GD CONSTRUCTION

Guillermo did a good job. This was quite a while ago and the column is still doing fine. He had to install a mailbox and keep a light working in the column. He also reused my old bricks so it matched how it was before. He did a very good job.

GD knows their hardscaping work. Theyd did a wonderful desing and had some great ideas for the gates. They came up with great ideas and did some great work. They were very good professionally and so was their clean up. They were not good at returning calls. I am going to have to give him a D for the way he handled my gates.

Working with GD owner Guillermo Delgadillo was unpleasant from beginning to end. A job he estimated at 6-8 weeks was in its ninth month when we finally fired him. We would have done it sooner, but none of the four contractors who came to the site as possible replacements wanted the job when they saw the mess that he created. Building a retaining wall is difficult and requires frequent inspections by the Dept of Building and Safety. Our inspector was tough and frequently admonished Mr. Delgadillo for cutting corners and not following the structural engineer's plans. At each inspection, I cringed listening to Mr. Delgadillo lose his temper and argue with the inspector who usually responded by failing us. We also failed three soil compaction tests done by a company of recognized experts in the field. Mr. Delgadillo's response was to insist that we hire a friend of his who would pass us no matter what. That we wanted a safe wall not a passing grade on shoddy work seemed to elude him. (Needless to say, we did not hire his friend.) In fairness to him, the wall finally turned out okay even if getting there was painful. The steps and patio were another story. The steps turned out poorly and another contractor finally agreed to come in and repair them for $2,500. The patios were improperly graded, so whenever they get wet, I must push the water to the sides with a large broom or puddles remain for days. The alternative is to demolish them and begin again. I successfully sued Mr. Delgadillo in small claims court for the money we spent repairing the steps. The judge did not buy his flat-out lie that he hadn't worked on them! He didn't pay the judgment and I had to have the state contractor's license board suspend his license which finally motivated him to settle his debt.