l & z construction

Luis Zavala, the owner, walked off this simple bathroom + powder room rehab in Week 8, when I asked him please to stop damaging the rest of the house (e.g., numerous nicks in drywall corners and similar scars on freshly painted walls and doors). By Week 8, Luis Zavala was not yet one-half finished with the bathroom. Drywall and rough electrical and plumbing were not yet finished, yet Luis had installed the floor tile and he had just begun installing field tile in the shower stall when he walked off. Luis Zavala told me his jobs must be fun for him, and I think he chose to do these easy tile installs first for this reason, that this work is fun for him. His practice during the 8 weeks was to work just one or two days per week. He told me that this is because he has landlord customers who give him repeat business, and he will always bump working on the projects of a new customer in favor of serving the needs of these repeat customers. When Luis Zavala walked off in Week 8 we had paid him 55% of the $6,800 contract price (a *labor only* deal). He was about 1/2 finished with the bathroom, and was also denying that the $6,800 was to include doing the powder room, even though the powder room scope is right there in black and white in our written agreement. As for the quality of Luis Zavala's work, it is sub-standard. Sloppy solder joints on the water lines. Ragged "Sawzall" edges on the drywall. He blew out large chunks from two bricks on the exterior wall when he incompetently misused a circle saw to drill a hole for a vent. We had to clean up after Luis Zavala several times, and when he walked off the job he left behind a giant pile of debris -- toilet, vanity, flooring, a dozen black trash bags -- that he had left sitting there for the entire 8 weeks. When Luis Zavala walked off I asked him what I was supposed to do with this giant pile of debris and he said I should put it in the city dumpster in the alley behind our house.