The Remodelista

After foundation repair work was done to our 1985 two story brick home, it needed repair, patch work, and painting, in almost every room. A front porch renovation due to the foundation work piers meant concrete pouring and a refresh for the entryway. Carpeting needed replacing and laminate flooring was the choice for upstairs. A new closet design in the Master including some electrical work and additional concrete pour for new flooring was also on the list. Teri was always engaged, was prompt, listened, promptly addressed any problem that needed addressing, and her crew was outstanding. We have had other renovation work done in the past but Teri and her job foreman, Christian were both experienced, knowledgeable, genuinely cared about the work and customer, and delivered the highest quality job. The guys were here 2 1/2 weeks, working six days a week 8:30-6 daily. Patching, installing, painting, and repairing everything was done by Teri's crew... all professional and excellent craftsmen. I couldn't be happier and highly recommend the Remodelista for any of your renovation needs.

If you want someone who has to do the work twice before it is done right hire her. They had to install the fireplace mantle twice before it was level. When the lights weren't working correctly the foreman called an actual electrician. I have photos of my cabinet installation. I had to call and say I did not approve. The installer had to try three times to get the holes for the plumbing to line up before it could be installed. The fix was a piece of plywood over the back of cabinet. The countertop edge does not meet the end of cabinet so there is a piece of wood to cover the unfinished edge. She doesn't do change orders for approval just says this will cost extra after the fact. One would assume when you have a gas insert and changing the front of fireplace the quote would include the cost of the gas insert extension. The installation of the glass for the shower we had stopped during the second try. The first time, the glass was the wrong size and had to be recut. The second try the door was not installed perpendicular from the floor. (The hinge at the top of the door was approximately a half inch closer to the edge of tile from the bottom hinge). They did not order enough tile to replace the tile with the holes in it from the shower hinge and when they reordered it was a different lot number and it was an obvious difference. She did search to get a different lot number and it matched. But was told at first the installer said wait until it dries it will match. That didn't happen. They wanted to install cabinets that were longer than my bathroom, I caught that and they changed the order. When the cabinets came in the wrong top cabinet arrived and they were going to install smaller cabinet. I told them I would wait until correct cabinet came in. Not sure it they ordered wrong size or were sent the wrong size. Seems like everything had to be done twice for it to be done adequitely. Ms. Gilberg, The Remodelista, also came to the site, but would leave without talking with me, I had to chase her down to ask questions . When I mentioned that I wanted to talk with her, her comment was I didn't want to disturb you. Best way to contact me is by text. Don't you want a contractor to check if you are happy with the work or have any problems. These are only the major problems, I would not use her again. Sorry I have trouble downloading photos. But was able to get under bathroom cabinet. They did fix, but as I said I had to complain.

Teri and her team did an amazing job remodeling my bathroom. I brought several companies out and knew Teri was the perfect fit for me. We gutted out my master bath and started fresh. Removed a jacuzzi tub completely, expanding a shower, new vanities, new linen closet. Her team was amazing they showed up on time every day, worked late, clean up after themselves and we're very trustworthy. Teri was there to help me make decisions with colors and design and she's in contact with you on a daily basis. I also had her do new floors, new vanity, and new sink and toilet in my guest bathroom. I have now hired her again due to the pipes bursting in my home to fix my bathroom and change the floors in my home. I would recommend using the remodelista for any project you have

Remodelers did what they wanted not what we wanted. Many things needed to be re-done. Job took monthes when weeks were promised. Finished product below standard and more damage to hardwood floor and ceiling left behind. Will need to hire another remodeler to correct what was left behind. In all very unprofessional.

Teri and her crew is the best contractor I have ever hired. Not only do you get quality work and then some, you also get her eye for design. I never recommend a contractor before but I'm singing her praises ! I intend to hire her again shortly.

We chose Teri because her apparent professionalism and responsiveness impressed us. The process and guidance in selecting a concept, tile, hardware, etc went very well. The original contractor (PB Lonestar, note not a sub to Teri) did a generally good job on the non-shower related work, however, there were continuous leakage issues with the shower area. They made a modest effort to repair the issues but in the end broke off communication, suspended operations and left us hanging. Teri brought on one of her longtime subs for the repair work, which we again arranged directly with the contractor (better payment terms this time). Teri took no fee for the repair works. They removed the old shower floor and noted and corrected the significant deficiencies of the previous work (shower liner punctured, improper sloping, incorrect grout selection,etc.). Despite getting the opportunity to pay for the shower floor twice, the second crew (Tony Jesus Corvarrubias) were fast, professional and used the right materials for this job (wedi panels, flooring and curbing, fusion grout, etc.). Happy to report we have had no issues since and the bathroom looks very good. In summary: Teri is very creative, professional, responsive and knows how the work should properly be done. I would recommend early discussions with any prospective contractors to ensure the proper material selections are made, communicated to those doing the work and noted in the contract. Had our contractor known about and used the better-suited materials for this application (e.g. Wedi products) it would have been much better. Side note on contracting - the contract is actually with the general contractor, not Teri. Note that in TX no bonding is required so if the contractor fails to perform there is no real protection if they aren't worried about protecting their reputation (e.g. BBB). Highly recommend writing an appropriately sized payment retention into the payment contract so that if there are problems within a given period (say 60 days), there is motivation for the contractor to address them so they can get their last payment. The contractor's insurance policy does not cover non-performance.

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Very well.

Teri's team did a great job. Teri is very responsive and helpful. She went the extra mile to make sure I was happy with the job.

We have a very large kitchen which meant our kitchen remodel was a very large project. Teri (The Remdelista) guided us from the planning all the way to the finish line. She guided us on choosing the stone, tile and paint as well as many other details. Teri knows her business and does not rely on guesswork. She advised us where we could save money and what we needed to do in terms of "getting ready". Her granite guy Juan and tile guy Tony are real craftsmen and did a beautiful job. I heard many remodel "horror stories" from family and friends prior to our project. No horror stories for us. The project was not painful and the finished product was exactly what we hoped for. We are very glad that we contracted Teri.

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unknown

From the beginning, my husband and I were impressed with Teresa's ideas and responsiveness.  She was always extremely prompt in responding to any questions that we had about quote or work to be done.  After meeting with different contractors, we knew she was the way to go.  She worked with us on getting the most we could within our budget and exceeded our expectations.  Her crew is top-notch.  Not only did they arrive first thing in the morning as promised EVERY TIME, they were actually sitting out in our drive way prior to that time and would walk in at 8:00 a.m. on the dot.  We have done other remodel's and this was unheard of.
Teresa oversaw everything and communicated with us throughout the project to keep us updated on the process and the next steps.  Both she and her crew went above and beyond to make sure every detail was done to our liking.  She called her crew back without question if anything was not done to perfection and she was meticulous about reviewing the work of her crew.
 The workmanship of her crew is amazing and we are beyond happy with the final product.... so much so that we have already started to talk about other projects to be done in the near future!  We highly recommend the Remodelista.  

This was our first remodel, and we made an excellent choice in working with Teri. She was incredibly helpful, even going shopping with us to help us pick out tile, granite and other materials. It would have been much harder doing all of that on our own as we had no idea what we were doing.
Teri, Hector and the crew were great. They started work within a few days after we accepted the proposal. They showed up every day (even on weekends, with our agreement) and got the job done quickly. They didn't make promises they couldn't or wouldn't keep--they did what they said they would do. Teri came by almost every day to make sure things were going well and to check on the progress. The entire crew was friendly, they worked hard and they cleaned up the worksite every day before leaving.
What exactly did they do for us?
We ripped everything out of the master bath: carpet, wallpaper, vanities, lights, mirrors, toilet, tub, shower. The carpet was replaced with tile, and the wallpaper with paint. We wanted an extra large shower in place of the shower and tub, and they came up with a great design. As they were starting, my husband decided he wanted a glass block wall in the shower. Hector made it happen, and the wall is amazing!
We wanted vanities that were taller than the old builder-grade vanities. Teri came up with some kitchen cabinets that are not only taller, but deeper, too, giving us more cabinet space. I threw them a curve when I asked for a place to hide a litter box. My idea was to have a concealed space in the area where the opening for a chair had been. Hector came up with a creative solution using a cabinet with a partial door that worked great.
The kitchen was not quite as big a project as the bathroom, but there was still a lot done there. We ripped out the counters, backsplash, lights, wallpaper and sink. The counters were replaced with granite, the wallpaper with paint. A new sink and faucet were installed, along with an instant hot water outlet at the sink. We replaced the big lightbox on the ceiling with can lights and a couple of pendants for an updated look.
We used the same granite in the kitchen and bath, and had some left over. They used the granite on the windowsills of two small kitchen windows, as well as for shelves in the shower niche and a bench in the shower dry area. Nice touches!
I would use The Remodelista for any future projects. Whenever we asked for anything, Teri and Hector looked for a way to make it happen and made suggestions to get it done cost-effectively. When something went wrong (and on a project of this size, you will have a few things go wrong) they made sure the issues were taken care of and made right.
We love our new kitchen and bathroom. We got everything we hoped for and more. Call Teri for your project. She will take good care of you.

unknown

The crew was professional, courteous, always on time and the finished product was excellent . Teri was onsite often to make sure everything was running smoothly.  On this particular job I had a situation where during the evening a group of children decided to autograph and date the fresh cement, needless to say, when we found it in the morning,  we were quite upset that the beautiful job the crew had done was marred by the actions of children.  Fortunately, the manager came by the following morning to check the job and saw what had happened the night before so they had the guys fix the damage that was done . I will have a number of projects  in the future and will always pick up the phone to call 'The Remodelista'.

The Remodelista crew showed up on time and did excellent work.  If I had any questions or wanted to add or change anything they worked with me to accommodate that.  I have a number of projects coming up in the future and will not use anyone other than The Remodelista!

It went very so smooth and was done in a professional manner. The workers were always on time and very courteous . Teri visited often to follow with the progress. Everything went on schedule. I added additional work to be done as we progressed and was very happy with everything. Teri was a joy to work with, she even accompanied me to pick out materials. It helped me so much as I really didn't know what I was doing.

Everything was done professionaly, on time, and excellent quality. The contractor was also very helpful in choosing the materials and getting the best value for the money.

Work was done on time, professionaly, and excellent quality and at a fair price. Contractor was there whenever needed and was very helpful in suggesting savings on materials.

From the beginning I was not sue what I exactly wanted, when I first met with Teri she made me feel sure that we would find what exactly suited our lifestyle and home.
All the cabinets were taken out along with the counters and all, everything was replaced with newer contemporary cabinets and a back splash that would compliment all the appliances and granite counters around the kitchen. We never had any issues with punctuality, or communication. Teri made sure that we were well informed about all the work that was being done.
Overall from beginning to end it was a very smooth process and we are very please with our new kitchen.

The project was scheduled to accommodate our hectic summer schedule.  We are very pleased with the material Teri helped us select. We saved money shopping with Teri and using the discounts contractors are able to provide. We had a budget and time frame and both were met.

We plan to use The Remodelista and her team to remodel our kitchen this year as well.

Do take pictures prior, to insure everything you are reusing gets replaced.  Decide if you want to create the design, or have Teri. Pre-shop, prior to hiring, to come up with ideas about what you like, or don't so you can inform the Contractor and they can provide a budget.  Do monitor what is being done daily, as you may need to tweak previous decisions, if you decide you don't really care for a certain selection when partially installed (we opted for 12 X 24 travertine on the floor, instead of the 12 X 12's originally purchased; changed the wall color a bit, added in the new linen closet and the 'concealed medicine cabinets).  We had a lot of unique ideas and had narrowed it down as to what we wanted, (had purchased tile murals for each tub surround from Tile Art online and wanted these 'framed' with travertine moldings etc. ) so it was easier to communicate and get an on target bid.  Teri and her crew were prompt, showed up every day, as scheduled, kept their workspace picked up and knocked it out within the 3 week period we had free.  Jose, their tile master, was exceptionally thorough and we appreciate him taking the time to do it right.  The alignment of the geological striations in the Travertine was perfect and the result was a fluid look.  No one had ever asked for the left over marble to be cut and used for mirror frames.  We did.  We also recycled our huge mirror, at Teri's suggestion, and had this cut down at Meyerland Glass, to reuse in the smaller framed format.  This saved money and landfill space.  As we were installing taller, low flow toilets, they also wisely installed the new toilet paper holders higher up, to insure ease of use. We purchased medicine cabinets that have picture frame fronts (instead of mirrors from concealedcabinets.com), for changeable art, which they also installed.  Teri insured us that they would make it right, if we were ever dissatisfied with anything.  The installers had scratched the marble counter and she promptly had this polished out.  Hector, her on site contractor, built our new linen cabinet at home and it fit perfectly in the niche we were able to cut into the sheetrock.  Teri and I spent one day, going to the various vendors from whom I had checked out samples, to pin down and purchase the final selections, buying the rest from a pastiche of Floor and Decor, Home Depot and Lowe's.  One pre-cut granite counter top was sold out (an apartment complex bought the entire lot), so she and I agreed we would purchase an entire slab of rainforest marble (as this was broken on one edge and on sale) instead, which worked out perfectly-as we then had extra to make the mirror frames.  This usage yielded a clean line, but classic.  True to her work, the job finished on time, on budget.

The best closet organization design was based upon proper measurement of my closet space.