Think twice before working with Slick Willie Mendoza. Allow me to tell you my 1st hand experience. When he arrived, & quite tardy for our appointment, it was as if he just hopped down from his high horse & comes mozing up to the porch with his samples. He ask a couple of questions and narrows it down to carpet that's "on sale" for $30 from $40. Mind you I'm a 1st time homebuyer and carpet prices I've seen at Lowes is around 4-8$ per square whatever. Plus padding cost plus labor Would be $20-30/sqft. Willie I guess uses this higher price per sqft and "includes for free" his top of the line padding, nobody else will come close to offering such products for such a low price. Then calculates the cost of the laminate flooring with the best padding again included. Then Willie so generously threw in 4" base molding. A $1200 value, free. Remember this because we'll circle back.
( I give 4 stars to the installer guys, but give Slick Willie 1 star for his professionalism and not standing behind his product and quality & customer satisfaction. Preaching those qualities for his biz and local to the community, if you ever have a problem I'll take care of it, here's a letter of recommendation, give then a call, and also whips out his contractors card and other "official" credentials, & bla, bla, bla to seal the deal. To do the flooring project Willie quoted me $6k. I got a quote from Empire for $4800. After reading Empire reviews I wasn't going there. For the extra $1200, I figured "free" base molding, & including the best padding etc, I'd keep the job in the community and give old Willie the biz.
During one of the install days I had Willie give me a quote on overhauling my kitchen and 2 very small baths. Willie preaches quality, Lowes stuff is crap, I'm only using the best materials etc. $18k. For what Willie was offering, it seemed reasonable but I have no idea. But I was planing on going for it anyway. Willie's on line photos and reviews were positive.
During the install, Willie advise I have water leaking under the exterior wall and into the floor interior. Willie quotes to completely seal up the foundation & stucco wall, cut open the lower portion of the interior was all the way across, check / replace any mold areas and and fix it all right. In addition to floating my laundry area floor ($750) for $3800. Now I felt he was milking a sucker. All the while the crew completed the job except for the laundry area. Willie assured me that when he or I floats the floor he will send his guys back asap to finish the job. This was on a Thursday. I returned home and found a beautiful job. However upon closer inspection the guys came up about a 1/2 in short on butting up to the last molding. Instead of doing the right thing and go buy another molding and do it right, they filled it in with caulk. Looked bad, but it was located in a dark corner so I won't see it but will know. However for $6k, I want perfect, the guys thought it would pass my inspection and it failed. I called Willie to advise. His answer, " I threw that in for free. If I hadn't you would have not hired me. Because it was free I don't cover it and won't fix what your asking." Willie will not cover it to a customers satisfaction or cover in any shape or form apparently. I was steaming. I'm now wondered if he gave me the best padding but don't want to pull up the carpet, since I wasn't here to see it installed. Willie insisted he be paid in full. Now I was concerned that if I pay in full, he won't finish the job. After heated discussions, I paid in full.
The following day I contacted a floor specialist who did the float job for $250. On that Monday I called Willie to advise it was done and needed him to finish the job. (It took less than 90 minutes to complete the job) but Slick Willie put me off a week b4 finishing the floor and put me off a second week to complete the molding in the laundry room. All the while moving in and not having a washer & dryer to use for 2 weeks. I advised Willie of this, but still would not send his guys over for less than 90 minutes of work to complete. While Slick Willie did finish the job, putting me off for 2 weeks and not covering the cheesy molding because "I didn't charge you so there's nothing I can do", to a $6k paying customer, I would NOT recommend Slick Willie and his Celebrity Carpets. This was my experience. You decide if you want your own. read more