Intelligent Choice Builders

We had an amazing experience with Intelligent Choice Builders and specifically our team led by Yonathan and Florin. We were converting our downstairs half bathroom into a full bathroom. The Intelligent Choice Builders team came in at a very fair price and were a dream to work with throughout the project.

A few standouts:
- Project management + clear communication. The team gave me a list of everything to purchase prior to starting work along with examples and reference links. They were always on hand to address any questions I had, and I could always rely on them for a point-of-view. And importantly, the work was done quickly and timely.

- Proactivity with Inspectors. I appreciated that the team was on the same page as our local inspectors for the duration of the project. They were able to get ahead of any potential challenges by understanding the nuances of our city needs. Thanks to their clear lines of communication, we sailed through all our inspections with flying colors.

- Problem-solving. Our house is over 100 years old and at some point, the previous owners had done some less-than-ideal extension work, including the area for the bathroom that we were updating. We had several unexpected challenges ranging from the framing of the entire room being skewed to the ceiling being poorly supported, to the floors being un-level, the list goes on. For every challenge, the Intelligent Choice team was upfront, candid, and reasonable regarding what we needed to do in order to make the bathroom work - and while in some cases, that necessitated more labor and more costs, we were on the same page about making sure this project was done correctly and well, and I was appreciative of how fair and reasonable those prices were.

- Perfectionist work! I could tell that the team cared deeply about doing good work and making sure the bathroom was built properly and excellently. I can tell the care and effort that went into every phase.

All in all, we had a great experience and are very happy with our new full bathroom. We're already slated to do our next home project with Intelligent Choice Builders, which is really the best endorsement of all.

If you are looking for a home renovation (a bathroom, a kitchen, or a whole house!), look no further than Yonathan Oiknine of Intelligent Choice Builders. Yonathan Oiknine is the person you want leading your home renovation, full stop. I've used him twice and he'll be my first choice the next time I do a renovation. However many bids you get on your project, make sure that Yonathan is one of them; then choose him.

The first time, I looked at my wife on New Year's Day and said "You know, if we're going to renovate our (only, mildew-infested) bathroom, we'd better get that done before our second child arrives." (Daughter was due in mid-February. We should have gotten this started WAY earlier.) So I started searching on Yelp and Craigslist and identified half a dozen contractors who looked promising. Yonathan came by and interviewed us carefully about what we wanted done. I asked whether he thought he could hit our timeframe. He thought about it and said he could. We chose Yonathan. He got a team to work right away. They tore our bathroom down to the studs. He'd figured that the original builders in the 1953 home hadn't used water-resistant drywall. He predicted there would be dry rot of the studs because of the amount of mildew and built in an allowance on the project for replacing as much wood as he thought would be necessary. He was right on every count: they hadn't used water-resistant drywall, there WAS water damage to the wood, and he was able to replace the damaged wood within his estimate. He recommended where to shop and went with us to multiple home furnishings stores to pick out the tub, toilet, and tiles. He kept us posted throughout the process. Pretty soon, it was a race to see which would arrive first: COVID-19, my daughter, or the finished bathroom. Yonathan was right. He delivered the finished bathroom on-budget and on-schedule enabling us to move back in before our daughter's arrival and before COVID-19 shut down all contracting work!

Later we picked him to renovate the rest of the house. He did a great job interviewing us and brainstorming ideas and working with architect to give us more house than we thought possible. He patiently iterated through a couple of plans as we figured out what we wanted. He redesigned and renovated the entire house. He added 250 square feet to keep us under 1800 square foot limit; poured new perimeter foundation; moved the primary bedroom; made the primary closet a walk-in; added a primary bath and an office; removed a load-bearing interior wall to merge the cramped kitchen and small living room into a spacious great room; put in an engineered beam to replace the load-bearing wall; did extensive seismic reinforcement in crawlspace and on legacy garage overhang posts; replaced all flooring; redid kitchen down to the drywall and put in new cabinets, counter, sink, and lighting; rebuilt addition roof and replaced shingles; added an electrical subpanel; added electrical boxes under eaves to support home security lights; moved our sprinkler system; expanded HVAC coverage to addition; added insulation in attic and walls; upgraded all windows to double pane; and repainted whole house inside & out.

Once again, he delivered this huge project on-time and on-budget. Yonathan always has the customer's back and will make sure that everything gets done as promised. Whenever there's a setback, he'll fix it. He's a man of his word. He's creative at finding ways to meet customer requests without breaking the bank. We love our spacious "new" home and its value has gone up by $200k more than the project cost. Hire him!