Bonsai Builders is Jason and Kristin Hintlian's design-build remodeling company in Spencer, working across Worcester County and MetroWest on kitchens, bathrooms, basements, decks, additions, siding and windows. Jason runs the build side, Kristin the design side, and customers describe dealing with both of them personally from the first meeting to the final walkthrough. Jason Hintlian holds Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration 201698, verified active in the state registry.
The bigger projects are where the detail is. One family added a foundation, a primary bedroom, a bathroom, a laundry and a breezeway, with Bonsai handling the town permits and walking them through design and build. Another had an unfinished basement turned into an open playroom and bar, a half bath and a gym; when the job hit unforeseen problems, that customer's point was that Jason stepped up and put each one right. A 2024 basement project involved bringing a staircase up to code in restrictive space without losing the closet above it, and gutting a water-damaged room. In January a homeowner whose kitchen had been wrecked by another contractor says Jason came the day they called and had a crew there a few days later; the kitchen was done within a few weeks.
Kitchens and baths are the steady work. Customers who say they knew nothing about matching cabinets, flooring, countertops and finishes credit Kristin with pulling the selections together — one in May says the layout was reopened into a kitchen they love, and an August 2025 customer had a full demolition and remodel that met the timeline set at the start. A July 2025 customer singles out Richard and Spencer for tile work and finish. A 2026 reviewer describes the new showroom and a 3-D design program that shows the remodel on screen before it is built.
Smaller jobs get taken too: a bathroom floor redone on time and on budget in a crunch, a door selected and installed properly, a pool deck designed and built, a three-season porch replaced with a larger deck, and a dangerous stairway rebuilt quickly in January after Dave found room in a booked schedule, with Trevor and another carpenter doing the work quietly enough for a house in use.
The complaints are few and specific. A January 2023 reviewer says that less than two days before a scheduled quote visit for kitchen damage, the company called to say the job was not worth its time or resources, after they had set aside time to be there. A June 2026 four-star customer, happy with the outcome and with Kristin's help choosing finishes, notes that weather and the size of the project caused disruption along the way. Several other reviewers mention town inspections and other outside delays that ran past the schedule. For a full kitchen, bath, basement or addition where you want design and construction under one roof, this is a company whose customers describe steady communication and clean sites; if your job is small, ask at first contact whether it fits their schedule, and get the permit and inspection responsibilities written into the contract.
