J Michael Design

Installed backsplash, replaced garbage disposal, vent a hood, faucet, braces on breakfast bar. I was very happy with the contractor, and would definitely recommend him.

The bid and time met with Joseph was good. He was professional and seemed to know what he was talking about. I liked him and trusted he would be able to do what he bid within the time frame he suggested. We signed a contract...all was good.
I'll start by saying the Wood floor, windows, appliances, plumbing fixtures, tankless hot water heater, backsplash tile and lighting fixtures were not part of the $28K bid. These were extra homeowner expenses.
Demolition started on the day proposed. That went quickly and well. From there on it was a push him situation or a back up and fix situation. We talked to him many times about the sub-contractors he was using. There were several that we told him to not let them come back.
His brother, Richard Rector, Bella Construction, was a big part of the problem:
The painters he used sucked! They were contracted to paint my kitchen cabinets (originally stained and varnished a natural oak) white. There was no preparation at all...they taped everything off and spray oilbase paint on them with the cabinet doors open and drawers pulled out. The paint ran and the hinges and rollers were all painted! So they sanded it all off and tried again...same story, it didn't work because it was so thick it was not completely dry. Joseph had to replace ALL of the door and drawer fronts! Major set back!
We purchased our wood floor from him...he overbid us 16 boxes of $5.00 a sq ft wood floor (nearly $1300.), that he said he would take back , but would not give me a check for it...he wanted to pick it up, I didn't trust I would get my money back, so I kept it.
The cabinets he had built are mid-grade at best. They do not roll smoothly and the bottom is already falling out of the pot drawers...pot drawers that have like paneling for the bottom. CHEAP! I was told the granite I picked was a level one, but ended up being a level 3 which I had to pay ALOT extra for and it was cut wrong so one piece was too short. They tried to turn it around so then the rounded edge was against the wall and the other piece was still too short. I made them redo it, another set back.
Because Joseph was running so far behind he had some idiots install my wood floor, part of the original bid. I begged him not to and wait till all the work was done, but he would not listen and pressed on. They did not wipe the glue off as they went and other idiots working that day tracked the glue everywhere. My new pre-finished hardwood floor had glue ALL over it, that they used mineral spirits to get off...Joseph left for the day and the idiot that works for him decided to use a can of minwax wood stain and applied it all over 1000 sq ft of brand new flooring...more mineral spirits. Needless to say, I will never know what my beautiful new floor would have looked like, it is still sticky and every bit of dirt shows! Ruined!
We had to have the backsplash grouted twice because there were spots that had no grout. The plumber was as slow as molasses and came up with some excuse to leave about 2:00 everyday. It was a case of 11:00 and where's the plumber everytime he was supposed to be there. Again, nice guy, s***** service!
After the 10th week was up, my cabinets had no doors or drawers, the plumber still hadn't shown up and Joseph was busy in Calallen doing another job, we fired him. He did not receive the last draw of $6,000. which was not enough to cover the many things that are still left to be done. He did deliver the doors and drawers, but my husband had to put them on, wire the stove, dishwasher, garbage disposal, and under cabinet lighting. Also, all the plugs were still hanging out. The new tankless was in, but the hot water needed to be rerouted, so we had to call another plumber to get that done and remove the old hot water heater. There's a part on the end of the bar/island that we asked him countless times how he was going to do it and it just never got done.
There was no respect whatsoever for our personal items and property. The garage floor and driveway have paint and glue that I still haven't got off, they piled stuff all over my furniture in the garage which gouged it and someone actually cut stuff on top of the new granite, there are scratches to prove it. One day someone whacked off the top of my huge ponytail palm, just for fun I guess. Every time they sawed something they failed to tell me and my Hummer would be coated with sawdust! No Respect!
I could go on and on, there's plenty more. Feel free to ask me or I'll send pics. My job should have been done in 4-6 weeks. It went twice that and didn't get done. My husband and I can do most of the work, not all, but we've done lots of remodeling ourselves. We don't have the time, we have the money, we didn't want to do it is why we hired someone. It's October and our job is still not done.
Our kitchen is beautiful as long as you don't look closely. I realized one day the reason for that is all of the extras that I payed for extra and of course, the whole thing was my plan as I visioned it. Joseph may be good one day if he chooses to learn from his experience, but until then I'd urge you to keep looking!

I could not have been in better hands. They worked quickly, on time and helped to restore the condo on a tight budget. I highly recommend this company. They are great to work with and do a quality job. A year later I have them back to resurface a deck. The work has held up.

They arrived when they said they would and work continuously to complete the job.

It went well. They were on time. I was happy with everything. They did everything when they said they were going to do it. The quality of work was good. I would recommend them.

He was very professional. Went shopping with him to pick out tile we wanted and all other items for the bathroom. He was at our house almost everyday. At the end of the remodel he sent in a professional cleaning team to clean our house. That was very thoughtful of him.

My son who is hearing impaired had a major leak in the wall between his bathroom and living room. Having recently moved there, he did not know anyone in the area and working full time, couldin't handle the claim with his insurance company. I contacted Angie's list and chose J. Michael to do the repairs. His price was very competitive, his work was excellent. He gave me dates and times and was there exactly when he said he would be, everything was kept neat and orderly at the end of each day (family still had to live in the house) which was tremendous help. He even took pictures for me. I can not say enough about this man and his crew. I highly recommend them.

It was great.

Joseph Rector of J Michael Designs is an engaging man, a talented designer and detail-oriented contractor. In our kitchen renovation, he worked with us in determining its new design. We are very happy with our finished product.

The kitchen is beautiful. He solved some tricky design problems and reused some beautifully carved wood in the meantime. Our only criticisms lie in the length of time it took to finish the project (which is hear is typical). His cabinet-maker (sub-contracted) was two weeks late in making delivery, and then had to do over some of his work, delaying the project yet another week. Still, all said and done, we are very happy with the final outcome which was attained at a very fair price.