Michael's Home Services

Stay far away from this guy. Contracted him to do some work on an outdoor kitchen. Installed the cabinets a little off kilter so that other contractors had to develop a work around to finish properly, left one part undone and did not complete it for over 2 weeks after lots of promises to come finish it were broken, then said he would not do electrical he agreed to in writing (it was installing one plug) since he does not do electrical. When I pushed him on it he told me I was full of S###, called me a joke, called me an A###### and asked me if I ever graduated from school. We had an honest disagreement but that kind of language and accusations are not ever appropriate.

What a mistake! Michael Coletto's work was erratic and he did not monitor his workers or subcontractors well. There are so many examples: floors and ceilings aren't level, windows were installed incorrectly, then re-installed, and some are still not level, heating and plumbing systems were installed poorly (our kitchen sink backed up badly after only 5 months of light use, so we can only use our garbage disposal intermittently), interior trim was not caulked and is separating from the walls, kitchen cabinets are not level or plumb, master shower valve was installed off center, etc., etc., etc. Mike has his own design ideas and doesn't particularly like working with architects. He told us, 6 months into the job, that he had never intended to build our front porch according to the contracted construction drawings, instead showing us a porch that he had built for someone else. We promptly made every payment Michael Coletto requested, even though we were concerned that he hadn't even started certain items at the 6 month mark (the job was to last 8 months). We just wanted our home done - but by 10 months, we had paid 85% of the contract and there was far more than 15% of the work to be completed. Mike yelled at us and demanded more money. However, based on the quality of work, the re-work that needed to be done, the fact that our AC units weren't on site, our kitchen appliances weren't installed, we had no gutters, etc., we told Mike we would make no further payments until specific items were completed in the next week. Mike agreed to this, but he did not complete those items and did no work for two days. We refused to pay for incomplete work and he walked off, saying he would not complete our contract because he was bankrupt. He left a huge construction mess, materials from other jobs, and debris that cost us thousands to remove. Throughout the job Michael Coletto signed Waivers of Lien for our payments, but when he left we discovered that he had not paid subcontractors and materials suppliers. Now our house has been liened. Michael Coletto used our address to purchase materials that were not used in our home, so that supplier wants money from us. Mike even told our neighbors we had not paid him for his work! A month after he walked off of our job, Michael Coletto started a new company, Michael's Home Services, with two divisions, Carpentry by Michael and Michael's Kitchens and Baths. A few weeks after that, he filed for bankruptcy for his first company! He declared on his bankruptcy papers that we owed him money that he had never requested from us. Our house is unfinished, our title is muddied by liens, and we have been pursued by collection agencies for Michael Coletto's contracts. It is a year later and we are still finding construction problems and struggling to finish the work ourselves. Michael Coletto's bankruptcy and bad work has cost us more than $70,000, and we have paid dearly in terms of time and peace of mind. Sadly, our home will always bear the marks of careless workmanship. Be forewarned if you work with Michael Coletto.

The work was not completed properly. I felt it was not completed with the appropriate workers and sums were not paid. Eventually he told me that he didn't have money to finish job. It turned out he was filing for bankrupcy. He did not pay his subcontractors, and there wasn't enough money left in the contract to finish the work. It also turns out that he didn't pay for the materials. He owes $9,000 to materials company. I had to find all new sub-contractors, he called all sub-contractors and told them not to work for us stating thatI had not paid them. He claimed he did all of the crown molding even though he didn't. That came from a different supplier. He never provided me a list of sub-contractors names. We have had to find new contractors to finish out work that he said he was going to do. The job was delayed by 3 or 4 months and he even yelled at me a few times.