<b> UPDATE: Carlos has now started a new company under the name of RedefineYYC. At least two of the pictures on the website were done under another company name. </b>
This is his pattern - do shoddy work, close down the company so that he doesn't have to be responsible for it (I was told that it was a business decision) and then start up under a new name.
This review is for work done by Carlos under the company name of PBIC, which is owned by the same owner as PSE (Protective Surface Enterprises).
I am posting here as it was Carlos's work that is to be reflected. It is a similar story as the other reviews posted.
I hired Carlos after getting multiple quotes and references. He had done other work in my condo building and appeared to be reputable. He had started doing work under the banner of PBIC instead of Arcoat. I did not understand till later why.
The scope of the work was a complete got the condo literally from ceiling to floor. It included, but was not limited to, the following:
– drop ceilings with knockdown texture and pot lights throughout
– a new kitchen which included removal of the wall and re-positioning of electrical
- New flooring, which was either laminate or tiling, throughout
– new bathrooms, which included new vanities new toilets and in the master bath a new walk-in shower
– New baseboards and doors
– new electrical switches and outlets
– painting throughout
– Other miscellaneous items
Carlos' work was random at first. He said that everything would be done in three weeks. I was doubtful as I had run into time overruns before. Chalked this up to contractor talk. He would show up randomly, his crew was there more regularly. He was random and in his communications , he would tell you what you'd want to hear. When I asked him what would get done in a particular day or week he would tell me and it never would.
He always put you on a rush timeline insisting that you had to do something i.e. pick out tiles or doors and then would not do anything about it for a week.
Separately, I was also having a split air conditioning installed by a separate company. This involved the pulling of an electrical permit. I had told Carlos that I also wanted a permit pulled for the rest of the electrical in the condo as a new drop ceiling was put in and pot lights were being installed throughout.
The other conversations had been cordial, even if they weren't conducive to getting lots done. When it came to the electrical permit, everything took a turn. It turns out that he did not quote for the electrical permit in the original cost as he did not think it was necessary. I insisted that it was. It was a good thing that I did because unbeknownst to me, when the inspection came for the AC, the city inspector noted that there was no other permit pulled for the rest of the electrical. As a result, and non-permit was put against the property. What that meant was that I would not be able to sell it unless I got a permit. The city inspector actually took the time to track me down. He did not have any of my contact information as I'm not the one who pulled the other permit. He explained what had happened and that he'd actually told Carlos that he needed to get a permit, which ironically was at the same time that I told him to get a permit.
When confronted with this information, Carlos did what he normally did and did a lot of talking. I was not letting him do only the talking. I insisted on a permit and that this matter be cleared up right away.
He did get a permit and the renovation continue to drag on. The next issue was around the shower. It was a walk in shower with a bench. I insisted that Carlos waterproof the shower basin. He kept arguing with me on that. In the end, it only took 15 minutes. I said why are you going to argue with a customer over something that takes you 15 minutes to do. I specifically said to him that no work was to continue on the shower until he and I had a conversation. He chose to ignore that. After the renovations were done, and I was ostensibly allowed to live in the condo while the touch ups were being done, I started using the shower. Within a day, many threads of the black mesh on the floor of the shower started popping up. When I asked the tile setter about this, he said that he had not finished grouting nor sealing the shower. When I asked Carlos about it, he claimed that it had been done by someone else. I also pointed out the back of the shower that seem to slow down and water was pooling. Carlos said that it would get sorted. This would be disproven as within a few months so much water was pooling at the back went taking a shower that the grout started coming up.
When it came to the kitchen, in which Carlos clearly had no experience installing, he stated that the contract only included the installation of the boxes, meaning the cupboards. The doors and drawers were extra. This was the first time I heard of this and ended up having to pay someone else to do this. Just his way of trying to recoup some money.
It was just about done when there was an incident with the plumber. Carlos, who is supposed to be my general contractor, allowed the plumber to do shoddy work and be disrespectful towards me. It was at that point but I insisted on speaking to Carlos' supervisor.
The supervisor came in and mediated the situation. I was presented with a final bill which was close to $10 000 over our original agreement. I refuse to pay the vast majority of it as none of these extra charges, with the exception of one, had been agreed to.
About a month after the renovations were done in the final payment was made, a crack appeared in my ceiling in the master bedroom. This is a brand new drop-down ceiling. Some people out to fix it and only made it look worse. When I asked again for it to be fixed, I was told the company had ceased operations and would no longer be doing any work. So much for my one-year guarantee.
Since then, more cracks of appeared in ceiling. Additionally, my shower over which there was much discussion, has major grout coming out as reported on evenly and it pools at the back corner.
Having a guarantee means nothing. There are many other stories like this. Carlos does not hold up his end of the bargain. It appears the pattern is to work under a company and then close it as long as it's no longer sustainable for you and don't feel like having any integrity.
Update 2: I had some other electrical work done. As a result of this, it turned out that the pot lights were not hard wired rather, a plug was run to plug it in. The electrician had never seen anything like this.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $50,000.00