Ant Builders

Ant Builders transformed our 95-year-old bungalow into our dream home, and every day we are grateful to them for it. We are first-time homeowners and were green to the renovation process, but we knew immediately upon meeting Shy and Arvind that we wanted to work with them. I cannot offer enough praise and thanks to this team. How often do you hear someone say: "I enjoyed renovating a home because I learned so much from the contractors and looked forward to seeing them every day"?! Again and again, they tackled problems with creativity and expertise. Where some other contractors might have tried to take advantage of first-time homeowners who'd never done a home renovation before, Shy and Arvind went the honest route, alerting us to structural, electrical, and plumbing issues that needed fixing before we could get to the fun stuff, and even coming by when the waterproofing contractors were here to talk about how best to keep the basement dry. Shy was masterful in her assessment of how to renovate our 800-square-foot basement to maximize light and space, and patient and full of good ideas for finishes and flourishes. She came up with beautiful ways to solve problems, like building shelves in otherwise dark corners and using stained butcher block and lovely paint colors to make them inviting and elegant. She routinely went to the mat for us with vendors, making sure we were treated fairly. No detail was too small, and she always had time for my questions. I still can't believe how much information she holds in her head and can recall in an instant. Did I forget to mention that they actually started *ahead* of schedule? They were kind and funny with our kiddo, and gentle with our senior pets; they hustled to get things far enough along that we could move in by a certain date. We also noticed and respected how fairly Shy and Arvind treated their whole team. Most of their team has worked for Ant Builders for many years, and we could see the mutual respect among the workers. Every single person who enters our basement has the same reaction: Their jaw drops and they say, "This is BEAUTIFUL! I love this!" All because of Shy, Arvind and Team Ant. We recommend them highly and without reservation to anyone, especially if you have a quirky older house that's waiting to shine. Thank you, Ant Builders!

Ant Builders renovated our kitchen, built a screened porch, built a 2nd floor laundry closet, and did general refinishing of the first floor and deck. Shy and the team were the best that we have ever worked with---and we've worked with a few contractors over the years! They started when they said they would and were working in the house every day. We had video, text, and updates every single day. And, when our temporary housing fell through, they worked extra hard so that we were able to move back into the house at least 2 weeks early. They are meticulous, they pay attention to details, and the finished product is beautiful! We could not be happier! They are also nice people! We will definitely work with them again and highly recommend them. Thank you Ant Builders!

I can't recommend the entire team at Ant Builders enough! Shy and Arvind became like family to us over the course of almost a year of planning and actual demolition and construction. We removed a load bearing wall in our 1950s galley kitchen, and turned it a true center of our home. The work they completed is impeccable, but what I appreciate more is the guidance and advice Shy and Arvind provided throughout the entire process. Whenever we hit a bump in the road or were overwhelmed with options, they stepped in and helped us sort through our thoughts and make better decisions. I felt like they truly had our best interests in mind, and will definitely be calling on them again for other plans to remodel our house!

Shy, Arvind, and their crew finished our basement this summer. I can't recommend them highly enough. Shy was patient in droves as I agonized over bathroom fixtures (hint - Shy has an excellent design sense) and requested explanations of the most basic construction concepts. They communicate expertly, consulting when decisions needed to be made, and gently informing us if they thought we were making a bad decision (hint - Shy and Arvind are almost always right). I always felt that I had a good grasp of where they were in the process, what to expect next, and what decisions I would need to make in the near future. A few times when we suddenly realized that some aspect of our plan wasn't going to work in reality, Shy and the crew paused to help develop with a creative solution. Her crew seem like genuinely nice people and were very respectful of our home. When we went on a 2-week vacation we had absolutely no hesitation leaving them alone in the house. The end product is exactly what we wanted -- a finished basement with a gorgeous new bathroom at just the right price point. If I do another home project I will 100% hire them again.

I cannot say enough good things about Shy and Arvind and their team. They are amazing! Meticulous work, on time, excellent problem solvers, organized, patient... they know their stuff and are also really fun to work with. We redid a kitchen and added a bathroom in an old building where nothing was square or level and we wanted some quirky stuff done, and they helped us make it work and always came up with creative ideas when some new crazy thing about our building was revealed (like the toilet pipe being built into the outer wall of the building!) It looks beautiful and we are so happy with it.

They redid our kitchen and downstairs bathroom in 2022. Cannot say enough good things. They did an incredible job of giving us what we wanted, while making suggestions to make it even better. Quality of the work is absolutely top notch, as is communication and responsiveness. A++.

Shy, Arvind and their team are fantastic. They are experts in their trade, they make sound and helpful recommendations, they are timely - including always on time and on schedule during the work - and they are neat and tidy even during demo. We have a huge amount of respect for how they go about their work - the team knows how to work well together and is very efficient - and we are very pleased with the results for our now renovated bathroom. What could have been a really dramatic and painful project could not have gone better. They completed the job efficiently and well within the time frame that they originally suggested, with no issues. We'd recommend them to anyone looking to do a renovation; and we cannot wait to work with them again on our next one.

Shy and Arvind are superb general contractors, creative problem solvers, top-drawer returners of phone calls, and all-around good eggs. Smart, honest, detail-oriented perfectionists, they operate with dispatch yet take no short cuts. In the course of our project, they made critical interventions beyond the scope of what we hired them to do and proffered wise advice on matters large and small. Generosity of spirit is uncommon in the building trade, but these two have it. Kudos, too, to their excellent crew.

We used Ant Builders to completely redo a large bathroom. We could not imagine a better experience. They are incredibly professional, meticulous and easy to work with. They also are great about follow-up after the work is completed - responding quickly to our requests and providing advice on other potential projects. We have used contractors for a number of projects and they are by far the best.

Ant Builders came highly recommended to us from a work colleague - so highly rated that we decided to wait until they were available, over a year later. And thank goodness we did, Shy and her team were just amazing. Not only is their work impeccable, but they are excellent to work with - responsive, honest, and hardworking. There was not a single day during the project that work wasn't being progressed, and the work was completed well within the timeframe provided. The attention to detail was second-to-none, and nothing was spared to ensure everything was perfect (even when we thought it already was!). Shy has a great eye, is intelligent and generous and has an excellent sense of humor. She has wonderful contractors and contacts, and excellent recommendations for suppliers. Working with Ant Builders was a real pleasure, and we have already put ourselves back on the waiting list for our next project!

I waited to have my basement renovation done by Ant Builders and so glad I did! We knew it wasn't going to be a straightforward job since my 1926 row house had lots of underlying issues that would have to be solved, and Shy and Arvind were great at figuring out solutions that would work in a sensible way....they also spotted a serious structural issue in the crawl space that someone else might have overlooked! This is my first time doing a major renovation. Shy and Arvind had a good idea of what I wanted the end result to be and were great at guiding my decisions along the way, and explaining their reasoning when I was confused or unsure. They also had to navigate the supply chain craziness due to the pandemic and just kept taking a deep breath and taking it all in stride. The crew is the best.....they come to work happy and work hard because they're well cared for by Shy and Arvind and Alex. Everyone was on time which meant they got me up early but as all the other reviewers have said, I do miss starting my day with Ant Builders and the guys. Thank you thank you thank you!

Shy, Alex, Arvind and the crew were amazing. They renovated our bathrooms and master closet. We could not have asked more. The quality of work exceeded all of our expectations. They were punctual, reliable, clear on pricing, and easy to communicate with. It was nice to work with a contractor who shows up on time every morning. They also had great design ideas, especially since we can be indecisive at times. We (and our two Boston Terriers) miss seeing them them everyday. We love our bathrooms and we look forward to working with them again in the future.