Colorado Custom Ceramics and Stone

To whom it may concern,This is in response to *** ***'s complaint about Service Issues against Colorado Custom Ceramics and Stone*** used my name in his complaint so I feel I can use his name as wellAlso, the name of the company that he has a complaint with is Colorado Custom Ceramics
and Stone, which I am the owner ofThe information for this company is listed below in my email signatureThe following quoted text was sent to *** via a message that he responded to in favor of my explanation of his complaints."I understand your frustrationI subtracted $for the drywall repair to the ceiling, drywall cost is usually $40-$per sheet for hanging, tape/mud and textureIt was one sheet that needed repaired but I basically doubled that amount to cover any extrasOriginally in your description of the job, windows (in all tile installed areas kitchen back splash, guest bat shower, and master bath shower) weren't discussed and the square feet totals you gave me to estimate the job cost were a little offWindow wraps are similar to a recessed niche in that it needs durock, waterproofed and tiled so there is extra laborThose few things were a small extra labor amount and after the $deduction the total came out to $above the original estimate which is what I included in the final two payments of $1200." This was my message to *** about the extra labor charges*** is basing his complaint about the extra charge of $based on an original estimated priceWhen a contractor does work for us, we allow for at least a 20% discrepancy between his estimate and the final invoiceThere are always going to be issues with labor adds or material adds throughout a project and for *** not to understand that is appalling to me.This particular project was difficult from the startA new construction house and the builder of the house was *** *** in Salida, CO, which is a small mountain town without a lot of resources like *** *** or ***, and *** is the home ownerOur company is based in Longmont, CO which is a three and a half hour drive one way for us to this job site*** hired us because they couldn't find a tile installer in the town of Salida that had time to do the work within their construction schdeuleAlthough I worked with *** with design, a lot of the construction issues and details about the tile, scheduling, and logistics were addressed with the actual builder and General Contractor on the project, *** of *** *** and I worked through the shower pan issue and figured out together why it had leakedIt was filled with water for an inspection (which was supposed to be scheduled the following week, later to find out that they didn't need an inspection at all and all of the waiting was for nothingThat alone stretched out our schedule by two weeks)There was sand caught between the drain flange and the drain where the water was leaking throughI drove up specifically to meet *** at the job site and figure out the problemI told *** I would be happy to reimburse the cost of the drywall and he told me not to worry about, he said "You know what happens, and that was the whole point of filling it was to make sure it didn't leak"So we corrected the problem and moved on with completing the project. The next issue was the kitchen backsplash*** insisted that we install the backsplash without cabinets or counter tops installedI voiced my concerns, told him we should wait until after counter tops were installed and told him that the measurement he gave us to work with could be off for a variety of reasons, but he told us he would like us to proceed anywayOnce the backsplash had been installed and grouted, the cabinets and counter tops were finally installed multiple weeks later, which again added to the schedule being stretched outWhen we went back to do the final walk through and punch list, there was a 1/2" gap from the top of the counter to the bottom of the first row of tile because of ***'s wrong measurementHis idea to fix this was to have us cut a line of 1/2" tiles all the way across the bottom of the backsplash which spanned close to twenty feetThis fix alone took hours and obviously would be an extra labor charge because of his mistake and wrong measurementThis was very frustrating! I fixed the problem the way he wanted and moved on. Another issue he is describing in his complaint is the Sanded Caulking compared to Non Sanded CaulkingThis was done on purpose and with the owner's best interests in mindWith close to twenty years of installing experience we have learned that Non Sanded Caulking does NOT hold up in a walk in shower and wet areas and will crack and disintegrate over just a few usesAs result we use Sanded Caulking in place of Non Sanded or we go over the areas with clear silicone, but silicone can change the color of the caulk lines resulting in the caulking not matching the groutNow, although the caulk lines may look a little different aesthetically with Sanded Caulk, it is still the same color matching caulking made to match the grout color and for functionality it holds up longer and won't need repaired. As far as his complaint about scheduling, the schedule was off on this project from the beginning and poorly managed on their endWe had to pull of the job multiple times for multiple reasons, waiting for cabinets and counter tops to be installed so we could finish the backsplash, waiting for interior paint to be done, waiting for a shower pan inspection (that didn't need to happen at all) and a few other reasons I haven't even listedWe worked through the scheduling problems and completed the jobAt one point *** sent me a message telling me he was going to "light a fire under *** to get things done"Apparently there were a lot of scheduling issues with the builder and *** seems to think he can blame us for all of them.*** bought his tile for this project at a second hand store, from what he told me, it was very poorly manufactured 2xwhite ceramic lugg tileThis inexpensive tile is very hard to make look goodIt has many variations, defects and overall is not a good product to useHe used this same tile in all of the tile areas (kitchen backsplash, the guest bath shower and the master shower)This made our job extremely hard, trying to make an inexpensive and poorly manufactured tile look goodHe also had us install old leftover tiles he found in his mother's garageWe had to clean it and wash it just to install itIt is clear we made the tile installation look good because *** does not list anything wrong with the overall installation and quality of the install, in fact he states that "we did the work".I feel like we are in some ways being bullied by this home owner and his complaint to the Revdex.com is unwarrantedHis complaints are petty and his lack of construction experience has shown through in this complaintHe is mad about a $extra charge that differed from the original "ESTIMATE"He needs to look up the definition of estimate in my opinionHe also needs to understand that there is a "human element" to construction and trades and although he can imagine that every line will be perfect and every joint will look like it was made on a computer simulation, there are always going to be flaws, either by the installer or the manufacturer of the productHe says he appreciates art and artists but it is clear that he doesn't and can't appreciate the time, money, and sacrifice it took to complete his projectVery disappointing. Sincerely,JS***OwnerColorado Custom Ceramics and Stone** ***
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