AEDIFICIUM

We hired Raul (Aedificium, LLC) on 21-Sep to remodel our bathroom. After dealing with lies and false promises, several missed deadlines, and shoddy construction work, we fired him on 15-Nov. To date, we are still fighting to get $900 back for items paid for but not delivered and, of course, trying to finish our incomplete bathroom. The lying. We provided Raul with a key to our home for convenience sake, with the stipulation that he always leave the house locked. We came home on 16-Oct and found the front door unlocked. We texted him to inquire and he replied saying, "he must not have turned the key all the way." This seemed like a plausible explanation and a forgivable mistake. No one is perfect. However, when we checked the Ring video, we saw the subcontractor on the phone (presumably with Raul) searching frantically for a key. He then left without locking the door. It's what we didn't see that concerned us: Raul never returning to lock the door as he had claimed. There is no video evidence of Raul attempting to lock the door as he claims to have done. Lie #1. Raul came to our house on 11-Oct to talk about the awful drywall job (see pictures) and to explain why the project had slowed to a crawl. It was during this visit that we asked him why the vanity had not arrived, despite selecting and paying for it on 21-Sep. He told us the vanity was “arriving by freight and that it would take a while.” Lie #2. And when the vanity did arrive, it was the wrong size. We ordered a 6-foot vanity but got a 5-foot one. While this wasn't Raul's fault (we confirmed that Wayfair made the mistake) he put his own interest above ours. When we questioned the size, he stated that he could send it, back but a new one would take 3-4 weeks to arrive, thus delaying the project even longer. The contractual deadline for completing the project was 20-Oct. Faced with this choice, we chose to accept the smaller vanity in exchange for the difference in price. Raul still hasn't refunded our money. On 28-Oct we called Wayfair to personally inquire about our vanity. We weren't convinced that Raul was being forthright with us (see Lie #1) and wanted to verify his story. We spoke with a Wayfair rep and learned that Raul's story didn't check out. The vanity, according to Wayfair, had been ordered on 11-Oct (the date he said it was arriving by freight), shipped on 12-Oct and arrived on 19-Oct. So, we wondered why this vanity had arrived in 7 days, but a new one, according to Raul, would take 3-4 weeks? Raul simply didn't want the hassle of returning this one, and he knew if he could get it installed, the chance we would just accept it increased greatly. He accomplished this manipulation by lying to us about the length of time it would take to ship a new one. By presenting us with a false choice, he got what he wanted, and we were stuck with a 5-foot vanity we didn't really want. He should have ordered the vanity the day we paid for it, and had the wrong one arrived, immediately phoned us to see what his client wanted to do. Because he forgot to order it, he had to play catch-up and when the wrong one arrived, he was in a pinch to finish the project – at our expense. Unacceptable construction techniques. Our bathroom design included a new tub and shower. The shower included a niche, small bench and all new marble subway tile. (Once it's done, it's going to look great.) Anyone with any construction experience knows that certain precautions must be taken to ensure a waterproof shower. That is, everyone but Raul. We came home one day to find the shower walls had been covered with 1/2" cement board and thin set covered over the screw holes. While this at first appeared to be good, I soon discovered that certain items had not been installed. For example, the front shower wall was covered with cement board, but the shower control valve and riser had not been installed. Installing these items after cement board had been applied is impossible. Additionally, the niche had not been framed in. When we questioned Raul about these glaring mistakes, he shrugged them off, and insisted that everything had been done according to plan. I thought this was absurd. Who covers the shower walls without plumbing in the shower valve and framing the niche? The entire shower has now been tiled except for the front shower wall (still no valve or riser). Because of this, the cement board on the front shower wall that will be eventually be installed (waiting to be installed after the control valve and riser are plumbed in) cannot be tied into the other shower walls or tub surround cement board, because tile has been set. Ideally, the niche would have been framed out and the valve roughed in first. Then you install cement board to the whole area and apply waterproofing material on all the joints. This creates a seamless, waterproof enclosure. To do it any other way is just bad construction and dumb. In the end, my shower was piecemealed together and will likely leak. The drywall job is terrible and our hardwood floor was damaged during demo. We could go on about Raul, but if we haven't convinced you to steer clear of him, nothing else we say likely will. He's a dishonorable and dishonest man who fancies himself a competent contractor. Don’t buy it.