Juan's Tile

I was not satisfied with another guy's tile job even though he had done excellent work on small jobs in others' homes, and did not want him coming back in my house for anything. I called Juan, as well as another Angie's list company, for estimates to repair the first guy's job. Juan took a few minutes away from another job to come by and give me an estimate when it was convenient for me. Juan's estimate was hundreds lower, he was much more responsive, and I had more confidence in the way he proposed fixing the tile than I had in the other company. I provided the tile and grout. It took Juan and his helper about six hours to fix the tile. It would have taken less time, but he was delayed by the gardener that had to come by on the first sunny day in weeks to cut the lawn where Juan had set up to cut the tile. Juan accommodated the interruption without complaint. The part of the floor that Juan repaired looks so good that it makes the rest of the floor look bad. The best part is that they did not leave a mess. Compared to the first guy, their was almost no extra dust in my house after they finished and they thoroughly cleaned up after their work

Juan surveyed the job and gave a bid right away...Arrived on time and finished the job one day sooner than estimated. Tiling was smooth and even...Clean up was done at the end of each day and care was used coming in and out of the job site.

Mr Retana installed travertine subway tile for my kitchen backsplash. His bid was very competitive and he had great reviews on Angie's list. When he came by to give me the estimate he was very personable and knowledgeable so I decided to hire him. The first bid I received was almost twice as much as what Mr Retana wanted. The price he quoted me included the tile installation and sealant (to be done 2-3 days later). We agreed on a start date and depending on whether he had a helper the job would either be one or two days which was fine with me. The Sunday before the job was to be done I confirmed the time with him. On Monday I expected him at 9 AM but he did not show up with his helper until just past 10 AM. We went over a couple of details (grout line, design) and after he got settled I left for work. I called him from work about an hour later to make sure he had my cell number in case anything came up. I did not get a call all day so I figured no major issues. When I got home the work was very close to being completed. At first glance the work looked beautiful! The tile I picked out was rustic and the simple design really transformed the kitchen. However, upon careful inspection I discovered that one of the moulding pieces was very different in color from the rest, which is understandable given that it is natural stone and variations are expected. What I did not like was that instead of placing that piece behind the stove or somewhere less noticeable, he placed it in very plain sight. We mentioned this to him and while he said he could fix it, the hassle of doing so seemed more trouble than it was worth. I wish he would have laid out the tile first. The second issue came after we tried to use the oven on our range. When we opened it, the door fell off its hinge! Apparently, while moving it out of they way to place tile behind it they picked it up by the handle and caused it to become unhinged. It was difficult to put back on and in the process our bottom drawer became scratched. I did not know if we were going to have to call a repair man so I called Mr Retana to let him know about the situation. He told me that the door fell off by him just touching it and he claimed not to have caused it to be damaged. I could not believe this as I had just used my oven the prevoius night and nothing was wrong with the door. Also never did he say anything about it before he left on the day the job was completed. When I asked him about it he appeared to be insulted and implied I might be taking advantage of him. Luckily for us we were able to locate our manual and my husband managed to place the door back on its hinges before Mr Retana came back to seal the tile. Although the job was well done with one or two minor details, and the price was right, I will probably not be hiring Mr Retana again.

Juan responded to my phone call whereas another that I called did not (95% of success is answering your voice mail). He generally showed up on time and tried to give me a call if he was running late. The repairs he did look great. He needed to carefully remove loose terra cotta tiles, his team needed to clean the old adhesive from the back of the tiles and then reinstalled them since they were not longer available for purchase. He was very professional and understood what needed to be done. His team also did a very good job. During the job we discovered additional work that needed to be done and negotiated a reasonable price to do the work. We are very satisfied with his work and the prices we negotiated.

Juan did an excellent job. The tile install was beautifully done. Juan and his team were a pleasure to work with, communication was open and honest, service was prompt, and his price was fair. I would highly recommend Juan for any tile work and plan to use him again in the future.

They were pretty good. They did a nice job. They had a reasonable price.

Spoke to Juan on the phone. He seemed very polite and professional. We set up a date and time to see my project. Juan showed up on time. Juan had good ideas, which helped make final decisions on the tile installation. Juan gave a good competitive price. He would remove the old bathtub and remove the existing surrounding walls of the shower. First day Juan brought a helper. They completed the demo work in 4 hours. Next day Juan had a plumber come in and install the New tub. Then Juan cemented the three walls where the tile would be placed and around the window. Juan had a Nephew do the Tile install. He did a great job and he was on time every day. Can't say the same for Juan. Juan made appointments with me and was late to everyone except the first meeting. Juan stated the job would take a week to complete. Well it took 12 days, with working on Saturdays. Juan has good people working for him. Juan had other jobs going on. My advise is, keep Juan on a time schedule and keep him to it. I am very satisfied with the work that was done. During the demo they tore into some dry wall that needed repaired, which he did at the end. He cleaned up after him self every day. I would recommend Juan's service to everyone.

Of all the calls I left voice-mails on, Juan was the only 1 that responded the same day and also the first 1 to book an appt (2 days after speaking on phone). Punctual. Well-mannered. Negotiable with scheduling. By far, the best bid (half of all the other bidders). Open to questions, willingly educates. Estimated 6 hrs for the job. Juan delegated labor to his employee, who set right into the job and had it quietly done in about 4-5 hrs. Juan returned, closely inspected the work (including the clean-up). After a couple days (by mutual agreement) Juan returned and applied sealant to the grout (which I had requested after the bid, and he included in the original bid). Awesome. Unbelievable clean-up. Counter top sparkles. So-o- clean.

Talked to Juan over the phone and hung up with a good first impression due to his professionalism. We met up and he showed up right on time, quickly looked at the job (it's a small job, granted), and gave us the best estimate compared to the other 2 that we had received. When he arrived the day of the job he called me since there was much more patching then he (and I) anticipated. He agreed to do all of the patching for an extra $150. He started a few days later and was able to finish the job (with his helper) in a little over a day. I appreciated that he called to update me (since we have tenants at the house) and to check with me before he made any changes to the plan (the tenants told him that they wanted the backsplash to go down to the ground). Friendly, professional, reasonable price, prompt service - we'd use him again. :)

Juan referred me to his nephew Amilcar for granite installation in my kitchen. Amilcar was late in meeting me at the granite store by half an hour. He was absolutely the nicest guy. He stated to me that he had an A-Frame pick-up truck for transportation of the granite, and then said that he didn't have one. He did not in fact have one. He showed up with a very late model black pick up truck, and left the granite yard with the granite hanging out the back. It took him far too long (a full day and 3/4th of a day) to install a 10 foot countertop in a straight galley kitchen with a single sink cut out and a single faucet. The plan was to seam 2 prefabricated granite countertops (8 foot each) at the middle of the sink and install a backsplash. At the seam, the granite was straight on top, but was not cut and quot;plumand quot; and in fact there was 3/4th of an inch, yes, that is correct, 3/4th of an inch gap at the bottom directly in the center of the sink at the facet. It was so obvious that I have no choice but to complain. See attached picture. Additionally, Amilcar failed to seal the granite. This was a huge issue because I did not realize that the granite was not sealed and I put something wet on it. When I came back a few minutes later, a very dark ring appeared. Upon further inspection, I realized that Amilcar also failed to seam the granite under the backsplash, so that water washes under it and down the back side of the wall behind the cabinet! There were also unfilled gaps at both corners of the backsplash and the granite was not cut plum. What a complete disaster. I would never, ever, ever, trust the word of this person or the word of his uncle. I have placed a call into Juan and hope to have the situation resolved. $800 is quite a bit of money for me to lose! 10/2/2011 Juan worked with me and his nephew to a resolution. I asked for a refund, and Juan was instrumental in getting it to me. His nephew came to the house and discussed several options. In the end, rather than allow the nephew to fix the granite, we felt we should just get a refund and go elsewhere. We handed the nephew a $600 receipt and when he handed us the cash, it was only $580. He said he would come by with the $20 the next day. And he never did. I felt this was such a display of weak character. I'm not sure the nephew understood that he cost me money and I was being generous in allowing him to only pay $600 rather than the $800, which is the true loss I incurred. He just didn't understand that I paid money for the granite and he ruined it, and lied about his abiity to install it properly. It became an ego thing for him. When in the end, I hired him, and trusted him to do what he told me he could. He blamed his inability to perform on me. It was so sad. Juan was a stand up person, he tried so hard to get his nephew to take responsibility. However, Amilcar lied to his uncle and told him that he sealed the granite. He and quot;sworeand quot; to him. And in the end, the Uncle ends up being the good guy, and Amilcar was very disrespectful to his Uncle. The granite was not sealed and Amilcar treated his Uncle, his family name and me unfairly. He should be ashamed. Juan, you are a good man. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your hard work. I'm sorry your nephew is so terrible to you.

I got four estimates for this job and Juan was the most reasonable and was also knowledgable about what we needed to do. This was a large job and I wanted to get started right away. Juan showed up with one of his workers. His guy worked all day including a Saturday for about one week with Juan there at least twice a day to check the work. The quality of the installalation was excellant and showed a lot of care from both Juan and his workers. I was working on an kitchen backsplash myself and Juan volunteered to help me with one tricky part the involved installing a custom mosaic. He came by on the weekend to help for a couple of hours to make sure we got it right. He also took care a repair/replacement of some cracked tiles for our neighbor. They called later to tell me that he did a super job for them.

Overall, it was a big success. Mr. Retana came out to do the estimate but he told me he would not be available to do the work himself the week that I needed, so he asked it if would be OK for him to send his crew instead. It worked out fine. The crew always arrived during the time window they predicted (there was a 1/2 hour window due to LA traffic), There work was beautiful and they always cleaned up afterwards.

Juan showed up on time for his estimate and his price was very fair. The work was done to specification, with a simple diamond style pattern. All tiling was done evenly and professionally, and completed in one day. The tile floor looks great, we have experienced no problems and would use Juan again.

Juan had to correct a problem that was created by a tile person I had used who was a friend. The friend did a poor job so Juan and his crew had to correct a problem and then do a minor install. They did it quickly and with skill. I have used Juan before and have been pleased with the quality of work.

Juan started and completed the job on time. Total job time 3 days. Kept work site clean. Would definitely use again.

Juan was originally hired by my general contractor to tile my guest bathroom floor and walls. Also to tile my guest bedroom floor with tile that looked like wood. Juan consulted me on alll aspects of the work and made suggestions on the best layout of the tile. That work was completed successfully and the tile work in both rooms looks beautiful. I fired my general contractor after Juan refused to work on my master bath because my contractor did not pay Juan for the work he had already completed and wanted Juan to retile my master bath, leaving all the old backing and the old shower pan . I then hired Juan to tile my master bathroom the correct way and the work completed was exceptional. Jose one of Juan's workers did the tile work and his total focus was on making sure I was happy with the work. I found Juan and Jose to be totally professional and customer focused. I would highly recommend them to anyone who needs any tile work completed.

From beginning to end, Juan did a fantastic job. The quote was quick and accurate. The removal process turned out to be more labor intensive than planned - yet Juan and his crew took care of it without a problem. The installation of the tiles went smooth and the result is exactly what we wanted. He arrived at the times he said he would, the workplace was kept extremely clean, after the work the area was spotless. We have worked with Juan before and have nothing but good things to say about his work -- this job was no different. We highly recommend him!

There was no fault in the workmanship, it was just that it got damaged. He's really great. The quality of work is excellent and they were very professional. It is good design and good workmanship.

He is excellent. I would like to use him again. I would highly recommend him.

Everything went very well. They did good work.

Juan's work was very professional in approach and results. He designed and installed a lovely backsplash for our kitchen, using travertine subway tiles (4X2 inches) we purchased on our own. We were extremely happy with the results.

All four turned out well and I'd would use him again. For the moment I can't get ahold of him for a fourth job though.

He did a beautiful job, and cleaned up everything meticulously. A great guy!

He did excellent work and he is great. His name is Juan Retana. I ended up having a lot more work done than I planned. They do very nice work. They are very anxious to please if something isn't right. I wasn't happy with the pattern in my office, which I thought was my fault, because I had okayed it. When it was down it didn't look good and he ripped it all out and they didn't charge me one penny more. The price was for labor only. I purchased the tile and he went with me to purchase the tile for the shower. He also put the toilet back in and didn't charge me. They came on time and were very clean. He also recommended a plumber, a glass man and a tub resurfacer. I was very pleased. They cleaned up everything and hauled off all the old carpet and pad they ripped up. He took away the old toilet. They swept the patio and put down painter canvas throughout the house. My husband was a contractor for 35 years and I know what they are supposed to do and what they are not supposed to do. He is very good. He would come with the crew but sometimes he would have to leave, but he would always tell me. His workers worked all day. The price was fair and you get what you pay for. I had three bids and one was cheaper, but cheaper isn't always the best.

I spent about $200 for the work, which I think was very reasonable. He had to come back and take care of one thing but I don’t think that it was his fault. I would rate him highly and would use him in the future, if necessary.