MEMO'S FINISHING & CABINETS

Memo is absolutely the best and would never use anyone else. Now going to work with him on master closet.

Memo's Finishing & Cabinets price is very reasonable. They are very accommodating to all of my needs. They did some unusual fittings of the cabinets and did a superior job.

Memo was honest about not wanting to say he would do the job until he knew when he would be able to fit it in his schedule.  Don't expect an exact date, but when it got closer and he knew when he would be able to do the work he was right on schedule. Do be patient as his first language is Spanish so I sometimes repeated things a different way if he didn't seem to understand and that helped.

We found Memo here on Angie's List.  So glad that we did!  We had two other cabinetmakers come bid our project, both of them wanted to change things to make it easier or more contemporary to stay within our budget.  Memo worked with everything we wanted:  White Quarter-sawn Oak, raised panels with profiles that matched our dining room wainscotting, custom stain color to match existing woodwork.  After meeting with someone else who recommended him and showed us her kitchen, we followed her suggestion that we provided the design of the kitchen right down to sketches and clear dimensions with a lot of details about size of rails/stiles, doors, heights, glass vs. wood panels. Then Memo made suggestions about how to include a custom (hidden) spice cupboard and lazy susan options.  He had suggestions and questions about how to tie together some odd angles and dimensions in our old house kitchen.  He also built custom laminate countertops for us with oak trim to match.  

We sent the plans with him.  He said his brother has a shop in Iowa where much of the initial work was done (building doors, cabinet frames, etc).  Then Memo pulled up with a large truck and started installing/building the cabinets in our home.  Installation took about two weeks (a week longer than he planned) because we had some measurements that were different on two different sets of plans and he rebuilt 2 cabinets to fit.  

As mentioned by others, be patient with communication.  I understood his English 99% of the time, and when I didn't, I just asked him to tell me again, or said that wasn't understanding.  He is a perfectionist and wants to be sure that he is communicating clearly, and that his work is beautiful and a reflection of the craftsman that he is.  

Be prepared to wait.  We hired him and then it was about six months until he could get to our kitchen.  It helped to have patience, to make followup phone calls when I wasn't clear about next steps.  He was always very respectful of our home, our schedule, and our vision for the kitchen.  His family helped with installation and they were delightful. 

In the end, we are thrilled with the kitchen.  We get a ton of compliments with 10' ceilings and beautiful cabinets that go all the way to the top. Memo really delivered much more than we expected!

It took a while to get on his schedule, but it was worth the wait and I would highly recommend him.

We are very lucky to have found such a fantastic craftsman and person. He is one of the finest people I've had work on my home. He is conscientious , honest, and timely. He is perfectionist in the finest sense of the word. His is a small family operation and he works on one project at a time. He and his brother and son are very friendly and have been a pleasure to know. I've seen some previous reports on Memo refer to a language barrier, I've found that claim to be false. Memo has an accent , but his English is fine and we had no issue with communications. I have absolutely no complaints. He is the best and we will use him again.

My cabinets are old but sturdy. I was planning on just painting them white to save money, but after talking with Memo, he suggested refacing as an alternative. This turned out to be a fantastic idea. He explained step-by-step what the process would be and offered me choices along the way. He made a new set of doors and drawer facings and worked with me to pick out the hardware I liked. Since my kitchen is old and the floors are not quite level, squaring the doors and drawers seemed like it was going to be impossible. But, Memo is extremely detail-oriented and took the extra time he needed to make my cabinets look level and brand new. He is a highly-skilled carpenter, very professional, and amiable.

If we could give a better grade than A we would. Memo was fantastic and went above and beyond our wildest dreams. Highly recommended

Memo's can be described as the ultimate perfectionist. He brings a very competitive price, does meticulous work and is very customer oriented. English is his second language and I had to repeat myself a few times but it really was no problem. The experience was if not better than everything I asked for.

When people look at my cabinetry, they think I paid triple the cost. Communication is key with this company. I would recommend that you do your own measurements as well to make sure they are accurate through the project. The older the house, the more important this is. He and his wife are very nice people. They'll do their best for you.

We hired Memo based on Angie's List reports and couldn't be happier with the result. He built very solid, beautiful cabinets for our kitchen. When provided with a picture of what we wanted, he exactly replicated the design. The cabinets fit perfectly into place and he only spent about three days installing the cabinets, since he does most of the work in his shop. He and his family are kind, gracious people who take extraordinary pride in their work and are a joy to have in your home. Memo is a perfectionist whose ultimate goal is making his customers happy and doing what he loves. The cost was less than what we would have paid to reface our cabinets. Memo does not provide you with precise drawings. His customers must be comfortable with ambiguity and surprises in the design. He also prefers to work with natural woods, no stains. The trade-off is a kitchen created by a true artisan with amazing skill. Our kitchen cabinets look like what you would see in a million-dollar home!

Attention to detail was great. Memo wanted to make sure that we were satisfied with the finished product. He worked within our guidelines and added some touches (panels and routing) to make the custom work look special. He's busy - so it took a little while to get our calls returned initially for a bid. The job was performed on time and on budget. The on-site work was completed in just two days.

We are very pleased with final product. Memo was very attentive to what we were thinking of and offered many good suggestions. It is obvious he takes much pride in the quality of his work and pays very close attention to detail. The cabinets are very sound structurally, built with high quality, and look great! This is part of a basement finish and the bar cabinets and fireplace mantle really make the room shine. The fireplace mantle is very impressive and much, much better quality and better looking than purchasing through a fireplace store. Great job all around!

The company was responsive to our requests and timely. Changes to the work order were minor and we were not charged an additional fee for their completion. However, the carpentry was only average and the finish on the cabinets was unacceptable. We had to sand down the cabinets and refinish them which was labor intensive and very disappointing.

VERY GOOD WORK AND REASONABLE TIME FRAME.

HOW FORTUNATE WE ARE TO HAVE FOUND MEMO THROUGH ANGIE'S LIST TO BUILD OUR KITCHEN CABINETS. FROM THE BEGINNING THIS WAS AN ABSOLUTE FLAWLESS TRANSACTION. APPOINTMENTS WERE SET UP AND KEPT, AND MEMO AND HIS FAMILY WERE ALWAYS PROMPT. CALLS AND E-MAILS WERE RESPONDED TO IN A VERY TIMELY MANNER. MEMO IS A TRUE CRAFTSMAN THAT KNOWS HIS ART, HAS FABULOUS IDEAS, AND WORKS TO PLEASE THE CUSTOMER. WE HAD NUMEROUS BIDS FOR OUR KITCHEN-INCLUDING, ALL VERY EXPENSIVE AND NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THE CRAFTSMANSHIP MEMO PROVIDES. THIS IS A MAN WITH A TRUE SENSE OF HONOR AND KNOWS WHAT IT MEANS TO WORK HARD AND WORKS UNTIL THE JOB IS DONE RIGHT. IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS PROJECT-MY HUSBAND HAD SERIOUS MEDICAL EVENT AND MEMO MOVED UP HIS TIMELINE-EVEN WORKING ON A SATURDAY, WITHOUT COMPROMISING THE SUPERB QUALITY IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE MY HUSBAND CAME HOME TO A COMPLETED KITCHEN! WE INTEND TO REDO OUR BATHROOMS IN A YEAR AND MEMO WILL BE THE CABINET MAKER. THANK YOU MEMO FOR THE BEAUTIFUL NEW KITCHEN.

WE FEEL SO LUCKY TO HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH MEMO. CALLS ARE ALWAYS PROMPTLY RETURNED. HE COMPLETED THE WORK ON TIME AND ON BUDGET, HE IS AN AMAZING VALUE. AND THE WORK EXCEEDS OUR EXPECTATIONS, JUST ABSOLUTELY TOP, HIGH END QUALITY, BY A TRUE CRAFTSMAN AND A WONDERFUL PERSON. VERY TRUSTWORTHY, VERY TALENTED. MEMO IS PROBABLY THE BEST SERVICE PROVIDER WE HAVE FOUND ON ANGIE'S LIST. OUR FINISHED KITCHEN IS BEAUTIFUL, OF THE CALIBER IN BOTH AESTHETIC AND QUALITY OF THAT FOUND IN A MILLION DOLLAR HOME AND THAT IS THANKS TO MEMO. THANKS ANGIE'S LIST!

EXCELLENT, MEMO WAS JUST EXCELLENT. OUR JOB WAS A SMALLER JOB AND I WAS CONCERNED WE'D GET ''LOST'' BECAUSE IT WASN'T A BIG DOLLAR JOB, BUT THAT WAS NOT THE CASE. HE WORKS WITH MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY AND SOMEONE ALWAYS RETURNED OUR CALLS PROMPTLY. HE SHOWED UP WHEN HE SAID HE WOULD AND HIS CRAFTSMANSHIP WAS SUPERB. VERY FRIENDLY GUY. WORKED WITH OUR SCHEDULE FOR APPOINTMENTS (USUALLY COMING OVER ON A SATURDAY). GAVE US REALISTIC ESTIMATES FOR DELIVERY OF SERVICES, ETC. DELIVERED HIS PRODUCT ON TIME. EVEN LENT US ONE OF HIS TILE CUTTERS FOR A FEW DAYS! WE WOULD RECOMMEND HIM HIGHLY AND HIGHER HIM AGAIN WITHOUT HESITATION.

MEMO IS A TRUE ARTIST. HE BRINGS QUALITY AND YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN HIS WORK. HE PAYS VERY CLOSE ATTENTION TO DETAIL, MORE THAN I'VE SEEN WITH ANY OTHER VENDORS. HE ENSURES EVERYTHING IS PERFECT, DOWN TO THE LAST MILLIMETER. HE DOESN'T HIRE SUBS, HE WORKS ON EVERY PROJECT HIMSELF TO ENSURE QUALITY. HE USUALLY ONLY TAKES ONE JOB AT A TIME (ALSO, TO ENSURE QUALITY). HE MAY BE BUSY WHEN YOU CALL HIM, BUT HE'S WORTH THE WAIT. YOUR PATIENCE AND KINDNESS WILL BE REWARDED. MEMO IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON 3 MORE PROJECTS FOR US, A FIREPLACE MANTLE AND BUILT-INS, AN ENTERTAINMENT CENTER, AND A THEATER CABINET WALL. WE WOULD NOT HESITATE TO HIRE HIM, AND WILL PROBABLY NEVER WORK WITH ANY OTHER CABINET MAKERS AS LONG AS MEMO IS IN BUSINESS. IT HELPS MEMO TO HAVE A PICTURE OF WHAT YOU WANT, AND HE CAN ADAPT THE PICTURE OR DRAWING BASED UPON YOUR PREFERENCES AND SPACE.

MEMO PROVIDED EXCELLENT WORK AND DESIGN OF THE CABINETS. HE PAYS GREAT ATTENTION TO DETAILS AND CONSTANTLY STRIVES TO PROVIDE THE BEST PRODUCT POSSIBLE. HIS WORK IS GREAT AND THE PRICE IS MORE THAN REASONABLE. I WOULD NOT HESITATE TO USE MEMO FOR FUTURE PROJECTS.

MEMO'S COMPANY IS A FAMILY OWNED BUSINESS AND WORKS VERY WELL AS A TEAM. HE DOES THE CABINETRY; THE SCHEDULING, ETC. IS HANDLED BY OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS. ALL ARE TIMELY IN RETURNING CALLS, ACCURATE SCHEDULING, TIME ESTIMATES FOR FINISHING WORK, ETC. ALL WERE POLITE AND HE TOOK CARE TO BE CAREFUL IN OUR HOME AND VERY GOOD AT CLEANING UP AFTER WORKING. HIS PRICE SEEMED FAR FOR WHAT WE HAD HIM DO.

I FIRST CONTACTED GUILLERMO BASED UPON READING A RECOMMENDATION ON ANGIE'S LIST. HOWEVER, I ULTIMATELY CHOSE HIM TO DO THE CABINETRY WORK IN MY HOME AFTER SEEING THE QUALITY OF HIS WORK AT ANOTHER JOB SITE. HE IS A TRUE CRAFTSMAN WHO TAKES PRIDE IN HIS WORK. HE IS PLEASANT, TRUSTWORTHY, A GOOD LISTENER WITH EXCELLENT IDEAS FOR IMPROVEMENTS ON MY ORIGINAL DESIGN, AND REASONABLY PRICED.

MEMO IS A NATIVE MEXICAN WHO ARRIVED IN MINNESOTA BY WAY OF CALIFORNIA, WHERE HE DID CUSTOM CABINET WORK FOR SEVERAL YEARS. HIS ENGLISH IS MEDIOCRE AT BEST, BUT IF YOU HAVE A GOOD IDEA OF WHAT YOU WANT AND ARE WILLING TO INVEST SOME EXTRA TIME IN COMMUNICATING THE DETAILS OF YOUR PROJECT, YOU WON''T BE DISAPPOINTED. HE IS A TRUE CRAFTSMAN WHO TAKES A GREAT DEAL OF PRIDE IN HIS WORK. WE FOUND HIM TO BE HONEST, PUNCTUAL AND PROFESSIONAL, AND HE WILL ALSO GO THE EXTRA MILE TO MAKE SURE YOU''RE HAPPY. HE TOOK MID-CONSTRUCTION PLAN CHANGES IN STRIDE AND EVEN VOLUNTEERED TO INSTALL OUR MICROWAVE OVEN FREE OF CHARGE WHEN IT ARRIVED.

WHEN WE ARE READY TO REMODEL OUR OLD BATHROOM, WE WILL GO TO HIM FOR THE CABINETS AND FINISH WORK AGAIN.