Nicolosi Remodelers

Initially it went well. He and his guys then fell behind in time and we were continually nickel and dimed for work that was agreed upon. This ended up costing us over $10,000 additional!!! This was the result of no less than 7 contract additions that should have been in scope of work. Having done this many times before it is obvious that they did not fully understand the job at hand and the finish needed as this was not a low-end house. The work was not done very well overall and the pace was MUCH shower that we agreed upon. This led me to have to spend an additional $4000 in tax payments. I WILL never use these guys again and would caution any one else. Only just today did i see that he has terrible reviews on AngiesList.

Let's just say that a job which should have taken 2 months (and that's stretching it) took 4 months. It started out smoothly with the demolition. Thinking back, removing everything would go smoothly since they are literally taking all that you need to live comfortably in your home (no shower, no toilet and no sink). Thank goodness we had a powder room with a toilet and sink or we really would have fallen on even a worse situation. Also lucky we had a family member who lived fairly close to take showers, but still very inconvenient for us and our family member. I will say that during the demolition, the workers were very clean. Trouble started when the contractor, Frank, told us after the demolition, that we should start to order our vanity and linen cabinets. Now we had been looking around at our local Home Depot and Lowe's, but we weren't sure what we could do with our bathroom until speaking to a "remodeler" (hence the reason for hiring a remodeler). He just told us that if we wanted to keep our pipes where they were already positioned, there would be no additional costs. Every time we discussed what we liked he commented "sure - if that's what you like." And then when we would make another suggestion, he would say the same thing. So really he wasn't giving any helpful suggestions and we just went with the dimensions he gave us and the restrictions of the depth we could go with a vanity. We started with selecting tiles so we would know what color cabinets we wanted to order. We decided on a color and selected a porcelain tile and glass accent tile and showed samples to Frank. The only item he gave advice on was to not go with the glass tile accent, no matter what glass tile we went with, any glass tile would splinter. Looking back, I see glass tile installed in so many bathrooms and I really wish I would not have listened to him. Why do tiles stores sell glass tiles, if it's going to be an issue. I now realized that he probably talked us out of it, since it would be difficult for him to install. But we wound up going with what he suggested, since he was the remodeler. We went to Home Depot to select and order our vanity and linen cabinet, but they told us that it would take between 4 to 6 weeks, so this would push the completion date back a bit, but the rest of the bathroom could be completed, like the shower and the toilet, which we was totally fine with having done, until the cabinets arrived. The tiles were in stock so we ordered what we would need for the shower, walls and floor. We also ordered the shower pan since we were not going with a tub and having the tiles installed from just above the shower pan to the ceiling and then having glass shower doors installed. During that time, the contractors started framing out the walls and installing green board, I asked when I would have a usable shower, which he told me it would take a few days after the shower pan was delivered. The plumber installed the shower pan and the contractor's son started tiling the shower walls, but encountered an issue with the tiles slipping and not sticking properly to the walls. We later found out that he used mastic, instead of thinset, but when he went back out to get something else, he purchased double mastic. Again, not thinset and thinset is what was HIGHLY recommended for the shower or we would have issues down the road. We spoke with several tile experts and they all said the same thing, especially with installing 12 x 12 tiles in a shower. Needless to say, I did not get my shower back for a week after the time frame I was promised, which already allowed for drying time, but of course, with using the incorrect adhesive, it took longer to dry and therefore needed to run a portable heater fan to help it to dry faster. The tiles were still moving and wound up drying crooked and with major lippage. The contractor told me that the reason why the tiles were crooked was because all the tiles are cut differently, but I later found out that is not the case. That the tile can be fixed by the amount of adhesive which is applied and adjust according, until the tiles are at the same level surface, where you wouldn't have lippage. Next major issue we found was when the glass shower doors were installed. The doors just weren't closing correctly and there was a gap at the top of the doors, enough that water would spray out when the shower handle would be taken off to rinse your hair, other areas of your body or cleaning the shower. It turns out the wall, which was newly installed, was installed crooked. At this point, we were beyond annoyed with this contractor for the above and for basically only showing up on the job when payment was due. His workers did most of the labor and needed to be told multiple times to fix or complete things. Viewers who may be reading this may be wondering why we didn't say anything about the tile initially. The reason is because Frank is a smooth talker and definitely took advantage of our lack of knowledge. We quickly did research and spoke with individuals at my company who deal with contractors and architects everyday, I showed photos of the spackle work and painting, along with the gaps in the tile and lippage, and they all agreed that this was shoddy workmanship, that was not up to industry standards. He said that the only way to fix the shower wall was to tear it down and do it over, but that he was not going to do that for us. In the end, we conveyed how upset we were and he replied that there was nothing he could do to make us happy. We told him that he advertises as being in business for over 30 years, but he is not doing the work, and his workers have not been in business for 30 years, especially when they are barely in their mid 20's. We know of people who are happy with his work and it could be because their work was done by different workers who are no longer with him or he physically did the work. It could also be because the work was done several years ago before he had physical ailments. I only know this since he mentioned that he would need to arrive later certain days during the week, since he had physical therapy appointments. Whatever the reason - I would never ask Frank to even install a light bulb in my home ever again. I am not someone who writes complaints and I has actually waited a couple months to write this review, just so I could write a calm and level-headed review. Please be very leery of this sweet, fast talking contractor.

unknown

FRANK NICOLOSI AND ALL HIS CREW ARE WONDERFUL. FOR A NEW HOMEOWNER AND OUR FIRST TIME DEALING WITH A CONTRACTOR, THEY MADE EVERYTHING EASY. IN THE BEGINNING, THINGS SEEMED TO BE A LITTLE SLOW, BUT AFTER TALKING WITH FRIENDS, WE REALIZE THAT THIS IS PART OF WORKING WITH CONTRACTORS. WE WOULD WORK WITH THEM AGAIN AND ALREADY HAVE SOME FUTURE PROJECTS LINED UP.

IT WAS A PLEASURE TO WORK WITH THE NICOLOSI CONTRACTORS.