Finishing Touches

Very disappointing.  They rushed and we paid for it, with a less than desirable outcome. ? Attention to detail and ?pride for the job? was lacking in many parts. Mr Steve Paz originally estimated the project to take 1.5 weeks ? and that?s what he bid on. He was given all the project details, shown the materials to be used, design, and was even pointed out ?problem areas? ?  bid was based on this information and timeline.  Sometime during the process, it appeared he had decided get it done in 1 week, - rush ? and results were less than what we were promised. While we believe Steve knows his tiling very well, he lacked attention to detail on this job. ? The tiles are unevenly placed, which could have been adjusted via mudding or adjustment of the thinset/adhesive. ? The spaces are uneven as well. ?  Steve knew from the very beginning that we had asked for a very tight 1/16 spacing, but seemingly forgot ? then wanted to convince us that this [our choice] caused the problems. ? Worst, the cuts were only in the beginning done by him himself, - those turned out very well and show his expertise.  He then nevertheless had his subcontractor do the cutting, which led to miss-cuts and miss-measures! ? Ends are not matching, cut outs for the plumbing fixtures are chipped, and he used a tile missing a piece of a corner in the very center of the install, which can be detected immediately!  See above, all showing the rushed job.  We also have to deal with grout haze as the tiles were not properly cleaned.  I have two colors of grout even though it has been 12 days since he grouted the tile. These problems were never fixed.  He never owned up to the problems or apologized. As for the drywall job, we are pleased with the outcome provided by Mr Richard Paez, who seems to have his own ?Warrior Remodeling? company. ? The only thing to mention here is the lack of care for our place.  ? We know and understand drywalling is a very ?dirty? job [dust, joint compound, etc] ? and the gentlemen mentioned several times they would tape off the area with plastic but never did. ? Steve has to assume responsibility for this lack of care.   While we received a pleasant drywall product, the finishing touches, and the cleanup were missing as well. ? Outlets were not raised, and the outlet plates not even placed back on the switches, as originally promised. - Cleanup was superficial with a run of a shop vac I provided in the main area, my front room was haphazardly swiped with a wet rag or something and left streaks all over on an antique hardwood floor. ? They also used a base board made from old historic pine wood with board sizes not available anymore as ?scrap wood? for their framing. ? Again, this was never acknowledged nor apologized for and the missing baseboard was not offered to be replaced even with present material. We even offered Steve an additional $100/25$ per hour for four hours extra, for him to slow down his work and redo a particular detailed section of the tiling, a small 1? border around a recessed niche in the bathroom wall.  He had tried to shortcut by installing this border at a lower elevation than the surrounding tile making excuses why it could not be done.  At his request we removed the tiles from the border and the walls of the niche so that the tile would not set too hard.  It did not take very long for him to fix the elevation issue. He fixed this in a few hours ? At the end, when we pointed out all the flaws, he knew very well that we were not satisfied but offered no resolution.   During the process he was quick to point out flaws/issues he found but ignored his.    I gave him two checks- one for the original amount and one for the extra $100 with a note saying you, Steve decide whether or not you should cash the $ 100 check.  He cashed both checks.  
Bottom Line Problems/Unresolved: ·       1.  No Prep to prevent dust carried into other parts of house.  2.  Baseboard mentioned in text.  3.  Grout distances uneven.  4.   Tiles uneven, raised.  5.  There is grout haze on the tiles.  6.  Use of an obviously chipped tile  
I was foolish to pay him in full for  a job that I was not happy with.

Additional Member Comments 3/18/2013
His performance was terrible and I allowed him to get away with it. The message is if it is his idea he is ok if you have a specific design in mind do not hire this guy.

I called Mr. Paz and he returned the call right away. He came by the house and gave me a bid on the project. He showed up as planned and called me before he arrived at my house. He brought his assistant with him and they worked very well together. He had to go to Home Depot and get some longer screws to secure my electrical plates on the wall. He did not charge me for this service and wanted it to be complete when he finished the job. He ask me about the color of grout and significant decisions as the project went along. He kept me informed about the progress and procedure in the process. He finished the project in less than a day. It was perfect and I am so pleased with the results. He protected the floor in my house and cleaned up before he left the project. It was raining and he wanted to make sure that everything was left in perfect order. I am very pleased with the job that he and his assistant did. I would hire him again..without any reservations. Thank you Mr. Paz. Keep up the fantastic work that you do! I will be hiring you again!

I had a lot of questions before the project started and Steve was very prompt to answer them over the phone or in detail over email. He was always prompt, professional, and literally swept his way out of the house every day. He hired another person to tile with him at the beginning of the project who ended up quitting in the middle of it. He called me right away to explain the situation (only caused a one day delay) and also tore out two tiles we thought were laid incorrectly (by the other tiler) without a moment's hesitation. We used slate on the floors, which is not an easy stone to lay, and were very happy with his craftsmanship. We will definitely be hiring Steve Paz again in the future for additional tile work.

We attempted to tile our master bath and closet ourselves and installed about 30 square feet before we quit for various reasons.  We found Finishing Touches on Angie's List, in addition to two other promising tile install companies.  Steve, from Finishing Touches, was the only one able to come out and give us an estimate within a week and he came the next day.   He came around 6:15 on a Monday night, gave us a quote for the work, and was able to start that Wednesday.  The work included:  1)  Removing about 30 square feet of our incorrectly installed tiles 2)  Installing ~130 square feet of 12"x24" porcelain tile (purchased by us) in a bathroom and master closet and then grouting it 3)  Painting, cutting, and installing ~60 ft of baseboards.

Steve and his coworker, Gabriel, arrived promptly at 7:30 AM and completed removing and installing the new tiles by that afternoon.  Prior to working, they laid down sheets from the front door back to the bathroom to protect the entryway tile and living room floors.  This is rarely done and shows they cared about our existing floors.  They arrived on time the next day to apply the grout and install the baseboards, which only took an additional three hours.

The entire job looks amazing.  If we would have known that it would only take about 1.5 days to install for the price Steve quoted us at, we would not have considered doing it ourselves.  He was a complete professional and we will definitely be working with his company again for any future tile installs.

overall, the job went Great!!  I am EXTREMELY happy with the work that was done. I wish I had some more remodeling to do!

Steve kept in touch with me from the time I ordered tile until it arrived.  He made arrangements to pick up the tile and installation materials from the tile store, and delivered it all in good condition.  He and his assistant Gabriel were neat, professional and on time.  While discussing the decorative tile, Steve drew several pictures of designs he could do and which would look good with the type of tile and marble I had purchased.  I was very pleased with both Steve's professionalism and the quality of his work, so much so that I plan to have him do two bedroom floors in the next month or so.   Steve was came highly recommended by the tile store owner and I understand the enthusiasm which came with that recommendation.  He was extremely neat and left the job site clean and organized.  The whole job took place over the course of 3 1/2 days; this time included repairs and re-sheetrocking the walls prior to the start of tile work.  Overall, this part of the bathroom remodel has gone well and on time.

It went very well! Steve is a professional. To me that means the whole deal. He answers his phone, returns your calls, shows up on time, and does a FANTASTIC job. He cleans up the site when he's done and sticks to his very fair price. We are remodeling our 1928 stucco home and are VERY particular about the workmanship. Steve came highly recommended. Although he is very busy he is definitely worth the wait. He did a great job on the 3 projects that we needed to have done. I would hire him again in a heartbeat and my only regret is that we didn't wait for him at the beginning when we had our upstairs shower installed. I also want to mention Steve's helper Javier. Another true professional. They are both very nice guys and fun to be around. I'm looking forward to using them again.