Artistic Finishes, INC

Exact cost of this project is not given but it was a very expensive project. Unfortunately, we can only advise any people considering using this contractor not to do so. Mr. Martinez can be charming but the charm wears thin when you've paid for work that was never completed and when you have companies from subcontractors that they weren't paid. If you decide to use this subcontractor in spite of this review, at the very least you will want to consider paying absolutely no funds until items are completed. Our project was started October 1st of 2014 and was supposed to have been completed within 60 days excepting certain weather and ordering delays according to the contract. However, the project was never completed and we fired this contractor in March of 2015. We had a serious contract with Mr. Martinez due to the size and scope of our project. Our contract called for progress payments and the contractor told us that he would have no problem in being able to pay for materials, the labor of his employees, and the labor costs of his sub-contractors until a certain portion of the work was finished at which time he would be paid. By contract, he was to provide us with receipts for all materials and invoices from sub-contractors for all work associated with a given phase of the project before payment. There were always excuses for not producing documentation for expenses which he never did. Mr. Martinez seemed to feel that has was supposed to be able to say that he needed another $10,000 or $5,000 or $20,000 and that we were supposed to just write the check and not question what it was for or ask for documentation. Mr. Martinez would probably claim that we micromanaged the project but after a 2 month project taking 6 months and still not being completed ... apparently we didn't micromanage nearly as much as we should!!! The reality of the situation, however, was that he brought people in and did the demolition (gutting) of our house, which left no flooring, no cabinetry, no showers or tubs, no toilets, no sinks, etc. Then, once work was started to begin the rebuilding process he started asking for more money than was due under the contract ... much more money. When we objected to these tactics he told us that if we didn't pay then the subcontractors wouldn't come and work. We were between a rock and a hard place and ended up paying money in advance on many occasions. This was a huge mistake. The project started dragging very shortly after the initial demolition. Then there were the problems with Mr. Martinez being gone for weeks at a time during crucial phases of the project and absolutely nothing getting done ... or he would do things differently than what we had agreed and directed. He would tell us not to worry, that he would be in touch by phone, email or text any time we needed him and then he would not answer any of our communications at all. And, we would go to the house while he was gone to check on progress and absolutely no one would be there working. On one occasion he decided to go to Columbia for 2 weeks to see girlfriends he said. On another occasion he was gone for two weeks and told us that he had to take his mother to Mexico City for around 2 weeks for medical procedures. One of the subcontractors later told us that Mr. Martinez really went to Columbia again but didn't want us to know because we would be mad. The subcontractor speculated that Mr. Martinez used the money he was supposed to pay the subcontractor to fund this trip. So, just with these 2 instances, he was gone a month out of what was supposed to have been a 2 month project! Sadly, after around 6 months when we fired him, the project was still not close to completion. Subcontractors would come out and work for a day, or maybe two, and then go away for a week or two. Subcontractors would not finish their work and another would have to come in and finish the work. Of course, we later found out from the subcontractors that this was because they hadn't been paid. One particular subcontractor who was owed a major amount of money from the contractor, told us that he had a long conversation with Mr. Martinez about not being paid. He told us that Mr. Martinez denied several times that we had paid him 100% of what was owed. After this, the subcontractor reported that he told Mr. Martinez that we said we had paid 100% of what was owed and that we could prove it with cancelled checks and other documentation. At that point he said that Mr. Martinez finally said that well, we had paid him 100% but that we needed to pay him more! Unbelievable, but that is typical of the way Mr. Martinez behaved. The prices for many things went up from what we originally agreed. There were always excuses for this but if we decided to source the items ourselves it would delay the project even further so we were stuck. The same work might have to be done 2 - 3 times and still not be correct. Some plumbing was hooked up incorrectly. The water softener/carbon filtration system tanks were hooked up backwards and eventually we had to have this system totally re-plumbed. Some electrical was done incorrectly and we still have not been able to cure the problem of lights flickering. Some HVAC was done incorrectly and blew an evaporator coil. Even a brand new unit we had to put in was not installed correctly. Old plumbing valves and lines were used even though we specified and paid for new. Items were not ordered when they should have been and there were further delays. We were quoted all solid core doors and he tried to supply doors with particle board interiors. One subcontractor told us that Martinez told him to take major shortcuts in his work and that either we wouldn't notice or he'd smooth things over with us if we did! Then, after we had paid 100% of what was due the contractor demanded more money. Things got ugly and we were worried about things on a personal level. Ultimately, we fired this contractor and had to pick up the pieces ourselves. Most of the subcontractors he used told us, after we fired him, that he told them that if they did any work for us or talked to us about anything (like not having been paid) that he would have no obligation to pay them! Well, some of them ultimately went to work for us and we have paid many thousands of dollars fixing the things that were done incorrectly and/or in a slipshod manner. He even had the nerve to put some pictures of our house on his website representing that this was one of his completed projects ... without our permission! Things may look good cosmetically in his pictures but beware of what is behind the cosmetics and understand going in of the problems you may have. At this point we are talking to our attorney about filing suit but we are doubtful that there is any money to recover from him if we can find him!!! Good luck.