COY'S PRO FLOORS & FINISHES

Coy said it would take one and a half to two weeks to complete the job. Before Coy began work on our bathroom tile (at about week #3), he took on a big new client and work on our project stalled; he came to work on our house only after 6 or 6:30 PM when he finished work for his big client. Many days he failed to come at all, and work on our project was stopped. This sporadic work schedule went on until the last week of June, the last we saw of him. He called once in early July to tell us that he was having dental surgery and he would get back to us on finishing the job. The results of Coy s work ran the gamut from sloppy to disastrous. Some of the problems we encountered were as follows: Coy ordered floor tile that were a half inch larger than the tiles in the rest of the house (he ended up having to do a buffer decorative border to cover the mistake). We had little choice but to let him set the wrong size tile since we had paid cash up-front. When Coy s team sealed the Saltillo and grout, they failed to clean the grit from the grout off the tiles which resulted in a very unsatisfactory finish on the floors. We will eventually have to hire someone to come redo the sealer. The bathroom tile (which was supposed to be deeply discounted because of Coy s connection at the tile store, ended up costing only a few dollars less than the actual price) was poorly installed. There was no systematic design to how he set the tiles, resulting in grout lines being mismatched. By the time Coy quit coming to work on our project, he had completed the shower and the tile around the tub. In the process of tiling around the tub, he loosened the water connection to the tub which resulted in a major water leak in our wine cellar which is directly below the tub. There was enough doubt about the actual cause of the leak from the tub that we told him we would take care of the plumber costs to fix that. The shower plumbing was a very different matter. When we had the plumber out to take care of the tub water leak, we asked him to unstop the shower drain that had stopped draining after Coy installed the tile. The plumber pulled out two cups full of broken tile and grout that Coy had dropped down the drain; the plumber then was able to push the rest (unmeasured) of the grout and tile through the line and unstop the drain. The tile that Coy installed under the tub faucet was cut in such a sloppy, erratic manner that we had to return the faucet and handles we had bought and replace them with a style that came closer to covering the huge holes he cut in the tile. Part of Coy s estimate was to reset the bathroom fixtures, which he never completed. We have finished the tile work on the cabinets ourselves and are in the process of completing the project, but we have had to spend many hours trying to fix the mess Paul Coy made on our floors and bathroom tile.

On 4/08/2008 Paul Coy entered into an agreement with me to remove and replace 175 square feet of bamboo flooring (8 boxes) for $1000. I would supply the wood. On 4/10/2008 I gave Paul Coy a $400 deposit and both he and I signed a written agreement. On 4/28 I advised Paul Coy that I only had 4 boxes of bamboo since I could not find an exact match of my current bamboo color. These 4 boxes equal 90 square feet. Paul Coy then mentioned that he would adjust the amount I owed him down from the original $1000. On 4/28/2008 Paul began work. At the time Paul saw that I had 4 boxes of bamboo and he measured the area that he believed 4 boxes would cover. His wife was present at this time. He then removed the existing bamboo from that area. On 5/01/08 he advised me that we did not have enough bamboo to finish the area that he was demo'ed (not sure why this would be since he measured the area and confirmed we had enough before he began). At that time he tried to squeeze me for more money. He said, "Man I need some money for this extra work I am doing. Why don't you pay me $1,300 so I can finish this. I had to remove a ton of staples and I had to prep the floor." Why would I pay him $1,300 when our original contract was for 175 square feet and was $1,000? His original estimate included demo, prep, glue and installation. He was only replacing, at most 90 square feet now and he said previously that since the square footage was less he would charge less than the 1,000 square feet in the original contract. Did I mention he also included removal of existing bamboo, floor prep, use of waterproofer and sealer and replacement of bamboo in our original contract.... I told him that he was trying to rip me off. He then said, "Well give me something. I need to get some lunch. I will come back later today and finish." I then paid Paul Coy $400 more. Which he immediately cashed. I know, dumb move.... Paul has yet to return and has refused to finish the work until I pay him more money. He has a recent ad on-line. He currently has an unsatisfactory record with the Better Business Bureau with 2 unresolved claims. I am filing a small claims suit against him for Breach of Contract. Did I mention I have the original contract signed by him? The work took place in Travis County. I have also logged a complaint against him with the Better Business Bureau.

This job went perfect from start to finish. Paul came out to measure and give me an estimate. He was punctual, nice, and very reasonable. His estimate was lower than any other so I was a little leery at first. His estimate even included the mortar and grout, something no one else seemed to do. He gave me a list of referrals and I called a few, all of whom gave him a good recommendation. He started and finished the job when he said he would, and if he was going to be late, he called me to let me know. He worked very efficiently and quickly, and his wife, Cathleen assisted him throughout the job. He really knows his trade. The floor is laid out perfectly and transitions from room to room perfectly, which is hard to do with my layout. I am so impressed with his work that I have already recommended him to everyone I know.