As you see this event happened 4 years ago but I've just now joined Angie's List so this is my first opportunity to write a review of G&L Cabinets. Before I hired G&L (owner is George Fuston) I checked his license on the Calif state contractor's license board. He was indeed properly licensed as a cabinet maker, as he stated. I did not find any "issues" with his license. What I didn't realize was that in order to legally remodel my kitchen (he did electrical and plumbing as well) I should have hired a general contractor. This was my first mistake. I eliminated the businesses who were at the bottom and the top of the price-bid. G&L fell somewhere in the middle.
I asked George several times if we needed to get permits for the work, because I wanted to do the job legally. Each time he said permits were not required. As we found out later, permits WERE needed, but George, as NOT a general contractor, would not have been able to get permits. I was working during the remodel but some family member (myself or my husband) was always at home while G&L was working. On the first day, when I arrived home from work, I noticed on their truck parked in my driveway, that my ceiling lights were amidst the debris in the bed of the truck. This was shocking because we had decided that we would NOT proceed with remodeling the kitchen lighting at this time.
The job had many problems along the way such as cabinets built wider than agreed upon so had to be rebuilt. This should have been an enourous red flag. What happened is that at the very beginning of the process George emailed diagrams of the measurements to me for my approal. I immediately noted that the pantry was several inches wider than it should have been. If left as shown on the diagram the pantry would have left no room the the "light switch" to fit on the wall beside the pantry. Keep in mind that this event occurred at the very beginning, supposeded before the work had even begun . I immediately called George to inform him of the error on the diagram and he said, "that's too bad because I've already built the cabinet. I guess I'll have to build another one. "
Also, the finish on the cabinets was not as I had requested. For example I had repeatedly stated that I wanted wood with a finish that showed a minimal grain pattern. What I got was wood with an extreme amount of visible grain. George just said that I was being difficult. There were many places on the cabinet doors with peculiar areas of loss of color. It turns out that these marks were due to improper use of the drying racks during staining process. There are about 5 different finishes in the kitchen, meaning the finish and color of one area is visibly different from other areas.
There are 2 cabinets that sit on either side of the stove, above the base cabinets. George installed the left one so that the door opened INTO the range-hood, instead of opening away from it, resulting in an immediate dent in the door when it banged into the range-hood. George said it was "industry standard" for the doors to open into the range-hood! Initially he said he would charge me to replace the door, but I absolutely refused to pay for his mistake.
I bought an expensive crushed grainte kitchen sink, with bowls of different size and depth. I had told George that I wanted the garbage disposal on the left side, where he had removed the old one. I explained that the right sink was much smaller and I'd be using the left side to wash pots and pans so that's where I wanted the garbage disposal. When I came home guess which side I found the garbage disposal on. George said putting it always on the left side was "industry standard." I said I didn't care what industry standard was, I didn't plan on spending the next 20 years scooping garbage from the left side of the sink (the only side large enough to wash pans) to the right side where he had installed the disposal. He did change it, again noting how difficult I was.
Initially George and/or his worker (can't remember his name) were there every day. But the closer they got to finishing, the less often they came, even when he told us the evening before that he would be there. This cost us a lot of money because my husband is a substitute teacher. He only earns money when he works. There were MANY days where my husband turned down work in order to be home because G&L was scheduled, but they never showed up.
On the first day they pulled out and disconnected my stove so that I had no where to prepare meals for my family of 9. They of course were able to observe the "hardware" that protuded from the wall for the gas line to the stove, since they had handled it to disconnect the stove. I had purchased a new gas stove and it was delivered a while later--I can't remember now exactly when. It sat there for a few days and when I asked them why they hadn't hooked it up yet, they said that the new "modern" stove used different hookups than the 1979 stove that it replaced. Shouldn't they have noticed when they disconnected the old stove that new stoves required different hookups? If they're doing kitchens all the time you'd think this would be a frequent situation for them. George said I'd need to call a plumber to come put in the new hookups, and that the cost would be on me. On the one hand, George should have told me right away that this was necessary, but on the other hand I feel much safer that the work was done by someone other than G&L.
While we were arguing back and forth problems began to emerge with the workmanship. The "finish" on a door near the sink began to come off. George said it was because we "opened the door too far." The shelves inside the pantry came crashing down one day. Literally. They fell to the floor, spilling all of the pantry contents. We have pictures! George gave no response.
Then something strange happened, and to this day I can't figure out George's motivation. He got a friend of his who is a licensed general contractor, to go to city hall and pull permits for the kitchen remodel--which was when George asserted the work to be fully completed, by the way. When the inspector came it resulted in a LONG list of required fixes. At this point I did not feel that having the same people who did the shoddy work now upgrade that work so I would not allow G&L into our house. Long story short, George put a lien on my house, even though the Calif state contractor license web site says it's illegal for a contractor to put a lien on a house under these circumstances.
Eventually we hired a lawyer but ended up going to arbitration. What a joke that was! The decision required us to make the final payment, but then G&L had to pay us back $7000. George was forced to remove the lien from our house. At the arbitration hearing George did not seem to be distressed in any way. It's as if his attitude is "this is just the cost of doing business. Yes, I do crappy work, but I hardly ever have a customer who will push the matter this far. Most just go away."
Stay far away from this company. You will regret it if you hire them. Do not trust them with your home.