Montano Building Projects

They started out wonderful and they were an A and at the end of the project they were C. The pricing was good. When they were here they were very professional.

A really easy project.  I called, they came out and provided an estimate, I accepted.  A few days later, waiting for parts to arrive, they came back and installed everything.  No surprises, cleaned up well after the install.  I highly recommend them.

My wife, son and myself moved in with my in-laws in order to speed up and make the job easier, quoted timeline was 3.5 months.
Contract started a month late (March 4th). JM stated plans were delayed by city, when I went to the city to ask what the delay was they told me plans had only been submitted 5 days prior.
Demo was great, took 2 weeks of long days to dig and lay foundations, then the framing was up equally as quick. JM had not ordered the windows and doors so the complete contract came to stop while we waited for them to be delivered. Occasionally one of the guys would turn up for an hour, just to show face, but basically nothing happened for just over 2.5 weeks. Doors and windows went in and work resumed, walls were moved etc. Any time we had a problem or question, we would call of text JM, whether we got a reply was a crap shoot. Quite often his voicemail box would be full so you couldn't even leave a message. At one point in mid April, Joel and his guys disappeared for 10 days. Joel would not respond to emails, phone calls or text messages to get an update. Literally nothing happened for another 10 days. When my wife finally managed to get in touch with Joel, he said he had "been out of coverage" - at 10am on April 28th, Joel scheduled a meeting with us to review the plans and catch up. The meeting was set for 1pm that same day. Reluctantly we agreed as it was our sons 3rd birthday. We waited from1pm - 2.30pm for JM to show. Nothing, no text or call. At this point we instructed JM to give us a drop dead date or we would remove him from the project. We had (stupidly) agreed in our initial conversations with JM that we wanted to provide the vast majority of our finishing items ourselves. This then extended to the kitchen and tiling bath tubs, primarily because the items offered by JM were lowest quality and usually you had 1 or 2 to choose from. The credits we received for supplying our own kitchen I believe was $2k (we brought from Ikea, JM refused to send his guys to collect it citing his $2k kitchen would have included delivery) - We had numerous problems while work was being carried out inside the house with damage to our wood floors. When moving appliances JM's guys gauged a large scratch through the paint in the living room. We decided to have the whole house refinished and made JM contribute to the cost. After the refinish was done, "rose paper"? was laid down to protect the floor, this failed miserably as even now we have numerous dents and scratches from careless contractors throughout the house. The kitchen fitters took over 2 weeks to finish, despite being Ikea "specialists". The kick boards are out of line already. The granite was a fiasco, JM had zero samples of any granite, tile or paint to offer. We ended having to drive to Anaheim twice, all while living at my in-laws and managing a 3 year old son. In the midst of this, I travel a lot for work and returned to find 1 golf shoe and 1 running sneaker in my closet. The other 2 had been thrown away, upon further investigation, a new and very expensive pair of dress shoes had disappeared (Note: the closet in question should never have been opened by anyone as it was nothing to do with the remodel) We used JM's subcontractors for the stucco, our vinyl fence, garage and driveways was/is littered with their mess, windows and frames had to be cleaned but stains remain. The permitting process was pretty bad, we couldn't get final sign off from the city as numerous permits had not been applied for on time etc. I think we were able to move back in on or around July 4th weekend, the snagging/punch list was long and still remains. Numerous painting mistakes, floor damage, poor caulking, incorrectly installed faucet, cracks in the ceilings have appeared and the repair job is shocking. At some point in September I sat down with JM to attempt to thrash out a final settlement, which we did. The only proviso was that the backsplash for the kitchen needed to be installed, I withheld $300 in credit for this while we chose tiles etc. The tile was special order so there was a delay, but 1st week of December we were ready to go. JM finally sent someone to install the tile January 26th. It took almost 10 days for the tile to be installed. Between Feb 2nd and 5th - no workers showed up, and JM would again be "out of coverage".
When we signed with JM, we really thought he would be the best choice. He was flexible with ideas and seemed motivated. His personal employees (Brother and father included) are nice people, the first 2 weeks was amazing, but when the sub contractors came in and the finishing details mattered, Joel lost complete control. He then goes to ground for days at a time with little or no contact. My father was a contractor, so I am aware of process and procedures and the building industry. We cannot under any circumstance recommend JM to anyone else. We have a large number of friends in the south bay looking to extend/remodel homes, but I couldn't on good conscience pass JM's name along. I think we now have about $500 worth of clean up work to the ceiling and we cannot rely on JM to get it done.
Update: Its now been 5 weeks since the back splash and cracks where "repaired" - the kitchen walls have unfinished patches around the backsplash tiles. 2 more cracks have appeared and we also have a large texture patch in the ceiling of the living room where Joel's teenage nephew was tasked with carrying out the repair. I have called Joel every week for the last 4 weeks to ask when / if he has any intention of carrying out these repairs. True to form, we have received no response.
If there is anyone out there that would like to question the validity of this review, or that of our character as consumers, we would gladly welcome you to our house to show you not only the poor state in which the house has been left, but also that we are extremely reasonable and easy going people who have unfortunately had our fingers burnt and good character scorned. I highly recommend AGAINST using Montano Building for any projects. They are a disaster.

The first thing I tell people is that we had the same contractor from start to finish. Apparently this is a feat in itself.  This was initially a 14 week project but additional work requests, vendor delays, special orders, extended the project for another 2-1/2 months ... not a problem for us and the end product was well worth the delays.
Our contractor, Joel Montano, began work on March 17th.  We were expecting this to just be a "getting the lay of the land" visit; but within 30 minutes of introductions the work began.  Over the course of the project we primarily had three, two man teams that specialized in demolition, framing, electrical, plumbing and/or finishing work.  Sub contractors came in for stucco and the hardwoods.  The sub-contractors were just as professional and courteous as the Montano employees.  The guys worked six days a week and showed up on time.  They were responsive to our questions and concerns. They offered suggestions (we took many) and explained what was being done, why something had to be done a certain way, or why it couldn't be done.  They went with us to pick up purchases, e.g., our new front door, tile, stone, etc.  Equally important, they never made us feel that we were being nuisances when we asked to have a wall or walls repainted another color (we did this at least 2-3 times), or when we changed the material we wanted used at the last minute -- yep, we did that to.
Joel Montano is a hands-on contractor.  He came often and otherwise stayed in touch with us via texts and e-mails.  It was clear that he checked in with his teams every evening to be briefed on progress, and the teams checked with him as issues/questions arose during the work.  He clearly knew what was going on on the work even when he was not present.  
His workers are top-notch and we can't say enough good things about their work, attitude, friendliness, and professionalism. Joel and his workers made a long project as good an experience as we dared hoped.
We used Angie's List to find our contractor, and the experience we had with Joel mirrored what the many positive reviews on Angie said about him and his workers.

Ultimately we decided on another contractor based on a personal recommendation from a good friend. I would have no problem contacting Joel in the future and think his work speaks for itself.

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I have used Joel Montano for the full renovation of my house in 2009 (see my A-graded review), and of course hired him again for a small maintenance and general repairs project. He came out to assess the work that needed to be done, then scheduled the team lead by Juan. Everyone arrived on time, and got a wide variety of jobs done in the allotted time (and then some). Joel, Juan and team deliver high quality work, they go the extra mile, and I'm 100% happy with the results. I especially like that they analyze and thoroughly think through each job, suggest best solutions, point out pro's and con's, and really care for workmanship and quality. I can trust that the job gets done perfectly.

From the beginning of the bid process, Joel Montano was professional and responsive.  He was helpful with ideas for my very small bathroom and accommodating as it is the only bathroom in the house and he assured that the toilet would be available every day before they left and it was.  During the bid process I was nervous as this was the first time I had done this large a project.  He was very patient with my numerous questions and concerns.
The price was about 30% more than I expected based on my sister's remodel.  (She is in Orange County)  However, based on other bids I recieved, his price was very close to the others and less than some.
The craftsmen he sent were excellent, especially Miguel who laid the tile.  There were some problems along the way and Joel was calm, listened to my concerns and promptly corrected the problems.  The new bathroom is beautiful and I am very satisfied.

I am happy to write this letter of
support after such a positive experience with Montano Builders.
            We recently added two bedrooms and a master bath to our home (700 sq. ft.) and after
interviewing 5 contractors, I felt most comfortable with Montano Builders. My
comfort level only increased as I continued to meet with Joel Montano and watch
the work progress -10 hours per day, six days a week over the next 4 months.
Joel was always available by phone or text if I had a question.
            Each construction step was performed exactly as scheduled and they dealt with all aspects of the
licenses or permits. I would receive regular texts letting me know when the
next inspection was scheduled ? passing all of them first time, every time.
            I was especially pleased with the level of professionalism of literally every member
of the Montana team. All very hard working family guys. I grew to appreciate
the fact they learned my children?s names, always being very cordial to them
and my elderly mother living with us. We stayed in the house through the entire
remodel and felt as if the workers were sensitive to this.
            We have lived in the space for a couple months now with no issues. Their bid fell about
in the middle of all the bids gathered and far below the two most costly ones,
which in retrospect feels like a bargain.

They're pretty good, a little overpriced. It turned out pretty well, I can't complain. It was good work. He wasn't able to achieve the polishing and sealing of my of my granite counter tops. I'll be using them again.

Joel arrived on time and took lots of notes and measurements.  He listened carefully about the work that I envisioned and offered several  good solutions to some of the issues in the house.  He understood I was working on a budget and never tried to steer me toward more costly repairs. 
He forwarded his estimate when he promised and was responsive to my e-mails.  Although his estimate was more than fair, we ultimately decided to go with another contractor. Joel, however, was definitely at the top of our list.  When I informed him of our decision, he was very gracious and professional.  After meeting with several contractors, Joel was one of the few who impressed me and I would not hesitate to contact him for projects in the future.

IT DID NOT GO AT ALL,  jOEL WAS A NO-SHOW, NO CALL,

He did a good job. I was very happy with him. I would use again.

The end cost equaled the original estimate. Work was professional and detail oriented. Would do business with Montano again.

The work started on September 17 with 4 people.   The crew came around 8:30 ~ 8:45 and left between 5:30 ~ 6:00.
Juan the team leader is very good. He was careful to address our needs and concerns.   Every day, they would be sure to clean up and organize their equipment.
The tile work took time, about 1 week due to the 1" x 6" tiles for the shower walls, 9/16" mosaics for the shower floor and accent.
The drain pipe replacement took about 4 days.  The tiles and the work for the drain pipe that was added were the reasons that extended the completion date.  The whole project took 7 weeks to complete, 2 week more than the original projected date, but considering the extra work and tile work time, the project was completed within a reasonable time frame.
At the end of the project with Juan the team leader assigned to another project, the final completion coordination was a bit difficult, but all in all, the project was completed as expected and within the original budget that was agreed upon.  Joel, the owner, is friendly and will try to work with you with issues that come up, but at the end his responses to my e mails were a bit slow.
 
I was told early on that there would be considerable dust from the remodeling, but the amount of dust just to remodel the master bathroom was much more than anticipated.  Based on what I know now, I would seriously consider being out of the house, at least for the main remodeling time.

No estimate ever provided.

We had Joel Montano remodel our master bathroom shower . They were the lowest bidder for the identical materials. Their installation crew showed up on time, was experienced, asked questions as needed and kept the work space clean. The company representative (Joel Montano) is very knowledgeable and was able to answer all of our questions and guide us through all phases of decision making. We highly recommend this friendly and well run business and will use them again.

We found Montano Building Projects on Angie's List.  Joel was the first one to give us an estimate, with his price being toward the lower end of the quotes we received.  Of all the contractors we talked to, he was the one that seemed most intent on truly understanding what we wanted to accomplish with this addition.  Throughout the entire process, he worked closely with us to fulfill our vision for our home.  We found him very responsive -- usually just a text or email away.  He would have been right on schedule and to his original price quoted if we had not decided to remodel the kitchen also.
We lived in our home throughout the construction process and Joel worked diligently to minimize the inconvenience to us.  They even put up a temporary wood wall in our kitchen to further protect our food preparation/eating area from the construction dust and dirt.  Within our home, they cleaned up well each evening.  When we ran into unexpected plumbing difficulties and electrical connections that needed to be moved, they simply worked around it until the problem could be fixed.  Nothing brought construction to an absolute standstill.  We experienced very few quality issues and when we did, they were gracious and quick to fix everything to our complete satisfaction.
Cost was a major issue for us and Joel worked with us throughout the process to suggest ways of keeping the costs down while still producing rooms that look great.  Our walk-in shower, especially,  does not look like a budget job.  And he was patient while I went through 4 different paint samples on the wall to find just the right color for the dining room.
We have never added-on to a home before and I went into this project with trepidation, having heard so many horror stories from others who had a terrible experience while remodeling or building.  However, our experience has been positive -- other than the inconvenience of having your home worked on -- I can truly say that it went much better than I expected.  Thanks, Joel Montano!  I highly recommend Montano Building Projects!

Montano Building is a 5 star operation. They deserve an A+ in every category. 
We just finished construction on a brand new 300-sq-foot addition as well as full scale kitchen and bathroom remodel in our original structure with Montano. The experience, which I am told can be harrowing with the wrong contractor, or tedious given the bureaucracy of our City, was expertly navigated by foreman Joel Montano. He explained things every step of the way, made suggestions, took on board our ideas, secured the appropriate permits and built us a wonderful home that is beautiful and met the City?s stringent safety requirements. His crew was professional and hard-working, his budgets and timeframes accurate, and the end product far exceeded our expectations. Every single person on Joel's team was professional, accommodating and simply lovely to work with. They did their best to ensure the work was completed with an absolute minimum amount of interference to our daily lives.
We recommend Montano Building to our friends and family and will definitely use them for any and all future home improvement projects. We could not be more pleased with our experience and can't say enough wonderful things about Joel and his team.

called to make an appointment to bid home rehab. no voice message on phone. didnt return call until several days later. committed to meet me the following week. no answer again on phone. a no show for meeting at home. no followup call to answer latest message. if this is how they are for a bid - how are they after you have agreed to have them do the work??!!

This company is great to work with.  Joel himself is an honest guy with a great attitude.  His crew is competent and easy to work with.  Small mistakes will happen on any job, but when mistakes were pointed out, they simply fixed the problems without argument.  They were always at the job on time, always working hard, and the craftsmanship was superb.  They were respectful and friendly to the neighbors and cleaned up after themselves every day.  Would definitely hire them again.

Bathrooms were dated, from original early 1980's so had all tile instead of granite, some of the plumbing in the master bath wasn't working right, had carpet in the bathroom, so knew it was time for a do-over.  Joel is just someone very easy to work with, listens, comes up with good ideas when little gotchas come up, voluntarily does work even if you don't ask, reasonably priced and willing to work with the price with you.  His crew if workers are also very easy to work with, and his family who are also involved in his company are also very representative of how good his company is.  The quality of his work is something he backs up - if there is something wrong, he will always be willing to fix it, and when I ran into a few issues with the master bath (sink faucet placed a little too far back, counters a little too high), he made sure it didn't repeat on the 2nd bathroom.  Quality of the work is good and he will tell you when he doesn't believe the product you selected is worthwhile, or if the design may not quite work.  So he's sensitive to both quality of workmanship and also overall design of the room.
One thing to know is that remodels always take longer than you think.  Joel estimated 4 weeks for the master+powderroom and 3 weeks for the 2nd bath - ended up taking more like 8 weeks for the master and 6 weeks for the 2nd bath, e.g. products backordered, not in stock, inspector wanted something done, workers not able to make it, etc. so good thing my husband works from home, we were able to be around most of the time, so we were fairly flexible and didn't have a constraint on time.

Originally was considering a second story addition, but due to evolving circumstances, opted to only renovate a bathroom.
Joel was on time, thorough, and very profession for the initial consultation on the second story addition. The quote was delivered and looked very reasonable. We were planning on moving forward, when there was a change in our needs.
Joel returned to give a quote on much smaller job and was again on time and very accommodating. Another contractor may have been disappointment on doing a smaller job, but there was none of that with Joel. There was the same level of enthusiasm for the second project as the first.
The proposal was delivered quickly and we started work within the week.
The family business was very professional, hard working, and well organized. They made sure the permits were in place, the property was cleaned up each day, and the next steps were communicated regularly.
Demolition took a day, the reconstruction of the bathroom started quickly. While Joel check with us to make the final decision at each design step, we went with all his design choices and we couldn't be more pleased.
The job was permitted, and Joel took care of all the paperwork. Someone from the company was there for each inspection. Had no problems with any inspection and all took only minutes. When done right there is nothing to look at.
We even made changes to the scope of work, and that was quickly priced and planned into the schedule.
Could not be more pleased with the responsiveness of the company, they did a great job.

I contacted Montano Building regarding my project in August, 2011.  Joel Montano came out to review the project details and take measurements for the quote.  He was very attentive to our requests and pointed out various items for consideration. We received a detailed quote within the week and selected him (among the four estimates we received) to begin work the week after Labor Day.  We selected Joel based on price and our comfort level with him.  On price, he was on par with one other quote we received (ie the two lowest of the four) but my wife and I related to him better than the other contractor.  The initial phases to our project went generally okay.  There were some miscommunications (ie notification of which days he was going to send workers, timing of completion, cost of change orders) and quality control issues that we had (bathroom grout color was not uniform, drywall was not level, fireplace tile installation was sloppy), but Joel and I were able to work them out.  The last phase of our project (expansion of the house)  didn't begin until the first week of December due to permitting delays.  At the time of the start of this phase, Joel thought he could have it materially complete by Christmas (ie 3 weeks) and completely done in 4 weeks.  Due to the holiday season, having it materially complete by Christmas was important to my family.  Unfortunately, for one reason or another, the expansion area was not usable for Christmas and the overall project was not completed until the last week of January (ie total of 8-9 weeks). 
Generally speaking, Joel will do his best to correct quality issues of the work being performed.  The biggest critique I have of Montano Building was quality control monitoring, schedule coordination/staying on schedule and communication of cost additions.  I believe some of the delays we encountered could have been avoided had better oversight of the work been implemented.  Redoing work due to quality issues took up far too much time, unnecessarily increased the cost for both Joel and me and contributed to the delay in schedule.  However, I am a  bottom line kind of person and despite the schedule delays, the final work product was of acceptable quality.  All-in-all, I believe Montano Building is a good contractor to use.  The road to get to the final work product may not be smooth, however Joel will do his best to complete work to the customer's satisfaction and at the end of the day, this is what's most important (IMO).

I met with them a few days after I had done my research. They did get back to me and they showed up on time. They were the first to give me a quote, so they were prompt and responsive. Their quote looked very professional, and they seemed to be knowledgeable about everything. The quote they gave me was very detailed. Looking at the itemized prices and comparing them with some of the other quotes I received, I could tell that their prices were higher. I probably would not go back to them for another quote because their prices were a lot higher than everyone else’s. Their price was too high for me.