Central Stone & Tile

In response to your complaints about my
company, I submit the following:

MASTER BATHROOM

When I (David, owner) went out to the job originally on
February 4th, 2019, the customer and I discussed the possibility of
fitting an abnormally large sink into her master bathroom vanity. The customer
stated that there was going to be some reconfiguration/changes in dimensions of
the cabinets width-wise (cabinet boxes were getting moved around and adjusted
to make room for this new sink). She did not mention the fact that the cabinets
were getting shallower, front to back. Her old cabinets finished at 22” from
the back wall to the face frame of the cabinet boxes- her new cabinets finished
at 21”. When we discussed the possibility of the sink fitting into the new
re-configured sink box (taking into account the new cabinet box would finish
out at 22”), I told her there would be some room in between the lip of the sink
and the faucet. I also stated that worse case scenario, we would have to
cut/notch the front or back of the sink to make it fit (we notched the back of
the sink to make it fit in the sink box). The customer never told me about any
changes in the vanity, depth-wise, between the time I measured and explained
how this sink could fit in the box and when I sent my templater to the jobsite
to template the vanity countertop.

During the time of the template, on March 11th,
2019, Derek (my templater) went over every detail of this job with the
customer, including the standard overhangs that were going to be put on this
vanity. I have photos from my templater showing the sticks glued together with
the finished size of the countertop. All of these details were approved by the
customer.

The customer states that there is drywall repair work
needed where the old countertop edge detail and backsplash were compared to the
new, smaller countertop (again, new cabinets were smaller front to back, as
well as side to side). The new countertop was made smaller than the original
countertop because of the excessive overhangs there would have been if we made
the new countertop the same size as the old one (standard overhang over face
frames is 1 ½”: in order to make the new countertop finish at the same
dimensions as the old countertop, the overhang over face frames would have been
2 ½” vs. 1 ½”). Making the overall size of the vanity (front to back) would not
have made a difference in the sink fitting inside of the cabinet box.

The customer also states that the sink was installed
crooked: the sink was not installed crooked, and this did not prevent the doors
from ***ning and closing. What prevented the doors from ***ning and closing was
the fact that the sink was too big for the cabinet box. Had the customer kept
the cabinet depth the same as what she originally had, there would have been
about ¾” of wiggle room in the sink box (with a 22” cabinet box), and therefore
no modifications to cabinetry would have been required.

See attached photos: Master vanity Photo- shows cabinets
shorter and shallower than original. Outside of template sticks is finished
countertop, master vanity photo 2- shows overhang is 1" shorter than
original top (again, new cabs are shallower and shorter than original

GUEST
BATHROOM

The
customer states that we did not inspect the tiles when we picked them up from
distributor: We did inspect tiles for major chips or imperfections. We did not
commit to inspecting every tile for veining consistency, warpage, pitting, etc.
The tile the customer selected was 12 x 24 Carrara looking marble tiles. I told
the customer when I originally went out to look at this job that marble has
inconsistency, as it is a natural stone, and that no two tiles will be exactly
the same. When my tile installer went to the job, the customer totally rejected
over half of the tiles that I had ordered in, because the veining and pattern
wasn’t running all the same way. I agreed to order another 6 boxes of tile to
try to get the customer taken care of. Note that I did not order more tile
because we were short on the original order; I ordered more tile because I
wanted to make the customer happy and try to get more tiles with a horizontal
vein pattern. With all the tiles I have left over, I could have done the same
floor a second time…

The
customer states there was excessive lippage on the floor tiles and that grout
joints were inconsistent (between 1/16” and 1/8”): When I went out to this job
to measure/bid, I told the customer that 3/16” was required for installing
12x24 marble tile- she wanted the grout joints to be 1/16”. I, as well as the
tile installer, told her that 1/16” grout joints are too narrow for the type of
tile that was getting installed. As far as tile lippage is concerned, ANSI
A137.1 standard state that allowable lippage for this type of tile is 1/32”, or
about the thickness of a credit card. When the other company owner, Mark, went
to the jobsite, he bridged a straight edge from one tile to the other in many
spots on the floor, and he couldn’t even slide a piece of paper between the
tile and the bottom of the straight edge: any lippage on that floor was well
within standard. Additionally, the customer states that the tile installers
told her we should have used a “technique” called “floating the floor”- we did
float the tiles to make up for the inconsistency in the floor- it is called
installing tile. “Floating the floor” is not a technical skill, it is simply a
part of the tile installation process. The customer states that she has had
four licensed installers come to her house to inspect the work- only one of the
companies she is referring to can I even find using a simple *** search…

The
customer states that drywall repair work was included in our estimate: In no
area of our estimate, nor any correspondence between CST and the customer, does
it state that drywall repair was included in the price I gave her.
Additionally, the customer asked me for recommendations on who can take care of
the VERY MINOR drywall repair work that needed done. I gave her a couple of
recommendations, and made it clear that Central Stone and Tile is simply
referring a handyman who could take care of the drywall repair. The customer
even paid the handyman directly, without any phone calls or emails stating that
she expected to get reimbursed by CST for that expense.

See attached photos: Drywall damage- very minor drywall
repair needed after old vanity backsplash was removed, guest bath floor- tiles
were sorted and any without major horizontal veining were rejected. All cuts
are tight to walls and door jambs...

In
response to the customer’s claim that we owe her ANY sort of compensation:

Central
Stone and Tile fabricated and installed the final master bath vanity countertop
and backsplash exactly to the template that was made and approved by the
customer. Additionally, the tile floor in the guest bathroom was installed
pr***rly, given the specifications the customer wanted. In no tile job is there
absolutely zero lippage or grout joint unevenness. The customers expectations
for both of these projects was absolutely absurd. The customer does not seem to
understand any part of this industry, nor does she understand what she was
expecting, and what was possible. Much of this debacle could have been avoided
if the customer told me from the beginning that the depth of the cabinet boxes
was going to be 1” shorter than the old cabinet boxes.

The
customers request that Central Stone and Tile owes her money for this project
is absolutely ludicrous. We have tried to reason with this customer on multiple
occasions, trying to make it right with this customer. We agreed to remake the
vanity top, out of good faith, to add ¼” to the front of the overhang side of
the vanity, to make it 1 ½” overhang vs 1 ¼”- the customer stated she did not
want us in her house again. She even sent Mark (the other owner) an email
stating that Central Stone and Tile’s work was completed and settled fully. It
wasn’t until I sent her a balance invoice that she started this complaint. We
do, however, apologize for all of the “weeks of nightmares” you had because of
the troubles you experienced. We understand that remodels can be scary to some
people…

The
customer states that she has an email trail with all the details of what was
and wasn’t said. What she doesn’t realize is that I have that same email trail,
and have gone through all the correspondence as well. It is unbelievable how
many details and important information has gotten twisted within the customers
mind.

I would
also like to state that the customer expressed to me and my showroom designer
how many different trades she has had in her house, and she has had ZERO good
things to say about any of them. She even told us that she felt she needed to
supervise a crew of outside paver installers because she felt that they weren’t
doing their job pr***rly. The common denominator in these issues with our
company, as well as the other trades she has dealt with, is the customer.

In addition to not financially compensating customer,
Central Stone and Tile will be sending a demand letter for the balance owed.
The balance invoice even includes a credit for the remaining tile that did not
get installed, because the customer refused to let our installers complete the
tile job. If we do not receive payment within 10 days, we will pursue
lien/collections avenues…

Let me know if you need anything else, we look
forward to getting this resolved.

Thanks,

David

Central Stone and Tile was hired by the customer to fabricate and install quartz countertops in the customer's kitchen. When we went out to template the countertops, the templator (who is actually a owner of the company) asked the customer if they wanted sharp inside and outside corners or radiused inside and outside corners. The templator pointed out the fact that there were radiused outside corners on their drywall (which are called California corners), and asked the customers if they wanted the corners on their granite to mimic their drywall corners. The templator also brought up the fact that radiused corners are safer for the customer, as a sharp outside corner could cause harm if someone was to hit a body part on them (a child could easily hurt themselves if they were running through the kitchen and hit their head on a sharp outside corner). After explaining the advantages of these small radiused corners, the customers said they would like the corners to mimic the drywall corners, so the design was consistent with the home. After the install of the countertops, the customers had one of the owners come out to the house to address the customers dissatisfaction with the radiused corners. As the owner was explaining to the husband what was discussed about the corners at time of template, the husband said he remembers talking about the existing drywall corners and how we were going to mimic them with the corners on the quartz countertops. Central Stone and Tile feels that there was a major miscommunication between the husband and wife, as the husband was happy with the final product, but the wife was not satisfied. The husband remembers talking about radius corners, but somehow the wife did not remember that discussion.

After Central Stone and Tile was asked by the customer for a more detailed estimate, we sent them a more detailed estimate with a better breakdown of the cost (fabrication, demolition, kitchen vs bathroom, etc). We were never asked to clarify inside and outside corners on the revised estimate. Central Stone and Tile has never put this detail on our estimates, as all details like this are discussed at time of template, and physically written on the templates (which they were).

At time of template, the templator discussed using extra support brackets for the customers upper bar. The templator assumed there had to be a seam put in the upper bar in order for us to get the upper bar out of their purchased material (this was the main reason why we thought we needed metal support brackets). After we laid the templates out on the slab, we discovered the seam was not necessary and we could get the upper bar cut out of the slab in one piece. Due to the size and shape of the upper bar, the metal support brackets were not necessary. I talked to the husband after he mentioned the brackets were not used. I explained why they weren't necessary, and he understood. Central Stone and Tile immediately refunded the customer for the unused brackets.

The customers state that they were very unhappy because they had spent YEARS planning, researching, and visualizing the remodel of their kitchen. It is hard to believe this, as after template of the customers kitchen, I received a call from the husband saying that we should not move forward with fabrication of the new countertops because they had not made up their mind as to how they were going to modify the upper bar. The wife said she needed to talk to some of her "designer" friends to see what the latest trend was on this area of the kitchen. I, the owner/templator, said that we would wait to cut the new countertops, and that I would come back out to their house to re-template the upper bar (free of charge) if they changed their mind. After a few days, the husband called me back and said after much discussion, they were going to keep the upper bar the same as what they currently had. To Central Stone and Tile, it seemed the customers really had no idea what they wanted.

Central Stone and Tile offered to install the customers tile backsplash at a discounted rate in good measure to try to help the customer in some way. The customer refused this offer, and sounded like they wanted the whole kitchen replaced, which is absolutely ridiculous. Central Stone and Tile kindly said we had done our job and had done it to the best of our ability. We told the customer we would still honor our 12 month warranty against workmanship and install integrity issues.

I would like to bring up the fact that the wife had NEVER talked to me directly after time of template. All mediation was between myself and the husband. I would like to re-iterate that the husband was pleased with the final product (Central Stone and Tile was paid in full), but the wife was the one that was COMPLETELY dissatisfied. If the customers were dissatisfied with the final product, we would have never received final payment. Central Stone and Tile feels like this whole problematic situation is due to the miscommunication between the husband and wife.