Richie (AKA Richard Colon) turned out to be a scammer. He told me "his guy" could do the work we needed (drywall install and texture to match, with some concrete edges to be cut around the fireplace and painting...as well as a few other minor touchups). Richie first gave us a quote for 7K! I told him that was way too high and we needed to move on. He came back with a much lower price of $2,500 and I supplied the materials because these workers often use the cheapest materials possible...if I don't buy my own. He suggested that he and his guy go to home depot to get the quality supplies needed and we paid over the phone. Then, when we went over the receipt, on the next day, we discovered Richie went on a shopping spree with our money. He bought various things he did not bring to our job and that they did not need...including a special tool. We thought the supplies seemed too high priced. I should have seen that he was trying to rip us off from his starting price. He brought some of the supplies here but not all that they purchased. His guy could not get a ride on the third and last day, so I went to pick him up since he lived somewhat close. He was living in a motel. Richie had a family emergency and never came back and his guy did such a poor job that we had to let him go. I felt sorry for him and we paid Richie for his days of work...before we told them not to come back. I would bet Richy was not paying his guy. I mentioned for him to be sure and pay the guy who worked for him. But Richie got indignant, and he attacked me with very unkind and untrue words. He never apologized for forcing us to pay another contractor to get the work fixed...after all his blunders...including cutting the concrete crooked and making a mess out of the wall that he was supposed to texture to match the other walls...with so many lumps and bumps that had to be fixed by someone else. He also went crazy adding too much wood framing between the beams that run diagonally up the back of the fireplace. We only asked him to replace 1 at the top and add 1 extra. We found out this structural change might be bad for natural settling, and he might have created a problem. He also put a bunch of foam and we were told this can create a mold problem if water gets trapped. He does not seem to know what he's doing. Thier wall work was also a big mess, and it had to be sanded down and redone...which caused me allergy symptoms...due to the extra dust. It was a horrible experience that I would not wish on anyone else. read more