Labbad Builders

Ted Y.

We embarked on a major bathroom remodel (demo'ed down to studs and swapped toilet/shower locations) + new tile, cabinet, bathtub, fixtures right before the pandemic started and while my wife was pregnant. So it was a bit stressful in timing and communicating while staying safe. Originally, I was using a friend's business who focused on more on the tiling part and they subbed out most of the work to Vic and his team. It was a blessing since Vic is a great communicator and his guys do good work, although it was awkward since my friend's business was on the contract and sort of a middleman.

Vic provided an estimate and also pointed out some electrical work that needed to be done since our house is old and still had some knob and tube wiring which was admittedly a risk. So we added that to the scope & budget which pushed back the project a week or so. One additional cost that popped up was replacing the wood for the bathroom subfloor...I think that might have been something they could have seen from the crawlspace or from experience known that the subfloor of an old bathroom would need to be replaced and included in the estimate. The last area of improvement was that the plumbing company that he subbed out work to cut the AC drain pipe which caused water to leak from the attic down the bathroom wall and caused the new paint to bubble and peel off. But Vic got it fixed and re-painted and made it right which was appreciated.

Overall, Vic and his team were solid and I'd consider them for. more work in the future.

Alex B.

We came across Vic and Labbad Builders after a horrible experience with our previous 'contractor' on a major remodel at our home. We had a number of smaller projects we wanted to address but were somewhat gun-shy about selecting or even finding a trust-worthy and reputable contractor. Enter Vic. After scouring Yelp and reading his stellar reviews, we reached out to Labbad Builders.

The scope of our work included the installation of three exterior doors, two windows, sealing off another exterior door, stucco repair, tiling the fireplace and several other cosmetic enhancements. When I made the call to Vic, he was responsive and agreed to meet to discuss the job, give his feedback and ultimately provide a bid. I was immediately impressed at his thoughtful assessment of the project and his feedback on how best to address the various items. I know he handles more significant projects than the one we were having quoted, but he was attentive and very professional and workman-like in his confidence to handle the project in a timely manner. When we received his bid, it was fair, thorough and detailed. We were excited to get started.

When he and his crew showed up on the first day, it was all business - they got right to work and each of his crew knew what they were doing. They work a full 8:00a - 5:00p day and are very efficient. We were thrilled to see how much they accomplished the first day. They were thorough with their clean-up and Vic was always there at the end of the day to go over what had been done. It continued like this throughout the duration of the project. My wife and I both work and could not be home all day; we had NO issues or concerns allowing his crew to work inside or have access to the house while we were not there. The majority of his crew are long-time employees of his and their expertise and experience truly shows.

There is leap-of-faith and risk involved with selecting a contractor, but we feel fortunate to have found Vic and Labbad Builders and would have no reservations in using him on future projects or recommending him to friends and strangers alike.

Mark B.

My wife and I purchased a house earlier this year. As much as we loved the house, the kitchen needed much work. We did not know who to turn to for help in tackling this project as there are so many horror stories with contractors. We found Vic through another contractor and scheduled to meet at our house. We instantly knew he was different than any other contractor we had met. Just a few hours after meeting him he emailed the quote and gave me a call to go over it. He explained to my wife and I how he would make our dream kitchen. Once the project started, Vic told me issues were found and he went ahead and took care of it at no cost. I was shocked as that has never happened before. He also helped us with appliance sizes to make sure everything fit before they were purchased and installed. Vic brings much experience to the table and it shows. He is very humble and explains everything in such detail. Vic and his workers are professional, organized and their attention to detail is amazing. Vic keeps you posted at all times and answers any question you may have throughout the process. He is a one of a kind contractor.
If your goal is to have work done in your house and have it stress free and done right then Vic is the one to hire. We are currently working with Vic on other projects in the house. It looks like Christmas arrived early this year.

Marc

Ken C.

We brought in Labbad Construction after we hit a wall with two other ""contractors"". At first we were naive in thinking the remodel of our kitchen would be simple. New counters, cabinets, gas piping, sink, fans, lighting,...what could go wrong? We decided to go with the low cost bidder, like NASA does and were comforted when our ""contractors"" told us repeatedly ""I build houses, this job is no problem"". At first, they shined at demolishing our old kitchen and moving our new appliances out of the way for the work to begin. My wife wanted to move our stove to another wall, (which I thought was impossible) but our ""contractor"" said, ""No problem"" we just have to reposition the gas line to the adjacent wall. He said it was just a plumbing job but after he left for the evening, we were alarmed by the smell of gas leaking under our kitchen. Our other ""contractor"" was really good at demolishing and taking out the trash but when I asked him how the electrical circuits would work with the new microwave and lighting he became annoyed and said ""I don't do electrical"". Lucky for us, he had a ""contractor"" friend that did electrical work and actually worked on electrical jobs and even had a company name with Electrical in it. After he replaced all the circuits and wiring in our kitchen we realized they were all placed one inch below the height of our new standard height kitchen countertops. All this is the background story, telling about a family with more trust in ""low priced contractors"" than their knowledge of construction. The good news was Labbad Construction and Vic Labbad came into the picture and to our rescue. Vic looked at all the problems created by our ""contractors"" and asked ""Why would they do that???"" Everything that had been taking weeks and weeks to get completed would take a day when Vic brought one of his guys in to fix the job. Each time he started to fix another part of the construction, it was done perfectly. His workers were polite, on time, and did their work perfectly. We couldn't believe the night and day experience it was to work with Labbad Construction after the goons we started with had messed up our kitchen so much and kept us waiting for weeks while they were on other jobs. Everything our ""contractors"" had promised to finish for us was canceled. We ended up giving the whole job to Labbad Construction and about as soon as we did, Vic got the job done and it looked perfect. The bad news is that we paid about 40% too much because we were trying to save money with the low cost bidders and did pay them (to leave our property). The good news is that our house didn't blow up from the gas leak and now we have an amazing beautiful kitchen and thank Vic Labbad almost every morning when we go get our coffee. If you want proof of this story, ask Vic to see some pictures of recent work. He doesn't have to show you our amazing modern kitchen, (it took me about 9 months to write this review) just take a look at pictures on his phone of whatever the last job he is finishing today....I know it will look AWESOME!!! If Vic wants to give you my phone number for a reference, give me a call.

Jennifer F.

We just finished re-modeling our mid-century house with Vic Labbad, and we couldn't be happier! Our re-model was very extensive - we took the house down to the studs, re-located all three bathrooms and the kitchen, and raised the roof. Our re-model journey began a year before, when we started working with a designer on the plans. The designer was a nightmare - after countless missed deadlines and mistakes, we were desperate to find a good contractor to help us finish our house. We called Vic based on yelp reviews, and we immediately saw how responsive and professional he was. His team was promptly at our house every day. We met weekly to discuss the progress of the re-model, and Vic was always available to answer any questions we had.

Not only did Vic help to fix the designers mistakes, he also made great suggestions to us along the way, in regards to both construction and design. His attention to detail are amazing, and the quality of his work is very high-end, for a very reasonable price.

On top of being very professional, timely, and having a great team, Vic is truly a pleasure to work with. He always has a smile, and goes out of his way to make his clients happy.

We are so pleased with our re-model - our home is beautiful, and we have received so many compliments on it! We wouldn't hesitate to recommend Vic to anyone who is looking for a contractor!

Monica K.

Out of my three remodel experiences, Vic Labbad is by far the best contractor I've ever met. The first experience I had Lowe's act as the general contractor, who subcontracted the work out at mid-high bids. The overall project took twice as long as it should have and I had to keep calling to have them finish the smaller items like putting back the baseboard they removed. The second experience, I had erroneously relied on a supposed friend who made a recommendation of her friend who had remodeled 3 of her friends' homes with good reviews. He was late, went overbudget, left my home in shambles with shoddy work which Vic had entirely fixed.

Finding a general contractor is difficult but I hope my review can help in the decision process. The reasons why I would hire Vic again:
1) Expertise and knowledge. When we had a walk-through, Vic took the time to explain to me each item that the prior contractor had completed incorrectly and how the work should have been done to proper standards. He also is a great problem solver - if things initially look like they wouldn't work - Vic can quickly think of a few options to make it work like moving the doorway over to fit my new washer/dryer.
2) Honesty and transparency. Prior contractors had taken shortcuts and constantly made excuses. Vic is the opposite - he makes sure things are done to his high standards. For example, my prior contractor had tried to fit cabinets in my kitchen that would have made the usability awkward as my counter would be in the doorway. Vic managed to seamlessly extend my kitchen walls and make a new doorway.
3) Supervision and involvement. Vic dropped by frequently to check-in and do walk-throughs to review progress. He also has a great crew and reliable subcontractors who are all extremely professional and respectful. This was completely different from my prior experience where I found cigarettes, bottles, and other garbage placed in boxes of my belongings.
4) Design. Usually you wouldn't think a contractor could have good design sense but Vic had some very good suggestions with plumbing fixtures and trim/finishes that made the space look much better than what I had initially planned.
5) Work ethic and thoughtfulness. Finally, I believe this process was so different because I trusted that Vic would complete the work on time, on budget and to high standards. I feel he honestly cares about his clients and takes pride in quality work, which together had made this as worry-free of a remodel as possible.

Janice C.

After getting several estimates for the remodel of our home, we chose Labbad Construction. Vic Labbad is honest, conscientious, and extremely knowledgeable. His prices are very reasonable and although we kept adding more and more to the job, he worked with us to keep the cost as low as possible. He has an excellent crew of workers and subcontractors who were always polite and timely. We purchased a 92 year old house that had many surprises and we ended up remodeling from the studs on up. Every room turned out more beautiful that we ever expected. Vic has a great eye for detail and design and was very helpful with making decisions. Vic is very professional and has pride in his work and stands behind it. Vic came to our home at least once a day to oversee the work and check in with us. He was an absolute joy to work with and arrived and left with a smile on his face every day.

Anita P.

My husband and I just finished an extensive remodeling job with Labbad Construction and had a fantastic experience! Vic Labbad is extremely experienced and knowledgeable. He knows his stuff better than any contractor we have hired in the 20+ years we have lived in our house.

He has a keen sense of style so if you have any design issues like color choices or types of hardware, he readily gives you a helping hand.

You would think that such a talented contractor would charge an arm and a leg for his services but I can tell you that he is so reasonable. We got three quotes-he was the lowest and I, being an attorney, was a bit dubious about the number-we hired him anyway. And guess what? He came in exactly on budget. He told us on several occasions that his goal was to make his clients happy. I'm now a believer.

We will never hire any other contractor but Vic again. I mean, really, why fix it if it isn't broken! He does great work, the project was finished in the time specified in the contract, and in the amount per the contract.

The quality of the work is outstanding. We found absolutely no flaws when we did the walk through today. Our house looks brand new!

Finally, he is very charming and personable and his crews are polite and timely.

Katherine L.

When my husband and I finalized the purchase of our 3 bed, 2.5 bath 2400 Sq foot gutter home in La Crescenta, one of the first things we did was embark on finding a GOOD contractor. We did our due diligence, and interviewed 5 contractors before my co-worker/friend recommended I call Vic. We actually had someone picked out that we were about to sign a contract with, but then I decided last minute to walk Vic through our home on a Friday. We thought we'd give him a shot and he said he would give us a full quote before end of day Sunday (I didn't think he actually would meet this timeline as most contractors I met with before didn't turn around quotes in 2 days!) Sure enough, 8pm on Sunday my phone rang to confirm if I had received his quote which was emailed. After reviewing it with my husband, I was immediately impressed by his attention to detail and itemizing of the entire quote to gut my house, organized by sections of the home and by room (ie. from yard, pool, gate to master beds, baths, and guest bed, bath and kitchen). His quote was by far the most well thought out, detailed, and well priced. He even had line items broken out for material and labor for each job. This told me a few things: 1. Vic was serious about his potential jobs and 2. He would follow through with his word. Throughout the job, he maintained this level of detail regarding our budget with updated, itemized line items every time we had cost changes.

Starting with him on Day 1 with demo, we are now (flash forward 7 months) working with him to touch-up minor details. He has been with us every step of the way and assured we would be smiling when the job was done. My husband and I both have full time jobs that keep us occupied and Vic served as instrumental in helping us progress and execute the remodel on a daily basis, always keeping our schedules in mind. Vic has decades of experience as a contractor and it shows in his quality of work, and relationships with subs and vendors. When there were hiccups, Vic always took initiative to help guide us in key decisions and amend it quickly. He helped us find ways to reduce cost when things were getting out of budget. He would re-do or change things out even though it meant more trouble and $ for him, just to ensure we were happy with the final result. We had a hard timeline of moving out of our apartment into our home at 4 months and he worked diligently with his team so we could move in on time. His workers also are hardworking and considerate, and we always felt comfortable with them as they did work around the house.

Vic will not only meet the status quo, but will go the extra mile too on little things such answering every detailed request for touch-ups, coming to my work in Glendale to show me materials, and hauling away every piece of trash we had from unpacking. He even let us borrow his truck to pick up furniture! All in all, if you are in the market to hire a contractor, I can't recommend Vic enough. You will definitely feel absolutely taken care of from beginning to end and he will do everything in his power to help you achieve your budget and timelines and most importantly, finish the job the way he promised.

Thank you Vic for all your work on our beautiful home and the time and patience you've taken with us every step of the way!! It is rare to see this level of commitment and customer service when all you hear are nightmare stories about remodels. I'm very glad it didn't turn out that way for us. :)

Jessica L.

I never thought I would be giving 5 stars to a contractor. In fact, I would have been elated to leave a renovation with giving three stars based on the countless stories I've heard from friends about the nightmares of working with different contractors. Well, Vic and his crew made me a believer that you can have a positive and exciting experience with home renovation. Below I highlighted some of the best things about Labbad Construction :)

Time:
To begin, they were on time. What?! I know. Really. It blew my mind too. They showed up when they said they would, and they were on time. They gave me a deadline of how long the project would take and they met that deadline which was crucial because we didn't have a shower during the renovation. Gym showers aren't so fun. Even when some parts didn't come in on time, Vic didn't wait to complete it - he drove over to Home Depot and picked up new parts for us so he could finish the job.... yup on time.

Safety:
I am pregnant and I was home alone most of the time with the crew and I always felt completely comfortable. They were always respectful.

Cost:
I interviewed six other contractors. He wasn't the cheapest and he wasn't the most expensive. He's more than fair, and I never felt like he was taking advantage of me. Along the way we added some things and he sent us updated budget sheets to make sure we understood the changes. It should be said that some of the other contractors had fancier presentations. Some sent me videos of their work or professionally shot photos, and to be honest Vic showed me stuff on his phone and sent me some emails of pics he took on his phone. I was totally fine with that, and actually appreciated that I was working directly with the owner.

Progress:
Every day my husband and I would run upstairs to see what they had completed, and they always surpassed the amount of work we expected.

Quality:
Vic took our budget and helped choose quality materials. His crew installed them beautifully. Every detail was looked after.

Pride:
There were a number of times that I felt ""okay"" about a design decision and it was actually Vic who pushed me to make sure I was completely happy. For example, there was a tile he had chosen based on what I told him and when it arrived, I was fine with going with it. He saw my face and insisted we got to a nearby tile store to find something I really liked. He didn't have to do that and it took more time from his day and in the end, I was so pleased with the change. Vic and his crew have pride in their work and making people happy!

In the end, we have two GORGEOUS bathrooms that were done on time and in a budget we found to be fair. We have recommended Labbad Construction to two other friends so far including my husband's boss which should tell you how genuine and confident we feel about this company. We wish you luck in your search and hope this review was helpful!