Joel Valdez Construction

First of all, Mr. Valdez never gave us a contract or good faith estimate.  He seemed like a nice enough man.  He told us it would be done in 10 days.   My husband tried to negotiate that, since it wasn't a hard or difficult remodel to bring it down to seven days.   Mr. Valdez agreed.   The first day, when my husband was home from work, everything was great.  The demo was done, the door was framed, and the shower was framed.   But, after that, he and his crew wouldn't show up to work until 10 am, and then leave at 3:00.  We saw little progress each day.  Then, he started saying that his crew couldn't come out, his mother was ill, his daughter had a school issue, his truck was broken.   All this inside of two weeks.   He wanted us to pay him daily for the work, so that he could pay his crew daily.  The problem was, there were several days when there was only Mr. Valdez and one other person, but we were still paying for a crew of three for 8 hours a day (and getting five, at the most).   At one point, we told Mr. Valdez not to come back.   However, we negotiated with him, and he said he'd have it done by Wednesday, September 17th.   
On September 19th, Mr. Valdez left the residence, telling me that he would be back tomorrow to finish up.  The paint looked like it had been done by a 10 year old, there was grout everywhere, a wall was left exposed (no tile, no drywall), and he didn't attach the shower fixtures.     He never showed up.   We called him repeatedly, and he wouldn't take our calls.  Five days after he said that he'd be back tomorrow.   He never came back.  My husband finally reached him, only to have him say that he didn't understand what needed to be finished, and that now he was working another job.  But, he'd try to be out the next day.  He never showed (no surprise there). 
So, we took matters into our own hands.  We've scrubbed off the excessive grout and paint left all over the bathroom.  We will touch up the paint ourselves.  We will create a fix for the wall he left exposed (no tile, no drywall).  However, as my husband began to attach the fixtures in the shower, he discovered that the valves had been installed wrong.  Again, a call to Mr. Valdez, and he said, "Sorry, I'm on another job."    We will caulk around the tile.  We will place the moulding (although we asked for tile in the spot where the moulding will go).    We are spending the weekend doing a job that we've paid over $7,000 for --- and at this point, it looks like we will have to call a plumber to re-do the shower plumbing (which, by the way, was not moved---it's in the same place as the old shower was). 

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I was not familiar with any contractors in the Del Rio, Texas area and a neighbor told me about Valdez Construction.  Telling me that he could literally do any type of construction and remodeling.  Mr. Valdez was kind enough to drive me around Del Rio one afternoon and let me see first hand the homes he had worked on.  I was even able to talk to some of the owners of the homes and my confidence was bolstered by the beautiful homes that he had built.  It seems no job is to large or small.I signed a contract with Mr. Valdez that afternoon and most of the materials for the job were delivered the next morning.  Mr. Valdez and his crew were here to unload the materials and started working immediately. By the end of the day a substantial amount of work had been done and it was obvious Mr. Valdez knew what he was doing and that his crew enjoyed working with him.  There were a few days when Mr. Valdez came out alone because his crew were working at another location.  However, he installed doors and windows and did trim work that did not require more than one person.

The project was completed in five days and Mr. Valdez and his crew even helped me move the new furniture in.  I am planning on having a covered patio built in the near future and Valdez Construction will definately be my first choice of builders to do the job.