduction off remaining balance and we would purchase and install fixtures ourselves-even more of a compromise! Owner became agitated and said "if he did not have full payment by end of the next business day we would lose our deposit per the contract and he would enforce this contract. With no reasonable solution reached we made full payment on time. 100% unsatisfied with an $8000.00 job- all because owner would not discount $500! Buyer Beware. We could never recommend this company.

I met with the designer and owner and went over plans in detail. They gave me a quote of $1500 for design services. When I called to start the design service they raised the price to $2000, a 33 per cent increase. I said no.

They were responsive, friendly, and professional. They did an excellent job. They had great designers and everybody was great. The price was a little high, but it was worth it. We had a wonderful experience with them.

We wanted to explore the possibility of adding another bath to a condo we own. Mr. Hantel was very responsive and prompt and went over our options with us. We probably will not add the bathroom, just due to the layout of the condo, but we appreciated his expertise and responsiveness.

We started by working with the kitchen department of a big-box retailer, but the process left us concerned about the overall design and effectiveness of their project management involving various sub-contractors. At the same time, a friend told us she had worked with both that retailer and an independent remodeling contractor and was much happier with the latter, an observation borne out by findings of the major consumer research organization. I researched contractors and found Hantel to be prominent members of the NKBA. Unlike higher-end remodelers who custom-build everything, they also work with major cabinet manufacturers to come up with semi-custom solutions which are more economical. We met with Ed Hantel, who gave us a ballpark estimate and overall vision of how the kitchen should be reconfigured. At that point we went forward with a paid design process and overall cost, and worked with Ed and Shannon (a designer) to tweak and finalize the design and adjust costs accordingly. They gave us thorough written guidelines about preparing for the project and its disruption of household life. This was a radical project that involved removing part of a wall into an adjoining room to establish an eating bar. Since that was was an old-fashioned plank paneling, we asked if the paneling being removed could mask a place on another wall where we wanted to remove an old unused through-the-wall air conditioner. They did such a beautiful job on this side project that no one can tell now that the wall (on both the inside and outside) ever had such a history. Overall, the project started and finished on time, and the workers took their time to do things right. They cleaned up the worksite at the end of each day of all dust and debris. There were no surprises. There was one detail that we were not satisfied with at the end, and Ed worked to come up with a solution that made us happy. The process and finished results exceeded our expectations and we would have no problem recommending Hantel to anybody.