CL Howton Construction

We used CL Howton Construction to do a major master bathroom remodel. Calvin was very responsive during the proposal phase, changing his price a couple of times to reflect the changing scope of work. Once the work was scheduled, he showed up when he said he would, and completed the job on time. The workers were friendly and professional. They protected the areas they had to walk through to get to the bathroom, and did a decent job of cleaning up at the end of each work day. Calvin did a couple of out-​of-​scope things at the end of the job and charged us a fair price for the extra work. Overall, we were very happy with the job.

I used Calvin for a complete house renovation and 500 sq ft addition to my house in Westlake. He and his team did outstanding work.
I have worked with several contractors in the past and I’ve always found it challenging to get people to show up when they say they’re going to, or even get them to give me a call back.
That is not the case with Calvin, he is incredibly responsive and gave me updates all along the way. He also looked out for my best interest and recommended different options to help save money. He would often go above and beyond and fix things that were outside of the scope of the project and would usually not charge anything for these fixes.
I completely trust him and would use him for another project. I highly recommend him for projects ranging from small updates to complete renovations.

I am writing this review 2 years after my project was completed, which may seem strange, but things should not be happening this soon after our project which is why I decided to post a review. For the positive, Calvin is a very nice guy and seems to be honest person.
We did an update to a bathroom, and two bedrooms, and we have gradually noticed things since the project was completed that are a little lower quality than we thought initially, and its all starting to show after some time has gone by.
For the not so positive. We replaced our bi-​fold doors, or so we thought and we kept wondering why are they so loud? The doors were replaced, but the new tracks that came with the new doors were not installed, we realized those were the things we saw in the dumpster, then it was too late! Calvin’s workers decided to leave the old ones on and they are not a proper fit with the new doors and over time this all became obvious by the doors skipping and sounding like nails on a chalkboard, so we have had to again replace with someone properly installing them.
After Calvin’s guys left, I had to go back and touch up lots of painted areas, they completely left some of the baseboard unpainted, and nail holes un filled and this was my fault for not saying anything, but at the same time I was just done with it and would have preferred to do some things myself to know it was done properly. I have heard that contractors like to mix paint with water so that their profits go further and they don’t have to purchase paint… who knows if that’s what happened, but it makes sense when I look closely at some of the paint work.
At the time of our project, Calvin recommended to keep our cast iron tub and referred us to a guy that re-​finished cast iron tubs, so we did that. BIG mistake, the re-​finish peeled 1.5 years later, and when I called calvin to get the contact info for the tub guy he gave it to me no problem, but then said he now no longer keeps tubs, he has homeowners get new ones rather than re-finishing…gee, Im glad I was your guinea pig on that one!
We had tile laid on the bathroom flow and the shower walls. Parts are crooked, and the grout line around the tub is uneven and ridiculously thick. For the crew that we had, I cannot say that attention to detail with tile was their strength. The grout in both places is cracking/​crumbling and tiles are popping up and the floor looks like crap in spots. I did ask Calvin if he could come look at it, and his wife said that he could come by and put caulk on it. It took me a while to get back to her and when I did with pictures of the cracked grout… crickets. At this point any band-​aid may only complicate things and we have to re-​do all the tile and get a new tub. It’s very frustrating.

Mr. Howton did an excellent job for us will recommend him to friends and family as well as on here. We shopped around and his price was competitive for our large, combined project; outdoor kitchen and master bath. His referrals we checked made us glad we did. He worked with us on several change requests. If something went wrong, it was taken care of immediately. He is a good person and works hard. Even put pads on our attic pull down stairs so they would not scratch new wood floor.
Something else we really liked, they cleaned up. If needed, he brought in a house cleaner every few days. My wife is hypoallergenic and that was huge for us.

Calvin not only remodeled two bathrooms (one just a shower re-​tile and new faucet/​valve hardware, the other floors, custom shower, new vanity. everything except tub and toilet), he gave us good advice on picking out our own materials to individualize the remodel, and save money overall .
The guest shower was a definite improvement, but the master bathroom/​shower is just stunning. The whole master bathroom came out even better than imagined when we were material shopping. (and he came back to fix the mess I made trying to mount my own lights and mirrors during the final week, without charging very much at all).
Calvin and his whole crew were on time, courteous, and did great work. I would recommend them to anyone.
I guess my biggest complaint is how short it makes me feel to stand anywhere near the guy. :|

Calvin Howton and his crew remodeled my kitchen and did a great job with granite counter tops and new sink and mosaic glass backsplash. It was magnificent. They are very professional. I recommend them to anyone having a remodel.
—Christine Lydle, Cedar Park

I got an estimate to do a bath from this clown, it was way too high, he defended it by telling me he uses a «formulated software» of some kind,
Then I got a bit specific on parts of the job, like some pluming would be moved-​etc…, and he disappeared…

Just recently had a new bathtub and tile floors our master bath by Calvin and his team of Shea and Hayden, who did a first class job. it looks beautiful. Calvin was very professional, gave a very detailed quotation, and completed the remodel with good attention to detail. We recommend them highly and would use them again for any new projects.

Our house
Is a very, very, very fine house
Love the song, but not the house so much. Still, after years of transforming it from its original 1975 state of awful, it was finally coming around. Except for the Fireplace of Brick Saddness.
When Calvin stopped in to evaluate it, I got a good feeling. A cool lumberjack of a man, he was friendly, cordial, and willing to give us options within our budget, without mysterious price-​doubling at the mention of just about anything. And when he checked out the kitchen tile («what kind of idiot tiles near a sink like this?» — the Crazy kind) he had an excellent outlook on how to get it fixed and finished.
His guys came over and wrapped up both projects in less than two days, and his bid beat everyone else’s by a mile. Everyone we worked with was polite and informative, making helpful suggestions for treating the tile and options for the fireplace.
And that’s it. I’ll light the fire while you place the flowers in the vase that we bought today.

I contacted CL Howton about a bathroom remodel. Mr. Howton visited my condo and told me he would email me a quote the following week. I never heard back.
* After posting my 1-​star review, Calvin called to apologize. It sounds like they were busy and just forgot about me. I’m sure he does fine work. Extra star for calling.

Called this guy to do a bid based on his Unilocal reviews. He seems fair, gives a detailed estimate, returns phone calls, prompt. Still figuring out if we are going to do the work.

Company:
CL Howton construction has a great website. They have done some fabulous work around Austin & Round Rock and I would recommend them for every kind of job, from high end remodels to complete house renovation. They provide excellent quality and service.
Background:
We hired Calvin after a very bad experience with a previous contractor. Our project was very big, it required everything from new walls, new flooring, painting, new bathroom, closet, sheetrock repair, countertops and much more.
Calvin was recommended by good friends so we called him for a quote. He was very impressive from the very get go. He was great with his communication, advice and use of technology. Since it was a rental property and we had lost money with our previous contractor, Calvin worked with us on our budget and promised to complete the job in less than a month. He also agreed to take his payments in 3 installments instead of 2, which was his policy.
Professionalism:
Calvin emailed a very detailed quote with floorplans and diagrams. It was by far, the most professional quote that I had seen. All his crew was well mannered and very professional. We felt very safe leaving the house to them.
He had laser measuring tools and used a Blackberry. Calvin is very good with tools & technology.
Advice & Cooperation:
All along the way, he was great in recommending the right approach. He was always very co-​operative in picking up and helping us buy the right material for the remodel. Even in areas where our design was not final, he made very useful suggestions. Even though, we only had a labor contract, Calvin was very helpful in getting material. He came with us to Home Depot and Lowe’s whenever we were confused. Moreover, he was always available over phone and email.
Dedication:
Calvin worked long hours and did a ton of extra work around the property to make it look better. He did a lot of things that were not part of the deal. He replaced and painted all our doors, locks. He also painted our storage cabinets and repainted the entire house. Regarding the quality, his paint job was fantastic! Much better than our previous contractor. He did a great job at the laminate flooring, tiling and building the deck around our jetted tub. Lastly, even though he had important family matters, Calvin completed the job on time.

Calvin did a bathroom remodel and installed new windows in the front rooms. He gave us a great price and did an excellent job. He maintained a very positive attitude even in the face of some unexpected set backs. He stayed on budget and finished on time. I can highly recommend him for contractor services and remodels.

Calvin is a fantastic guy who went out of his way to ensure my wife and I were awfully pleased with our remodel.
He outsourced to the best guys in the business, finished on time and was very fair and flexible in negotiations when we wanted to bring down the cost of the labor for the project.
He does free estimates… just give him a shot and when he shows up spot on time, you’ll start to realize he’s different from the average contractor/​remodeler…